Garrett Centre, London, 17 April 2024

This session for one of Adrian Dutton’s groups at the Garrett Centre was without a key ingredient: Adrian himself. Sad circumstances called for him to be elsewhere, but this afforded the rare delight of an evening hosted by Adrian’s wife, Anya. It had been several years since the last occasion, but Anya is always and utterly reliable.

Artwork by Agustin Coll.

Artwork by Agustin Coll.

Artwork by Agustin Coll.

Artwork by Tamar Ben Joya.

Artwork by andrewzxlim.

Anya stuck to a winning formula: artists on seats and at easels arranged in a square, model on gym mats at the centre, spotlight overhead, webcams for attendees online. We started with one 10-minute pose followed by five 1-minute poses, then continued with poses of 5, 10 and 20 minutes up to our break. Everything like clockwork.

Artwork by Tamar Ben Joya.

Artwork by andrewzxlim.

This remains the only group I know that offers free, freshly cooked hot food for model and artists alike at the interval. After a delicious bowl of dhal we resumed our art with five more 1-minute poses – to get everybody re-energised – before finishing with one pose of 15 minutes and one of 20 minutes.

Artwork by Tamar Ben Joya.

Artwork by Agustin Coll.

And as ever artists are invited to share their work at the end by placing it on the floor, to inspire or simply be admired by others. Certainly they had my admiration; so much precisely observed, boldly interpreted, beautifully created art. Lovely people too. I left Bethnal Green in high spirits. This was a particularly good one.