I always like going to the Laing art gallery. Today I wandered again around the “Northern Spirit” gallery, focussing on the glassworks (Sowerby, Davidson’s) which grew up around the Skinnerburn and Ouseburn, and Maling Pottery. I noticed that J Atkinson Grimshaw’s children also became painters. I looked more closely at Ralph Henley’s paintings – some are a bit twee, but something like “Seeking Situations” is worth thinking about. And I compared two landscapes: one by John Atkinson and the other by Duncan Grant.