It is now Autumn here, and the days are blissfully cooler – but not by much. Still, I can never do anything creative it seems, in the burning heat of summer, so I look forward to Spring or Autumn when a surge of creative energy gets me going.

I went out and bought a number of canvases/framed hardwoods, and gloved up to prime them and then paint a layer of black oil paint on them in preparation for the coming burst of genius about to be revealed on their surfaces.

Then I was offered more work – twice as much more – at the current administration position I hold at University. It’s short term, but still, I can see these paintings will be put aside for all the other tasks now crammed in to one day of the week. (I don’t count weekends – that’s for cycling and catching up with friends).

SO: what you see now are two paintings I just finished today, before I put it all aside.

The first is a whimsical imagining of the phrase “Real Life Comes From Within” which is painted around the sides of this piece. Self-explanatory, and quirky.

And the second one I had started late last year, and just decided I’d better finish it now. It is nothing like the first. It’s on circular hardwood – the edge is about 1.5 cms – and it’s an impression of an old English town, such as the many I wound through in recent trips.

So, big TICK, that’s them done, and put aside. And Monday I roll up my sleeves and put on my administrator’s hat again. . .