Andrew’s Summer Blog

I met a friend at a Wimbledon Village coffee shop. Actually they do more than coffee. We were chatting about my colon cancer and I was joking around, much to their consternation. One of the things I said was that it’s a good thing that there is so much of it about because it gives the doctors more experience and expertise. He said that I should write about it in my blog. So I decided that this blog is not going to be my usual rant about art and its parlous state. This is going to be about me.

I returned in April from a lovely holiday in Sydney, visiting family, drinking excellent wine and eating excellent food. Mentally refreshed but physically tired. I thought it was simply the jet lag, but the lack of my usual energy continued longer than it had before. Here I was full of all sorts of ideas for the paintings I was going to make for my Australian exhibition in August 2016, and yet I didn’t have the energy to pick up a brush or open a tube of paint. So I went to the doctor who arranged for tests, scans etc and we eventually discovered that I had a tumour in the colon. Surgery is scheduled for 9^th July.

I must say at this point that whatever you hear or read about in the press or see on TV, my experience is that the NHS is brilliant. I could not be receiving better care than I am at St Georges Hospital in Tooting.

I have been able to do some painting, though visits to the studio are short because I get tired quickly due to my anaemia.

I have an exhibition in Wimbledon coming up in September. I should be well enough by then and I’ll make sure that you get the details. Then there is the big show in August 2016 in Sydney. Again details will follow. I’m attaching an image of one of the paintings I’m working on for that show.

Please remember that this is a work in progress. It will inevitably change as more layers of paint obliterate what you see now. In fact it has changed since I took this photo. It’s 39 X 30 inches.

Searching for the Thames path