Winter Blues

The row of trees that I see every day

I’m learning that every winter my creative mojo goes into hibernation; or rather, it changes, slows down and finds other ways to talk to me.

A frosty fairyland on the church wall

My studio in the garden is cold and dark during the cold winter months; my studio dogs are no longer studio dogs, preferring the comfort and warm of the sofa. The studio gets abandonned. But gradually I realise that this is ok, this is how I function; it’s not weakness or failure; it’s a pause, a slowing down.

Long shadows and elongation always inspires me.

This winter I went back to knitting, with the imminent arrival of a baby grandson.

One week old

I focused more on noticing what I notice when I’m out walking the dogs, recording the landscape on my phone.

Vertical lines, strong contrasts, exaggerated shapes - these all fascinate me, and it will be interesting to see what eventually will feed into my art.

Strong vertical lines, with gentle wispy horizontals.

One of our local oak trees with a frosty coating

Reeds and vertical lines on Redgrave and Lopham Fen

I’m also intrigued by windows and views through shapes, so perhaps I’ll share some of these next time, until I get back into the studio.