This was a late commission for a retirement party. About 24 hours. I was also invited to the party so there was a personal scrubbing-up deadline to be met. The party was for a work colleague in a workplace that I had left a while ago. It was a fabulous lunchtime gathering of people that I had worked with in fairly intense situations, and it was such a pleasure to see them all again, because they were all people that I trusted when the going got tough. When we worked together, just seeing them pile in as a part of a small on-call team was a real pleasure because there were no egos in the room. Now before you all think. ‘ No workplace is that perfect’ I would agree wholeheartedly. But yesterday the people who make work life difficult were not at the table. And that was the point of the commission. The colleague who retired had a secret code at workplace social gatherings if she was bored or someone was being a twat. She would ask the colleague who commissioned the painting a seemingly random question. A sign that they should try to extricate themselves. Not exactly a ‘safe’ word but a sentence that could make or break an evening out. The sentence is hidden in the painting.

No-one mentioned canoes yesterday so that is a sign of a great gathering. 

A ponder came from yesterday.

Wouldn’t work be fab if all the lovely people worked together and the twats just pissed each other off.

Now I am a team of one how do I know I am ‘team lovely` I could be ‘team twat’

P.s I am not used to delivering paintings when the paint is still wet. Normally I get the chance to tweak. I see some tweaks but cant nip into the studio. A very odd feeling.