The Affordable Art exhibition

I went to see my dentist who put in a temporary filling until I come back from my holiday.
Mas and I then went back to Edgware, had a sandwich and coffee at the small cafe near the station and then tubed it to Sloan Square where we followed our own tradition of having a glass of white wine in the downstairs bar of the Oriel which is one of our favourite places.














We were waiting for the shuttle bus and we noticed this thin building, and imagined that the room inside must have an end of about four feet wide, but when we moved the view changed.


















The bus arrived, and we were taken into Battersea Park to the Affordable Art show.
The art on display was interesting, and some seemed very good. I had a chance to talk to Linda Blackstone who has been having a busy and eventful time with her family. She was wearing red like me, but I noticed how many people were dressed in sober black and white while looking at the art.

















I rather liked these animal pictures, and thought a dog sculpture rather fun and clever as it was constructed using soft toys stitched together on a wooden frame.

















I admired some ceramics by Clare Wakefield which looked very organic and some as if found on a beach, the vases had some movable parts. http://clarewakefield.co.uk/
We had a soft drink before coming back home on the tube. We were both feeling really tired after spending the whole day looking at art. We dragged ourselves into the car, only to find it would not start! After trying for a while I was about to give up the ghost, but Mas persisted, and it eventually started and we drove thankfully home.

Unexpected illness and anxious driving

On Wednesday we went to St. Albans as usual, to get shopping, and meet up with Tania and Robert. We had lunch at the Bhua Thai restaurant and talked. Robert has been unexpectedly very ill and in hospital recently, but is looking and feeling much better now, so we had a lot to talk about before going back home again.

Yesterday we took four more pictures to Linda Blackstone's house in deepest Hertfordshire. I have become very nervous of driving, and if Mas is driving I feel the same, except on our usual driving routes. Anyone else could drive and I would have no fear at all, which is very unreasonable. We managed to deliver the paintings to her and get back to Stanmore, with me white knuckling it all the way. I had to have two restorative alcoholic drinks to get over the stress, despite it only being midday. We went shopping afterwards, and I walked past two friends without seeing them until they called me. We returned home, me feeling sheepish, and I spent the rest of the day trying to tidy up my studio.

Selecting pictures to frame and sociable goings on.

Having decided I could not paint a masterpiece right now, I enlisted Linda Blackstone's help to choose some pictures from those I have already painted, for mounting and framing. Although she was really busy packing up her gallery she took a long time helping me, and she picked exactly the right mount and frame for each picture. She is the artist! I am really looking forward to seeing them once they are done as they will look so much better framed.

Diane came over for dinner which was really nice and we drank the delicious wine she bought, exchanged Christmas gifts, and caught up with what has been going on. Due to one reason or another we had not seen each other for two months which is unusual for us.

Today I had a nice long e-mail from Betty who I also had not heard from lately. For some reason her computer had decided it did not need to work for a while, as they do, but after resting it is back, and standing to attention again.

I went the scenic way to Watford, on the bus, today and got some shopping. Now I must go and cook dinner.