FLOWERS, NO WAR

Grey and wet outside, but so fresh and lovely. Lights appearing here and there in dusk, wonderful scent of firewood in stoves. Frost greeting on some mornings, the snow still feels like far away thought.

Special magazine, Mollie Makes Colouring, available in UK and with worldwide shipping from Mollie Makes online store. 66 exclusive illustrations, five of mine, to you to colour, colour pencils included.

Hearts!

STILL BLOOMING

Summer continues to bloom on my balcony.

Happy weekend!

NOVEMBER WINDS

Hello November and the disappearing peeks of sun rays! Hello Monday and grey weather with the warmth of the weekend of jazz concerts still caressing. Hello end of the year with still so many possibilities, chances. 

A calendar for the coming year is published by Frankie Magazine, month of October with my Morning Frost Meadow.

The new issue 56 of Frankie includes The Scribble Club to keep hands busy. Five pretty much grown-up illustrations to colour-in. Strawberry Path next to a wild person's portrait by Irana Douer, happy to be in the same publication with her again.

The cover image of little lullabying cat in the girl's arms is by Anke. Loving it so much. ♥

Some days the little lake behind my windows has forest islands floating across after very blowy nights. The other days they are gone. Today they are gone.

The small online shop is updated with some copies of the Casa di Fiaba book, a few postcard sets and prints.

Sweet melodies of raindrops!


(In the second photo illustration on the left is by Ilana Douer, on the third photo the magazine cover illustration is by Anke Weckmann.)

SUNDAY SAILING

Strong winds and rowing instead of sails. Bicycling up and down the hills of this city. Summer afternoon breaks with friends in square markets in harbour.

Birthday card sketches for a friend. 

It is almost Mid Summer.

Cloudy Sunday greetings, melodies of seagulls on the lake and promises of rain, but it does not matter, a long bicycle trip around another lake awaits.

FIRST SILVER FROST

First glittering frost over roofs and grass early this morning. Many beautiful starry nights to wonder what are there behind our stars. Trying to learn new constellations. Hundreds of years ago, how did it feel to sail in the sea and navigate towards the North Star, to home.

Greetings from my painting table. A sketch from the summer and a detail of a painting to it. Many orders packed too, thank you so much! They will be sent today.

Have a warm and calm weekend!

FEATHER HOME

A small resting place middle of bushy pine trees, a feather home. Soft walls, weather-proof. A warm carpet, summery wallpapers. For a secret rendezvous or for time alone. For one or two nights. For silence and calmness. For whispering moments. For alive fire and bright starry nights. For one night everything is possible.

Happiness to you all sweet ones to enter the 2012!

DREAM ON A DESERT

A dream last night about walking in a desert. All around was sand, it was night time. It was calm and perfectly cool air. A perfect walk. High on a narrow path of a sand hill. Down in a valley was a white lighthouse. It was very simple, but massive, no windows, just white painted stone. A moon was over it, an exotic crescent laying on its back. The sky was cyan. White lighthouse, pastel sand, lemon juice colored moon. It was so peaceful and so beautiful to look at the lighthouse from above. I wonder how small I had felt if being down in the valley. Next to the lighthouse.

Where could this exotic peaceful scenery be? In a place where the moon looks different than here, that is the only clue. And why a lighthouse in a desert? Neither sea nor water in sight.

Funnily after that dream I still felt like many questions were solved. Many new thoughts.

A drawing of mine in a hand painted-sewn-and-printed tote bag for KVTL. "Mommy does not manage it all."

A bit of colder days, time to breath a bit more freely with new paintings.

Happy afternoon break greetings with a cup of orange green tea.

HE WHISPERS THROUGH PINE TREES

It was very quick, the book fair. Smiling. People coming and going, talking or just watching me drawing. An older man showing his pictures (of sheep, goats and countryside homes). He had started to draw and paint in age of 75, I was happy. Listening his story I almost forgot that I was there to work. I drew a small forest, kids around me drew on the wall their names.

Then there was a happy lunch in the city, two cats and a girl behind one window, friends around till the last train home. The last train home broke down, but I was happily asleep as long as it was working again and making its lullabying melody of going home.

Today a long bicycle trip in town. Passed a beautiful graveyard, there was a small flower shop open. They luckily had also candles there. One I lit in the graveyard for my grandfather, who surely is sitting in top of a pinewood tree now and whispering his words when the wind flies through the branches. Of fishing luck, stacks of firewood and berry picking. "I am just listening to the radio," I remember him saying the very last time we met some years ago.

Squirrels were there too to lit the candle.

Originals of these photos were taken by Darren. He is going to travel almost around the world (in my mind). Bon Voyage dear, come back home safe!

TRICK OF TWO PAIRS

A small autumn sail over the other side of a forest pond. Maybe after gentle waves there are still some cranberries hiding in the moss. Those I would need to make my running nose better for tomorrow, as I will be sailing to the Helsinki book fair. In a small booth (6e84) I will participate Illustrators in Finland and draw something small at 12 o´clock. If you are around, please come and say hi!

Boiling hot water for green tea, strawberry juice and a huge woolen shirt, two pairs of woolen socks. A trick to try to send the cold away.

You, please stay warm this evening!

AFTER EVERYTHING, A LACE SUNSHINE

Hello beautiful Monday,

Nice to have you here. A morning with some frosty grass. Orange sunshine waking up, coloring a line of a cloud bright pink and then melting the frost layer on the grass.

Weekend, filled with smiles. Nothing could have been better than someone waiting me to arrive at the train station and taking me around the town, through a beautiful graveyard to a sea café with a bonfire. To movies, to eat and to a concert. To meet two more friends. Someone who first time fetched me away from Iceland and another who makes very beautiful music. And then the one after everything walks me to the bus station very late in the night. Thank you for the evening sweet D., J., and O.!

Sunday, the whole day outdoors. Bicycling, an outdoor flea market, friends and café, friends and lunch, friends and bicycling up a hill, friends and tea. On the way home I made the journey a bit longer and read a bit on the beach of the arboretum, the sun was still warming. When the evening came, I drew. This morning it was lit with lace.

Dear Justine has collected some of my watercolor paper scrap constructions into her world of paper and folds. Thank you so much for your kind words Justine!

Whiskers of the tickling sun to you,

Anna Emilia

AUTUMN HOME

Time to hide from rain and cold days. To make a fire in the fireplace (or smell the fire from the neighbors´). Walk in forests to see how everything yawns, repairing themselves for a long sleep. Just mushrooms are about to wake up. In a corner of a small forest and near a tiny pond is this tent, would it be fine as a roof for the autumn?

This tent is part of Small magazine´s Small draw project. You can download the image, print it and color it together with the small of yours (or why not yourself too). A few pages about my work on page 29 till 32. Thank you Olivia and Christine for including my work to your beautiful magazine!

Saturday baking, (my own translation from ohraryynirieska) vegan barley galette is in the oven. A slice with margarin and then ready to bicycle to the town. To smell the cold air.

Stay warm and smiling.

PEBBLES OF RAIN AND FEATHERS

Rain either with water or bird feathers from the roof-neighbors. A tent for keeping toes dry. Woken by crows while they had a-very-serious-sounding-meeting to realize that it was a moment of sunshine, indeed. But only for a moment. Now an afternoon tea with some rays of sun, reflecting like surface of a lake on the wall. Table light is turned on again otherwise.

Have a warm afternoon break.

LAUANTAINA, ON SATURDAY, Á LAUGARDAGINN II

Pouring this morning. Like curtains hanging all over outside. Curtains of cold invisible pearls.

Sewing, organizing files, bookkeeping, sketching. Landscape is visible on some glances, disappeared on the next ones. On Saturday I was sitting on a bench in the arboretum for a long time, talking with a new friend (carrying a typewriter). Soundtrack for our conversations was a circus on the other side of the lake Pyhäjärvi, trumpets and drums echoing sometimes from very close, sometimes from another worlds. Yellow leaves covering more and more the paths to walk.

Found old work hiding, called "Lauantaina". It was a project about emotion of Saturday in autumn 2006 in LHÍ. A cardboard box filled with soft crocheted woolen socks, a brochure about small exercises to increase the feeling of relaxation and postcards with stamps and envelopes to make friends happy. You can see my presentation about the progress here.

Monday, I wish that it is treating you well.

Hearts,

Anna Emilia

LIGHTNINGS OR THE LIGHT FROM A TOWER

Waves, hills, open skies. Driftwood, high tides, hay in the sea. Small stones swinging in the waves on the shore of white sand. Black summer nights. A bit of holiday memories of this Thursday when it starts to smell slightly like autumn. Evenings are more silent and I started to knit again one old pile of black thread.

It was very stormy yesterday. The night before the bedroom was lighten by lightnings. I stared to think that the house is by a lighthouse and the light comes from its tower.

"Isn´t it hard to pedal in this wind?" asked the lady with beautiful deep voice in her flower shop yesterday as I put the Lavender, Mums and Houseleek that I bought from her to my bicycle. It was downhill all the way home, a downhill with a lavender scent.

Happy weekend dear all of you with long walks, reading and baking!

P.S. Thank you dearly for mentioning my work on your blogs, for your written words and your purchases (I am packing them as soon as I have had a lunch on the balcony next to the lavender).

MEETING WITH BRANCHES

Branches and the sun are tickling my window. The balcony door is ajar all day, buds appear in a vase, arugula grows greener, bigger leaves every moment. It is a film festival in the town, a slice of broccoli-olive pie on a plate and mandarin green tea in my cup. In the evening some concerts and tomorrow a new painting.

How is your weekend?

Street lamps were just turned on behind the lake. Happy sunset, happy weekend!

FOLLOWING THE LIGHT

Nice to meet you new year. I hope it is pleasant and full of happiness for all of you.

It snows almost every day, today it was very sunny. Winter light is so delicate and pure, fragile. I move with it to the room where it appears for the few hours. Then when it is dark and electricity lights are on, the time stops. It feels almost like forbidden time, moments when eyes should be closed and do nothing at all. Still it is very comfortable, to be lost in darkness, to know the way home with lampposts and climb the stairs after pushing a round button which lights up a lamp in every floor. Following the patterns of the light. Being guided.

NAME DAY

On my name day my grandmother got her engagement ring 61 years ago while an accordionist played and others danced on the dance floor. I got yellow roses, a mattress vine and a twig wreath to hang on the door. The yellow roses reminded me of these sketches I drew during summer drinking tea while elm leaves were falling to the table. Today a handful of snowflakes were floating in the grey sky while I was walking in the forest and looking what was left of the small branch lodges we used to built when we were small. Just a few branches. Good night, sleep tight!

HIDING FROM THE DARKNESS INSIDE TENTS

Working and dreaming of tents. Photograph from the summer of 2005 in North Iceland just after a rain shower during midnight. Have a pleasant Thursday!

P.s. Here are nice covers, one also made by me.