*autumnal paintings

Three more autumnal watercolor paintings that I made in October.

Unfortunately we were not able to go mushrooming so far (except for medicinal polypores), because of the very dry conditions, so I had to return to painting them instead. My little hedgehog had more luck as you can see! :)

By the way, I don't know why blogger is making my pictures unsharp, I tried uploading all different sizes, it comes out always the same, but you can always klick on the images to see them bigger & sharper.

❧ 

*Between the worlds

Allured by the mist,

roaming between the worlds,

sustained by the glow of dew pearls.

❧

*Pumpkin mouse

This is the little pumpkin mouse painting I told you about earlier here on my blog. I like how the colors turned out, they really depict our mild & sunny autumn.

❧

 

*A gentle & warm start into fall

{Music: Wonder – Nostalgic & Romantic Vintage Piano}

And here is also a little movie of my start into autumn.

❧

*Embraced by the warm light in the oak forest

This was at the end of September, when I took some of my ceramics with me into a nearby oak forest to photograph them and to read a little in the warm autumn light. The book I was reading was a gift from my dear friend Triin. It’s called "The Sound of a wild snail eating" by Elisabeth Tova Bailey, and it reminds me so much of my own life experiences and my fascination with those gentle creatures, which are sadly underappreciated by most people.

❧

*flowers, light & a little morning story

On Tuesday evening, I planned that the next day I would ride my bike to the top of the hill in the early morning hours to experience the sunrise. To my luck, the sky was clear. It was the first morning with sub-zero temperatures, and a light layer of frost rested on the world as it slowly awakened. It’s hard to put into words the feelings I had standing there in silence on that hill while the sky turned pink and a huge flock of starlings passed overhead, moving like a shoal of fish in the vast ocean. I decided to ride further to a lonely stone quarry area – usually full of wildflowers and wildlife – to enjoy my morning tea there. To my great joy, everything was glowing golden in those first sunbeams. I don’t know what it is about me and frost, but it always feels as if my soul discovers something in those moments that it has long lost: being surrounded by all the silver and gold glitter in this frozen silence – seemingly rigid, yet full of life and warmth inside.

I hope your heart is filled with the beauty of this earth as well!

❧

*on the ferry back home

For our return journey, we took the longer ferry early in the morning. It was a bit misty, and I absolutely loved the atmosphere. It made me long to live on a remote northern island by the sea, where it’s gloomy and the ocean wild and forsaken. So far, I’ve never visited the ocean in winter, but the desire to do so grows stronger with each passing year. On the ferry, we met the sweetest dog, who was very eager for some tender loving care from us. He was truly special in so many ways. Have you ever experienced a winter sea?

❧

*Island Korčula in moving pictures

{Music: Meant to be  - Acoustic Folk Guitar Background Music + Look up – Relaxing Soothing Cinematic Music + Eventide – Nostalgic Acoustic Guitar Background Music}

Before I close the chapter "Korčula island" soon, here is a little movie that I made.

I know I'm repeating myself, but we had the most unusual warm autumn so far, only yesterday it started to cool down more and we had almost zero degrees in the night, but it seems it will get quickly warmer again and maybe finally we get some welcome rain. Fingers crossed! Since the beginning of August we had only about 5mm rain in total, it's nothing, so we spent the whole weekend watering our hedge and all the trees to help them getting through winter. 

Today I want to collect some more seeds to store for the coming year and deep clean the house. And soon I also have some watercolor paintings to share again. Have a good start into the new week!

❧

*Maritime Siena bag

More close-ups of the bag that I made. I used the same pattern by "Paula strickt" like two years ago {you can find it here in an older post}, only I changed the colors to fit a marine style and I made a fastening, but instead of a button I used a little driftwood piece that I sewed on when we were on our return drive from Korčula. It really makes a nice detail!

❧

*Island Korčula | part 3

Short before we travelled to Korčula I started to crochet a bag with raffia yarn. It seems as soon as summer ends I feel inspired to do some needlework, maybe it is the same with you? I was able to finish it on the island and it will surely remind me always of this wonderful journey.

Usually I don't like cars on my photography, but this one was really a nice one and I also loved the color!

❧

*Island Korčula | part 2

I'm always so inspired by all the the beautiful colors, shapes and textures of the stones and plants at the seaside, I could stroll endlessly on the beach, just to look closely at all the nature findings out there. I also had a cheap disposable underwater camera with me that was sitting in my shelf for years and I'm really always impressed by the nice outcome of those pictures. Korčula is a very green island compared to other Croatian islands, it is full of wild forests with pine trees, cypresses, but also almond trees, pomegranate trees and fig trees. Every day I was having fresh figs from wild trees around the camp site. If you visit my blog for a longer while then you probably already know how much I love figs, so it was very special to me!

❧

*Island Korčula | part 1

It took a while, but I finally got back my analogue pictures from our vacation on the Croatian island of Korčula! It already feels like such a long time ago, even though it was only a month. Yet a part of me can still feel the warmth captured in the rocks, the salt on my skin, and I can hear the waves in my heart.

We had such wonderful weather that we were able to swim a lot throughout the day, and once even enjoyed a night swim under an unforgettable star-spattered sky. I have to admit, it was a little scary to swim in the ocean when it was so dark, but it’s definitely a memory I will carry with me for a lifetime.

❧

*snail love

Last weekend was wonderful. We have escaped once again into the woods. To hear the the tops of the fir trees touching each other in the wind all night long has a really positive effect on me and we had an excellent view on the full moon. It was so big and red, but I didn't have the right lens with me to capture it good enough. But still I made some pictures and also filmed it. I also found some birch polypore. (More about that later) At home again, lots of work was waiting for me and I cleared out the greenhouse and started to paint again after not touching my brushes since May. It felt weird and good at the same time – luckily hands do not forget. After I harvested my beloved pumpkins I felt inspired to paint a mouse with her own pumpkin harvest. 

Have you ever seen snails while making love? It is the most tender spectacle I have ever seen. They "kiss" each other for hours and hours in the most adorable way!

❧