9.20 am: On to the School for the new academic year’s first Open Day: There was a healthy number in attendance, throughout a glorious day – perhaps one of the last ‘summery’ residues of the season. Dr Forster held forth in the painting studio, demonstrating techniques and answering queries: Throughout the day staff were in advisory mode. Choosing what and…

Wednesday, September 11, 2019: My first CAT scan, at Bronglais Hospital, Aberystwyth. (I received an appointment in less than a week of seeing my GP. Impressed!) And what a solid piece of kit. The experience felt like an Alton Towers’ ride for the stationary brain: Throughout yesterday and today I focussed on the text transcriptions of The Biblical Record CD.…

Saturday, September 7, 2019: 7.30 am:  Off to London (again) for a final fling before the new academic year begins. It’s helps to be nourished, before the ship sets sail, by artists whose work I either find intriguing or admire beyond words. The afternoon was spent walking around Battersea Park with my elder son, while eating a Mr Whippyesque ’99,…

‘You may begin!’: 9.00 am: At the School, I rolled up my sleeves (metaphorically speaking) and helped the last few students hang their MA show: The Private View will be held on Saturday September 14, between 4.00 pm and 6.00 pm – following the University Open Day.: And, so began the process of clearing up the exhibition spaces before the…

Tuesday–Wednesday, September 3–4: I drifted in and out of the department, periodically, to oversee my tutees as they made professional decisions regarding the finalisation of their exhibition. Getting things absolutely right takes times, consideration, and consultation. Some students have observed a strict continuity with the work displayed at their first public outing; others have evolved significantly, to produce something that’s…

Saturday, August 31, 2019: A family day-out to Harlech Castle (which I’d often passed below, on the train, but never visited). The ruin passed all expectations. And the views from the towers … : We had a late lunch at Dylan’s Restaurant, Criccieth. The food was good, but the Art-Deco architecture, even more special. It was designed by Clough Williams…

7.30 am: I took the train for London for a brief visit to see my elder son. He’d invited me to a jazz Proms concert. News of the sudden and tragic death of one of the School’s former students and an employee at the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales had emerged over the past few…

Tuesday, August 27, 2019: A day, largely, of MA fine art tutorials with students who’ll be undertaking their second and final exhibition next month. Many have been working on this project flat-out since their last exhibition. They’re now reaching the point of exhaustion. This can be a dangerous time. Their judgement, confidence, and sense of both self worth and the…

Saturday, August 24, 2019: Work, this day, comprised on-line tutorials on the topic of identifying students who could, potentially, be radicalised. Now Higher Education staff are on the front-line of terrorist prevention (along with mental-health identification and referral, and other pastoral dimensions). Sunday, August 25, 2019: A family walk (more a climb, in my opinion) up Cadair Idris to Llyn…

I came across this etching recently at the exhibition Rembrandt in Print, held at the Lady Lever Art Gallery. Rembrandt reworked the plate for Segers’ ‘Tobias and the Angel‘ (c. 1630–33), which he owned, and redirected the subject matter to a different biblical story: Mary, Joseph, and the Christ-child’s flight into Egypt. I recalled Robert Rauschenberg’s more radical intervention in…