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