The Conservatoire, Blackheath, 13 January 2020

Just three weeks short of a year-long absence, I resumed Monday evening modelling at The Conservatoire in Blackheath. Class tutor, Victoria Rance jokingly called me the ‘prodigal son’ but here all accounts are settled and we could enjoy a fresh start to a new year. We warmed-up with three 1-minutes poses, then 5 and 10-minutes.

I stood for both the longer warm-ups: first holding my umbrella, then with hands furled onto the tops of my shoulders. After these I would be laying down for the remainder of the evening; hips rotated sideways, shoulders slightly further back, but really a simple and comfortable pose to sustain.

I would have been granted a break every twenty minutes but there was no need. Only on the hour mark did I ask to get up as my uppermost hip had begun to ache. After a ten minute stretch I was guided back into position to see out the remaining forty or so minutes. All done, with brolly back in hand, I took my leave into rivers of torrential rain.