Walthamstow Toy Library, London, 19 October 2026

29 Oct 2026

It was during my previous session for Walthamstow Lifedrawing just three months ago that I first properly understood the extent to which pains in my left shoulder were going to affect my modelling work. I’ve had to abandon a few old-favourite poses and adapt several others. It frustrates me, but mostly it’s been OK so far.

I now know the technical term for my affliction, or rather its preliminary diagnosis. It’s: supraspinatus tendinopathy, with associated subacromial-subdeltoid (SASD) bursitis. Five words, twenty-one syllables and I know not what any of them mean, except that together they’re bloody uncomfortable.

I’m due to get a physiotherapy triage phone call in two weeks, after which hopefully a treatment plan of some kind will emerge. I’ll try to stay careful till the problem is fixed. This evening I just about managed, albeit I got the final pose all wrong; numb left leg, numb right arm, painful left arm… but the shoulder survived, and the art was great!