Happy Christmas!

Christmas week always feels like nature’s great pause, doesn’t it? There’s a particular quality to winter light that makes everything feel suspended in time.

‘Writ in Water’ by artist Mark Wallinger (above video)

I recently visited Mark Wallinger’s beautiful artwork at Runnymede called ‘Writ in Water’. It’s a circular chamber with an open roof, built around a perfectly still pool of water. Standing there in the quiet, watching the sky reflected in that mirror-smooth surface, I was struck by how much it captured the spirit of this season. The water is kept constantly flowing over the edges, so no matter what weather arrives from above, the pool quickly calms and returns to being a mirror. I loved how the wind gently created ripples at the edges of the pool. There’s something rather wonderful about that, particularly at Christmas: the idea that we can create spaces of peace and reflection, even when the world around us feels turbulent.

The artwork celebrates the Magna Carta and its principles of justice and fairness. Those feel like very Christmas ideals too, don’t they? The messages we send at this time of year are really about wishing each other kindness, dignity, and peace. Simple things, but profound ones.

As I’ve been walking alongside frost-edged streams these past weeks, I’ve noticed how water takes on an entirely different character in December. The surface tension holds fallen leaves in perfect stillness, creating accidental compositions that remind me why I became an artist in the first place.

In my work, I’ve been drawn to deeper, richer colours this season. The golden ochres and warm copper tones that appear when winter sun hits moving water, the inky blues of twilight reflections, the unexpected flashes of crimson where berries have dropped into a stream. It’s a reminder that even in the coldest, darkest time of year, there’s extraordinary beauty waiting to be noticed if we simply take the time to look properly.

Perhaps that’s the real gift of this festive season: permission to slow down, to observe, to let ourselves be moved by the small wonders that surround us every day.