Homerton library, London, 30 November 2023
Movember, the month formerly known as ‘November’, is a moustache-growing charity event that raises funds and awareness for men’s health.
Movember participants sign-up on movember.com and then choose to Grow a moustache, Move by walking or running 60km throughout the month, Host a Mo-ment by gathering friends, or create their own challenge with Mo Your Own Way.
So I grew a moustache…
lifedrawing.art marked Movember with a ‘Month of Men‘ at Homerton library. Five Thursdays, five life drawing sessions, five male models; I was life model number five. Four weeks before my date, with due commitment I began cultivating a beard. Come the day itself, the beard dwindled to a moustache. My first ever moustache!
Fleetingly I feared my face fuzz feat had been futile. A broken rail on the Overground to Homerton and a failed train on the Jubilee line thwarted my route for getting to the venue. By rapidly switching to DLR, Central line and bus, I was ‘only’ 15 minutes late. It happens extremely rarely, but I hate being anything other than comfortably early.
I was grateful that organiser Bruce and the artists were so laid-back about it. I wasn’t the only one affected. Simple solution: we let the session overrun by 15 minutes. For the first half we began with a 5-minute pose, then followed it with four of 90 seconds, two more of 5 minutes, a 10-minute pose and a 15-minute pose up to the break.
I’d indulged in some prop use: standing with two lengths of material – one black, one white – draped over my shoulders. To begin the second half I indulged some more: a seated pose clutching a long bamboo cane for 20 minutes. One final 20-minute pose reclining on a desperately-needed electric blanket concluded our evening’s work.
It was gratifying to see so many artworks had captured the ‘tache. They will probably be the only evidence of me ever having had one. After a protracted sub-zero journey home, I took my beard-trimmer to the bathroom and bade it farewell, never to return. Or will it? There will be other Novembers… maybe there will be other Movembers.
steve ritter 