*tea time

Yesterday I saw several brimstone butterflies on my walk. They looked so surreal bright in that seemingly lifeless landscape. Later in the forest, I spotted the first snowdrops – finally!

As I’m still not able to work in the garden, I’m spending most of my time creating new illustrations and patterns. I’m a bit behind on sharing everything I’ve made here on my blog.

Yoojin, a creative friend and former blogger, has started a new blog called "paper pilea", where she shares her creative adventures and love for snail mail. Feel free to take a look!

And lastly, if I haven't mentioned it already, I created a new Instagram account for my illustration work, because I did not want to mix it with my analogue pictures.

Enjoy the last days of March!

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*mountain trip

The view over the mountains was so stunning,

and every day it looked a little different.

The trees were covered in moss and lichen. I read that lichens are among the longest-living organisms on Earth – they can live for hundreds, even several thousand years. Imagine that!

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*tulips & ice flowers

When the first tulips of the year start appearing, it means spring can’t be far away! I love all kinds of spring flowers – right now, I have a bunch of daffodils on my desk.

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*fairytale winter forest

This was such a neat and "uncluttered" forest,

it seemed so surreal somehow with the white ground and the spaces between the boles.

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*poppy and ladybugs

I enjoyed drawing these so much!

Hope you like them as well!

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*a lonely cloud

Soon the light will change

and the dark days will be hazy memories.

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*spring flowers

Right now it is snowing like crazy. I am at the point where I feel saturated with winter, especially after our mountain trip. Now I feel completely ready for the more outgoing seasons. Therefore I am drawing spring flowers and creating new patterns.

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*still winter

It's March already!

This February, we had only a few snow-free days. At the end of the month, we experienced extreme temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees, with freezing winds. There was a lot to celebrate—birthdays of loved ones, a newborn baby in the family, my 11-year anniversary with Ronald, and in two days, my own birthday. It seems it will still be a wintry one, and I can’t come up with any spring pictures yet, as we just returned from a trip to the Salzburger Mountains, where the snow was knee-high, the air crisp, and the evenings cozy and calm. I did some more illustrations and had many nice ideas that I want to realize bit by bit.

I wish you a wonderful start to the new month!

PS: The bird in the second picture is a male pheasant. Pheasants look so clumsy in flight, as if they could crash into something at any moment. Every flight seems like a potential crash landing, and when they run, they resemble a roadrunner – very funny animals!

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