In France going back to school is called la rentree, and it is a Seriously Big Deal. The shops have special displays and parents fuss around buying new notebooks, bags, clothes, shoes etc. Now I’ve just had a long hot summer in the South of France, I watched the sea, visited medieval castles, went to Italy or just drank coffee while the world walked past. In other words I had a complete break from everything: the studio, blogging, twitter, but now I’m going through my own rentree. I have a smart new sketchbook, new brushes and a new collection of objects… but I never know whether it is more productive to keep going, or to have a break and then to crank up again. I’ve tried both over the years and still haven’t decided.

And now Open Studio is less than three months away and sometimes I feel ripe with possibilities and at others it feels like a complete impossibility that I will make anything worthwhile again. This is an old familiar sensation and I know (hope!) that it will be swept aside once the spark catches. So I’ll be thinking of you all, my Newblood comrades-in-arms as you all go back to your studios after the holiday – and if you are already hard at work – or have in fact never stopped I hope that some of your creative energy finds its way here to me in North London!