May 15–17: There’s unparalleled busyness at this time of the year. The finalisation of the shows is a painfully slow process. Nerves are frazzled, confidence ebbs and flows, paranoia is at the door, and the unexpected takes place as though on cue. But we all pull together to pull it off. I think that I’ve walked up and down the main staircase more times this week than in the past six months. (Integrated exercise.) I kept my poise throughout. But was the strain now beginning to show?:

At 5.00 pm on Friday, having examined the MA Portfolio painting students with Dr Forster in the morning, I left the School confident that we had it all in the bag. 6.30 pm: An evening of feedback composition and marking.

May 18: A morning of the same. 2.00 pm: Off to the School, before the undergraduate and postgraduate shows opened at 3.00 pm, to walk the studio floors one last time. I carried a packet of BlueTack. During this last week, the rooms have been fiercely warm during the days. At night, their temperature dropped. Sticky pads, dots, and double-sided tape can lose their tackiness as a consequence. I went round the exhibits reaffixing where necessary.

3.00 pm: The doors were opened; the crowds poured in. We’d gone public. It seems like more and more people arrive each year. There’re parents, guardians, children, grandparents, siblings, partners, friends, and other affiliates among the teaming hoard – in a practical display of solidarity and support. It’s a lovely occasion: the pinnacle of three-years’ work, sometimes achieved against insuperable odds.

It’s also an occasion for re-establishing links with former students going back many years. There’s the air of a family reunion. And, ‘Haven’t they grown?’: in stature, confidence, maturity, and success.