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7.15 am: Condensation; turns painterly, prospect; the water slides, like fingers down the pane; the chill air – elevating:

8.15 am: A communion. 8.45 am: No rain. Cloud break. Onto the streets, down Llanbadarn Road, around Pound Place, and up Trinity Road, towards the School. 9.15 am: I set up my PowerPoint for the morning’s ‘Let me lay it on the line’ talk to the second and third year painters, on Dr Forster’s modules. It’s helpful to begin the semester with a declaration of mutual expectation. I don’t mind hitting hard; they’re adults, and the world outside university will be utterly merciless when they leave us. There’s a hair’s bread of difference between sound teaching and sound parenting. (Extract from talk):

11.00 am: I was graced by a visit from Margaret Chilton (the late Stephen Chilton’s mum). It was lovely to meet again. We’d only, before, been able to talk briefly in the context of the Openings of his BA (Hons.) and MA shows. I’d wish her on anyone. On this occasion, we discussed the possibility of holding a posthumous one-man show of his painting, around mid 2020. This is a project that we’ve both wanted to realise ever since he died. I so enjoyed reminiscing. By the end of the conversation, I understood things about him that both surprised and delighted me. He was one of the most earnest and serious-minded persons that I’ve ever had the honour of knowing:

12.30 pm: A PhD fine art tutorial at the Old College over lunch. Our work may remain a mystery to us for a very long time. And there’s a strong likelihood that we’ll never fully grasp its significance. How can something that we’ve made, through a process of deliberate and self-aware decision making, add up to more than the sum of our contributions?

2.15 pm: I rushed to Boots to buy a small tube of toothpaste with which to clean my teeth prior to a dental appointment. Yet another filling that I’d had implanted decades ago had failed had needed replacing:

Afterwards, my face felt as though it had suffered a partial stroke. The numbness persisted until 8.00 pm. Then, I was digging into my inbox for the weighty, meaty, pressing, and worthy obligations that have been thrust upon me during the past few days.

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