Cinnamon rust

Warm and deliciously spicy, the scent of cosying up in front of a crackling fire, nibbling on sweet pastries or swiss cookies crafted for Christmas. Ah cinnamon, my favourite spice and half of the theme for this week's Inspiration Avenue creative challenge.

I hope you're listening to the song. It's one of my favourites, by a little-known band called The Storys. I saw them live once in a tiny venue. I was in the second row. It was the kind of gig where the band wander out into the foyer afterwards and sign star struck 30-somethings' tickets.

And so, I tried to bring Cinnamon, she of the long, tangled hair to life... She started as a painted canvas board in rich hues, her face was transferred from the fashion pages then she was collaged and painted and dabbed and daubed, rubbed and smudged and painted some more. Her hair disappeared somewhat under a shawl, she decamped to Moorish tiled corridors in Marrakech. She really didn't scan very well, so I dabbled with her a bit in photoshop where a spotlight brings her out of the shadows. She's rather introverted.

And because I'm of the attitude, why enter one picture when you can have two... I also present a little result of my visual poetry course - aka doing fun stuff with photoshop. I gave this rusty padlock a retro feel which some lighting and colour adjustment and finally learnt how to make those lovely rounded corners!

Look what I found hiding away!