This has been a roller coaster of of a journey these last 4 months and indeed these last 13 years. Four months of equals exhibiting work in three locations came to an end on Saturday after a hectic last day of our ‘ephemera’ event in Ipswich Town Hall as part of the inaugural Recreate Ipswich scheme. It turns out that we were very much trail blazers for using the gifted Gallery 3 space but this was educational in that we had all sorts of obstacles to overcome to make it work. Team dynamics were stretched at times but we all pulled through with week two being a much better event for us. The highlights of the week were having a live interview on the wireless with Lesley Dolphin from BBC Radio Suffolk and the weather driving in a truly wonderful character in a ‘Dennis the Menace’ red and black stripy jumper who performed to camera immaculately . Lesley Dolphin’s support reached out to a huge audience that resulted in extra footfall and portraits being made. Now it is time to complete the processing of Saturday’s portraits and them posted out next week, before resting to recharge my batteries to prepare my self for year 3 of my degree.

The lights went out in more ways in one though this week. On Friday morning we had to have our dearly loved  rescue dog, Sam, whom we had looked after for 13 years put down. It was a rapid decline from a sparky 17 year old on Monday to a desperately distressed old dog by 0300 on Friday. The vet was very good  and his passing was swift. It will take time for me to adjust to not having him wander about my studio or lay at my feet as I work in the office. Such a small dog, such a big hole.

I’d like to thank people who knew about his passing for their kindness and lovely messages. I was touched.