Garrett Centre, London, 25 September 2019

While I stood for the opening 15-minute pose, more and more people trickled into the room. Group organiser Adrian Dutton greeted each new arrival and got them settled with drawing materials. It looked likely to be another full house at the Garrett Centre. When a quarter of an hour had elapsed, we moved on to five 1-minute poses.

Our quick-fire work was followed by poses of 5, 10 and 20-minutes. For the middle of these, I stood with arms out at waist level. Once during a similar pose here, one artist embellished the scene by giving me a shopping bag to hold; this time a different artist gave me a ballroom dancing partner. I do love a bit of creative elaboration.

After an interval in which artists could help themselves to hot lentil dalh, biscuits, teas and wine, we resumed with a 10-minute pose and a real treat: Adrian embarked upon one of his meandering discourses on art and artists. It’s been such a long time since I last heard him do this, but I always find it a fascinating lyrical addition to life drawing.

The session ended with poses of 15-minutes and 25-minutes. From reclining with one arm raised, I switched to standing with the other arm wrapped over my head and then saw out the evening seated on a stool with both arms reaching behind me. An ancient Honeywell heater, good spirits and a positive vibe in the room kept me warm.