"The Fog on the Tyne is all mine, all mine"

The dreich weather continues. I was reminded of the old Lindisfarne song, "The Fog on the Tyne" which my daughters, when children, loved - mainly because there were "rude" bits I suspect, but also because we had moved south and they liked the references to home. I took lots of pictures on my visit today but felt this traditional view of the bridges in mono best suited the grey day.

I met a friend from Yorkshire to see Lorna Simpson's first European retrospective in the Baltic, an old flour mill on the river, now a wonderful space for art exhibitions. We had the benefit of a tour guided by one of the assistants, who not only explained more about the work, but also engaged us in conversation about our impressions and feelings. The exhibition encompassed early photographic work from the 1980s, often stark abstracted images of an African-American woman, then moved on to video in her later work. She investigated race, gender and cultural stereotypes throughout the work - there was so more much to it - I'm sorry I can't really explain it well enough - suffice to say there was a lot to see, discuss and mull over.

We then had a nice lunch in Cafe 21 on the Quayside to catch up as we'd not met since New Year, after which we went out to visit my grandchildren, as my friend had yet to meet the latest addition who is 3 months already. A pretty perfect day despite the mizzle!

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