A sky of ultramarine blue, shot through with carmine and Indian yellow sunset clouds. The beauty of nature so at odds with the daily drama.

The influence for a small painting (40cmx30cm) ‘Sunrise over Jebel Hill’, a brooding, cloudy sky full of mystery. Probably a tad more of an Old Testament feel about it, than the light Impressionist style I’m comfortable with.

Renewed fighting in the North, and talks in Addis that don’t seem to be going anywhere. Frustrations seemingly mirrored by the bank of dark clouds, shot through with lightning, and earth shaking thunder. Amongst which, the nostalgic strains of a bugle with the Evening Assembly call.

The team here for dinner and laughs. Underscored by the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that has some of my staff captive in South Sudan, as they can’t return to the country if they leave.

The washing machine scheduling eased by the installation of two new machines at Container City. The drying, now the issue, with displaced South Sudanese still roaming around the UN facility stealing anything that is not protected.

A stunning sunset. One of those ‘show-off’ skies, highlighting how far away my painting is from the spectacular.

A slow, muddy jog in the rain. Very few people out. With the sun getting up later and a covering of heavy cloud, my route so dark in spots that I was almost on my hands and knees trying to find where the road went. I have my headlamp with me now, as the water has washed away parts of the road making footing a tad treacherous.

One of my staff lost a friend in the explosion in Gaza. He was an Italian reporter and was doing a story on a bomb disposal guy in Gaza, when the bomb he was working on exploded. So much sadness at the moment.

A painting for Anna of her daughter on the beach. In her hands, a rainbow, to heal the world.