Visiting the Althea McNish exhibition at the Whitworth in Manchester yesterday was a marvellous antidote to a grey Saturday morning. Althea herself arrived from the warmth and sunshine of Trindad and Tobago to a cold, wet London in the 1950s, and I wonder how much of a culture shock she experienced, and if this might have left her feeling nostalgic for the warmth and colour of her childhood home. I'd heard of McNish, but have never consciously looked at or for her work. The explosion of colours and shapes in Althea's work is amazing, and so familiar from things I saw around me as a young child. The wallpaper in our living room, our bedlinen, and other household textiles were obviously influenced by McNish's work, and I wonder if some of my mum's own art/design work was inspired by McNish - I personally believe so. I love the colour and scale of McNish's work, but I find some of it quite overwhelming and would struggle to fit her designs into my small 30s home.