Garrett Centre, London, 19 February 2020

Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear Dawn!
Happy birthday to you!

Participation in regular life drawing is not just about the models, instructors and artists or the skills of posing, seeing and mark-making; there’s also a spirit of community. No more so than at Adrian Dutton’s long-established London Life Drawing groups such as here at the Garrett Centre. During the break, when Adrian brought out a cake with candles for much-loved ever-present attendee, Dawn, everybody joined in singing.

An hour earlier I’d started the session with a 15-minute standing pose, during which a couple of late arrivals filled the last seats and made it another full house. We followed with five 1-minute poses, then poses of 5 minutes, 10 minutes and 20 minutes, taking us to the interval. I suspected the 20 minutes might have drifted closer to half an hour, but I was comfortable and quite happy laying down in front of two heaters.

In addition to Dawn’s cake, Adrian provided half-time victuals that ranged from dhal to jelly babies, from exotic teas to boxes of wine. After much consuming and conversing, we had time left for poses of 10, 15 and 20 minutes. I stood, sat and stood again until our 9:30pm finish. Generous applause and art-sharing followed, then slowly we faded away to our respective homes. Next week, the thriving community gathers again.