It’s been a day of watching the seasonal weather on Unst. Winter at 10 o’clock, spring at 11, Summer by noon and autumn in the early afternoon before reverting to winter again.

After fierce winds rattling the house, suddenly midday today the air went still. Baltasound smoothed over. The generators stopped turning and it was time to venture out for a short walk.

As often happens at this time of year, the fields are full of geese. They come in droves to escape, I presume, the harsher conditions further north.

I have been writing an article about the centenary of the famous poem Flanders’ Field that gave us the poppy as the symbol of remembrance. Previously the poppy had had a rather different image. It was a camp, effete flower on the one hand, mocked by W S Gilbert in Patience, but also the deadly friend of the opium addict.

Now it is worn to honour those killed fighting in the poppy field of Afghanistan. A curious irony. In the First World War the poppy was the first flower to return to the battle fields after they had been churned up and they not only symbolised new life returning, but seen from afar in profusion, they made the fields look blood red.

Heading back to Unst on Monday with the exhibition at Llandaff Cathedral all up - and I think working well. The first 8 stations of the cross are positioned on the stone pillars facing the south aisle and the second 7 on the pillars the other side of the nave. The Forces of Creation, the 15 stations combined into a different work is hung on a screen at the west end of the north aisle and fits perfectly.

It was none too easy hanging the pictures as we had to be careful not to damage the ancient stone work and yet fix everything securely enough to last 40 days. After much trial and error, I think we have succeeded.

On Tuesday I did a long chat with Jason Mohammad on Radio Wales, live on the morning programme. We were given a lot of time to talk about the meaning behind the work and the meaning behind Lent and Shrove Tuesday. It was, I think good radio, dealing with difficult ideas in an accessible way. It is on BBC iplayer at BBC Wales on Tuesday at about 10.20am

Now getting ready for a month back up north during which time I am hoping to sort out the studio after hurriedly leaving a lot of materials up there at the end of last year having brought them from south.

Next back south again to put up the cherry tree wall installation at Guy’s Hospital. All of that now complete. All the pieces are sitting wrapped and in boxes, all cut to shape and painted where required.

I am hoping to get some time over the next four weeks for some painting - lots of ideas I am wanting to try out, and to sort out the galley space alongside the studio for the summer. 

The next stage of the Guy’s Hospital project begins. Yesterday I collected the cut and shaped pieces of stainless steel from Kent WaterJet Cutters to start work on painting the petals and attaching them to the 100 small steel frames that will create the illusion of the cherry tree in blossom.

The waterjet process is fascinating. Computer controlled, an ultra high pressure jet of water cuts through the sheet of steel creating whatever shapes have been designed and fed into the computer. The precision is amazing and many thanks to Chris and his team.

I have now heard that Alan Titchmarsh (an old colleague from BBC Radio days in the 1980s) has agreed to unveil the work and Rowan Williams has kindly said that he will bless and dedicate it at a formal ceremony being arranged for the Saturday before Easter. So no pressure to get it finished!

Although I am having to pace myself. Just before new year I had 5 days in hospital following a heart attack and then two days at St Thomas’ hospital in London for 3 stents to be put in the blood vessels feeding the heart. All went well.

In 2 and a half weeks it is off to Cardiff to install two works at Llandaff Cathedral and then back to Unst before coming south again for the task of putting up the Guy’s work. I am hoping for good weather in Unst, at least for March 20^th as a 98% solar eclipse is due.

Over my career one of the hats I have worn is as a cartoonist. I have drawn, and still draw, for many newspapers and magazines - as well being involved in animation.

Somehow though, It doesn’t feel quite so much fun being a cartoonist as the moment. The tragic deaths of the French cartoonists and journalists and two police officers, is a brutal reminder of the realities of life.

My career has combined being a cartoonist, writer and artist with being a broadcast journalist and as a journalist I specialised in religious affairs. Many years ago I felt that issues of faith, and fundamentalism would increasingly shape world affairs, which was one of the reasons I chose my specialisation.

In the autumn after the London bombing of 2005 I spent the month of Ramadan with members of The Brixton Mosque in South London filming a television documentary. It followed a strict Salafi form of Islam. Men and women were segregated and many of the women wore burkas. In the time I made many friends with the brothers and sisters. I never felt threatened and came to admire the dedication of the believers and their shared belief that random terror and violence had no part to play in their way of life.

So in reflecting on the news from Paris I would urge the non-Muslim population not to see this as a battle in a religious war. It is a sad lesson from history that from time to time people emerge who, for one reason or another, practice, relish and glory in violence. Somehow they become consumed in hate and lose all normal, human perspective. They might justify what they do in political or religious terms – fundamentalism gives them an excuse, but it their own warped selves who are to blame.

Reflecting further the question arises, how should cartoonists and journalists respond? It appears with defiance. The cartoons that angered the killers are now being shown around the world and no longer restricted to the limited readership of a French satirical magazine. Cartoonists have taken up the challenge to respond with the most lethal of weapons – wit.

Cartoonists are entertainers. We draw funny pictures. We gently mock pretensions in society. But from time to time we have to stand up and be counted and witness to truth. Life is always difficult for cartoonists under dictators and tyrants. Cartoonists can opt to cooperate or protest. Under Hitler there were cartoonists who fell out of favour to their heavy personal cost, but there were also others who shamefully towed the party line and drew vicious stereotypes of Jews to order.

There will be need from time to time for cartoonists to ridicule the religious fundamentalists – of all faiths. I trust in the light of the massacre cartoonists will not hold back from being truthful and bold. However I would urge that not all muslims should be assumed to be terrorists. Many of my muslim friends are genuinely hurt and saddened when their beliefs are gratuitously insulted. There is no need to make anti-Islamic jokes just for cheap laughs or to appear brave and defiant. But when the need arises, don’t hold back.

Mid winter, but at least the days are starting to get longer again. Just six months to go before those glorious light nights of summer when the sky glows with colour at midnight. The simmer dim. 

Between now and then, several things to look forward to. There is to be a solar eclipse on March 20^th. On Unst it should be 98%, which, weather permitting will be spectacular. To see the full 100% one would need to be out at see somewhere between Muckle Fugga and the Faroe Islands. It will be the last solar eclipse visible from Europe until 2026, so I read.

I also have an exhibition to set up at Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff. It will consist of the two works '12 Apostles-Face of Christ' and the 'Stations of the Cross-Forces of Creation' previously shown at St David’s. The exhibition will be there for the whole of Lent. Dean Gerwyn and I have discussed several ways the works can be used within the liturgy of Lent and the life of the cathedral.

Easter will see the unveiling of my work at Guy’s Hospital. I am marking the 25^th anniversary of my kidney transplant at the hospital with a wall installation to honour all organ donors on behalf of all grateful transplant recipients. The design is complete and is based around a spring flowering cherry tree. In the new year it will be cut out of stainless steel and then I will need to spend time painting some of it and joining other parts together to have all the pieces ready to be put up in the hospital atrium 2 in early April.

In addition I am also putting my mind to designing an artwork for St Andrew’s minster church in Plymouth. Several artists are competing for the commission and the first submissions need to be ready within a few weeks. 

An interesting experience! 

I am south at the moment in Kent and took a walk through a housing estate to the local Lidl carrying a plastic bag for the shopping.

On my way I noticed a police car driving slowly by.

After shopping I noticed the police car driving past again. It stopped and one of the officers got out. A moment later I heard ‘excuse me sir.’

I turned and the officer was addressing me. ‘Nothing to worry about,’ he said and walked towards me.

 ‘Are you alright?’ he enquired

‘Yes, I’m fine.’

‘Can you tell me where you’ve been?’

‘Yes, to Lidl and the pharmacy,’ I replied.

‘Sorry to have bothered you, but we’ve had a report of a confused gentleman wandering around in the middle of the road. He was white haired and we thought you matched the description.’

The officer politely bid me farewell and returned to his patrol car.

Five minutes later, the same police car stopped near me again. This time the other officer spoke. ‘Can you tell me what we stopped you about a few minutes ago?’ he asked.

‘Your colleague told me they had had a report of a confused white haired gentleman wandering in the street.’

“Just wanted to be sure,’ he said and they drove off.

Much amused by being mistaken for a confused old gent I told Helen. Her response was not one of amusement. ‘I’m always telling you not to go out looking like that. No wonder they thought you were a confused old man. Look at that awful coat. You’re not wearing that again south. It was a good job you shaved this morning or they would have put you in the car and taken you to a care home!’

It was a good job, I thought, that I still have a few marbles and sound middle-class.

I cannot fault the officers who were considerate and polite, but it made me reflect on how some people are frequently stopped by the police because of how they look, and their experiences of the police are nothing like as benign as mine. 

The regeneration of a community through art has become a recognised economic and social strategy. Examples include Margate in Kent where millions of pounds has been spent on the new Turner Gallery. Folkestone, also in Kent, has had both private and public money pumped into its ‘creative quarter’ where it is hoped that a rundown part of the seaside town will be given new life by encouraging artists to live and work there. The results of the policy have been mixed, in both places. There remains a great deal of deprivation despite the new artistic buzz.

In Unst a group of artists (five of us at present) is coming together to form a contemporary arts group which will not only promote our own work, but also promote the island community generally. 

Unst of course is not like Margate or Folkestone. It already has a strong community identity and a well established tradition of art, craft and music making. But looking ahead there are problems on the horizon which could be offset, in part, by the island making the most of its artistic potential.

Unst is on the periphery of Shetland and Shetland is on the geographic periphery of the UK. In today’s world it is a fact of life that power and wealth are being more and more centralised. In Shetland the capital Lerwick continues to expand at the expense of the outer areas. There is talk of closing the excellent small schools in the rural areas, of cutting back on ferry services and putting additional pressure on life away from the centres of population.

It is a very short-sighted policy, for should the remoter areas of Shetland continue to decline, all of Shetland will suffer. Tourism is an important industry. Few make the long journey to Shetland just to visit Lerwick – just another northern town with a Tesco! Folk come to Shetland to find the excitement and tranquillity of the natural world – to see the birds, the otters, the remote stacks and to sample, for a brief few weeks or days, a unique way of life. They come to Shetland to go to Eshaness, St Ninian’s Isle, Lunna, Jarlshof and of course the islands of the very north – Yell, Fetlar and Unst.

So it makes sense to make the most of what Unst has to offer and one of those things is its artistic heritage.

There are many examples of small places gaining worldwide reputations for artistic excellence. St Ives in Cornwall is known for its painters, Aldeburgh in Suffolk for its music, Hay on Wye for its literary festival, to give three examples.

Why not Unst in years to come, an internationally renowned centre of contemporary art?