It's that time again :)

I have very mixed feelings about this time of year. I'm not a fan of forced jollity - especially as I am solely responsible for maing it happen for everybody. This just means lots of work that takes me away from painting, and I never like to be taken away from painting!

I also always worry about all the people who are struggling in one way or another. That was me just a few years ago, and I know how hard it can be to keep smiling when you really, really don't feel like it.

So many of these holidays seem designed to remind us of all the things we don't have. (Like Valentine's Day, which just seems designed to poke a stick in the eye of anyone who is lonely).

Now, this is probably not the festive message you were expecting, but there is one part of Christmas that I enjoy ... it's the bit when it's over and we settle into that in between time at the very close of the year.

I love it for two reasons:

1) The nights begin to get almost imperceptibly lighter and I can sense Spring even if there's no actual evidence of it yet.

2) I like to use this quiet time as a time of reflection.

I do love the idea of a new year, filled with possibility and I truly believe that we create our own reality, although most of us do it unconsciously. The magic part is, once we become aware of the patterns and beliefs that are running our lives, we can start to take control.

I've worked on this a lot over the last 7 years and 2026 will be no different. So the week between Christmas and New Year is my time to read, reflect, journal and take walks, as I bring to life my dreams for the new year.

I already know that this will be a year of change for me, but I do not know where those changes will lead. We never do, do we?

It's a little bit like intuitive painting - we get started with a few ideas and then we let things reveal themselves. It's an exciting, sometimes terrifying process. It's often filled with great frustration but also with great joy. Because what could be better than an adventure into the unknown?

Life (and painting) would be so much less rich if we knew what was going to happen next.

So, I am going to take a break so that I have time for my reflections, and I hope you get the chance to do the same - getting really clear on what you want is the first step in making it happen.

This newsletter will be back in the new year. Until then, I wish you a peaceful holiday season and a very happy new year :)