Before and after the lunch yesterday I was able to visit 2 exhibitions.

In the morning I wandered the Howard Hodgkin exhibition at the Tate. It was stunning and I remember being particularly struck by the time some of the works had taken to complete. I find it interesting that Hodgkin took 9 years over one piece which he then called Snapshot.

I particularly loved Chez Max – this great circular piece which only took him 2 years to complete! I sat in front of Chez Max and got totally absorbed in the whole picture. Stunning!

After the lunch Darrell kindly treated me to a visit to the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts. This is a massive exhibition (1326 works!) with unknown artists displayed alongside established. There were a few I would like to have bought, but then I don’t have a few thousand spare! The exhibition is well worth a visit, but if you are passing and stretched for time then at least pop into the courtyard where you will be amazed by the bronze statue of the Virgin Mother by Damien Hirst.

After my mass of art intake, it was great to meet up with Sheena and then trundle off to a local bar so the 3 of us could enjoy a beer and watch the football. Surprised at the outcome and now just hoping England make it past Portugal today!