I happened to be at the tower – the destination of one of my favourite walks – one fine day late last year when, looking up towards its east-facing wall from the Aldeburgh side, I saw the upper part of the tower’s profile blackly intersecting with the lowering sun. The effect was quickly captured photographically and then sketched, though by then the sun had shifted slightly and the visual drama lessened.

Anyway, ever since then I have been trying, and failing, to capture on paper and canvas the clarity and immediacy of that first sighting. I think I can see now see how to finish the main painting, maybe with a dark red sun; which I did, though I’m uncertain whether the red is quite right. We’ll just let the painting ‘cook’ for a while in the studio, and one day I’ll look at it and know whether it is in fact finished or not.

It must be finished as it is because it is now SOLD – the first painting to be sold off this web page 18 July 2015