GREENERY

The light tickles green little spots to wake up while the first spring storm hums outside. Plans about summer plants, voyages, a pot of green tea and a pile of newspapers.

1. A little interview on The Epoch Times.
2. Scandinavian Dreams by Carrie.

Happy Sunday!

NUMBERS: THREE, MELODY OF THE RAIN

The spring rain arrived. The frozen lake became a huge mirror with a layer of water on the ice. Little streams here and there, puddles. First snowdrops. 

On Friday my small company turned three years old. Thank you everyone for your words, commissions, orders, greetings. The third year brought so many new ideas, lovely people, exhibitions, so kind words. A humble curtsey! Numbers: Two and Numbers: One. 

Sunday, radio plays mellow songs and rattles once in a while in the middle. The eagerness of springtime and all the plants to arrive one by one.

Have a sweet start for the new week!

SUNDAY SWIMMINGS

In the pool, while swimming, the sun rays were glimmering. Outside snow was sparkling. The sun warmed through windows and the water was turquoise.

Surprise visitors from behind a sea, beautiful music and long breakfasts. Many smiles.

Happy February! Helmikuu, Pearl Month. Helmikuu helistää, February rattles. February is the coldest month in Finland. Pearls appear on tree branches as the sun starts to shine more, it warms and melts the snow to raindrops and the evening cold freezes them again. Ice pearls are hanging on all tree branches.

Have a sweet beginning for the new week!

BLUE FORESTS

Happy last day of April,

Late Sunday night in the balcony listening to birds with their lullabies when the sun is still giving a few rays of light over the trees. Good night stories read from the reflections in the waves of the small lake. Dark shadows growing, calm water taking over them. Later, reading a book about the Trans-Siberian train, dreaming. Violets planted on the balcony. Bees flying.

1. Apple Blossom Meadow -print (no. 11) in the South Korean Marie Claire Maison -magazine (March issue). Thank you for the photo Isabelle Kim!

2. Sunday bike ride with a friend to the hill with wooden houses to have an afternoon tea. Blue forests of Kidneywort. 

Helene of Auprès de Mon Arbre won the giveaway, congratulations. Thank you so much for writing all those precious things!

Have a beautiful jump over the entrance of May!

(The first photo is by Isabelle Kim.) 

SUNDAY DETAILS WITH BLUES

Sunset time with pink and blue. February is making its way here, with colder days. The light is softer, more yellow. Aquarius birthdays to celebrate for the whole month, first ones last night inside frosted windows. A long breakfast with a friend to think about the next ones, and some spring adventures.

Kristen made an interview with me. Her world of names is very interesting.

There is an exhibition with a few of my paintings in Vuojoki mansion in Eurajoki. Till the 28th of February.

Sunday evenings are for music, for reading and for a long walk (and pinched red cheeks).

Have a warm entrance to the new week!

.........

Heippa! Kevättalven retkikohde: Vuojoen kartanolla, Eurajoella, on Kuvittajat ry:n Metsän tuhat tarinaa -näyttely. Siellä on myös muutama minun maalaukseni, 28.2.2012 asti.

Lämpöisiä ajatuksia!

THEN EVERYTHING FROZE

Good morning, good evening,

On Sunday morning, when waking up, there was something different in the air. The waves of the lake were frozen. Under foot steps the sound was new. The frost had painted the landscape in shiny sparkles, in brittle sounds.

I started to battle against winter because I wanted to be friends with it. Winter was a friend of no-one, it did not ask whether people liked it to blow on their face or from behind their back. I knew winter was around me, and it was just a matter of being a part of it. From my book Proof of Winter.

Have a good warm week, with candle lights.

GOOD EVENING, MR. / PRE-ORDER

Hello dear all,

Hedgehogs and rabbits meet during dusk. Just when the air starts to turn colder, when the air is filled with apple tree scents and grass. They accompany bicycle journeys and walks. Silent snuffling friends.

On Friday I saw a friend painting a portrait of a rabbit, today I painted one too. How wonderful to see other person´s hands working over a big paper, with so secure and smooth quick moves, simple color mixtures. Especially, when I could only sit and watch. Enjoy.

As so many have asked about the Tree House painting, (thank you for liking it!) I decided to make it to a print. You can pre-order it here, it will be shipped starting from the 5th of September. A few other sold out prints will also be back in the shop. They will be shipped from the 5th of September as well. (Prints available at the moment will be shipped in 5 business days as usually if ordered alone, otherwise from the 5th of September.)

Sundays are for jazz. Watching hot air balloons over the lake floating in the sky towards sunset. Reading a bit from here and there. Stretching. And a few brush strokes.

You are all so precious. Thank you for all your kind words.

Have a calm Sunday and a good beginning for a new week.

BEAMS OF A SKY LION

Mr. Sun was shining on Friday in his well rested clothes of gold and glimmer. In the old neighborhood all were still asleep. Tiny steps on snow. Crows nodding their heads for a passerby. Secret meetings of theirs, secret language of theirs from another corner to another one. A pheasant and his tail. Only narrow paths to walk. Carefully not to wake up the neighborhood yet.

Today he is shining again. A sun day for another walk.

Warm thoughts, welcome February!

FLOWERS OF THREE KINDS

A perfect spot to hide, to sketch, to read and to listen. A perfect spot also in the tree to have a small icicle as a companion. Packing orders and bicycling a new snowy way to the town (orders made during next week should reach you before Christmas). In the new home I don´t yet always remember where I have put everything. Treasures are found on the way of searching something else. Small sauna has been warming me. Also your comments and emails, thank you, thank you!

Warm thoughts to your Sunday from by a small lake.

A CROW SITTING ON THEIR SHOULDERS

Surprised by someone from childhood. An old neighbor of a neighbor of a neighbor of a neighbor said hello on Friday. I did not recognize him, but he recognized me. To think about it, I probably look exactly the same as 15-20 years ago. They were three boys and one girl, a crippled crow was their pet, we raced bikes on the sandy roads and ate tens of cinnamon buns as our parents were talking about things in our small village. Days were always sunny.

Reading by the lake of Pyhäjärvi, yesterday being surprised by another friend by accident. Unplanned tea in the arboretum, bicycling under clouds, eating in a house where leaves covered one of the high walls outdoors.

An allotment house for rainy seasons. An end of summer bracelet of clovers and other grass plants tied under a birch tree on another Sunday.

More clothes to be wrapped inside for todays tea under the windy birch tree, accompanied with knitting needles and sketch book.

Have a warm Sunday dear all of you!

BLOOMING SOUNDS

Dear radio hosts,

Thank you for the stories and music that you play for me, thank you for all the wishes of good mornings and good nights.

I listen to radio a lot, mainly a classical music channel, with radio plays and talks. Every week there is also a nature sound. Birds singing, hedgehogs snuffling. Today the radio play was Icelandic, brought me to the sea and black sand shores.

My grandmother has birthday today. She also listens to radio a lot. I called her to congratulate her. She was just washing her dishes. I heard her radio on the background as we talked, her daily friends talking and not waiting for any answers. I remember how the sound is when she pushes the button of her radio on the kitchen floor. A sound of comfort.

On the phone she asked me if I have been lifting my legs lately. With that she means dancing. I answered yes, last night (or this morning) till the sun was up again. Seagulls flew above on the way home in sunrise. Beautiful weekend with outdoor black and white movies, museums, a concert, a park flea market and hot summer moments with the green turning darker and deeper in tone.

The sun just crept behind a cloud, I guess from there he goes to sleep.

Good night! Have a gentle new week!

P.s. Dear Jen listed my old book to her shop. There are still some available, even though it is a winter book. Please just send me an email if you are interested of a hint of winter moods.

SUNDAY MELODIES OF CHYAK-CHYAK AND KRAA-KRAA

A jackdaw is giving a speech in a birch tree. Seagulls are back in the town, I heard them singing too on Friday over the market place. Bicycle is washed and shining. It felt like flying last night with the first trip over the hills pedaling.

A small bear cub is awake for the spring. He is a birthday gift for a small boy, ordered by his parents from me. This bear cub has been playing a long time with the spring already, starting to bloom branches himself too.

This Sunday could be a day to bake something soft, salty and round. Have you been baking something lately?

From a yellow sofa, cross-legged, tea-handed and happy-minded I wish sweet melodies for your Sunday!

A BRITTLE ERUPTION AND A HINT OF YELLOW

Hello dear Sunday,

There are letters to be sent and letters received. Smiles are formed with every envelope dropping from the mailbox and every email and every comment of yours, thank you! A proof of spring, yesterday was the day to use the spring jacket first time on a very delighting long rainy walk. Drip drop, said the rain.

There is a volcano erupting in Iceland. Heart beats fast for it. Sometimes the nature is slow, like the winter ending and the spring beginning here. Sometimes the nature is surprising and quick, after making up new plans serenely, almost being forgotten. Where the orange and yellow lava now flows (1 & 2) I was hiking back in 2005 and met a very dear friend the very first time. He sat on his knees in the grass and glaciers surrounded us. Hopefully it stays as a very brittle eruption.

There is a hint of yellow in the horizon behind the grey clouds. Cloudberry jam is very bright yellow on my pancakes for a late coffee break (but that is what Sundays are for, aren´t them?). Have you seen something yellow lately?

I am so happy to have you here visiting.

Have a comfortable beginning for the new week!

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.

WIND FROM SIBERIA

It brought snow last night. Going on the ice with "potkukelkka", it is very quick sledge of a kind. The sound of ice is like whales singing when it breaks and becomes stronger reaching longer to the shores. Going over the cracks takes a bit of courage when the ice moves slowly. But the cracks are very tiny. Got red cheeks. Please dear wind, tell greetings to the beautiful landscapes of Siberia next time you pass by there!

(Pictures from a video I took. There one can hear the ice breaking from distance if listening very carefully.)