Why a portrait of a Parish Centre 2

That first day I wnet there, some time in November, I had no idea what was before me, and felt a bit nervous going in the narrow gate, across the little yard, and in the door to the glass-fronted reception desk.

From that moment - I felt at home. The receptionist on duty that day, was friendly and smiling, and passed my message on to the office upstairs, and in a few minutes I was guided up along the passage and through the big hall where some folk were sitting around a big table. Through more doors, past glass-cases full of trophies, up the stairs, and into John Gallagher's office.

Again, the feeling of being made welcome.

And that's how it has been on each visit - welcome and willingness to give me whatever help I needed. John wasn't the only person I spoke to. There was Sr Laurentia, and there was Gerry who told me about the various activities that take place over a month in the centre.

By degrees, I was beginning to think of this place as having an identity of its own, separate from the individuals who use it. The idea began to grow in my mind of doing a portrait of the building - just as it is at this one moment of time.

Then as I thought of portraiture, I began to think of the layers of time-based identity that are behind every face we see, the faces of all the yesterdays, piled one on the other.

So in my finished piece, maybe I will be able to include past and present, in some way ...

What is motivating me? I think it is a way for me to return to the Centre, both in the sense of honouring the gift they have given to me, but also in the sense of giving me an opportunity to be with these people whose company I enjoy.