Augustine Rongpi

People seemed to come from far and wide to exhibit at this Midsummer Art Fair : Kent, Bedfordshire, Liverpool, Shropshire, Newcastle but Augustine Rongpi takes the biscuit, no ginormous gateau: he came to exhibit his paintings from ... wait for it ... you will never ever guess ... Assam! He works in a bank, and paints -he says- to escape the monotony. This is his first visit to the U.K but his English is shinily immaculate, in every nuance (trust me, I have been an English teacher - though you probably would not guess this from some most of my journal entries). He's always wanted to visit England but not as a tourist, so when he was trawling the Internet a few months ago and came across this exhibition, it occurred to him that it would be the ideal way to interact with British people. And the infamous weather, he said with a smile. His work reminds me of Gaugin (a ghostly Gaugin) in shapes and tones. Augustine Ropti is a very humble person with such a gentle manner. I felt very privileged to have met him.
It was a busy day again, with more visits from wonderful friends including Super Matt FRCS Urol (my life saver, 4 years ago) and his lovely family.