However it was not only her artwork that struck me, but also her way of living that was shared in the interview.

The accompanying photos, capturing Dee cycling to deliver her paintings, which she carried wrapped in brown paper and string, sketching outside in fields near her home or her cosily beautiful caravan where she both lives and works, showed me an artistic life so entwined by its natural surroundings, I could only dream of.

At the time of reading the interview I had only just started thinking about my own illustration journey and I would completely credit reading this interview as the final bit of inspiration I needed to push me towards trying to live a more creative life.

Since then I have followed Dee’s work on instagram and I’m still so inspired by all her paintings. Therefore I was so excited that she agreed to be interviewed for this Winter Solstice Seasonal Interview.

The winter solstice celebrates the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and this festival also marks the astronomical start of winter.

Although we often celebrate this time of year with social gatherings, merriment, lit candles and fires, the darkness also allows us some much needed time of self reflection and with that a sense of renewal and rebirth. I hope this cosy, seasonal read gives you some inspiration to find your own moments of stillness amongst the chaos that often accompanies this holiday period.

I understand that you live and work in a caravan situated in the British countryside, what can be seen in nature around you at the moment?

Winter.

The very word, winter, conjures up default images and ideas but every winter is different and living in a caravan, where there is a lot of going outside involved, possibly makes these changes more noticeable. Most of my nature watching involves the birds sharing our living space and this year there are notable differences.

We have much fewer blackbirds, and those that are here, are less friendly than in other years. There is an abundance of blue and great tits, such cheerful fellows, and dunnocks, which my father calls “Hedge bettys", robins, wrens, the watcher of the farmyard, the wagtail, a lone chaffinch, and occasional visits from a greater spotted woodpecker, long tail tits and goldfinches feasting on teasel seeds. Oh, and a pair each of pigeons and doves.

All the leaves have just about left the trees and have turned brown on the ground ready to enrich the soil. I see a wood mouse travelling very quickly along the hedgerow to share food I put out in our secret garden for the birds there. I see small green shoots appearing already, umbrellicas and teasels and other wild plants. We still have rosehips on the wild rose by the bird table which always surprises me, the Holly and yew berries have been eaten by migrant thrushes.

I haven't seen any fieldfare yet but I did see a field full of migratory wagtails, something I hadn't seen before. Today I saw swans flying over the Marsh down the lane. We have also a family of crows, visiting jays and magpies, and a daily flypast of rooks and jackdaws on their way to forage in the fields, also gulls doing the same.

In the early evening we hear a small owl, and later the twit and woo of the tawny owl.

If I'm up early enough I see roe deer and hares leaving the cultivated field next door to return to the wild fields over the lane.

I guess I am rather obsessed by the comings and goings of the birds, that's why I suppose so many appear in the paintings.

That sounds so magical. With such a rural location, you must see and experience the changing seasons more than most, how does your daily routine change during the winter?

My daily routine doesn't change too much during the winter except that I might not get up quite so early, the fire is out and it's too cold and dark to maybe go out for a morning walk or get on with the daily chores. And because of the dark evenings, I don't go out on my bicycle or walking and stay up later painting. I do most of my painting in the winter months, the comfort of the fire and less pleasant weather and other distractions makes it much easier to concentrate.

Your paintings capture the various seasons they are set in so perfectly, can you tell us a bit about your work process that allows you to recreate these seasonal moments so authentically?

I find it nigh on impossible to paint any other season than the one we're in. I soak up the light, colours, shapes of my surroundings, they will bring back memories of similar times and events that might inspire a painting. Winter is definitely my favourite season to work with and in. I love the bare trees, the colours, the skies, clothing, and simplified landscape.

Apart from ten years of living in a town/city, my whole life has been enveloped by rural settings, it must be embedded in me to absorb what is around me.

Do you have a favourite season to work with?

I both dread and look forward to each season, but especially winter.

I dread the obvious, the cold and the wet, the mud everywhere, and it being hard to keep up with the washing and drying of clothes and linens, which I do outside in a shed with a hot water tank.

But I look forward to cosy fires, snuggly jumpers and coats, the unexpected changes of the natural world, when it snows, or sunny frosty starts with glorious sunrises, making and eating comforting food.

And the cat is more sociable!

Your work largely depicts your subjects enjoying peaceful outdoor moments, what would your ideal winter day be spent doing?

My ideal winter day...it could be a long walk in the snow covered landscape with the sun shining, seeing the foot prints of birds and animals not seen directly, seeing the well known scenery in a completely different way or it could be staying inside by the fire, watching a favourite film, either painting or making a item of clothing, knitting or sewing with my cat beside me while outside the weather dramatically rages, or times spent with friends and family, I'm quite easily pleased.

I’ll try and describe what my day was like yesterday, because, in a way, it was a perfect winter day.

My father came to see us and I got a lift with him into the village to go to see a friend. On the way, we saw a group of swans flying over the river meadows, and two more flew over the cottage I was visiting.

As I was walking back home, I met another friend who lives on my lane with her two lovely dogs and we walked back together. It was a typical winter day.

Leaden skies, almost drizzling but not quite, the air was still and cold. Everything was wet and dripping, a fine mist put the distance into monochrome but in the afternoon light, everything close was vibrant. The decaying leaves gold and copper, the grass verdant. My friend was wearing a lovely vintage coat of tweed and velvet and big boots. And her two dogs are delightful.

This is the kind of thing that inspires my paintings.

What does winter and the end of year signify to you, and how would you normally celebrate these?

The winter solstice often gets lost in the deadlines of work deliveries and Christmas preparations, but it signifies a time of the beginning of winter, of new beginnings and new plans for the year ahead. It's also a time to take a little rest and to try something different, make something new.

Since my mother died, it's always on the winter solstice that I make a huge fruit, soaked in dad's sloe gin, and nut cake to share between my father, brother, daughter and us, which has become quite a ritual.

After the solstice the days begin to get longer again and the promise of spring and warmer, easier days to come.

I really do love all the changes of the seasons, the unexpected weather conditions these changes bring and there’s always something new to observe and take interest in.

You can follow Dee ‘s painting and news on her instagram account.