steve ritter

9 Jan 2016

The Russet, Hackney, 14 December 2015

Life drawing at Hackney Downs Studios has moved! Since March 2014, I have been modelling for the group led by Catherine Hall at the A-side B-side Gallery, but now they’ve relocated a few paces across Amhurst Terrace to The Russet café.

It’s a bigger space that could comfortably accommodate many more artists, yet when I arrived and found Catherine sitting outside she seemed in some doubt as to whether there would be any artists present at all. Only a few days were left until Christmas, so it was understandable that people might be preoccupied elsewhere.

With a couple of minutes to go until our 7pm start we had one artist join us. This was all we needed to go ahead as intended. Not long into the first pose, our second artist arrived. Catherine would also be drawing, so it felt like a comfortable session – albeit perhaps not the most profitable from an organisation point of view.

Poses in the first half were 10-minutes, 5, 4, 3, 2-minutes, then three lots of 1-minute poses, three lots of 30-second poses, and finally a 20-minute pose up to the interval. There were just two poses after our break: 15-minutes and 23-minutes. Seated poses were favoured for the longer work – which suited me fine – whereas the shorter poses were a good winter warm-up.

I will always have an affection for the A-side B-side Gallery as I’ve modelled at some thoroughly enjoyable sessions there. This new space feels good though, and I’ll look forward to the chance of returning one day, hopefully in busier times.

5 Jan 2016

Spirited Bodies at Tanner Street

11:39am	“Please bring spare fuses! Easily bust“
11:40am	“Will do. And screwdriver”
12:14pm	“Have you left? We might also need a 13 amp fuse! I think I have one in the kitchen“
12:21pm	“Not left yet – in about 15 mins. Do you know where in the kitchen?”
12:24pm	“Cupboard under the sink“
12:26pm	“Got it”
12:26pm	“Are there 2 fuses?“
12:30pm	“I’ve found an adaptor plug with a 13 amp fuse in it – I’ll bring that along as backup”
12:35pm	“If you can bring me a sandwich that’s amazing too!“

Part 1 – short fuses

Esther was messaging me midway through her Spirited Bodies women’s workshop at 47/49 Tanner Street near London’s Tower Bridge. Aside from the inconvenience of a few blown fuses, everything was working out superbly. She was in a good space with old friends and new enthusiasts. I felt both happy for her… and relieved.

Any tension that had preceded the successful Spirited Sound at Bargehouse event a few weeks earlier was as nothing compared to the turmoil immediately ahead of this one. Some of it concerned the planned activities – chiefly, whether models and artists would attend in sufficient numbers – and some came from other situations. Through it, however, Esther’s dedication had ensured everything was in place.

Part 2 – cometh the hour, cometh the woman

Power derives from resilience, strength from supportive friends. When fully immersed in running her women’s workshop, Esther was once more restored to her magnificent best. From 11am to 1pm, she led her group of models and artists, collaborating with close comrades on both sides of the drawing boards. When I arrived after half-past, I was moved to find her smiling and energised in the midst of organising the afternoon.

The session from 2pm to 5pm was to be mixed gender in a larger space. It would also see the return of Sarah Kent to provide a sound bath accompaniment. I was there to provide whatever extra support I could – which could be modelling, or maybe drawing, but at the outset it meant simply changing fuses. Meanwhile, fears of a poor turn-out were rapidly disappearing; come the start, there wasn’t a spare seat to be found.

Part 3 – lungs and kidneys

Our inspiration for this session, and the women’s workshop, was the zàng-fǔ organs of traditional Chinese medicine. Focus would be on the five yin organs, and the triple burner of the yang. Six models – two men, four women – were set to pose, including Esther herself. She introduced the practice with short dynamic poses centred on the lungs: 1-minute, 2-minutes, 3, 4, 5-minutes, expressing sadness through to joy.

My role became timekeeper, calling midway and at the end of each pose. Sarah used her own timer to ensure the resonant waves of each sound bath were synchronised to the pose lengths. After lungs came kidneys – fear and courage – to be represented by 25 minutes cowering on ground or standing strong. Esther stepped from the group and together we retreated to a quiet corner for comfort and sandwiches.

Part 4 – heart

The next piece was originally supposed to be half an hour of liver, but performers on a different floor of the building had asked if the sound bath could be suspended between 3pm and 3:30pm. Esther looked to her plans and found there was just time to fit in 15 minutes of heart, so those two organs were switched. After this section would come a half-hour hushed break for refreshments.

Heart would be a movement pose. Four of the models lined up in pairs behind Esther, who had returned naked to the group and would be spearheading its action. As Sarah drummed a rhythmic heartbeat, the five upstanding models slowly, slowly raised their arms high, then lowered them to their hearts. This was repeated over and over for the full quarter of an hour whilst artists captured their transitions.

Part 5 – liver and spleen

The session was going nicely, with warm positivity felt throughout the space. After the break it was my turn to join in with the models, beginning with our rescheduled liver. In this 30-minute segment we were invited to express anger, and were given free reign to change pose whenever we felt like it rather than at specific timed intervals. I wondered if we might not hear artists expressing anger when a pose changed without warning.

Esther and I posed together; it was wonderful to reconnect with her in this simple way, doing what we both love. We made our poses as dynamic and expressive as possible, pulling faces and having fun. The next organ was to be spleen, in which models would spend 20-minutes either seated on the floor or standing, directing sympathy or blame towards the artists. I sat with my arms outstretched in an ambiguous gesture.

Part 6 – triple burner

The ‘triple burner‘ is not a physical organ – within traditional Chinese medicine, it is primarily energetic, the passage of heat and water through the body. In Esther’s nude interpretation, four models lay down feet-to-feet in two lines of two. Another four stood over them in pairs, connected palm-to-palm. To make our numbers up to eight, Sarah joined in and would be leading us through chants of ‘eee’ or ‘ooo’ sounds.

Sarah had hitherto been fully clothed, but when the moment came to begin our triple burner she lifted off her dress and stood beside Esther in naked solidarity. I touched palms with Esther, Sarah reached across to another female model, and together we started our intonations. Halfway through the 15-minutes Sarah dropped her hands to her heart and we all followed suit; it was a beautiful, unplanned moment of sharing.

Part 7 – road to repose

Our final pose was to be 15-minutes freestyle. Sarah returned to her gongs and bowls, another female model decided to try drawing, so the remaining three women and three men paired-up and settled down. Two of the couples were in genuine relationships; the others simply seized the moment. I leaned back into cushions, cradling Esther gently in my arms, and we lost ourselves as one in time and space.

A day that had begun with tension ended in peace and happiness; all had enjoyed the experience. Ultimately Esther felt the event had been even better than Spirited Bodies at Bargehouse. Artworks were laudable too, including some extraordinary wire models of individual poses. An hour after we had finished, a taxi returned us to Esther’s flat. It had been an intense 24 hours of emotion; now, at last, we could relax.

29 Dec 2015

Mall Galleries, London, 11 December 2015

“Hi!” came a call from the middle of The Mall. I’d been waiting three or four minutes outside the Mall Galleries when, at the very moment I had straddled a lamp in the pavement to begin idly taking selfies, Esther swept beneath Admiralty Arch on her bicycle. She wheeled across to my side of the road and we shared a moment before entering the galleries together.

Esther is allowed to take her bike inside – she’s well respected round these parts.

Part 1 – hello Hesketh Hubbard

We were present as two of six models booked to pose for Hesketh Hubbard Art Society in what would be their final life drawing evening of the year. Within the Main Gallery there would be a clothed portrait model at one end; a nude model providing 15-minute poses at the other; with Esther and me composing half-hour nude poses together in the middle.

Beyond our sight in the adjoining Threadneedle Gallery, two more nude models would sit for the single ‘long’ pose. Sessions usually last two-hours in total but, it being Christmastime, there would be just an hour of art on this occasion with a buffet and wine to follow. Esther showed me around the public spaces, and the storage rooms for life drawing paraphernalia behind the scenes.

The difference in our prior experiences at Mall Galleries could not have been greater. This being my début, I entered with a mixture of enthusiastic excitement and a tinge of trepidation. Esther, by contrast, is a veteran here and was greeted with genuine affection. It was quite moving to see artist after artist welcome her with such warmth; the profession of life model is not so detached as sometimes it is portrayed.

Part 2 – pose and predicament

With time to spare before our 6pm start, we set about practising two poses – one standing, one sitting – that would offer respectable views to all in the circle around us. Some artists stepped forward to offer suggestions and make requests. For example, we’d intended to be wrapped around each other for the standing pose, but deferred to a request for slight separation so the full lines of our bodies would be exposed.

We made our space comfortable and began the first pose promptly at six. Esther stood on a bench while I was beside her on the floor. As I nestled close beneath her armpit we savoured this rare reversal in our physical relationship. Inevitably over the course of half an hour there was some infinitesimal swaying between us. I thought I detected some muttering from one observer but generally we made a favourable start.

Time calls came after 15 and 30 minutes. Upon the latter we changed position. Esther was seated upright with her legs tucked under her on one side while I curled my body around her, knees bent towards her back, and eyes meeting her gaze, with my head propped upon one hand. It was a pose we’d tested with ease before the start, yet one small misjudgement was to make it a veritable ordeal of prolonged discomfort for me.

My simple mistake concerned the arm that carried the burden of my up-tilted head. I’d inadvertently set it such that its elbow was overhanging the cushions upon which I lay, rather than being supported by them. Consequently, the combined weight of my arm, skull and supposed-brain was borne by my own biceps. Neck muscles stayed taut in an attempt to relieve the arm, and even my legs were tensed as a counterbalance.

For the first five minutes, Esther and I were beaming indulgently at each other. Then the physical stress began to assert itself…

As the minutes dragged and the pain increased, so my expression went from smiling to blank, to strained concentration, and finally an etched grimace. It was unpleasant viewing for Esther, whose own face reflected concern and empathetic distress. We whispered words of consolation to each other. When at last the hour was called, my trembling arm collapsed and I slumped backwards in relief.

Part 3 – mingle and munch

For a time afterwards we sat in a warm embrace whilst artists approached in turn to thank us for our efforts. It seemed the suffering was not in vain – our exertions were received with broad enthusiasm, and there was some keenness that we be booked again next year. When ready, we dressed and made our way to the buffet table for snacks and wine. We were indulged to slip ahead of the queue, and were grateful.

A little networking followed as we bantered with fellow models, artists and organisers. Esther circulated more widely with postcards that promoted her forthcoming Spirited Bodies event, while I sat in conversation or flitted back and forth, harvesting the buffet. People began drifting into the night and in time we followed, wheeling Esther’s bike to Charing Cross station in search of a southbound train. Job done.

From an evening of pleasure and pain, pleasure had won through.

28 Dec 2015

Eastbourne House, London, 10 December 2015

My ninth and final booking of the year for Adrian Dutton was at Eastbourne House, where I’d made my début for his groups way back in July 2013. This night was just a fortnight away from Christmas Eve and – it may have been my imagination but – there seemed to be a kind of end-of-term atmosphere. Poses for the first half of the evening proceeded: 10-minutes, 2, 1, 30-seconds, 3-minutes, 5, 10 and 25-minutes.

Whilst I’ve modelled for Adrian many times, this was the first time I’d been booked for a Thursday cheese and wine night. I do like a bit of cheese and wine. As soon as the first half came to a close, I quickly pulled on my robe and made what I hoped seemed not too indecent haste to the table where all the savouries were arranged. I returned to the main hall with a glass and loaded plate to dine in quiet comfort.

As is Adrian’s preferred style, I resumed posing for the second half without any great announcement. I simply upended a long wooden box and perched on top of it. When the artists noticed, they returned to their pads and easels to begin drawing. After my opening 10-minutes, poses were 3-minutes, 2, 1, 30-seconds, 15-minutes and finally 20-minutes – plenty of variety was possible.

Following much appreciated applause at the end of the session, I photographed a few of the artists’ works before departing. During the interval, in addition to my feasting I’d agreed five new dates with Adrian for bookings that would take us through the first five months of 2016. These would start on the first Thursday in January: duo poses with a new model and, of course, more cheese and wine. Bring it on…

26 Dec 2015

Wanstead House, London, 9 December 2015

The opening 10-minute pose caused me most discomfort on my November visit to Wanstead House. In December it was the last half-hour that hurt, seated on the floor with muscles stretched for slight backwards twist across a bench. I knew it would be tough as the same pose had caused me difficulty at The Finborough Arms recently, yet it was a direct request so I gave it another go.

Prior poses had been straightforward: 10-minutes standing contrapposto with one arm on a ceiling beam and the other extended sideways; 10-minutes standing with one leg a pace forwards, one hand on my neck, the other hand on my hip; 20-minutes seated side-saddle on the bench, my upper bodyweight supported by my left arm; 20-minutes seated cross-legged, chin on one hand, the other arm across my lap.

Overall I was satisfied with the evening’s work. It was the last Wednesday life drawing session of 2015 at Wanstead House. Groups across London were all starting to wind down for Christmas, but I found myself still surprisingly busy – this was to be the first of six bookings in the space of eight days. I couldn’t help but wonder what challenging poses might lay before me…

25 Dec 2015

This Mortal Coil in Birmingham

In the cold concrete kitchen of a former warehouse on the east side of Birmingham, Esther and I huddled naked around a small sink. We doused our faces, necks and chests with barely-warm water until, after repeated soaping, splashing and shivering, we had removed the last traces of body paint. We were chilly but happy. Our painted skin had been skeletal… we were once more on assignment for Art Macabre.

Part 1 – an invitation

Our début Death Drawing duo poses had been for DeadFriday at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. As we returned to London that evening, our minds were alive with dreams of how we might next work together. Little did we imagine that within just four days we would be offered a new opportunity to model farther afield with Art Macabre. Director-supremo, Nikki – aka, Raven Rouge – wrote to us:

Wondering if you’d be interested in being my deathly duo again? This time an event at Vivid Projects in Birmingham. Friday 27 November, modelling 6:30pm to 8.30pm. Arriving for 6pm to be ready. Some duo poses, some individual. All with a deathly theme…

Diaries were adjusted and the gig confirmed; we would be part of This Mortal Coil.

Part 2 – Birmingham

It had just gone half-three in the afternoon when Esther and I stepped off the train at Birmingham New Street station. For both of us this was a first-time visit to England’s erstwhile second city so, with a couple of hours to kill, we went walkabouts. Midway along New Street itself we found a colourfully festive Christmas market that reached as far as the eye could see to the east and west. Eastwards was our instinct.

We paused to partake of a little glühwein at the far end then sauntered further till we found a side alcove of St Martin in the Bull Ring church in which to rest discreetly for a while. Retracing our steps, we continued to the market’s western end. Twilight and rain had begun to fall as we took shelter with fried potatoes, mushrooms and of course, more glühwein, until it was time to find the address we’d been given.

Part 3 – Vivid Projects

Our host for the evening was Vivid Projects, based in the Warwick Bar complex of one-time factories and workshops that now accommodates services, industry and the arts. Google Maps faithfully delivered us to 16 Minerva Works, Fazeley Street, where we buzzed for admittance and were ushered through to a vast interior. It was cold and dark and moodily Spartan, but we were glad simply to be out of the rain.

Nikki was already on the scene and well advanced in constructing an elaborate pose space for us. There was a main stage, a side room for longer poses, and a backstage area for our preparations. Heaters were many, but of limited effectiveness in such a cavernous building. She introduced us to our fellow model for this event, the wonderful Geeta von Tease, and in due course painted me a skull-face. We were ready.

Part 4 – Death and the Maiden

As we neared 6:30pm, the warehouse began filling with patrons. Nikki emerged at the appointed time to set the scene for our evening’s entertainments and to get the artists warmed up by asking them to draw visions of death from their own imaginations. After this, Esther and I stepped forward in our robes for the first sequence of poses. It would be a reprise of the Death and the Maiden poses we’d presented in Oxford.

For 5-minutes we embraced in a twisted dance of death, each with one arm around the other’s body and our other arms high, holding hands. Next, for 7-minutes Esther feigned sleep while I hunched over her in sinister fashion, clutching a scythe. Finally in this sequence, Esther was seated for 10-minutes while I stood behind her, holding one of her arms; it was to remain ambiguous whether I was pulling or she was reaching.

Part 5 – Kali

As all this unfolded, Nikki was painting Geeta’s face blue in readiness for the following poses. Geeta would be Kali – the Hindu goddess associated with empowerment. She began with a 5-minute standing pose in which one arm was crooked upwards and the other downwards. After this, she posed for 10-minutes seated upright with both hands holding an Art Macabre finely-painted black clay skull on her lap.

Meanwhile, Esther and I had retreated to the long-pose space as it was equipped with a better heater than our backstage area. With just one chair available, I sat beside the heater and Esther sat on my lap. When Geeta started her second pose, Nikki joined us to give Esther a painted skull-face to match my own. For the second part of this evening we were both to be Santa Muerte – the Mexican personification of death.

Part 6 – Santa Muertes

Once more there would be three poses in our sequence: 5-minutes, 7-minutes and 10-minutes. For the first of these we both stood: Esther as red Santa Muerte upon a black-covered bench; me as white Santa Muerte with one foot on the floor, the other on the bench behind Esther. At the end came a catastrophe; as I lowered my raised foot, I accidentally kicked the hitherto unseen black skull and shattered it on the floor.

First gasps, then silence. I felt devastated but the show had to go on. Nikki remained composed and readied us for the next standing pose, in which I was the green Santa Muerte of luck – I couldn’t quite believe how bad mine had just been. In the long-pose room, oblivious to our drama, Geeta sat for a smaller group of artists. Our final pose of the evening was a tender Sante Muerte version of ‘Pietà‘ by Michelangelo.

Part 7 – an appreciation

As is customary at the end, after warm applause all around, the artists set out their works upon the floor for general admiration and for us to photograph. Notwithstanding the ill-fortune of a broken skull, everyone was relaxed and uplifted. The Vivid Projects people kindly furnished us with complimentary wine as we mingled and chatted and shared our mutual enthusiasms. It had been a good session.

Before Geeta, Esther and I disappeared to divest ourselves of draping and wash away our face paint, Nikki took photos that recreated our Pietà and captured us generally enjoying the moment. After our chilly wash in the kitchen we found that time was all too soon a-pressing; we had seats reserved on the ten past ten train back to London, with a twenty minute walk ahead of us first.

Part 8 – noodles

It was with deep regret that we bade farewell to Nikki as she still had much packing away to do. Her ticket was valid for any train, whereas ours could not be transferred. We left her in the capable care of the Vivid Projects team and returned once more to rainy streets. Outside Birmingham New Street station we paused to buy noodles from the Wok Your Way noodle bar before toiling to locate our platform.

As if to double our pain at leaving Nikki, it turned out she missed our train by only a few minutes. Her timing had been constrained by how long it took Vivid Projects to lock up and shuttle her to the station. Even so. We exchanged fond text messages and looked forward to our next adventure together. Maybe for 2016 we’ll collaborate in London – who knows? For now we love taking death drawing across the UK.

13 Dec 2015

The Bartlett, London, 30 November 2015

A minute to spare. The timeliness of my arrival at room 133 of The Bartlett School of Architecture could not have been cut much finer. It’s not my usual practice to leave it so late when making my début in a new building, but on this occasion I’d been undone by train failures on the Metropolitan line and the haphazard warren of rooms that is the school itself.

If the group’s organiser, Cova, had been anxious about me showing up at all, it did not show in her warm greeting. This date had been her third attempt to book me, so I was deeply grateful for her patience on more than one level. About half of her small band of artists was still to appear, so our time wasn’t quite as tight as it might otherwise have been. I spread my white sheet on the floor and changed into my robe.

When we got underway, our pose sequence was: 7-minutes, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 5, 5, 7 and 10-minutes up to an interval – a fairly dynamic opening session but comfortable in our little room. After the break we completed the second half with two 25-minute poses. It was a cosy, well-run evening with tasteful music playing throughout. I was glad finally to have made it here.

steve ritter

The Russet, Hackney, 14 December 2015