New Challenges!

37 Historic or Unusual Trees
I want this to be the year of the tree. We’re post Sycamore Gap. Post Kew Garden red oak. Pre-climate catastrophe (just). Trees are brilliant. I want to pay more attention to them. And in particular, this year, seek out 37 historic, famous or unusual trees.

37 Folklore Art
I’ve had an obsession with all things folk for most of my life. Growing up in Gloucestershire, amongst all the wassailing and the cheese-rolling, it’s hard not to. Particularly with a morris-dancing, accordion-playing grandad encouraging you to lean in. But 5 or 6 years back, when I did 28 folk traditions, I fell for it even more. So this year, taking inspiration from favourite artists like ManInTheWoods and Alex Merry – I want to create 37 pieces of art, based on 37 different folkloric tales.

37 Recipes from The Pig
We’ve eaten at a few different Pigs. Enough to have bought the cookbooks. But ever since, they’ve just been sat on the shelf. So this year I want to cook my way through them. Similar to last year with Berber&Q, anything goes – cocktails, preserves, mains, salads, sides. If it’s in the book, it counts.

A good year for challenges. Really enjoyed the Berber&Q recipe deep dive, and got through it relatively quickly. Monuments and public art started strong, then dipped, and then I had a flurry in the final months. It definitely made me ‘look up’ more, and it also made me appreciate the depth of some art (and how poor others can be). Health and wellness practices didn’t happen, again. Second attempt at that, without much luck. Maybe I’ll try it again sometime.

Here are my 36 photos:

34. Union Horse with Two Discs – Christopher Le Brun – Barbican

35. The Gardener – Karin Jonzen – London Wall

36. Manifold (Major Third) 5:4 – Conrad Shawcross – Moorgate

33. Madonna and child – Jacob Epstein – Cavendish Square

28. Books – Diana Bell – Bonn Square, Oxford

29. Inspire – Alan Wilson – Oxford Castle

30. Another Time XI – Antony Gormley – Broad Street, Oxford

31. The Ox – Olivia Musgrave – Oxford train station

32. Y – Mark Wallinger – Magdalen College

20. Orderly Boy – Donato Barcaglia – Paddington St Gardens

21. There And Now – Bex Simon – Marylebone

22. Ingot – Tom Dixon – Hatton Garden

23. John Betjeman bronze – Martin Jennings – St Pancras

24. I Want My Time With You – Tracey Emin – St Pancras

25. Pluriverse – Warren Neidich – Gare Du Nord

26. The Meeting Place – Paul Day – St Pancras

27. Uffington White Horse – Unknown – Uffington

18. Echo – Jaume Plensa – Seattle Sculpture Park

19. The Gum Wall – Unknown – Seattle Pike Place

Thoughts on 2025

The Big Stuff:
Fallow year in terms of big updates. Commuting back and forth, back and forth. Kids trying hard in school. Wist working from home in schools marketing. My work picking up again, but team size not keeping pace. Less work travel than last year but was nice to see Seattle. Enjoyed Center Parcs, Cornwall, and Avebury.

The Small Stuff:
Johnny Flynn meets KPop Demon Hunters. Stamping Field Notes and sticker hunting. More seasonal decoration in the house, alongside hall panelling and new barn doors. Lanterns and fireworks. The last nativity. Panto. Foraged foliage. Christmas with my side of the family. No pottery; booked but missed.

Travel:

Quote for the year:
“Our thinking was that there was no undo function in real life, or in drawing or painting, so to use that function on a computer seemed like cheating. Instead we would overlay another image, or scratch out the error, because mistakes leave traces.” – Stanley Donwood

Books read: 10
Best three books:

Number of photos taken: 8397
Number of songs starred on Spotify: 54
Most listened to track: Waiting in Eb – Joe Webb
Series watched: The Traitors, Celebrity Traitors, Slow Horses, Only Connect, Detectorists, Gladiators, Have I Got News For You, Clarkson’s Farm, Amandaland,
Album of the year: Hamstrings and Hurricanes – Joe Webb
Film of the year: The Ballad of Wallis Island
Pub quizzes partaken: 1
Pub quizzes won: 0
Trips to the doctor: 1
Trips to the dentist: 1
Trips to the vet: 2
Museums visited:

17. Go Wildlife Go – Gillie and Marc – Paternoster Square

1. Thame Peculiar Pot – Badger – Thame

2. Thame Peculiar Pot – Tree of hope – Thame

3. Birds Watching – Jenny Kandler – Eden Project

4. The Rites Of Dionysus – Tim Shaw – Eden Project

5. ∞ Blue – Studio Swine – Eden Project

6. Avebury Stone Circle – Avebury

7. Untitled by Georg Baselitz – Blenheim

8. Winston Churchill by Paul Rafferty – Blenheim

9. Shire Horses – Sophie Thompson – Carterton

10. Evolve – Richard Thornton – Carterton

11. Buttercross Needle – Michael Fairfax – Witney

12. Witney Yarn – Rob Turner – Witney

13. Turning – Charlotte Mayer – Bicester

14. Wallpaper & Sofas – Rodney Harris – Bicester

15. Huddle of Sheep – Unknown – Bicester

16. The Crows of Bicester – Philip Bews & Diana Gorvin – Bicester