Do not remember the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you, Lord, are good (Psalm 25.7). 7.00 am: Breakfast. 7.30 am: A communion. Recently, a number of politicians and celebrities have been publicly vilified and denounced, as crimes and misdemeanours that they committed decades earlier have come to light. The passing…

The high winds blew over the wheelie-bin last night. I’d been woken often and for long. 7.40 am: ‘Up! This is late!’ Alarm was converted into haste. 8.15 am: A micro breakfast and communion before racing out of the front door like a schoolboy running for his bus. 9.00 am: At the School and the kettle, readied for the Thursday…

8.20 am: A communion. 8.45 am: An issue (in every sense of the word) of emails before settling to writing (interrupted by a period of blood-letting at my GP practice). Yesterday, as I was talking with a student whose work is improvisational in nature, a realisation struck me. It was already something I knew and understood. But, on this occasion,…

‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’ (Jeremiah 29.11) 7.20 am: Breakfast 8.00 am: A communion. Even people of faith get weary and a little lost at times. They’re exhausted by the slog, disappointed at themselves and circumstances,…

It’s curious how the feelings associated with a bad dream linger and scent the waking hours, thereafter. In my dream, I discovered that some rogue had stolen artwork and source material that I’d been working on, just as I was about to submit it to the commissioners. An unnerving sense of instability and approaching chaos hung over my breakfasting. (‘Too…

9.45 am: Having mixed draft compositions into the wee hours (when it was so, so quiet around and about), I gave myself an extra hour in bed. (‘Slacking, John!’, my ‘muse’ would’ve said.) The John Ruskin whimsy (and who’d have thought that you could get a laugh out of him) continues, sporadically: 10.00 am: A communion. 10.30 am: Studiology. The…

When the spiritual and the carnal are at odds, inevitably one must yield to the other. ‘No Snow … still!’ We’re often hard done by in Aberystwyth. The town catches the edge of the Gulf Stream, which raises the ambient temperature along this part of the coast by about 2°C – enough to keep the faint falls from accumulating. 8.15…

7.50 am: Dawn: feminine, healing, soft, reassuring, beguiling, sensual, surprising, awakening, and yielding to the day. 8.15 am: A communion. 8.40 am: Into the frosty air, travelling towards Old College. From 9 am to 11 am, I conducted two contrasting PhD Fine Art. The discussion ranged from archaeology to theology to blood-pressure tablets and Viagra (which women aren’t allowed to…

When you’re a busy person, there’s little time to entertain self-doubt about your practice. You just get on with it.  8.30 am: A slight flurry of snow that dissipated into rain. There was a sprinkling on the hills to the south. A grey blanket of cloud erupted into baroque cumulusness, before returning to its former state: 9.00 am: The annual undergraduate Exhibition 1 & 2: Introduction. This is,…