Now that the weather has become frosty and cold, I thought it was time for my Christmas tree to appear, covered with twinkling lights and colour coordinated decorations.

With my love for painting trees I decided to buy a living potted tree so it can be planted in the garden after Christmas.... I just need to find someone willing to dig a hole for me!

Everyone else seems to have realised that Christmas is looming just around the corner too, hence the sudden rush to commission special paintings and pet portraits as unique presents.

This has meant spending quite a bit of time in the studio painting two beaches and a lovely little dog. Tomorrow two kittens are on the agenda .... lots of black fluffy fur... not the easiest subject matter! 

Fortunately, I found time to book a holiday for January ... a chance to relax on a cruise after all the madness of the festive season. There should be lots of inspiration for artwork as I travel to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and Thailand. 

This week I also had the pleasure of sharing the learning from my artistic journey with another watercolour artist who is thinking of branching out into merchandising. I surprised myself with how far I have come in such a short space of time. 

It was also my turn to deliver the ten-minute feature presentation at my business breakfast on Friday.

I focused on my personal background to help my colleagues in my new BNI group to get to know me better as a person. There were a few shocked faces when I talked about mentally disordered murderers, rapists, my stalker, someone masturbating in my office and retiral cup cakes with handcuffs and male genitals on them !

They also learned of my husband’s death and how this triggered my painting and ultimately starting my own business.