Bridge House, London, 9 October 2017

When en route to a life modelling session, sometimes one wishes only to chill, yet at other times one wants to burn. As the sun set on a draining Monday, I wanted to burn, and I was in luck as my booking at Bridge House, Penge was for an evening of short poses with Anerley and Penge Life Drawing. It meant I could work quickly through a range of stances that would stoke fire in my muscles. Nothing dramatic, but enough for me to feel the latent energy of my own body.

I gave consideration to my poses beforehand so the fire of life would not become a fire of pain. Each pose would be sustainable for the given time: three of 2-minutes, four of 5-minutes, and three of 10-minutes up to a break, then three of 15-minutes to end the session. There was to be no laying around – I stood, sat, squatted, knelt on one knee and knelt on both knees. Plenty of extended arm work, too. The latter went down well with one artist who thanked me afterwards for the challenge it gave him.

The final three poses were all seated: the first, an elongated side-saddle posture on a chunky foot-rest; the next was on the floor with one knee raised and an arm extended across it; the third was on a chair, once again with a knee up, but now in the crook of an elbow, and the fingers of both hands interlocked. It all felt good; I enjoyed my work. Artists were engaged too, as individuals moved seats a couple of times to get a more desirable view – which itself is a bit of a compliment. Just the tonic I needed.