The forest is my second home – a place where the air smells of pine needles and moss, the wind whispers through the treetops, and every branch hides life within. It was there that my new series of watercolors was born, dedicated to the Nordic forest birds – those little colorful wonders we often only catch a glimpse of.
Who are these my muses?
🎨 The great spotted woodpecker – the drummer of the forests. When the woodpecker’s red cap and black-and-white patterned plumage started to come to life on the watercolor paper, I immediately heard the familiar trrr-trrr-trrr rhythm in my head. Did you know that a woodpecker’s skull acts like a built-in shock absorber? It pecks wood up to 20 times per second without getting a headache!
🎨 The tree climber – small, but amazingly skillful climber. When painting him, I tried to capture the moment when he swoops down headfirst along the tree trunk like an acrobat. In the forest, he sometimes seems like a little nosy neighbor who knows all the news and loudly comments on everything.
🎨 Goldcrest – a tiny greenish-yellow sunspot on a branch. One of them posed for me for a long time, as if checking my composition – when the color seemed too dark to him, he flew demonstratively to a branch where the sun made a small spot on him, singing: “Look, artist, light! joy! More yellow!”
🎨 The silky tail – sapphire eyes, a silky tail – a true dandy of the forests. They always arrive in flocks – silky shiny, yellow spots on the tail like little pearls. Rowan is the silky tail’s best friend… and sometimes also a temptation. Branches heavy with rowan berries, the air cold, but they make a party out of it, tasting each berry as if it were a forest restaurant. One of the birds stared at me for a long time, an orange berry in its beak, and I swear its gaze said: “Make sure to capture this in a photo!”
Why watercolor specifically?
Watercolor is capricious, flowing, and honest. Sometimes water does exactly what it wants – just like birds in nature. I cannot force them, only observe and let the color develop. Every work is born from a small chance and a big heart.
Nature is full of little miracles. I try to capture them with a brush and paper.
