There was a lovely moment on the way to catching my train to work this morning. High clouds, the usual breath-taking Wiltshire morning vista – I passed three high-viz clad figures hard at work on a digger at the station car park. With only the weir at Avoncliff as background noise the valley was suddenly filled with the breathy honking of a skein of geese. For a few short moments we all looked up and watched the geese fly in customary formation towards Freshford. Roughly in this direction:

Avoncliff 8.45 a.m.

And I tried to remember this:

It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know the sense of wonder and humility.

-Rachel Carson

And on walking into the gallery the first painting on the wall to the right of the door is this absolute beauty by Rebecca Campbell

REBECCA CAMPBELL Still•Life 9 October to 6 November

We are very pleased that Rebecca will be in attendance for the opening day on Saturday from 1-4 p.m.

Also on display, Linda Felcey’s paintings feel their way through the seasons; blossoms, fruit, birds rendered in an ethereal shimmer, hardly emerging from their linen backdrop.

LINDA FELCEY New Paintings 9 October to 6 November

We are happy to say that Linda will also attend the opening day between 1 and 4 pm.

The images for our Akiko Hirai show went onto our website today, Thursday 7 October.

Call or email to purchase only. I will deal with enquiries in the order received.

AKIKO HIRAI New Ceramics 9 October to 6 November

We are delighted that Akiko will also be in attendance on Saturday, 1-4 p.m.

And finally. Once again… ( though I realise I should be quoting or reading this more often, off by heart, perhaps every day…)

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Mary Oliver ‘Wild Geese’

Thank you for reading,
Aidan Quinn

Beaux Arts Bath