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One of my most satisfying pastimes is to walk incognito (or anonymously) around places where no-one knows me so that I can quietly observe my surroundings and the people in my vicinity. That’s not to say I don’t like meeting new people or bumping into people that I know it’s just sometimes I find being unknown is very creative because (selfishly) I can absorb without having to give anything out. Within my profession (social care) much of my time is spent with people and so it’s very much a treat to have time on my own; in UK sitting on a bench in the middle of a shopping area is more than just my guilty secret, it’s my absolute indulgence, and many an hour has been spent people-watching from the bench outside Gibraltar’s Marks and Spencer.

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(Gibraltar Main Street. A ‘people-watchers’ dream)

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As I left the Bristol and walked up towards Main Street I paused on the corner when I heard children singing in a room upstairs; ‘Row, row, row the boat gently down the stream…’. 

Just leaning against the wall listening to the children was wonderful but it was also a stark reminder that my days in Gibraltar were now numbered; only last week I was singing that very song with children in my day job and would probably be singing it again to them in less than a weeks time. Not wanting to wait until the song ended I continued on down Main Street with the sound of the children’s voices happily singing away and gently fading as the distance between us grew.  

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(The road to Gibraltar Art Gallery)

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As I strolled down Main Street I could see that my beloved bench (outside Marks and Spencer) was occupied by whom I would affectionately term ‘wrinklies’ (in other words people of the same age as me) no doubt doing exactly what I would be doing if I was sat there – ‘people-watching’. Almost on impulse I decided to just take a right turn up towards the Old Town and was delighted to come across The Gibraltar Art Gallery.

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The Art Gallery was a small affair but was very much in celebration of local artists. The works on display were wonderfully varied including contemporary collections, abstract pieces and work focused specifically on images of the Rock. Mediums were varied too with oil and acrylic paintings, screen prints, sketches and more. 

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Looking around the Gallery I loved all of the pieces and found them to be a massive inspiration. In my mind I had already decided to begin writing this memoir (RockHeart) as soon as I returned to UK but never (in a million years) did I think I would ever paint again since I hadn’t picked up a paintbrush in twenty years. And it had been forty years since I had sketched the Rock. But as I near the end of my writing I look forward more and more to once again creating images; images that complement RockHeart and that mean something to me. Paintings, drawings and sketches of Gibraltar. And, who knows, maybe one day it will be my paintings hanging up in Gibraltar’s Art Gallery.

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