January 2026, It is summer here in Australia and we are experiencing something like a heat wave at the moment. So I try to be out and about early mornings to get back inside by around 11 o clock as the heat and the sun get very intense at that time. There are plenty of fruits available at the moment both tropical as well as from colder climates and the other day I decided to give myself a treat and buy some strawberries but I wanted to make it special, so instead of grabbing some from the fruit section in the supermarket I took the time to figure out where the farmers market was held the next day. Turned out it was a suburb I haven’t really been to so I drove there the next morning at around 7 am. I took note of the parks and houses I passed, looking for new places to explore or potentially sketch when it gets cooler. When I arrived at the Farmers market I realised that I already knew a lot of the stall holders from my usual Sunday market shoppings close to my place. I ended up buying a beautiful bonnet full of juicy and sweet strawberries and decided that these would be my first painting for the year, . Because yes no one needs to have strawberries, it’s not an essential food but it can provide such a healthy and tasty experience and I picked them as a symbol for self care and finding joy in the little things again.