Plodding on, winding up

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for travelling along with me through 2025. 

December is really dark and dreary here (although I did manage to catch a sunrise in the bird bath) and I’m definitely feeling the effect of low light on my energy.  I’ve been plodding slowly away at a few things and it really does feel like plodding right now. 

So in an effort to bring some cheer, I thought you might like to see the nest I completed a few weeks ago.   This one is inspired by the buttercups of the old fields in West Yorkshire.   Some years we had simply spectacular colour from the different plants – it might be buttercups or a particular blossom in the hedgerows.  These buttercups were tall enough to brush your waist and arms as you walked through and they all faced you with their brilliant yellow if the sun was behind.  

This nest and I have been having a short separation – it took me more hours than I could possible guess at to get all the wires through and back out again accompanied by vast amounts of persistence and exasperation.  I had to do an hour or so at a time but we made it!  I’m friends with it again. 😄 This is nest number 2.  

Nest number 3 will be about the north Cornish coast and its beautiful sea colour where we have been regular visitors.  Not all of the UK’s shores have such beautiful colour, it depends where you are and what lies beneath the sea on the bed.  We have family in the North West where the coastal waters are always murky no matter the weather.   Cornwall and its coves and cliffs, however, has sandy bays and beautiful turquoise waters on a sunny day.  

This time, I’m trying to build a bit differently.  I have a basket of sticks which will be the colours of the coast and I’m hoping to make a paper insert to contrast texturally. 

I ‘twiddle’ a few sticks each day by wrapping wire in yarn and I think I may almost have enough, perhaps a few white ones to do…  In my head everything is rosy, but don’t tell anyone – I really don’t have a clue about how it will come together!  I will work it out.   I have a dollop of problem-solving experience and a sprinkling of optimism.  I’ll let you know in a month or two. 

When I was thinking what I could write this month, I was reminded that last year I found it helpful to look back on my arty year.  It’s good to see with more clarity how you have developed skills, ideas, and visual language.  I had been a bit resistant to this sort of idea but having done it last year, I think I will make it a habit.  You don’t see things in real time but they become more obvious in hindsight and it’s quite motivating.  It helps you remember why you make art and realigns your practice with your values, curiosity, and goals, rather than just thinking about what you did or didn’t produce.  AND it’s a great opportunity to acknowledge effort, let go of disappointments, and dump unwanted baggage.  A winter spring-clean as it were…

If this is something you might like to try over this end of year, here are Mel Robbins’ 7 helpful questions.  They can be used specifically for creativity as well as general life. 

1. What did I do this year that worked?

Identify habits, decisions, relationships, and actions that moved your life forward.

2. What did I do this year that didn’t work?

Look at what drained your energy, held you back, or no longer serves you.

3. What did I learn about myself this year?

Notice patterns in your behaviour, mindset, strengths, triggers, and needs.

4. What am I proud of this year?

Acknowledge wins—especially the ones that required courage, consistency, or resilience.

5. What drained my energy this year?

Pinpoint people, commitments, habits, or environments that exhausted you.

6. What gave me energy this year?

Identify what made you feel alive, focused, calm, or motivated.

7. Who do I want to be next year?

Use everything you’ve learned to define how you want to show up going forward.  

Well that’s me – I’m signing off for this year, so all remains is to wish you all a Happy Christmas and New Year.  May you find some peace, joy and some creative moments to take you forwards into 2026.  See you then!