Wintertime can be a challenging season and as it begins to draw to an end I can find myself searching for inspiration, looking for that spark that will cascade through setting alight a series of ideas. So I have created this list of art prompt ideas that may help both you and I to keep creating through the darkest months and help us to notice and appreciate the little details of winter.

The icy cold temperatures and low light levels have pulled all of the intensity of colour from our surrounding landscape and have left us with a beautiful washed out winter palette. These are the tones that I am always most drawn to; soft, muted shades that all blend seamlessly together. Gentle and calming to be around, they just feel effortlessly elegant in their faded demeanour. Creating colour palettes from your photos is a fun and meditative process in itself but what else can we use these palettes for?

Leaving my beloved garden after 9 years of harvests, healing, and growth. A heartfelt note about the land that nurtured me through grief and seasons of abundance.

Explore my November garden in late spring—seasonal highlights, gardening tips, and the magic of this vibrant season.

Here is a selection of tools that I have put together to help me during the creation of my still life images and that you may find useful to begin to curate a little collection for yourself.

Photo Challenge: Find out how to become a better artist by returning to photograph the same subject. Learn how you can fast track your creativity and develop your style through challenging yourself to just photograph one subject or place.

A guide of what to photograph in your garden during winter. It is easy to think that there is nothing to photograph, to set the camera down until spring returns and colour and life flood back into your world. But here are a few ideas that can help you (and me!) to continue to create as winter sets in.

How to create a seasonal flat lay from items you find in your garden and in nature.

Each year I easily forget just how long it takes for the walnuts to form & ripen. As soon as the calendar turns to Autumn I wait expectantly as the walnuts hang heavily in the tree above me. But it is not until mid autumn when a storm arrives, that the wild winds tear the walnuts from the huge tree that reaches over the edges of our house. A deep resonant thud, followed by a rumbling as they tumble down off the roof & fall to nestle into the thick carpet of sodden dun leaves below.

While all seems quiet in the winter garden the soil below is busy preparing for its next cycle of growth. Herbaceous perennials develop their new shoots, buds swell on bare branches and some brave bulbs emerge from the ground. We too can quietly work away in the background to prepare for a successful growing season ahead.

Notes from my September garden. Seeds to sow in September in New Zealand, dividing and planting dahlias, iceland poppies.

Forcing flowering branches for early season blossom, a ritual that I look forward to every year.

Behind the scenes interview with Queenstown lifestyle photographer Penny Kingan. Specialising in home and garden photography as well as creative brand photography find out more about Penny’s creative process.

Cosy accomodation amongst the gum trees. I love to photograph homes & gardens and especially love to capture the small details that make your house a home and this beautiful handmade cabin was full of handcrafted details.

Notes & photography from my autumn garden in Arrowtown, Central Otago.