In my search for home, I'm interested in painting the places that exist in our minds and discussing the disparity in then and now. This has led to me reflecting on the places I have lived and called my home and those places that are distant callings. Me and my besties called it The Grove ie Ladbroke Grove in North Kensington. This is where I raised my babies, made lifelong friends and where I had my first art studio at ACAVA on Latimer Road. I also taught at the local primary school that my kids attended - Oxford Gardens. We loved the area and its community. If you don't know North Kensington it's the poor part of the Royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It has a brilliantly diverse community, where the rich and poor sit by side and where over 80 languages are spoken. It's a vibrant mix that attracts tourists and revellers to Europe largest street festival - Nottinghill Carnival on the August bank holiday every year. The carnival route is all around Ladbroke Grove and Westbourne Park but its' called the Nottinghill Carnvial. We lived down the road from the Grenfell Tower that sits among a group of blocks along the Westway motorway. My kids and I went to Maxilla Nursery Centre that was a community led project funded by the ILEA. Maxilla sat under the Westway. It offered free nursery places, a drop-in play centre and it was my first port of call and a lifeline for many parents through its Sure-start scheme. It had slides, sand pits, a vegetable plot, fruit trees – a wonderful rare oasis under the Westway. I remember going on a march with the kids, up to the Council offices with banners saying "Save our nursery". The governments austerity cuts put

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