Over the past week I’ve been having many conversations with the residents of a little village in Northumberland which I always refer to as my hometown called Stonehaugh. The chatter has been very heart warming for me and even though I have never met any of them it’s almost as though we speak a language all of our own. By that I mean we have that very special thing in common which almost defines the difference between a community and an extended family – affinity.

This painting is a self portrait depicting me during my time in children’s homes after having been taken into care from Stonehaugh in 1956 at age 18 months. As a Child Care Professional (now) and having studied childhood attachments I have a greater understanding these days why I make my regular pilgrimage back to Stonehaugh and even now when I look at this painting (57 years after the event took place) I know exactly what I was feeling – such was the pain that transition caused.

The painting is called ‘Boy from Stonehaugh’ and if you’d like to catch up on the conversations I’ve been having with the residents of this beautiful little village just click on the Stonehaugh page above.