On Sunday night I lost my ‘shutter virginity’ at the Nag’s Head Market! Irony invited myself and a bunch of other artists to the Seven Sisters location for a nighttime paint jam which he arranged with the market organiser and the independent shop owners who trade there.

We were on a time schedule as the market had to be locked up at 10pm, so we all got down to work. I created a character with the message ‘It’s ok to not be ok’. This is a response to the gaslighting rhetoric “be positive”. People going through difficulty should not be made to feel worse by having their lived experience and feelings disregarded and be made to feel like there is something wrong with them to feel this way. If you are feeling positive that’s great, but if you are *acting* positive to make other people feel more comfortable around you thus suppressing your true emotions then that it is recipe for disaster. Stop gaslighting, start listening.

It was wonderful to see familiar faces such as Orbit, Apparan, Ikunaq, Curiouser and Curiouser and meet new ones such as Dave Plant and Huntoland. We finished ahead of schedule leaving enough time for photos and footage, What a fun night big thanks to Irony for the invite!