Table with clouds, 18 May 2020

The sky today was  teeming with clouds rushing from one horizon to the other, rapidly changing shape, concealing then revealing patches of azure emptiness. The parks are open again so that you can push children on swings higher and higher so they imagine they are superheroes among the clouds looking down on earth, visiting unknown planets and distant galaxies. On the walls in Egyptian tombs  there are paintings of tables heaped with offerings of food in great dishes. The ceilings are often painted with  a pattern of stars, the divine stars who oversee the fate of humans - similarly in Roman tombs in Cyprus, wall paintings of garlands and vessels are surmounted by a star painted canopy on the ceiling. Perhaps the happiness at seeing tables laden with dishes and plates of food in re-opened if scantily occupied restaurants has a faint resonance with ancient instincts.

Diana Wood Conroy, 'Table with clouds', watercolour on Arches paper, 15 x 21 cm, 18 May 2020