*collecting dandelions | part 1

I'm quite busy at the moment, but wanted to stop by to post a few pictures from when I was collecting dandelions. Like every year, I made a flower wreath for Sunny who enjoys spending more time in the garden with me again. Have a happy Sunday!

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*watercolor update

Here are some of my recent watercolor paintings. 

After a little break I was able to paint again today. Those days are the most peaceful. 

We had some rain again which I'm really grateful for! The garden looks so fresh and green, it's a delight for the eyes! Hope your week started in a good way and you are able to enjoy the last days of May!

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*sign-eating-tree

We just returned from a little mountain trip. Oh, how I missed to be in the mountains! We spotted a huge deer, I think it was even pregnant and a female alpin ibex that was jumping around on the steep rocks as if it was the easiest thing in the world and we saw a fire salamander after it had rained the whole night. I made a lot of pictures, but my analogue camera died, so I am not sure if this film will be ok or if they are all lost. We will see!

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*martens from the sky

There is so much going on right now, it's hard to find a moment to just sit down and write a blog post! First of all it's super cold right now and in some parts it even snowed! In this moment I have made a fire in both stoves and this in the middle of May! 

Anyway, I have good news about the little marten that had fallen from the roof. It survived and is in good hands! A woman who is specialized in rearing baby martens and lives on a farm in the wood quarter is taking care of him now (actually it is a female) and when time is right she will return her to the wild which is the best solution! But suddenly we found a third baby marten on a different place laying all alone on the ground last Friday. He was bigger than the ones I have found before and in a much better condition! He was so cute! When I was laying him in a box with a cloth to warm him, he was falling asleep immediately! We don't know if he is the brother of the other marten, but he will grow up with her which is surely good for both! I just hope it was the last baby marten for a longer time!

Rudi is also still visiting me every day! Today he was here already at half past five to greet me. :)

I filled my first pans with my own handmade watercolors! They need some time to dry now which can take up to weeks, but I was able to try the first color out and I am so excited, because it worked out so nicely! Of course some of my experiments did also fail, I tried twice to create watercolors from wood ash. It would make such a nice grey tone! It seems to work for liquid ones, but I want to produce dry watercolors that you can put in your watercolor box like the purchased ones in the little pans and unfortunately it did not work out yet.

Further I am participating in a drawing challenge called #kidstricksweek

Every day there is a new theme and I finished my first two paintings for it. I don't know if I manage to make paintings to all prompts, but we will see! 

I will go off now again, but I wish you a creative and productive May!

Much love + take care!

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*as time flies by

I don't know where the days go! Time is rushing so fast! How have you been lately? I finally was able to pick up my developed analogue film after nearly five weeks. It made me really happy and it felt extra special after waiting for such a long time. I really love this old building on the third photo, it is located directly next to a beautiful river and surrounded by a beautiful broadleaf forest. Nature was just awaking at that time and I was able to spot the first liverleaves on our walk.

I had some rather stressful days lately with some unpleasant happenings. One day two baby martens fell from the roof, one of it died not long afterwards in my arms, the other we were able to bring to an animal hospital, where a very nice person is working who is really an angel when it comes to help wild and other rescued animals to survive. But nevertheless I don't know if the other baby marten will recover from the fall of the roof. Let's hope so! It was so small and cute and the fur was so incredible soft! 

Newly a male pheasant is visiting me several times a day. He comes to a little hill in front of our home and shouts until I come to the window and when he sees me then, he does not run away and stands there instead looking at me and I look at him or also film him sometimes. He is really unusual trusting for a pheasant! I named him Rudi and really enjoy his regular visits! :)

Further I started a really nice project with my sister. We are in the process of making our own natural pigments from plants and flowers and other natural things like minerals to make watercolors with them and it's highly exciting! We are completely absorbed by the process and are exchanging regularly views on our ongoing experiments, results and also failings! There are no really exact tutorials out there, so a lot of trial and error is included, but also happy accidents! Overall it's a super interesting process and it keeps me really in a state of motivation and excitement! Maybe I can show more of the process in a separate post sometime. 

What else can I tell you? I re-opened my etsy shop with some prints of my newer illustrations, but it's not really an ideal time to open an online shop I guess, as there are so many restrictions with international shipping right now, it makes everything a bit frustrating in the end. Let's see how the overall situation goes on!

We had the first rain in a very long time, it was the driest April since weather recordings. It was just a little bit of rain, but better than nothing and right now it's quite chilly outside. I still have to heat the stoves every now and then. 

Ok, enough for now, I wish you a cozy Sunday and until soon again!

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