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!

I am a strong believer in there being a time and place for everything. I wasn't ready to tackle this difficult subject until I had done the 30-day challenge. But there is more to it. I have featured nests in previous works like a tiny nest in a tree or a textured nest in a bird painting. But solo nests have to have impact to be successful as a piece of work.

We often think we have no time to play as artists as we are so busy working on the project at hand. But I believe this thought comes from the pressure we put on ourselves as artists to succeed. We feel we need to prove ourselves in this incredibly difficult career choice, and we can lose sight of the whole reason we are doing what we do - because we love it!