Figuration was our tenth group exhibition in fifteen years of Stroud Life Drawing and what a fantastic show it was! With only one picture sold, it could be considered a commercial flop but that would be to miss the point of organizing an exhibition like this. Once in a while it's really worth digging out some of those drawings which rarely see the light of day, frame them up and hang them on a gallery wall for others to see. An eclectic mix of work in a wide variety of media, sizes and styles all came together well due to the common theme of the human figure and I was delighted with how it all looked. The quality of work was very high, so well done to everyone who took part.

​The artwork was hung and labelled on the Tuesday morning/afternoon and ready for a thoroughly enjoyable private view on the same evening. Not only was this a great celebration of art, creativity and life drawing, it was also the perfect way for me to celebrate my 60th birthday, which happened to be on that very evening. Many thanks to Helen for secretly baking a cake (how did she do that without me knowing?) and helping to make the evening so special, all after a hard day at work. Its worth having a photographic record of the occasion, as the actual exhibition is so quickly finished, and it was Helen who took most of the pictures below. Thanks also to Helen Hawk, Andy Hanks and everyone who contributed to that very special 60th birthday card (visible in one of the photos)........I was surprised, honoured and touched by that thoughtful gesture.

Thank you to all those artists who went to the trouble of framing and submitting work for the exhibition - without your commitment there would not have been a show! David, your help with hanging the pictures was invaluable and much appreciated by me - I thought we were an efficient team. A big thank you to Greg for the surprise birthday present of 20 litres of Stroud Brewery's finest OPA (that's Old Person's Ale - cheers Greg!). Thanks must also go to everyone who comes along to the drawing sessions for creating such a friendly, supportive and non-judgmental art space. Drawing the human figure is a difficult thing to do and, even after many years, it never seems to get any easier, so well done to all of you for taking up the challenge, embracing the difficulty and doing some art. I sometimes wonder whether we need any more pictures in the world but it's not all about the picture or the end product, its about the doing, the process, the observation and the collaboration between artist and model. Something special happens in the life room and this exhibition was a celebration of that. Long may it continue.
              
Keith Symonds