Artists use sketchbooks for many reasons. They usually have several on the go, stick all sorts of things they collect in them, as well as sketch, paint and doodle on the pages. This makes them delightfully colourful, messy, and crammed with ideas and collected treasures. Some of mine over the years have had to be reinforced with duct tape to keep the spines together!

The first idea I had for this series was in the night when I was staying in hotel in Norwich. It was during that short period between being awake and drifting off to sleep. This time, known as hypnagogia, is a special time and is well recognised as being a highly creative "twilght zone". It doesn't happen to me often, but when it does it results in a creative solution or creative new idea and it's amazing! On this occassion I leapt out of bed and sketched my idea and wrote it

The way the colours were used was just magical to me. I didn't know all of the arty terms at the time, but what I did know is that I just could imagine myself standing there in the scene, feel the warmth on my face and hear the rustling of the trees in a gentle breeze. I was obsessed with how a painting could do this!