I’m a big fan of making lists but over the past few months I’ve got out of the habit. I just didn’t feel the need as much. I suppose because life was so different, I wasn’t juggling Artistic ReTreats workshops, my own art classes, studio work, Valley View bookings and family stuff – I was focussed on home schooling and not much else!

To ‘spring’ into the month of March, I excitedly created my first ‘to do’ list of the year. Is this a sign that things are starting to open up and I need to think about what my new ‘normal’ will be in 2021? Yes, I think so! But after the satisfaction of making the list, I came a little unstuck, I was out of practice in the art of actually completing the tasks and didn’t achieve as much as I’d hoped.

As we enter our second month of this hardest of lockdowns, I must say I find it difficult to stay creative and purposeful but there has been a glimmer of hope this month – the Great Big Art Exhibition.

As we head into the grips of an ever-tighter lockdown regime, my thoughts turn from being shut away in winter, to spring cleaning those forgotten corners of the house. Although the hats, gloves and scarves may be around for a while, this is a good time to sort through our clothes, shoes and accessories, to declutter and donate what we no longer want or need.

It seems like a lifetime ago when, in December 2019, I was making glorious plans for 2020! I’d created a lovely range of different Powertex workshops and was gearing up to give my TEDx talk in Banbury with my support act, the Fine Lady. It’s amazing to think that we actually managed to present the talk just before the first lockdown! As part of my talk, I looked at how sometimes, it's the little things that can make the biggest difference, & that has certainly been more true than ever during 2020!

The world is a very different place this December but I’m still planning ahead and very much looking forward to 2021. It’s also still so important to look back and appreciate how far we’ve come.