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.

SNOW HOUSE

On Thursday over a frozen lake the snow was like countless stars. We were making blocks to built a snow house. The small points of the snowflakes held each others inside every block we made. To make one block we saw the change in snow how it turned more icy all the time even we just shoveled it. That way the blocks were built slowly, pressing the snow together inside a mold. A mist was reaching us from the horizon. We were on the third round (knee height) when in a sudden all the snow turned too icy and the stars were gone. For a layer of fresh snow we wait now to try again.

Making beet root - carrot quenelles and oven potatoes with some tahini sauce. Heading to downtown for a tea and seeing what the evening brings. How is your weekend? Have a very warm one!

TASTE OF LAST SUMMER

Strawberries were filled with the sweetness of the sun and they were all around the house. The grass tickled toes while walking to pick a handful or a branch of rhubarb. The water in the forest pond was just perfect to swim and forget the hot air for a few minutes. A few days I was upstairs of my grandparents´ painting a tiger with heterochromia.

Today the postman brought this taste of last summer. It is an album by Lars Ludvig Löfgren and the illustrations are made by me. The originals can be seen here and here.

The winter is still very precious and I want to keep it but it was lovely to feel the summer for a small moment. Happy Monday!

Edit:

P.s. Here is a review of the cd and a nice compliment of my work, thank you so much!

P.p.s The design is by great Häleri.

A PLACE TO PAINT

A place to paint. A place to listen to music or the cars humming far away outside. Or birds talking on the balcony. Or a place to drink jasmine tea. Or melt hands around the teacup. Or knit so big scarf that you can hide under it while knitting. But mostly a place to paint.

LUMI

There was an article about an old gentleman in the newspapers who has kept weather diary for many decades. He has big notebooks where he marks twice a day what his home thermometer says and what is the official weather. In one notebook fits many years and if he travels, he marks the local weather. In those decades he has keeping doing it, he doesn´t see any clues about climate change. The weather changes and winds turn, going around and coming back. Though around 70´s one January sinivuokkos were blooming here. No signs of sinivuokkos yesterday in my neighbors´, the allotment garden.

A hint of lovely winter music by Oliver. Let it make good to you.

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.