A super scone and a cup of tea, but is it art darling?

In this case, it is. I was, in fact, sorely tempted to abandon the pursuit of artistic perfection (all that Suiving of Artistes etc. . .), batten down the hatches, and curl up with a good book and imaginary crumpets or real hot buttered toast.

I was close to lighting a fire. In June? I cannot be serious, though actually I was. But in the end, I dragged myself out of the door and hied me unto Couiza where artist and fellow Malfonctionnaire Kate Hardy was exhibiting.

Under the circs, I'd be justified in cutting straight to the hot tea and deeply decadent scones with lashings of jam and cream, but really I ought to mention the paintings first.

I'm a big fan of Kate's current From A Train Window series. Her technique is to sketch rapidly the passing scene from a moving train, collecting her impressions into a composite image.

This painting is taken from a trip on our own haute vallée branch line from Carcassonne to Quillan, so it fills the bill rather well from the local point of view. Dear me, I am getting parochial . . .

Nonetheless, providing nosh was a smart move; thus preventing bedraggled art-lovers from expiring damply on the floor. We see Kate (right) and Sue, poised to dish out the cake, scones, quiche, tea and more tea. If a thing's worth doing . . .