The Conservatoire, Blackheath, 16 July 2018

‘Adult Art Showcase, Friday 20th July‘, proclaimed the notice on a sandwich board outside The Conservatoire, Blackheath. The free entry and a free glass of wine were tempting but what really caught my eye was the portion of a life drawing in the top left corner. Hey, that’s me! Drawn here by Gareth Williams on 4 December last year.

I wasn’t the only one surprised by the poster – neither tutor Victoria Rance or Gareth himself knew of its presence. Art, it seems, can obtain a life of its own. Come 7:30pm in 30°C heat we were ready to make some more, starting with “warm-ups” of 1-minute, 1-minute, 1-minute (shoulder stand), 5-minutes (standing) and 10-minutes (seated).

Victoria gave me the honour of selecting the long pose. Having learned that this would be the last Monday life drawing of term, I asked whether at any previous session there had been an opportunity for the class to draw a standing model as the long pose? The answer was ‘no’ so, feeling kind hearted, I adopted a suitably dramatic upright stance.

I remained in this attitude for much of the remaining 2-hours. After the first 40-minutes, we had a nice long break that took us up to about 9 o’clock. Two shorter intervals split the final hour, and it was with considerable relief that at last, very slowly I straightened my back and took the weight off my load-bearing leg.

As can often happen during the interminably long minutes of a pose, my back felt like it might seize-up permanently. Elation upon release and subsequent enjoyment of the artworks, however, was a fine short-term fix. Lingering aches made themselves known for a few days afterwards. Still, I love the Victorian art room here in summertime.