That Sweetness

I've never tasted so much sweetness mixed with so much salt and bitterness as this summer has brought. Members of my family have been taken away on an ambulance, and put to the hospital, and got fired, and experienced all kinds of anxieties. Just when we thought it was laa happily over, my doctor came up with the news that the X-ray showed that I might have tuberculosis which, apart from the obvious health problems, would have left me unemployed, unable to continue working at a school. After two weeks of racing from one hospital to the other, I've finally find out that I had had the disease more than two years ago (and never knew up to this August!), but, luckily, am quite healthy right now, and may continue working. 

While the results of the tests were still unknown, I had almost got another job, but then decided to return to school, at least for a while. 

These trials being over, and the others still on their way, I have a brief moment of peace now.

These are the pictures of horses whom me and Maetro love to visit once in a while. 

This one is accepting an offering of a baby carrot ;)

And then we went to the sea, just in time to see the huge ripe fruit of a sun setting down into the mist.

We returned home when it was already dark. I love these little trips of ours so much it hurts - the flapping of the masses of leaves in the dark, the acute smell of pine resin, the layers of clouds sweeping over our heads, the faint smell of the sea, the strong, overwhelming smells of damp grass and whortleberry bushes, the illuminated windows of the houses, like huge orange aquariums... I can never get enough, cane never breathe enough of it all, and miss it desperately.

Well then, it's off to school tomorrow, so I should go to bed early today.

Good night :)

Lecte ;)

Down west sinks the Sun

I haven't been out with a tent for what seems like a thousand years, and was very pleased when we finally took the road last week. We've travelled Laulasmaa - "The Land of Singing Sand" - and set our tent on a sandy belt between the sea and the pine forest. 

The smell of pine resin was so strong, I felt tingling in my nose, and all the tiny life was busy bustling about in the still-hot August sun.

Maestro found a gorgeous orange-cop boletius, which I couldn't stop drawing.

As the sun began to set, we hurried to gather the firewood enough to last us through the night. It is amazing how these instincts sleep inside one's mind, and wake up when the time is right - I mean, we did, of course, know we would need to light a fire, but it was the image of the sun declining towards the horizon, which almost made me panic at the thought of a black fireless time ahead. That was when I actually remembered how important it is to get the wood, how important the fire is, and why has the man always feared the dark. 

Then we watched the sunset until the sky mellowed from blood and fire into mild watercolour.

I stood on the brink of water, and above my head a huge dark blanket was slowly being pulled over the blue and peach stripes. It was such a relish to come back from the faintly glowing horizon into the utter darkness of the unageing night and head for the only bright spark visible - our own campfire.

Soon, the stars appeared.

The full moon was blazing from behind the ink-black pine boughs, and long bight stripes of silvery light lay on the sand and the sedge.

In the morning, we walked for a couple of km to a small town for a cup of hot coffee and, of course, made a stop to admire the waterfalls.

 We really must do it more often.

Lecte ;)

Birds and Ladies

Going through my scrapbooks and sketchbooks, I discovered several pieces which were laid aside once, for I did not quite know what I should do with them. Now, I believe, I have found a desicion. 

Now I plan to geth these pieces printed as bookmarks, and once the main idea has been established, all kinds of additional details have been springing up in my head. While I still have to decide on the final appearance of these, I've played with them in Photoshop a little, just to try out some raw ideas.

And here is one of my scrapbook pages, with no connection whatsoever with the pictures above. It's here just because I like it :)

That was a really slippery February...

Lecte ;)

Through Bog and Forest

We've been going out a lot recently. Out of the city, I mean, out into the forests and bogs. I'm always restless in August, eager for a change, for fresh air smelling both of summer and autumn, in between the two seasons. 

So we've rented a car and go for a drive and a walk every day, even if only for a couple of hours.

We've discovered a tiny bog right on the verge of the city. That was the day we walked 15 km on foot, of which I'm still immencely proud :)

We've seen lots of flying things, beautiful and hard to capture. 

The dragonflies were particularly challenging :)

The green spy whom I would have never spotted if it wasn't for Maestro's keen eye.

 We've also gone to a larger bog in one of the national parks.

I felt like I was accompanying two mushroom-loving hobbits, when mom and Maetro both rushed into the thicket after declaring they had only come to admire nature's gifts, not - God forbid, - to gather any of them.

Of all the twelve, I find August the most inspiring, though a little sad: no matter how wide you open your eyes, how deeply you breath the green scented air, there's alway so much more left unseen, untouched, undiscovered.

Lecte ;)

Forest King's Wedding

Recently, we've been going away to bog and forest, escaping from civilization now and then (though not for very long). 

These trips, short but rich in impressions, have given me a lot of visual material to relish, rework and transfer on paper. I hope to do more of forest/ nature/ faerie - themed art in forseeable future. 

Lecte ;)

Seven Bird Spirits

Some time ago, Christina Cairns posted a fascinating legend of the Seven Bird Spirits. 

I found it really inspiring, and did an illustration in ink. 

I've hardly ever drawn old people before, and I'm pleased with how this woman turned out. 

Lecte ;)