The Victoria Stakes, London, 20 April 2026

25 Apr 2026

Julia of The Moon and Nude messaged me on the morning of this booking and said: “I know you’re really good for punctuality” but emphasised on this occasion a need to “start at 7pm sharp.” She’s right, I’ve never been late arriving at The Victoria Stakes so I would take the hint and do my utmost not to tarnish my record this evening.

Timings of my trains to London are such that I can either reach the venue 10 minutes early or 40 minutes early. As I am retired from full-time work and have plenty of hours to burn these days, I took the leisurely option and arrived to find Julia dragging tables and chairs that were cluttering the pose space.

Normally I hasten to lend anyone a helping hand but Julia has said before, to me and others, she’s quite particular in her ways of working and will brook no interference, no matter how well-meaning. It troubles me to stand idle whilst another does heavy work alone, but I respect Julia’s wishes. Plus, I would be working alone soon enough.

There were many chairs to be dragged into the usual wide oval for artists. Happily for this session the effort wasn’t wasted as a steady flow of arrivals ensured we as many people drawing as I could remember seeing here in a long time. At 7pm sharp I threw myself into shapes with great energy.

We began with quick poses and ended after a break with two 20-minute poses. I took the decision to stand for both 20-minute poses, which Julia remarked was a rarity. I’m happy to oblige, albeit I pay later with an extra ache or two. As attendance increased, so did the post-event kind words to salve my pains. Thank you, all! 🙂