I imagine you have probably heard the phrase, ‘variety is the spice of life’. However, I would prefer if the saying went, “curiosity is the spice of life.”

Variety often depends on outside factors, but curiosity comes from within. I think curiosity is a skill that we can nurture and develop and, when you do this, you will reap great rewards. Curiosity means to engage with the world and not just take things at face value. To question things and ponder.

Curiosity is something that starts off strongly when we are young because there is so much that we don’t know. Although it’s intrinsic, it is something we can loose. As we go through life we can slip into a pattern of accepting things as “just the way they are” and loose that attitude of engagement with life. This is why I think it’s important to stretch out those curiosity muscles and exercise wonderment.

Do you need a little curiosity kick-start? Here are a few places that I find inspiration:

• This is Colossal a website catalogue of interesting art
• Dear Data is an art project where two long-distance friends collect data from their lives and share it as visual info graphs drawn onto postcards
• The Diatomsit is a video I’ve shared before about a microscopic art form and artist Klaus Kemp
• The Hunterian Museum has a great collection catalogue
• The Victoria & Albert Museum has a great collection catalogue

One of the main topics that stirs my curiosity is whenever art mixes with scientific elements. Add a pinch of imagination and I am hooked! Speaking of which, I thought I would share a few photos from the Watercolour Animal Pop-up workshop that I instructed last weekend. These are just a sample of the incredible and intricate creatures that the participants created.

And here are a few creatures in more detail:

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Upcoming events:

This Sunday (tomorrow) I will be participating at Apple Day, an event at Sea Cider from 11-4 as part of the market inside the pavilion. For more information about this free event as well as a list of my upcoming holiday workshops, please click here.