As winter approaches we may feel a little constrained by the darker days ahead, but with a little thought and a modicum of forward planning we can turn this time to our advantage. Opportunities to get out and about to paint from the landscape may be reduced, but we can still find valuable painting experience working from still life subjects that we can set up at home. A group of carefully chosen objects can offer narrative within the connectedness of the items, as in the "Vanitas" compositions of the 15th and 16th century which contained strong messages about the transitory nature of life and experience. Or we could explore groups of objects chosen for their texture or form. How about glassware and feathers? Or it could still be a piece about light if we use an angle poise lamp fitted with a day light bulb. Try setting up a still life inside a shoe box with a hole cut in the side to admit strong light from a lamp. A ready made stage setting for all those quirky bits and pieces that have no real function but are still appealing. Can they provide a narrative language that speaks anew? And then there are all those photos taken during the long hot dog days of summer. Why not sort them out and see if any of them still offer the same frisson of excitement they did when you first captured the image? Up here in the high Sierra Nevadas in Andalucia we have the fresh glory of the first snow fall up on the peaks, bright and sparkling in the sunshine.