Behind the bathing pavilion at Nielson park is an avenue of trees. I like to set up at the bottom and look back up , covered, almost engulfed  by the canopy. I try and work fast using turps and solvents, rubbing back working wet in wet. I convince myself the next dash of colour or swipe of the palette knife will be a turning point in the picture and unlock a new stronger direction. After an hour or so I was utterly convinced this was one of the better pictures I had done. My fellow artists on the day including my mother and her great artist friend Denbigh - who in particular praised the way the picture was going. After lunch we went back to our paintings and mine had somehow dried into a blurry , dripping mess. Absolutely deflating given how promising it had been before we stopped. The advice from my mother was go home and turn it against the wall and don’t look at it for at least 2-weeks. I did this and when I eventually looked at it again - miraculously I could see something quite beautiful. I touched it up a little and I believe its one of the strongest paintings Ive done. Go figure. Oil 500x600mm