The Olympics and some major house and garden jobs have diverted my attention for the last two months, but today I started working on the painting again. I’ve sketched out its overall structure and am clear about each of the main areas and their contents. I also photographed some of the elements including my car with me leaning out of the drivers’ window, mouth agog as I’m shot up in the vortex to a better place at the top of the picture. For these shots I stiffened my resolve and put on a shirt and tie for the first time for quite a while. Those uncomfortable and constraining ties were also the key component of some other photos. Laid out on the floor and arranged as a grid of squares, these will comprise the barrier separating the commuting area from the better place above it.