A LITTLE BIT OF MISSING

It is rainy and +5 °C today in the treasure island Iceland. Quite different it was in the summer of 2005, when I was there the second time. It was very green and an 80-years old gentleman called Halldór was teaching me the names of the mountains around Reykjavík. We sat by a coffee table and looked the landscape opening behind the window. So many mountains fit in one view.

Is there a place that you miss sometimes?

Edit:

P.s. The smell of Reykjavík is of course the wind and the sea, but also vanillin. Very strong vanillin as there is a cookie factory in the middle of the town. Vanillin to my coffee today!

WHILE OTHER LAYERS OF PAINT DRY

February is a birthday month. While other layers of watercolors were drying I painted 30 + 31 roses for my friends. (Though now I counted that the 31st rose is missing.)

Today a layer of Payne´s Grey Bluish is drying. For the afternoon it will be a lot of different browns and oranges. That goes well with an afternoon tea or a coffee.

Sunday has a certain end-of-the-week weather today. The horizon is lost between the light grey sky and earth. Dust patterns of snow are flying in the air and the wind is silent. A bit of mist appears. A bit of brown as tree trunks peek from the snow.

How is your Sunday?

I hope you enjoy it.

MALAYSIAN TONES

Days will be warm with this gift from my parents. I was painting with Alizarin crimson when I received it. Indian yellow was the color of the sun when it peeked through clouds for a few moments. I borrowed its color too.

Birds are singing a lot these days. Also the light has changed, it is more white and it reaches further corners of the rooms. I have almost forgotten that there are corners in these rooms, the winter has passed next to the windows.

Have a happy, soft and raspberry jam —scented weekend!

MOMENTS OF 15 MINUTES

15 minutes of official coffee break at 15.00. Painting a layer of watercolors to dry meanwhile. Lay down, close eyes, think of the gentle snowing outside, breath deep.

Open eyes, watch the gentle snowing outside and know the next color to be painted (turquoise). (Don´t mind, just forget, the huge pile of clothes to be put somewhere on the chair.) A coffee with soya milk, cinnamon and cardamom can be enjoyed while painting again. Turn the volume of Ludovico Einaudi a bit higher while snow lands even quicker behind the window. A perfect break of 15 minutes.

How was your coffee break today?

Happy February!

WIND FROM NORTH POLE

It feels like mid winter. Stormy wind comes through the window seams and knocks on doors making them to clatter. Yesterday evening I ran back home from a tea at downtown only to stay warm. Frozen face and toes anyway I got, but under blankets everything melts.

Today I work under a shawl escaping the wind coming through the windows. Cutting and folding old aquarelle pieces to prepare a coming project. A very nice project which will look completely something else than these dummies. A very nice cold stormy day under a shawl to work.

Hello, how are you?

TICKLING WHISKERS OF THIS CAT

Viiru is a good guard for birds. She sings as long as someone comes to watch her and only then comes down. She shows the way to the forest and starts singing again when we are too far and it is time to turn back home. When I paint, she sleeps on my paper block or points with her paw what part should be done better. Now she takes care of my grandparents and for sure is a very happy countryside cat even though it is -20°C there. But surely she feels the coming spring as sun rays on her whiskers.

The painting was a gift for my aunt and the photos are from last May.

Hopefully you too have sunshine on your fingertips, frost blanket outside and a beet root soup boiling for lunch! Have a good Tuesday!

NORTHERN LIGHTS

In this ferry sleeps very kind and talented people. If they are not sleeping anymore after a long night, I hope they are watching the darkening horizon sitting on the benches in sauna of the ferry. They are going over Gulf of Bothnia back home. They were playing a concert here last night.

Thank you Johan, Kristoffer, Larisa, André, Daniel and Erik. Thank you very much for the beautiful music and the collaboration (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7). Thank you for dedicating this song to me last night and for the nice moments together. I hope to meet you again very soon.

Thank you Declan de Barra for amazing singing and playing. I really hope you enjoyed being in Finland and all the ice around you.

Thank you Henri, who helped to bring these heart-warming musicians here.

Thank you Pekka, who came to say hello and surprised me from Hämeenlinna.

After meeting you all it felt almost natural to walk home at 4 am and see Northern lights in the sky with snow flakes floating slowly down.