Well, here we are at the end of November and yet again no blog for ages. Perhaps I should give it up. Maybe now every tom, dick and harry is doing one, the appeal has worn off. But when I am not painting, there seems little point in blogging, as that is what I want to blog about. So, I will try to catch up on myself now.

Well, I did not get the job at Glasgow School of Art, and yes I was very disappointed. It made me give myself a long hard look at what I am doing in Oxford. I have never really liked the place, and despite managing to keep painting, I really feel soulless here. The job at Brookes has also become significantly harder. We have gone from 65 to 90 students and lost staffing. Yes, October was a month of distress and panic about what I am doing here. My father in Aberdeenshire is need of family support due to ill health and here I am living and working in a place I can barely afford, doing a job that has completely consumed my time. This has also been a time of soul searching and challenge for Catharine and I too. But we are good.

So the last six or seven weeks have been just about getting through the grind of going to work and getting though the day. I have had no energy to paint alas.

There was light at the end of the tunnel, however. I had also applied for a lecturing job at Edinburgh College of Art. I had thought that I was unlikely to get it, but I was invited for interview last week. I crept up without telling a soul, did my interview, and duly got the job. I am shocked and delighted. The job has a challenging remit, but one I am more than capable of, and one that will stretch me. But also, I am delighted to be coming home to Scotland, after my eight year sojourn in the south of England. I do get about, but I am hoping that I will now settle in Edinburgh. I will start early next year…

Other than that, not much else to report – other than the minutia of daily life. One of my last duties at Brookes before I leave is organising the trip to Madrid in Early January. I started the job with a trip too, so it is a nice full circle.