I heard my first cuckoo of the year, yesterday, out in the woods near my home. I didn't actually see it, but it was such a joy to hear that distinctive call — and I really feel it's a sign that spring has begun :)

My blog today features a couple of pictures I have been working on, both of Mile End underground station. This is such an interesting station; it's so rich in colour and bold in its geometric forms and lines.

The many tiled pillars along the two double platforms at this station break up the scene into a series of images as you walk along. It feels like walking through a living film spool or negative, and reminded me of some of Tacita Dean's work. It was this sense of framing that I wanted to portray in the wood engraving, recording the narrative taking place between a pair of pillars on different platforms.

For the oil painting, I've turned to a diagonal view of one of these pillars, which reveals a wonderful distortion of a stationary train held at a platform, captured by one of the Tube's convex mirrors. I have shown both the starting point of this picture and also a 'work in progress' shot.