Dream of countryside walk with friends and sliding down a mountain to evade a menacing group, told at Queen Street Gallery, Neath, 28th March 2026

I have gone to the countryside by bus. It is Autumn. There are about six of us, some are friends and some are strangers. There are fields and trees and hedgerows and a narrow path with embankments on both sides which becomes a gorge or gully. I see in the distance about 6 people, very upright, with military-like bearing and red coats and black trousers. They do not look benign and so we need to evade them. There's now a dark grey cliff on the left side and a muddy path that drops down about 5 or 10 meters to a field. I slide down the hill side which has fine shale, like soft, dark grey lava. At the bottom I land on the path and I am with my friends again.  

In the discussion the dreamer said that the feeling of sliding fast was very visceral and lasted all day. He then told us of his current and recent severe life stresses. A comment was made that the dreamer did land on his feet in the dream, which is positive. The dreamer spoke of how important the local landscape and his friends are to him.

Julia composed the painting as a story board, with its parts separated by the white space between paragraphs. Many words related to friends and friendship were found to be present on the pages and Julia incorporated them into the painting. These include in the top scene: friends, two men who were friends, their friendship. In the middle scene: my friend, my self. And in the bottom scene: friendships, young man friend.      
 
The Dream Salon was the closing event for an exhibition of international and surrealist art.