In the build up to Christmas I found myself thinking about the weather and the way it influences health, both physical and mental health. After four weeks of constant and ceaseless rain, things felt pretty bleak, waking up to the constant drone of torrential rain under a shroud of dull grey clouds that never broke to even give a glimmer of the deep transparent blue above or the sun alike was miserable at best and life felt almost like lost void of routine disappointment. But on the 23rd of December the sky finally cleared and the sun broke the horizon with little shadows cast by a few scant fluffy white clouds and almost instantly I felt energised, motivated and revitalised, I found myself questing to venture outwards and explore, I guess just like plants and grass we all experience photosynthesis alike? That morning I drove to get some last minute food in for Christmas and during that drive the idea for this image came, then I took a slow but long walk around some of the countryside nearby and the image evolved and developed in my mind before I sat down for a day to assemble it in Blender. While building the scene I kept thinking how much we lose touch with ourselves and our ties to the natural world around us and that was the theme for this image and upon reflection I guess maybe sometimes we should all take a lesson in life from the plants and just enjoy a quiet moment in the sun? A few months later the base idea behind this image would be the starting point for not only a new world and story to tell, Isla's miniature scale forest fantasy but also a multitude of images linked to the idea or sometimes what feels like more of a daydream of abandoning the chaos of modern life for a quiet time in the solitude and beauty of the natural world.