About "Royal Exchange Overcast"

Every time I visit London's historic Royal Exchange, I recall my lively exhibition opening at Castle Galleries situated at the rear of the building, in which I regretfully arrived an hour late. With the event starting at 6pm, I strolled out of my hotel at 5pm, thinking that I would have plenty of time to get across the city, but how wrong was I! It soon became apparent whilst I was sardined into an overcrowded tube carriage that it would have been much quicker, and less stressful, to walk. When I eventually arrived, dizzy and close to collapsing, I was confronted by crowds of lovely people who had come to see my work. It felt incredible to have such a great turn out, but I needed to take a minute to gather myself before talking with the room full of visitors. On reflection, it was a pivotal moment of realisation that I was working myself to my limits and needed to better manage my time. This painting shows the Royal Exchange half in light and half in shadow from the clouds above, embodying my conflicting memories of this magnificent place.