“Time and reflection change the spirit little by little until we come to understand.” – Paul Cezanne I’ve just been spring cleaning my studio and feel freshly inspired. Although it’s a full-on job, it gives me time away from painting in my studio, to pause and reflect. It shows me, again, that creative ideas and development can come from anywhere. It was a beautiful spring day to clean out and reorganise my atelier, full of hope and promise which is just what an artist needs. It didn’t quite go to plan but then that is the way with artists. Dusting my glass shelves, of course, I became distracted. I house my treasures upon them. Those objects that I collect whilst on walks, travelling and gardening. These items help my progress through giving me new ideas and reminding me of a colour combination I love or a range of mark-making to explore. In these times of quiet contemplation, I always seem to be drawn to a different part of each item which gives me an endless supply of inspiration. I

“My sketchbook is a witness of what I am experiencing, scribbling things whenever they happen.” – Vincent Van Gogh Having a rather nomadic existence, adventuring between countries, means settling in the studio to work can be a challenge. So, my sketchbook becomes more important than ever. I love it; it comes with me wherever I go. It serves as a visual diary, notebook and collation of ideas and inspiration. Sketches, quick paintings, colour palette exploration and experimental play, make up my content. I don’t like to follow rules and conventions. On one occasion, I have held my sketchbook out of our Landcruiser’s window as we drive through a river of mud which was once a murram road, in Samburu. The pages became splattered with the rich red earth which was the ground for further work. Other examples are: pasting in paper-thin bark, rubbing sand into the paint and scratching into the page with a sharp-edged stone, which then I allow ink to pool in the crevices. I love to see the wide v