It’s all about Mary

Mary gets into the lake 22/4/22, Clevedon marine Lake:

“It’s All About Mary”

There is a fine line between faffing and prancing. If Lake Entry were an Olympic event, Mary achieved something akin to dressage: A balletic opening, a little salsa, a showy first-toe-entry, exhibition hesitation at thigh-level, a classic nervous-plunge, finishing triumphantly with a several metre swim whilst miraculously keeping her shoulders dry.

Row had said she needed to film people getting into the lake, but since she cannot now remember the purpose of this request, Mary’s water-entry must remain as pure art: purposeless, a high art form pursued for its own sake.

It was worthy of documentation. This is not the camera’s view but the front-row audience view that Lucy and I had, watching from the lake: filtered through the mind of the artist, not the lens of the camera. Mary wore her brand new Ukraine Sunflowers hat – my design, a charity fundraiser. Tempting to give this the title “Mary Swims For Ukraine”, or Lucy’s “Waiting for Mary, we could have swum to Ukraine”. But in the end, while the hat adds colour, this is all about Mary and why we love her!

In (accidental) recognition of Mary’s faffing skills, this picture has evolved into at least three versions.