Village Community Hall, Tunbridge Wells, 6 June 2026 – part 1

8 Jun 2026

My previous booking for Tunbridge Wells Life Drawing was in December last year when Tunbridge Wells was experiencing water supply problems. Now, in late spring, the problem wasn’t water from the supply but water from the sky.

The heatwave was over. Temperatures were down and rain was drizzling down. How might this affect life drawing attendance? The answer was: not at all badly. In fact we probably had the best numbers of my three visits here, which was highly pleasing.

Once more I would be posing for two sessions; first with quicker poses to be inspired by a particular artist, then secondly with a couple of warm-ups followed by one single 90-minute long pose. For ‘part one’, our inspiration would be Antony Gormley.

I find Gormley’s sculptural figures most interesting for the contexts of their installation or their environmental settings, but not especially for the inventiveness of their poses. They are usually neutral, passive, symmetrical. So… how to inspire a life group?

Well, I opened with a Gormley: standing straight upright, ankles together, head down, fingertips touching in front of my chest. Next, some quick poses incorporating the few dynamic Gormley poses I’d found. Then, of course, an ‘Angel of the North‘.

After this as each pose got longer I started to hybridise; one half of my body adopting one Gormley pose while the other adopted another. Plus, I tossed in a few of my own poses as wildcards to inject some unbidden variety.

At the end, artworks were set upon the floor for general admiration. So much positive feedback flowed about the room. This really is one of the most warm-hearted friendly community groups I’ve ever been blessed to work with. 🙂 Bring on part two…!