Last night I was invited to a Cafe Scientifique presentation at Arlingtons bistro in Ipswich. This building was the original Ipswich Museum and is a fitting venue for these meetings. This time, it was one of my fellow artists Sarah Bale who had invited me. She had collaborated with an Orchid expert Martin Sanford at the museum to deliver an illustrated talk on ‘Sex and Orchids’ as well as producing a body of work that is on show in the Henslow room. Only last night did I realise the significance of Henslow – he being a contemporary of Darwin.

The evening was a great success with the bistro packed out full of artists and scientists. Many of my Fine Art chums from UCS were there to support Sarah. I find that just being in the same room as some of these artists stimulates my creative channels. I get inspiration from their energy. Photography is essentially a lonely occupation which is why I like to cross-fertilize (in an esoteric way) with other artists. Just as in the success of the species described last night, this diversity of talent makes for stronger art.

I will over the next few days try to recreate something I began in 1972. HP5+ will have to be the order of the day.