One of the highlights of my year was skimming the tops of trees in a light aircraft, admiring the colourful canopy of autumn leaves blazing in the setting sun. From a personal perspective, it was an extraordinary experience which will be indelibly ingrained in the memory and capped a wonderful visit with family in upstate New York. But for someone who is so guided and influenced by the catalyst of colour, it was an unparallelled visual stimulus which will inspire my practice for a long time to come.