Clare Gaylard Glass 

Four days on a barge and it took at least four to lose the sensation of being afloat. 

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 sense of movement that made the work of some artists highly distinctive. Rachel Ruysch for instance.

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 museum was crushingly full and suffocatingly hot so I'm going to have to go back for a better photo - but here are miniature portraits - in construction steps of: Garibaldi, Victor Emannuel II and Cavour, heroes of the Italian 'Risorgimento'. 1860s by G B Franchini.

One of our walks (small, three-legged dog) and a sturdier, larger than usual Dandelion clock that I tried to preserve but just ended up seeding along the route.

We walked into the British Museum without a plan (my preferred method) and stumbled across an AMAZING Aztec exhibition - iconic pieces I have only seen in books - and artefacts like this one that I didn't know and feel I should. Heading back soon for more in the way of sketches.

Two extra reasons to take the A1120 Trail; Saxtead Windmill - less than a mile from my studio, and Framlingham Castle - two miles further. My barn studio speaks of a rather different heritage - it was here where the piglets were kept warm.

An ambitious, atmospheric exhibition at the British Museum, two of my favourites above. You are shown underwater footage alongside the salvaged treasures and given a clear idea of what the city was when above water.

A song sheet and a stencil, I'm curious, was it for someone?

The teapot equivalent of fireworks.

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

A deeply satisfying shape, from Whitby with some rings I made yesterday.

This does it for me, a miniaturised, working process that spring to life when you drop a penny in. Literally any penny, so that's value for money too. This delightful automata is the replica of an original by George Wood made in 1889 with caricatures of his fellow workers (their heads carved from pipe bowls) and it shows the stages of refining jet into jewellery. Find it in Whitby Museum.

After living overseas (and the kids growing up there) for a decade we still get a kick out of family holidays in the UK. Between Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay and most of it still looking like posters from the golden age of travel.

The Blue Mosque, awe-inspiring beauty and calm, I'm beyond pleased to have been. 

From our time in Thailand, have I said this before? Apparently broken China was used as ballast by trading ships, then up-cycled into splendid mosaic if it reached Thailand.

We do manage to hit Camden Market on the good days. This time in quest of DMs and a bowler hat, neither for me.

This Piper/Reyntiens collabaration is quietly resplendent in Aldeburgh Parish Church. stunning colours and lyrical lines that don't do the other windows in the church many favours. The church looks out onto the sea and Britten and Pears rest in the graveyard. LOvely place.