I've said before that I think sometimes comments on POL can be too bland and need to get to grips with criticism, hard though it is to do that. And I still think the comments facility isn't much use if we always try to be 'kind', not that I believe we all do. However, I made a point about one of Stephen Higton's paintings, on no other grounds really that I felt it was a touch more Vettriano-esque than I felt comfortable with. Now then - I don't know if I should have known/remembered this (because I do forget things) but I discover or re-discover that he's only been painting for 18 months: a look at his gallery will show anyone quite how incredible this is: and why I had assumed he was a highly experienced painter with at least 20 years work under his belt. So I'd like to say sorry to him for being too critical at this stage of his career - he's still developing a style I thought he'd achieved long ago, still experimenting: I know we all are, but had I known how recently he'd started I'd have phrased things differently. And - I'd like to place on record my conviction that Stephen is a very fine painter indeed, with a distinctive palette and feel for oil paint (in his case, I believe, alkyds - which I've yet to try myself; comes as a surprise to find that these paints can produce the warm and rich colour that Stephen achieves). I've probably embarrassed him now: but take a look at his gallery, if you haven't already, and you'll see why I feel he deserves special praise: and that criticism is all very well, but misses the point by miles when it fails to take into account the stage which most of us would have reached if we'd been painting for so short a time. Mind you, it's all his own fault. The sheer quality of his work misled me into thinking he's been at the brush-wielding all his life. And perhaps a bit longer. But Stephen: you do damn' good work - keep playing, keep experimenting, take or leave criticism as you choose: there are one or two painters whose work I always look forward to seeing on POL, and you're one of them.