I seem to have an (almost) infinite amount of canvas and panel which is allowing me to work without curbing my enthusiasm.  Lots of these had been prepared last year and were and I had forgotten about them.  Having this amount allows me to move freely from one surface to the next uncompromisingly.

I am moving into a more and more abstract style as I go.  I have a theory that abstraction is the natural progression of the painter. Partly that age and outlook (wisdom, experience etc) have an influence on approaches to making an image; and partly that the 'less is more' philosophy becomes more attractive after years of production.  I enjoy the simplicity of it (though this is not to say that making abstracted paintings is easy) and the instinctual aspect of making shapes in relation to real everyday objects (extracting the essence, if you like)  I am drawn to red ochre (pigment) dark grey, duck egg blue and a marine blue as my four basic colours to work with.  It allows for juxtaposing warm and/or round shapes with cool and/or square shapes.  I am thinking in terms of cool/warm and angular/curve.  I think with these principals in place an abstracted image is about finding these balances within the frame.  (new theory that I seem to have come up with)
That was a bit 'geeky'!  I must be careful not to indulge in too much 'artspeak' - which has the tendency to sound highly pretentious and extremely dull to those who don't really understand it.  At the end of the day, I cannot deny that I am an 'art geek' (geeks are not exclusively technological or scientific - even though they are mainly associated with these disciplines) 
It's the Chinese new year this month (have the celebrations passed?) Year of the Dragon which is said to be highly auspicious. That makes me feel optimistic.  Snake year 2013.  My year.  I see good things.  in Chinese astrology is is believed that Snake children bring luck to a family.