Amid the lizards, snakes and parakeets...a purple monkey in the jungle!

AS a dauber, dabbler and all-round dilettante, I often find myself pondering the limitless possibilities of art. I see it as a playground - just like this website! - where I can let my imagination run free and indulge my creative impulses.

T'was on such lines I was thinking the other day when I suddenly wondered what it would be like to be a purple monkey in the jungle. Would I blend in with the parakeets and birds of paradise, or would my primate friends think I was a bit peculiar, a kind of Danny la Rue of the ape world?

No sooner had this thought taken root than my mind was off on its jaunts again, picturing my purple monkey alter ego on a branch amid the perils and entanglements of a lost world. And, you guessed it, as soon as the image appeared in my addled head, I felt obliged to commit it to paper, first as a black and white drawing, then as this multi-coloured masterpiece.

This is one of my favourite recent creations. Though it is worlds apart from my minimalist art, in which I create images in as few as one or fourteen lines, I like it for its colourful complexity. Even I don't know how many lizards there are - in fact, you might want to waste an hour by trying to find out.

Anyway, I thought you'd like to see Purple Monkey in the Jungle before I set off on my travels. See you in about ten days, with an image from foreign parts guaranteed to bring colour and warmth into your life amid the winter gloom.