I have just been re-reading this blog. I went right back to a post from the 12th January 2010. This was only 2 weeks after I had arrived in Cyprus for what was meant to be a 6 month residency at the Cyprus College of Art. Here I found this little statement that made me laugh quite hard:

“I did a small abstract painting in my notebook this afternoon, and if I’m honest, I enjoyed making this the most. It would be quite funny if I end up doing abstract work here. I doubt I will though.”

Frankly, it is a little embarrassing.

Below is a drawing I did very soon afterwards that I feel marked the beginning of new way of thinking for me. At 19, I remember my college tutor telling me that one day “the penny would drop”. That year in Cyprus, almost 2 decades later, I think it finally did.

Gouache on A2 paper (23rd Feb 2010)