Clare Gaylard Glass 

A very stormy week.

I'm vacillating (on a daily basis) between needing vibrant colour or being drawn into the washed out, bleached nature in the fields and garden.

The wonderful lichen on this gravestone in Great Glemham churchyard caught my eye, it's right in the zone of ochre to eau de nil that I'm caught up in at the moment.  

All the best for 2018! A lot of cooking and baking for a series of feasts/guests here - lovely to be able to hand on jobs to offspring and have them done better than I might myself - see above.

I didn't know what this was but Folks on Facebook tell me: Tragopogon pratensis aka Goats beard or Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon. I will probably settle for Goatsbeard and feel quite clever that I got it home in one piece, I'm seeing stars.

Family jokes usually have obscure origins. When asked what I want, I frequently (& possibly annoyingly?) say: 'The head of John the Baptist on a silver platter'. So a daughter made me one for my birthday and here he is - a  wonderful, work in progress - now what shall I ask for?

Aldeburgh on Mother's Day - cars often seem generic to me. These less so - the gold one had a bench for a front seat, I haven't seen that since an uncle's vintage car as a child. That's a car.

My parents had enough children to mean that I was once told that I was getting a sibling instead of a bike, but also a full shelf of 'Old Masters' art books. Carlo Crivelli was one of my favourites. These were the 'Disney Princesses' I grew up with. I was pleased to find a room of ...

Just saw Anthony Sher as an amazing Lear -  some lovely RSC costumes for light relief.

Actually I will accept anything made by Li Xiaofeng.......

We took in the BP at the National Portrait - which was inspiring but small, then wondered into the National. A staff member was singing out 'Last day!' so we went into what initially looked like an over-exuberant collection of chocolate box covers. On looking closer there were fascinating conventions, subtle skills, quirks, miniaturism and a s...

Complex and powerful, and in her own words: 'When people read erotic symbols into my paintings they are really talking about their own affairs.'

 First visit to Kew Gardens, a bit of a grey day but the Tropical Greenhouse and The Hive were looking good.

We are doing a lot of shifting between London and Suffolk this summer and last weekend I happened across this  fabulous, Venitian millefiori demonstration set at the British Museum. I particularly appreciate the tiny eye sample on the lower left side.

The...

Not for everyone but definately for me! Grayson Perry 'Sketchbooks', Niki de Saint Phalle and 'Heavenly Bodies': 'cult treasures and spectacular saints from the catacombs'.

Sketching for 'Treasure in the Landscape'.

The stones and fossils get sorted out here before the holiday laundry does.