February 2025

15 Buckden Roundabout February 2025 Village News Buckden life drawing group Another year! As we go into 2025, I thought it might be of interest to give a report on the progress of the Buckden Life Drawing Groups (now two - history later). Membership numbers are up to about 40 across the two groups, with attendance averaging about 12 to 14 each session. There is fluctuation across the year as people take summer holidays or are involved in other projects, but numbers regularly pick up from Autumn to Spring. The group welcomes new people joining – there is no formality, and it ’ s fascinating how distinctly different everyone ’ s work is. Some artists like and understand colour, others see form and shape (chiaroscuro!). Some draw the whole figure, others draw features, portraits, torsos, or hands (which can be very expressive). Most of the members do other creative works such as landscapes, oil painting, illustration, abstracts, textile and design work. But we all gain inspiration and skill from the formal study in figure drawing. It ’ s a long tradition of art education going back to classi- cal times. Recently there has been great public interest in the Renaissance life drawing and painting exhibitions at the King ’ s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, and at the Royal Academy, London. The BBC has also shown the fascinating docudrama of Michaelangelo, which drew a wide audience. Regional interest in life drawing seems very strong and other groups flour- ish in Bedford, Cambridge, and Milton Keynes. The Buckden Group have now held three successful exhibitions at St. Neots Museum and hope to do another in the near future. Most group members are local, some travel to us, and some are members of other groups where there is some tuition. At Buckden we just do “ our own thing ”. Each ses- sion starts with a few short poses – great for getting dynamic movement in positions too painful for models to hold for long. Then a long pose (with a rest break), which gives time for more in - depth study. Very occasionally, if a model is delayed, we take turns to sit or stand for the group. It ’ s a sharp reminder of how demanding it is to hold a static po- sition. Models certainly earn their fee. The Wednesday group has now been running for about 10 years, and the Thursday evening group for over 40 years. It started in the 1980s at Huntingdon Regional College, partly to help the Art Department lecturers keep up their skills, partly to help Art stu- dents, and also for anyone keen to draw. For Art students, this provided essential portfolio content when applying for higher level courses in Fine Art, Illustration, etc, and, of course, fashion and costume design. As Huntingdon Regional College Art department shrank and changed, the thriving Life Drawing group was able to move to Bucken ’ s own splendid Village Hall. You may be amused to know that the Thursday group was originally called ‘ Pencil Squeezers ’ – the Art version of ‘ Pen Pushers ’. Sadly, in the last couple of years we have lost a few members, notably Geoff Pawling – well known in the area as a wonderful teacher, a refined and gen- erous spirit, and a talented artist. A true polymath. And Penny Hunt, who charmed us all with her sub- tle and sensitive drawings and her general enthusi- astic support for the group. And lastly Graham Hoadley who for health reasons was not able to join as much as he would have liked. He produced highly accomplished drawings and had fascinating stories of his long career in advertising and fashion illustra- tion. Lastly, we all want to say a big ‘ thank you ’ to Buck- den Village Hall and its wonderful staff. We know how superior our Village Hall is compared to other venues, with their leaking roofs and cold draughts (models must be kept warm). And also ‘ thank you ’ to the Roundabout for the op- portunity to include the news bulletins and for their continuing support. Wishing you a Happy and Creative New Year. Terry Sladden