8.30 am: Off to School. 9.00 am: The first of several MA fine art tutorials followed by a BA dissertation tutorial, followed by a period of admin. Next week, I’m away for two days, acting as an External Examiner for another university. Tutorials will need to be rerouted? But to where? 11.10 am: Vocational Practice: Dealing with small-groups seminars in the context of a rather large group of students. That’s a tricky one.

A return to autumnal splendour:

Following a spirited and engaged class with the VP-ers, I headed for my first tutorial with the new MA painters (of which there is an abundance). I’ll be re-joining a conversation with our former third-year painters that was put on pause when they were assessed for their final show, last May–June. With others, an entirely new discussion will be struck up. This will be a great adventure for all of us.

New beginnings:

Through the bleary and besmirched windows of the West Classroom – a view that reminds me to be thankful. What a place to live and work!:

3.00 pm: Back at the mothership, I undertook an MA consultation before holding a tutorial with one of PhD Fine Art candidates. They have reached a point of resolution – one that had been long sought after; a resolution that could be found only, rather than received. 4.00 pm: My weekly Personal Tutor drop-in hour. It’s heartening to hear that the first year students are getting to grips (slowly) with the demands placed upon  them … and enjoying it too.

6.30 pm: Another dose of Schama’s The Power of Art. 7.30 pm: There were emails awaiting my attention, correspondence to initiate, and tutorials to confirm before I could yield to the tug of my conference paper notes once again. The conceptual chart of ‘Image and Inscription was, once again, the anchor for my ruminations:

Some observations and principles derived from today’s engagements:

• Artworks contain a residue of our personhood.
• Giving up art is like abandoning a friendship, I’ve been told.
• Painting is nothing short of a conversation.
• Complexity in totality: there’s a challenge.
• Teaching and revelation aren’t the same. Very occasionally (in my experience), the one will lead to the other. More often, students receive the latter in the context of working, rather than during tutelage. Those moments come unbeckoned, when we least expect them and, sometimes, when we least deserve them. Creative grace.
• One must believe that there is a way to be found; a way that waits to be discovered. In this respect, the best a teacher can do is impart the principles of map reading.