Do you need to stimulate your mind, or fancy playing with some imaginative ideas for artwork? Get some inspiration from surrealist painter and sculptor, René Magritte.

The Empire of Lights by René Magritte, 1954, shows a night time scene under a bright daylight sky. This is one of Magritte's more subtle works - many don't immediately notice the strangeness of night and day appearing together in the same scene.

Carte Blanche by René Magritte, 1965. Instead of the tree trunks hiding the horse and rider as they travel in the woods, it is the trees which reveal them and the open spaces which hide them. That which should be behind, is in front.

Golconda by René Magritte, 1953. Magritte often painted a man, or men, in bowler hats - the hat being a symbol to him of the average man. Golconda was a city in India.

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Magritte : Thoughts Rendered Visible by Marcel Paquet, available from Amazon.com, is a slim book, but is a comprehensive reference of many of Magritte's paintings, drawings, and sculptures (containing 89 plates in total), with interesting commentary about the works.

You may also enjoy Shooting Blind : Photographs by the Visually Impaired by Edward Hoagland, available from Amazon.com. This is a book of unusual photographs taken by blind and near-blind contributors in an attempt to show what they see.