I really, really wish I had got an iPhone, but I didn't so I might as well make the most of this.
Beach huts at Cromer.

Sent from my stupid HTC

.....I get it every year and it is far more significant for me than New Calendar Year.

At this time of year I am full of hope for the future and the possibility of achieving great things. I used to think 'This year I will start to understand maths' or 'This year I will be really cool'

My resolutions for this year are

1. Work hard
2. Speak up
3. Be passionate
4. Experiment
5. Collaborate
6. Enjoy it

I think I am going to need more than a new pencil case to achieve this so I am going to

1. Eat well - and by that I mean veggies and stuff and not cake for breakfast
2. Sleep well - get up at 6.45am
3. Be at my desk for 8am
4. Ask questions - particularly when I am afraid of looking stupid
5. Contribute positively to forums, debates and campaigns I am passionate about
6. Take up opportunities offered to me - I am going to do at least 2 projects this year which I would normally say 'no' to for fear of failing
7. I am going to work collaboratively with 2 people I have never met or worked with before
8. I am going to experiment with different artistic techniques and seek feedback
9. I am going to continue to blog and share my experiences as part of my learning

Don't worry, it won't be a daily blog - I was thinking hourly? No....come back........

I love sheds, huts, garages, shelters, cabins, kiosks, cricket huts, village halls, beach huts............

Whether it's a surviving wooden building in an urban environment or a cobbled together shed in a field I always get a moment of pleasure from them. 

My dream is to live in a wooden house with a porch.

I have just returned from a lovely holiday in Norfolk with Eoin, my parents, my sister and her family. This was the holiday which was going to re-ignite my creativity with days filled with sketching and experimentation with new techniques and I would return with a collection of work which I would be proud to show you.

Well, that's not quite how it happened. I did some drawing and enjoyed it (I will upload some tomorrow), but most of the week was spent enjoying valuable time with the family and I loved that. Drawing is quite a solitary pursuit for me and it just didn't feel right to remove myself from the group.

My most creative moment during the week was putting my three year old niece to bed. She starts pre-school tomorrow and has spent the week role-playing different situations she might encounter and persuading the adults around her to take on different roles (particularly that of her new teacher, Mrs Williams).

As I put her to bed she said 'Mam sometimes tells me a story about a school trip with Mrs Williams' and off we went on a school trip to the zoo.

All that mattered in those moments was the story, and with a huge pair of eyes staring expectantly over the duvet I drew on all my experience, imagination and creativity to improvise a story which would keep her engaged without over-exciting her, help her visualise school without being too prescriptive and would give her opportunities to contribute and influence the story. As someone who doesn't have children this was a first for me and I am now full of admiration for parents who improvise stories every day. Eoin told me that when he was a child, he and his brother thought their Dad was magic because every night he would ask them what they wanted a story about and whatever they said he could tell them a story on that theme. Magic, really magic.

So my creativity has definitely been re-ignited on this holiday, not by drawing but by using my imagination to help a three year old get ready for school.