shhh…no-one will notice…

BLOGANUARY 2025 DAY 9

I could lie and say that my post accidentally didn’t get uploaded until now, but the truth is that I got in late last night and ended up losing time to YouTube and suddenly realised it was 11.50pm, and, Cinderella-like, I thought I might turn back into a pumpkin halfway through writing so decided to just skip a day. I know, I know, and yes, I felt sufficiently underwhelmed by my flakiness to hop on here after a brief scribble in my morning pages to write yesterday’s post, as it were.

I went to London to help run the life drawing class which I co-hosted pre-Lockdown with the founder, Ann. I started going in 2016, and I think I went on either the first or second session, as I was doing an art foundation course and had to find some life drawing for one of my assignments. I went to one in Brighton but bizarrely the train times and prices are such that it was easier, quicker, and cheaper to go to London, even though Brighton is much nearer to me. When I lived in my previous house I used to love my regular trips to London, as my house was on a farm in the middle of beautiful Sussex countryside, and my weekly travels to the West End meant I got away from mud and responsibility for an extended afternoon, which as a lone parent of 3 home-schooled kids and a menagerie of animals, was deeply necessary.

Fast forward to now and I no longer have to escape a delightful but draughty cottage sitting in the midst of the Weald Clay, and my youngest now looks after my dog for me, meaning the whole exercise is perfectly straightforward. Numbers at Soho Life Drawing, however, have dropped dramatically since the pandemic, and even being a non-profit means there’s not much extra cash, and because I need/am entitled to claim my travel expenses, it doesn’t make sense for me to go if there are local people to help, plus the trains, er, aren’t always reliable (being polite here). Consequently, I have not been for months and months.

Aaaanyway all this to say that last night Ann was left a bit high and dry, and January is normally a good time for the class as everyone is a bit broke and hungover, and the idea of quiet, wholesome drawing in the warm (the Meeting Room is heated to accommodate the model) is appealing so the attendance swells accordingly.

It was a bit bizarre as I of course am really familiar with the set-up but nobody knew who I was. I also run the social media accounts, so I know people by their artwork, which caused some puzzled looks. The warden at the venue did a double-take and then recognised me, and someone I remember from before was clearly trying to work out if he knew me, so it was nice to catch up with him.

I didn’t get much drawing done as I found it tricky to concentrate, and also I am extremely rusty. I managed a couple of sketches of the gorgeous Vanesa, so here they are, along with some birds I drew on the train journey to Charing Cross.

See you um, “tomorrow”……..🤭