AUGUST 2024

Thursday 1.8.24

E mail from Fabio, chair of the Japanese Research Centre at SOAS University of London, thanking me for the talk I gave there in March asking if I will give another talk there on the art and creativity course at the end of August. To which of course I agree

After brunch and spending time working in the garden, go up to the studio to do some more work on the newspaper painting, particularly the figures. Later transfer energies back to the boy, the bear and the badger painting which work on until 2.30 am.

Friday 2.8.24

Another e mail from Fabio asking if I will also give a Zoom talk to their students in Japan who will first be in Tokyo and then at the Morohashi Museum. To which of course I again agree.

Also an e mail from Clare the head at Alderman Knight saying that Speller Metcalfe can come and collect Midnight for his installation there on the week beginning the 12th, which is brilliant.

Paint a small portrait of Kier Starmer into the Sunday Mirror on the newspaper painting Winning Weekend. Unlike this weekend when there are so many right wing riots. An appalling way to behave causing mass destruction and probably fear in the hearts of the shop owners and buildings they are targeting. It cannot help the grieving families and communities of the three little girls who were so cruelly murdered or the people who were critically injured and are still in hospital. I’ve always liked to feel that we were perhaps above that sort of behaviour that we so often see in other countries where they don’t always have democracy or the same sort of judicial system that has been a model for the rest of the world.  Social media is also a culprit when it allows false information to circulate and spread so quickly.

Saturday 3.8.24

Richard’s doing a grand job shaping our Mexican honeysuckle, lilac and ivy hedges, ending the outside day cutting one of the vibernum bushes at the entrance to the studio drive into what we call a lollipop shape.

‘Phone call from Henrietta - they are on their way back from Devon, having had a glorious week with all Kev’s extended family.

Have also been working on one of the small box-like paintings with the idea of having a carved bear on top but am not quite sure, having painted him, when due to his scale he perhaps detract from the painting.

Sunday 4.8.24

Richard’s now cut both of the vibernums into lollipop shapes which look really good. He’s cooked another delicious three-day fish and bean curry as well as assisting me with lettering on the newspaper painting.

Monday 5.8.24

The weather’s a little cooler and slightly more overcast today though still collect a good crop of blackberries and a few raspberries for my brunch.

I’m trying to catch up on some of the paintings that I had put to one side before they were really finished so that I could move on to new ideas. But today is payback time and I work on the Horse & Rider and Allegra & the Animals Through the woods. I’m appalled at how much I had left to do particularly on the bottom and underparts of the frame on each as it is a particularly rounded and three dimensional frame. It’s always a problem when you are creating something from nothing so to speak, ideas that grow out of your head, in this case loosely inspired by literature, it is easy to see roughly painted imagery as being much further on than it really is, as four days ago it was a blank canvas. But then that is part of the magic of the creative process and what compels me to keep on making paintings.

Tuesday 6.8.24

E mail from Professor Masa who is coming over with his wife Keiko for the course at SOAS, suggesting possible times to meet up.

E mail from Ellie saying that a new magazine, Cotswold Cloche is doing a article on artists to invest in and she’s going to write piece on me. She wants a few words on what inspires me etc

Wednesday 7.8.24

Still adding further detail and refining the horse, rider & bear and Allegra & the animals. through the Woods

Thursday 8.8.24

Richard has a telephone appointment with his consultant who rings at about 2.45. The good news is that the blood test results are good and after asking him all the usual questions all seems well. There will be another one in three months unless he notices any changes beforehand. Henrietta rings from Salou to see how he has got on. She is having a  lovely time with Katrina, her friend from student days, whose parents have an apartment there.

Back on the commissions trying to make headway particularly on a family group for a writer friend which also includes a painting of his grandmother and the stained glass window from the house of the grandparents in Scotland and a couple of his books, one of which reproduces several of my paintings. So it’s rather complex as it also includes their cat and dog - touchingly he would like it to become a family heirloom. I currently have five commissions on easels in all, not to mention the many works in progress for the exhibition. So all my easels are full. Tempus fugit.

Friday 9.8.24

Lovely e mail from Nathan who’s working in Singapore, with a copy of the e mail from a director who wants him to be the production designer on the film of Edith Wharton’s The Custom of the Country. She’s thanking him for taking the time to talk to him via Zoom and for the mod boards - how much she would like to work with someone “..so talented and considerate..” we’re so pleased for him to be in such demand. Henrietta told us last night that Kev has been offered a directorship which would mean that he and the other people who work for the company will share the profits (like Aardman have just done). Wonderful too that her job, even though universities have been making redundancies, is secure.

I feel very blessed.

Saturday 10.8.24

Work intensely on the family portrait commission as hope to finish it in time for their anniversary until about 3am.

Sunday 11.8.24

Add just a little more on the family portrait on the front and more flowers to the side and a ball underneath on the bottom of the frame. Then Richard photographs it in the studio over the Lane and we send it off to the David.

A little later, an e mail from him saying Wow!  and he didn’t think I’d manage to get it done so quickly. But I told him he’d actually jumped the queue as his wedding anniversary was so imminent.

Monday 12.8.24

Henrietta rings to say they had a lovely time with Gill and Isaac and Izzy had a very good week in Devon in their other grandparents’ apartment but that the train they had booked from Barnstable to Exeter  had been cancelled so she paid for them to have a taxi from Barnstable to Exeter.  They had had a great week weather wise too. Samuel was staying at a friend’s and she just cooking a chilli dish for Isaac who she suspects might have had a fairly limited diet of fish and chips during the week.

I am working on a small box-construction painting for my forthcoming exhibition Byron’s Bear & Menagerie

Tuesday 13.8.24

David comes to collect his painting which he is very pleased with. He arrives bearing a beautiful bunch of white roses, lilies, stocks chrysanthemums and michaelmas daisies.

Wednesday 14.8.24

I’m trying to tie up all the loose ends before embarking on our journey tomorrow evening, painting dark backdrops on a couple of pieces I’m taking with me to work on in the London studio and make a vague start on one. Packing paints to take both to Italy in one of my cases and a much larger box for London on the following week. So it’s pretty late by the time we call it a day as I’m also needing to pack a few birthday  presents for my sister Gill and Nathan who we will be visiting on our return from Venice.

Thursday 15.8.24

The day starts with Richard coming in to tell me we’ve just received Isaac’s A level results. He’s done really well at both Business and Media and an A* for Photography. We’re so pleased for him as he’s exceeded the results he needed to study Film & Television Production in Falmouth.

Richard has the car packed up and we set off to Bristol at about 5.30, arriving at the RWA at about 7pm. It rains heavily for most of the journey so he drops me off at the door, where I almost immediately see Grace and so hand her the labels and my cheque towards the Academicians’ prize. The first person I meet on arriving upstairs is George Ferguson the architect, ex Mayor of Bristol, former president of the RIBA and now chairman of the Trustees, who tells me I’ve just missed the speeches so I tell him we’ve just travelled up from Cheltenham. The exhibition is beautifully hung through the two main galleries. On the very end wall in the centre is the digital print by Peter Blake “I Love You” with its very vibrant yellow, reds blues and greens. Either side of it are Peter Randall Page screenprints. There’s a Kurt Jackson in the centre of one of the side walls and Charlotte Verity almost opposite. Perhaps one of our favourites is largeish Karl Weschke (d2005) an architectural (Ancient Egyptian?) painting in browns and olives. The first person I meet is dear Jenny who comes across the gallery with arms outstretched to greet me; to say hello. she asks where ‘the boy’ is and Richard seems to appear in gallery at just that moment. I’m chatting with them when Emma Sykes from Bonhams the auction house comes up to say ‘hello’. We have a long and interesting chat. She then introduces me to Ren, the new director of the RWA who is delightful and seems to have great warmth and wit. Alison was going to be a very hard act to follow but I think she and the rest of the Academy staff and trustees have found just the right person who is very engaging. Whilst I’m talking to her Katherine, the Academy’s curator and exhibition organiser comes up to introduce herself; she is lovely - again warm and friendly. We all three sing the praises of the gloriously refurbished RWA galleries. Fiona the President also comes up and says she has already seen the two works I sent for the annual exhibition.

It’s then time to set off for Gatwick and the Sofitel where we arrive about midnight in readiness for being a the airport departure lounge at 5 in the morning. We go up to the room then Richard goes down again to meet the man parking the car. After unpacking the bare necessities, get into bed for our four hours sleep although it’s hard to really go off at least we’re resting.

Friday 16.8.24

… At half past four we wash dress and clean our teeth after eating a kiwi and a couple of bananas. Then set off pulling our suitcases behind us.

We’re not in the departure lounge very long before Henrietta, Kev and Samuel arrive; Izzy and Isaac follow having been ferried to the airport by her Mum after being at a nightclub for the A level celebrations so had only had an hours sleep in the car en route although you wouldn’t know it as they had already changed at the airport - well not until on the flight where we could see them and Samuel two rows behind us all fast asleep.  Henrietta and I eat our oat and fruit whilst Kev and Richard eat their baguettes from Pret amonge. The flight is smooth and we arrive in Verona just after eleven local time. A large taxi is waiting for Isaac, Izzy, Samuel, Henrietta and me to take us to Garda Riviera as we can’t book  into the villa until 2. So we have lunch at the side of the Lake Garda. Henrietta ‘phones the agent asking if we can meet him there as Kev and Richard are travelling here in a rented car via a supermarket to collect provisions. The agent kindly says he will come and pick us up and takes Henrietta and me up to the villa and then goes back for the youngsters.

The villa is high up and has a beautiful view right across Lake Garda, the foreground punctuated with cyprus, olive and palm trees.  A timeless vista which Henrietta decides is the best view we’ve had from all our summer villas. Probably because this isn’t quite as remote as some. I persuade Samuel to go into the pool for a swim with his boxer shorts as his trunks are in the baggage that Kev and Richard are bringing in the car.

It’s a big villa that has balconies and a verandah all overlooking the lake. Our room is on the ground floor and has a rather magnificent palm tree outside. The Lake can be seen from all aspects. The only thing missing are matches or a lighter for the traditional barbecue with its traditional Italian chimney, so Kev cooks chicken etc in the oven and Richard makes ratatouille and pasta on the top which still tastes delicious eaten outside under the covered eating area, a meal enjoyed by all .

Saturday 17.8.24

Henrietta and Kev go out to collect more provisions and collect a gaz lighter for the barbecue. Most of the day is spent by them in the pool although I do take advantage of this by starting a charity piece for the Transplant Links Community which helps to enable transplants especially in third world countries. I eat my breakfast outside with Henrietta after she has done her daily thirty five minute swim and I have done my daily aerobic exercises. It’s wonderful to be here with them all.

Kev cooks on the outdoor brick barbecue on one end of the villa after preparing an Apparel for both Henrietta and me. He cooks the prawn kebabs Henrietta prepared and Richard makes a ratatouille. It’s glorious sitting there looking over the lake with the lights twinkling on the opposite shore.

Sunday 18.8.24

I manage to almost finish the Eight Badgers Digging for the transplant charity request. They actually gave me a choice of which card I would like to do a painting for and I picked the Eight of Spades.

Monday 19.8.24

It’s lovely being able to have breakfast with Henrietta after her long swim each day, during which time I do my exercises.

Henrietta and Kev take the boys and Izzy kayaking at the beach whilst I manage to finish the Eight Badgers Digging for the Deck of Cards international transplant charity and start another  small piece for my Byron’s Bear & Menagerie exhibition.

In the evening I treat them all to dinner at a rather stylish pizzeria in Gardone Riviera which is such a pretty place. I tell them it is to celebrate Henrietta & Kev’s anniversary which was in May and Issac and Izzy’s splendid A level results and Samuel’s forthcoming GCSE results on Thursday. The pizzas are huge ! I’ve ordered one with an egg on it but without ham or bacon so that I get my daily egg and I notice that Henrietta and I only manage to eat the centre portions of ours. We’ve spotted that there is a lovely ice cream shop almost next door - like Kev I have the pistachio and we all walk down the beautiful lake-side with distant boat lights twinkling on the sea. Kev again ferries us in two loads going back for Isaac and Izzy who seem happy to wait and enjoy this enchantingly romantic vista sitting in a tiny alcove on the lake front.

Whilst he collects them we sit on the verandah at the front of the villa when I notice firework display on the opposite side of the lake, probably an Italian Bank Holiday celebration. .

Tuesday 20.8.24

I actually lie out on one of the sun loungers next to Henrietta for about an hour in the late afternoon when it is still exceedingly hot then when they have all gone in I take a quick dip, swimming on my back.

Kev is cooking a grand barbecue tonight as tomorrow he’s flying back from Venice with the boys and Izzy for Samuel who will be getting his GCSE results on Thursday morning and then going on to the Reading Festival which now seems to be a rite of passage for young people who have just received their results, taking their tents and camping out at their first music festival. We have a lovely evening, Kev making me another aperol spritz which of course come in very large balloon glasses so I hold it a long way in front of me for Henrietta to take a photograph so that it looks enormous in the photograph she sends to Nathan.

Tonight there is a huge orange moon floating in the sky and reflecting in the lake, it’s quite magical so I point it out to the boys and Izzy who also take photographs of it. It’s a lovey meal and Richard also does his usual ratatouille. It’s wonderful to be able to buy such good passata locally

Wednesday 21.8.24

They all spend the morning swimming in the pool until vacating the villa at 2pm. We’re being picked up by a car and driver who will transport us to Venice whilst Kev, Samuel, Isaac and Izzy will be driving to the airport there. Our drive only takes about two hours and is very picturesque as much of it is along the side of Lake Garda. The drive over the sea on the causeway is stunning. Because vehicles aren’t allowed on the islands of Venice itself the car drops us at a point. But we are able to walk from here to the hotel over the little bridges that take an extra bit of navigating with our baggage as most of them consist of steps either side. It is an enjoyable walk savouring all the delightful vistas.

Sitting in the hotel lobby are a lovely group of black American ladies who tell Richard what a good hotel it is and there aren’t any mosquitoes. We go to our rooms - Henrietta’s overlooks a canal and ours over the courtyard. Henrietta’s also has a grander golden bedhead and mural behind it but we have the lighter bathroom. We arrange to meet in half an hour when Henrietta comes to our room and we set off on our first expedition. We’re looking for a restaurant that Richard had read about in Lonely Planet. It’s still very hot and beautifully sunny as we make our way along the grand canal and then through various little alleyways. We come to a little calle with diners eating under sunshades and Richard decides that this must be the place. At six o’clock it’s still quite early for dinner but as we haven’t eaten since breakfast it seems like a good idea. Henrietta and I have an Aperol then after the meal Henrietta treats us to ice cream from the conveniently placed shop. I enquire what the turquoise blue ice cream is and the young woman tells me it is spirulina so I decide to try it. although it doesn’t really taste of it, just of ice cream. We’re now on an expedition to find Byron’s house. Henrietta uses the sat nav on her ‘phone to guide us, which is quite difficult as it tends to say things like “up steps” at each little bridge over a canal. After many wrong turnings we eventually find it; it’s now quite dark and I imagine the menagerie living on the ground floor of this now museum. We take photographs and then walk down to little alley at its side which is not lit so Richard who is in the lead stops just in time before stepping into the narrow unguarded canal. We then wend our way back in the darkness through occasional squares where merry diners are lit up  under canopies and then along the well lit Grand Canal where life is far more apparant from the sound of the laughter and enjoyment of revellers we make our way back to the hotel with its white arched windows on a warm red background

Thursday 22.8.24

We breakfast in the little courtyard , Henrietta particularly full of anxiety worried about Samuel’s GCSE results. Kev will be at the school with him now and it seems like an age before she receives a text from Samuel. Eight As, seven of which are A*. We are all over the moon for him though I have to admit I always knew he would do well as he did in both in his mocks and his term work. A concientious boy he didn’t need the nudging from Henrietta that his big brother did. We are so pleased that both have exceeded the requirements for their next step, Samuel into the sixth form and Isaac to university to study film and television production. Feeling elated  we set out shortly afterwards over the little bridges to the vaparetto stop in front of the station. But this was perhaps our most difficult task, Richard manages to buy the tickets but then decides when we get through the barrier that we’re in the wrong queue so we have to crouch down and get under the barrier and after pondering the timetables he goes to the ticket office only to find out we had been in the right queue. But being the nearest stop to the train station there are huge queues and several boats stop to let people off but only very few on. For most of the time we are under the shade but as we near the front of the queue we are again in the intense heat. But eventually we are on board this water bus where we get off at The Accademia on the other side of the Grand Canal to St Marks. We then walk to the Peggy Guggenheim Museum which is housed in the palace she lived in on the Grand Canal. It’s a beautiful building with a sculpture garden. The collection is stunning and it’s  brilliant that this woman who made friends with so many artists of her era and collected works, sometimes bought  whilst others were given by the artists, to make a public collection. It’s so light that the beautiful white walls show the paintings  off to perfection. From semi abstract Kandinskys through to artists like de Chirico’s Red Tower which looks striking even in the context of the numerous outstanding figures of the era. We walk down to the water entrance with its semi circular ballustraide and two lions presumably both St Mark above which the witty and cheeky Mario Marini figure on horseback. We have lunch in the museum’s beautiful garden cafe, a delightful place to sit and discuss the works. We visit the bookshop and find a book on Cocteau for Nathan and then make our way to the Accademia which is only a few minutes walk and full of the most exquisite icons and religious art which historically went back to the thirteenth century. Breathtakingly beautiful this glorious set of  buildings was once a convent. An abundance of Tinterretto, Veronese, the Bellini brothers and Titian plus many beautiful pieces where the name of the artist has been lost. A huge room within a room where one could hear restoration work taking place as part of the Venice Restoration fund. The collection was truly overwhelming and beyond compare to see so many magnificent religious works together. We were there until it closed and were amazed that at the vaparetto stop almost outside, we only waited a very short time and were able to get onto the first one that came along so the journey back was very much quicker. We set out about an hour later to find somewhere good to eat but it was already getting dark. We wended our way retracing last night’s steps though went very much further so were off the beaten track. We found somewhere that would serve us but the venue didn’t look quite as exciting as we would like when crossing over a little bridge lying next to a narrow canal with a church on one side we happened across the restaurant that Richard had been looking for yesterday that had the write-up in the Lonely Planet Incidentally that guide book says that this part of Venice is the one you are most likely to get lost in! But sometimes the journey takes an unexpected turn and you and end up in the place you set out for yesterday. I have a fruit de mer, Henrietta has spaghetti and Richard a spinach raviolli. And we drink a toast to Samuel, Henrietta and I with aparel and Richard with a beer. It’s wonderfully warm and the lights reflect in the dark water of the little canal where a gondola stops and delivers two people. We’re very pleased that we just happened upon the restaurant that Richard had been searching for last night. It is wonderfully quiet here as there are no other eateries or bars or even people passing by. We leave as they are beginning to clear tables. It was an interesting phenomenon that most of the restaurants seem to be closed by 10.30pm although we did pass the odd one in little alley ways where people were still sat outside enjoying their Venetian food.  I think the traditional dish is peas and rice, this is certainly what the Doge offered to the sea. It’s enchanting passing through these  mysterious little passageways and squares by moonlight. Again we make our way back to the Grand Canal where there are still lots of people promenading  up and down the beautifully lit waterway and over the steps onto the little walkway by the side canal into our hotel.

Friday 23.8.24

After breakfast we go in search of I Frari and e route we pass a poster for the Venice Film Festival where Harvest the film Nathan designed last year and which featured Richard’s maps is being premiered so we take a photo of Richard next to it. I Friari is situated just past St Roche which has fifty Tintoretto which is why it is via Tintoretto we are walking down. However onto I Frari which houses Titian’s extraordinary 6 metre high altarpiece The Assumption where Mary ascends into heaven. The church is so vast that even at this height the painting doesn’t look huge. Titian’s tomb is also housed here with a huge figure of the painter though opposite is a white triangular monument which was originally designed by Canova to be Titian’s memorial but when Canova died his former pupils decided it would be right for him. It looks incredibly modern due to its beautiful simple white marble triangular shape at the bottom of which is a doorway making it feel immensely symbolic. There are six sculptures including the lion for St Mark/Venice and although they are probably larger than life size they feel quite small due to the immensity of this white triangle each is by a pupil of Canova. We sit and contemplate Titian’s masterpiece in its splendid original setting for many minutes before moving onto the Bellini triptych altarpiece in the next chapel which isn’t quite as vast in scale but very beautiful. In the refectory there is another room within a room where they are doing restoration work which I imagine goes on most of the time.

On the way back we stop at a little br sitting outside in the sunshine for a drink and Richard has a petit hors d’oevre then we walk back to the hotel to collect our luggage. So now comes the mammoth task of negotiating two bridges including a large one over the Grand Canal having managed the small one. Henrietta has a plan of taking me over and leaving me on the far side with some of the baggage whilst she goes back and returns with Richard and the other bags. I had been sorely tempted to have one of the men with the large woven baggage carriers but Henrietta said he was much too expensive ad didn’t seem to quite understand where we were going. I stand in the shade of a little tabaconist watching the throngs of people to-ing and fro-ing; there is always an air of great excitement. It’s not long before I see them both coming down laden with luggage, partially my fault as I aways take paints and prepared birch panels etc for painting on. For such a beautiful, graceful girl Henrietta is wonderfully strong, helped I imagine by all the swimming and yoga. And very caring too. Now we are all on the north side we set off up past the 12M million Euro glass bridge which would have been the other alternative crossing as the steps are very much shallower but it would have meant negociating more small bridges first. It’s a superb dynamic really where everyone is either on foot or travelling by water which is why we are off to catch the water bus that will take us around the Lagoon calling at the islands. We are just having a drink when we see one arrive although it earlier than the one on our schedule they tell us it is the right one so we are surprised when at the next stop we have to get out of our rather advantageous position right at the front of the boat to disembark as something is wrong with the boat. But it’s not long before a much bigger vessel arrives to collect us and we make the exciting journey travelling past the back of so many beautiful churches and buildings stopping at Guidecca, St Marks, the Lido  up to Murano past the cemetary island of St Michael then onto the the narrow waterway (between hidden sandbanks) marked by wooden posts protruding out of the water similar to those used by the gondaliers. At the culmination of this two hour voyage around the islands we eventually reached Marco Polo airport and all for 15 euros each. The nicest journey to an airport we have had. We’re in good time so are able to have a spot of lunch before going into the departure lounge where I am buying a Venetian cake for both Gill, who we are seeing tomorrow to celebrate her birthday and one for Nathan whose birthday we are going to celebrate with him in Ramsgate on Tuesday. And a box of biscuits for John who has been kindly taking our post in each day plus red wine for Gill and champagne for Nathan. We realise we can’t quite remember where we left Richard sitting and I have a fear of having to have an announcement made over the speaker when Henrietta eventually spots him in the distance fast asleep. No long afterwards we’re called and go through the gates down a lot of stairs where  two air stewards and another official are waiting for the bus to take us to the ’plane. The attendant keeps ‘phoning and still no sign of the bus though a car picks up the two female stewards. A youngish woman further back in the queue strides down to the front and says “ Do you realise we should be in the air by now” in a rather cross voice but although many large buses drive back and forth it is quite a while longer before one stops for us, dropping us off on the tarmac to ascend the stairs like the animals going onto the ark. Kev booked us good seats right at the front especially for R to have leg room. As we take off it’s interesting to watch the two rather glamorous young air stewards who are sitting only  six feet away. Seeing them chattering to each other through the glass screen that divides us and illuminated by the evening sunlight, they look like figures in an Italian fresco. The flight doesn’t take too long and we gain the hour back arriving just after 8.30pm though by the time we’ve collected the baggage and then the car it is dark and considerably cooler. We stop en route to pick up a few provisions as we’ll be in the flat for the next week where it is a joy to arrive as we haven’t been here since earlier in the year. Having this familiar pied a terre in London is a great refuge to stay in and to work in.

Saturday 24.8.24

But today we’re off to the charming little village of Blunham in Bedfordshire as a slightly late birthday celebration for my sister Gill whose actual birthday fell on the 22nd whilst we were in Venice. The weather is rather cooler than it was there so it takes a little adjustment. The journey only takes about an hour and a half. When we arrive at her beautiful house which was once lived in John Donne the poet and priest when he was Dean of St Paul’s and Rector of Blunham. The house still has some remnants of wall paintings from that time. It’s lovely to see her and Ian, her partner of ten year after losing Howell. They are a good match and have brought a lot of happiness into each other’s lives. Although the house is listed they have had a lot done to the kitchen recently which looks beautiful and they show us with pride the ergonomic design of the moving shelves within the corner cupboards. Her dear dog Duke is wearing a warm purple coat as he is now rather elderly and can’t see of hear very well and has trouble moving his back legs. He wants to go into the garden so I grab my umbrella and join them. it has become a ritual that Gill and I walk around our gardens together when visiting but hers is very much more kempt than ours and beautifully considered whereas ours tends to have more of a will of its own with many plants having self seeded by happenstance. When we get up to the vegetable garden with its raised beds with enormous cabbages etc, she points out the seedlings that I had asked her to take, not knowing quite what they were as I had inadvertently left the packets outside on a terracotta tray when the weather was good but it rained and the packets stuck together. Not wanting to waste them I planted them all in a big terracotta pot. They look like courgettes or pumpkin seeds but only time and her tlc will reveal the answer.

They have prepared a feast. Gill has made large sundae dishes of prawn cocktail for starters and Ian has cooked sea bass with potatoes from their garden and asparagus. The fish is delivered by their mobile fishmonger who drives down from Grimsby. Followed by a fresh fruit and cream flan that Gill has made. We sit chattering a long time before departing at about 9.30 pm arriving home at the flat about 11.

Sunday 25.8.24

Today I’m painting with my easel in front of the bow window on a little work briefly started in my studio at home before we set out, it’s for the Small Paintings Group exhibition at the Russell Gallery in Putney. It’s a little owl but it’s not until I start working on it again that I decide it is Athena’s Little Owl and start to paint in architectural columns vaguely echoing the Acropolis with sculpted figures balanced on the architrave that runs atop and unites the supporting pillars.

Henrietta rings. She and Kev have spent the weekend at his sister Jo and husband Nick near Swindon so that they can be within reach of Reading Festival where Samuel and his classmates and thousands of others of similar age are celebrating their GCSE results camping in little tents. But they have now driven to our house in Bishops Cleeve to collect tablets for Richard and two frames that Sam has made up for me, one being for another small painting I started at the villa at Lake Garda and she’s just checking to see if there is anything else we need. It’s so kind of them as although they say it was only a thirty five minute drive from Swindon they will now have the long two or three hour drive back to Blackheath.

Monday 26.8.24

I continue working on Athena’s Little Owl through the day and into the evening but we go next door to join Henrietta for supper

Richard packs and posts the Eight Badgers Digging that I painted in Lake Garda, to the transplant charity who will also make decks of cards

Tuesday 27.8.24

Today is Nathan’s birthday and we drive down to Ramsgate with Henrietta to help him celebrate it. He’s had a birthday party over the weekend where he’d cooked ramen for his friends but today is a family affair. We arrive at about 2pm and sit out in the sunshine in his garden sipping champagne and nibbling pastries. We go down to the beach for a walk with Bea. She so loves it when Nathan throws the ball out into the waves and she always manages to find it even though it’s a long distance and the ball is no longer visible. In the evening we walk down to a lovely restaurant in an old hotel on the sea front for dinner. Richard has battered cod and I a seafood plater. Henrietta and I have a cocktail in which I ask for less gin. It was a delightful meal and evening made all the nicer by the beautiful view and the sea front walk there and back. When we return we serve the Italian cake we had brought from Venice for Nathan, which seemed to be covered with a sugary merengue topping on which we’ve put candles. We then give him his birthday presents one of which is a portrait sketch in paint I had made of him as a boy and several books. We leave about 9 as Henrietta has to work tomorrow. She continues to work on her laptop as she had on the journey there.

Wednesday 28.8.24

I’d managed to varnish the painting Athena’s Little Owl  last night which Richard now packs up and posts to the Russell Gallery. Although the gallery is only in Putney it would have taken quite a long time to get there and cost at least as much. Meanwhile I am working on the little painting Along the Canal  for my exhibition using one of the frames Henrietta and Kev collected on Sunday from Bishops Cleeve.

Thursday 29.8.24

Continue working on Along the Canal   In the evening have supper with Henrietta - Kev, Isaac and Samuel are playing football.

Friday 30.8.24

We say goodbye to Henrietta ad Kev and the flat and drive into London to the Russell Hotel which is a rather wonderful Edwardian decorative red brick building where Keiko and her friend the lovely Japanese florist married to an American who have lived here for twenty years, are waiting to greet us; shortly after we are joined by Masa. who has been teaching on his new course at SOAS. I have fish but Masa and Keiko and her friend all go for hamburgers. Richard goes for the battered cod but mine is a much lighter dish with creamed potatoes and vegetables. We are then joined by Satona and Fabio (director of the Japan Research Centre at SOAS). It’s great to see them all as the last time we did was in March when I gave my first talk at SOAS, promoting this course. We then walk across Russell Square to SOAS and they spot their students sitting outside in the sunshine and we make our way up in the lifts to the lecture room, Last time I spoke in the auditorium but this feels a lot less formal.The students are lovely and very receptive asking pertinent questions and sometimes telling me a little about themselves. Today is a bit of a celebration as it is the completion of the course so we have a nice set of group photographs taken and we walk over to a patisserie that serves tea and cakes etc with Masa, Keiko. We are really still rather full from lunch. Again Fabio and Satona appear with the students who they are obviously treating but join our table to thank me profusely first.

We leave at about five saying good bye to Masa and Keiko who have escorted us back to the underground car park. They have become such dear friends. We then drive home on this gloriously sunny evening so that I can commence work on Byron’s Bear and Menagerie.

Saturday 31.8.24

We had been invited to a party in Bristol but I still have finishing off to do on the paintings for Richard to photograph tomorrow. It has been such a good month.