Some lovely people entered my life through an exhibition in Edinburgh a few years ago, including Rona, who later sent a gorgeous photo of flowers in a jug from her mother. I am very grateful for her inspiring image, which was used as a reference for this painting.

After seeing this video you cannot doubt the ability to manifest dreams... or paintings! Todd the Dog is a fictitious character featured in many paintings as Edmund's loyal companion between 2009 and 2014. Otto, a real dog, was born in Valencia in 2016. He suddenly materialised as a temporary lodger at age six months. He is still with us, thankfully. Paintings of Todd the Dog were premonitions of Otto's colouring, short legs, long body, big snout, wild flapping ears and irresistable brown eyes, not to mention the unexpected way each dog found its new home. (Todd was lurking in Edmund's recycle bin.) Be very careful about what you paint!

One of my favourite superheroes is Todd the Poet, who happens to be my brother. While he has appeared in some small watercolours, this is the first life-size painting of him. It is based on a magical moment in 2014, the happiest day of his life, the day that he and Stella got married. Stella often says, "Todd is my knight in shining armour." Indeed, he is.

They're not in season now but we did eat these in the autumn, after photographing them on a pretty platter (Crown Ducal's 'Random Harvest' pattern) for a future still life painting. Hello yellow!

Lately I've been under the spell of René Magritte, enjoying his fluffy white clouds and blue skies, his wonky portraits, and surrealism in general. Using one of the cloud studies I did for the recent goat triptych, I made a second Magritte-inspired selfie.

My Capricorn husband and I live in an area with many goats, both wild and tame. Here is The Climber, 126x80 cm acrylic painting on three wood panels.

Yesterday on our walk we enjoyed glimpses of lambs, kids, geese and cheeky chickens, some of which were captured on the iPhone (end of this short clip). The main star in this film is Pinky the chicken, 80x80cm painted on wood, 2019.

Today is the 50th birthday of our friend Mark. His wife kindly commissioned a red stag painting to honour the occasion. The short video shows the making of the triptych entitled "Viktoriya's Stag" and the surprise delivery.

There is another important birthday on January 19, that of Edgar Allen Poe, born in 1809.

Picked up a massive supply of citrus fruit this morning and a few went into salt preserves. Weather is beautiful, fit for Three Kings. Four days of rain and tighter Covid restrictions are coming so we took a long walk in the orange groves for a vitamin D top-up.

Congrats, we have arrived at January 1st, 2021. Happy New Day! After a rollercoaster 2020 how about a gentle entrance into 2021? Poco a poco. This is the starting point for 2021, a year of new days.

A selection of artwork produced in 2020 with jaunty music to help me remember the positive outcomes of a challenging year. Heartfelt thanks to all who supported my art practice this year and every year.