and a lot has happened. An awful lot, most of it awful too.
The first half of 2024 was spent caring for my wife Sarah as she became increasingly unwell after her breast cancer returned and then ripped through her body like a thing possessed. She died in May. Thus the second half of the year was spent mourning her. The art very much took a back seat - I had nothing. I couldn't even get it together to make my own Christmas cards.
However, after the new year passed I had to do something and I revived an abortive attempt to create a piece memorialising the last place on earth where we were both happy. That Christmas (2023) had been near perfect, the previous six months had been extremely busy and we decided we needed a proper break, miles from anywhere or anyone, no pressure to be tourists, just a cabin in the woods and a pile of books. Luckily our friends had such a cabin in Speyside, Scotland and we arranged a few days mental detox at the end of January (2024). It was wonderful. It snowed, there was an abundance of wildlife to watch including Sarah's first sighting of red squirrels, which thrilled her no end. It was the last time we were to be happy, and here's the painting I produced almost exactly a year later:
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