Do you live near some allotments?

I would really recommend that you take a little time for a walk through them – even in January! Even if you are not an artist the calm and quiet is wonderful food for the soul.

I am spending as much time as I can this month drawing in my local allotment. It is only five minutes away, I load up my bike with a box of drawing materials, pull on many layers of clothing (including a hat and fingerless gloves) and pedal off looking like an eccentric Cambridge artist!

Each February I spend three days working with Emily Ball, this year I am preparing for her workshop with these studies. All I am doing is getting to know my subject by repeatedly drawing, responding to the sights, smells and sounds around me. I don’t want to make nice drawings, I want to explore the scratchy bushes and alien like sprouts; the shy brides hiding under their veils, the balloon like bottles, the arching frames.

Every day I see more and more exciting shapes and lines, I am never disappointed. I urge you, go and have a look!