Garrett Centre, London, 5 July 2019

The long pose session: a thing to be dreaded or embraced? In all honesty it’s usually the former, but this evening at the Garrett Centre I must have been feeling generous or ambitious or self-destructive, as I was in a mood for standing. First, however, there would be warm-up poses: three of 5-minutes and one of 8-minutes.

Next the long pose. Whatever stance I chose, I would be living with its consequences for around an hour and three-quarters in total, albeit with breaks. I had no preplanned idea for what I would do, so I let my body discover the pose itself – something simple, evenly balanced, legs very slightly bent and arms making subtle gestures.

Group organiser Adrian Dutton subsequently posted the photo above, captioned:

‘A delicate yet challenging standing pose by the brilliant @steveritterlife. It takes a lot of experience to make a seemingly simple pose interesting from all angles! Just check out the hands and fingers, the arched back, the legs and hips.‘

The sketch below was made during the first half – had I really brought my shopping?!?

When my back is arched for a long time it doesn’t feel especially uncomfortable whilst I’m actually in pose, but I have to take due care when relaxing from the position – very slowly does it. In this stance however, it was the slightly angled right arm that became most achy, peaking surprisingly early on, then settling down to a vague discomfort.

I made it to the end and felt genuine appreciation from the artists. The quality of work around the room was special and I was very grateful to be given a couple of drawings to keep. It was also nice to see the session well attended. Numbers have been falling at many life groups this summer, but Friday nights in Bethnal Green remain strong.