Eight Years Old and Song to the Sun's return

Today this blog is eight years old! Or should I say two? It was created on this day, the 29th February,  which of course only comes around every four years.

Back in 2008 I began it as a sort of visual diary really, just to record my creativity, places I visited and other bits and pieces along the way. I have never really been any good at keeping a diary, but the ability to upload pictures appealed to me and the journey began. I named it Moonlight and Hares because they were just two things that I loved and included in my paintings regularly. Back then my two hobbits were children and now they are both young adults. Time is so very precious isn't it. Time has changed the way we interact online. Many blogs that I used to read no longer exist and Facebook and Instagram have replaced some. But there is something strange and therapeutic and satisfying about keeping a blog. It is still my preferred social media, even if I don't post that often.

To celebrate the eight years I thought it would be nice to do a giveaway.

I've recently completed this painting. 'Song to the Sun's return' inspired by my January trip to Lapland.  

 I wanted to do this painting a little differently so the shape and some of the symbols are inspired by Sámi shaman drums. I have painted the sun symbol with real shell gold and to try and get the same effect, hand highlighted the prints in my shop with gold paint. 

If you would like the chance of winning a copy of this print, just follow and comment below. I will choose one winner next week sometime and announce it the next time I put up a blog post. Only comments published on this blog will be counted, as this give-away is to celebrate the blogs Birthday.

Good luck and thank you for reading! :-)

X 

A Trip to the North

'And so the time came for the white hare to journey north. Far away, high up above the arctic circle, to where the sun does not rise in winter time. To the land of the Lapland woman, the Finland woman and the Snow Queen. To where the wardrobe's door opens to an icy sparkling world. He had heard the song of the North call to him for so long and now the time was right'
                                                                      ~*~
Finnish Lapland. Two hundred and fifty kilometres above the Arctic circle, this is where I was lucky and grateful to begin the first week of the brand new year. An adventure in a magical snowy land. The land of my dreams. A place where after only a few minutes outside, my hair and eyelashes had turned white with ice. A cosy log cabin, our home for seven days. A cabin that I wanted to continue living in and take home with me by the end of the week.

Inside the cabin was warm and cosy with a log burner and a weeks worth of wood outside on the porch.

The white hare stood out in the cold snow beneath the starlight and whispered to the sky. His words were carried up into the polar night. He told of a robin that knew the secrets of old and silently the lady Aurora answered with the most beautiful reply' 

Our first night we were blessed and saw the Aurora borealis right above our cabin. A milky green rose up and arched across the sky. I hadn't realised that she moved so quickly. A shape almost creature like, tip toed sideways above us. Walking diagonally she swished her tail as if to say 'here I am'
The Finnish term for the Northern Lights is 'Revontulet' meaning fox fire, which comes from an old tale where the fox was believed to swish its bushy tail on the snowy fell landscapes, throwing sparks into the air. (would love to incorporate that into a painting at some time. :))
That first night I was unable to capture any pictures. Results on my camera were totally black blanks of night sky and so was my iPad. Only my daughter seemed able to catch them on her phone.
So, the next night, after a day of cross country skiing I set my camera up on a different setting and crossed my fingers that she would return again...
She did, out of the seven days we were so so lucky to get glimpses four days out of the seven.  Pictures are blurry as I literally just held my camera to the sky and tried to hold it still. I had no tripod or any fancy gear.

'And she danced, swirling her green gown across a sparkling sky. The white hare watched in wonder and all that he had imagined became reality'

Aurora over the cabin...

In the morning at about 8.30am-9am with a beautiful crescent moon.

The morning walk to ski.

Father Christmas was no where to be seen. Taking a much needed break I'm sure! 

A week filled with hot chocolate, hot berry juice, elves, reindeer, twinkling lights, crackling of log fire, crunch of snow and the clear cold air of the north, in my lungs. 

One afternoon, out in the forest, when already darkness was approaching. We met some reindeer.

In a wooden sleigh lined with a reindeer skin and a thick blanket to cover, we were transported through the forest pulled by a white reindeer that looked as if he had stepped straight out of the pages of a fairytale. The heavenly arctic twilight cast a spell on me as the sleigh pulled and creaked like frosted branches on a windy night. It was at this moment that I knew that the Snow queen would have me in her grasp forever. The magic had entered my eyes and the North would always be pulling me back.
The temperature on our journey was -33, so it was quite difficult to uncover my fingers to take photographs and hold the camera still.

In the forest the white hare met a reindeer, who told him how the Snow Queen had tricked him. How a spell had been cast and how now she would own part of his heart forever.

When the journey was finished, darkness was almost upon us. We went into a cabin for hot berry juice and cake.

Inside I learned a little about reindeer and Sami people. How they freely roam the forest, how the deer that pull the sleighs are only male. The amazing fact that reindeer can see the white moss and lichen that they dig up and eat beneath the snow, using ultra violet light and how each single strand of their hair/fur is filled with air, which is why it keeps them so warm in the cold. I got to feel the antlers that are shed each year. I would never have believed the male ones were so heavy. I learned how the clothing colours of the Sami people tell which area they are from and even if they are married or single. 

Outside in the snow the ice sparkles. Tiny diamond glints mesmerise and whisper... do not go home, stay...stayyyy with us...

High on top of the fell was Narnia.  Amazingly beautiful! A wonderland.

And a frozen cafe that looked as if it belonged on the top of an iced Christmas cake.  How warm it was inside though, with an open fire.

Far up in the northern lands where darkness is more abundant in the winter months how clever Mother nature is. Such balance of dark and light. Dark, yet then the light from the pure white of snow. Dark and yet, the magical dance of polar light in the sky...

'The white hare returned home, leaving part of his heart behind in the Snow Queens' keeping. And on nights when the stars shone bright and there was ice on the ground he felt the missing part pulling him like a sting of a white bee' 

Now here at home, when I look up at the seven stars of the plough from my garden, on clear starry nights. I will remember the North and it will remind me to return one day. I have to, as how can I live without all of my heart?

X

A little sunlight in the woods

The sun has been to visit and stayed a while. We took advantage and walked in the woods where only the gentle silent waters moved slowly and birds went about their business without a care of anything else that was going on in the world.

The trees skeletal forms were softened with moss. A green velvety coat that glowed in the afternoon rays.(which reminds me I never did get that green velvet mossy coat that I was after a few years back)
Growing upon the fallen rotting branches, moss covered, I found this bright red fungus. I think it's called Scarlet Elf Cup. What a perfect name, don't you think?

 In fact the whole place seemed  perfect for elves to live... and other creatures.

 "Frodo saw the valley of the Silverlode lying like a sea of fallow gold tossing gently in the breeze.  It seemed to him that he would never hear again a running water so beautiful, for ever blending its innumerable notes in an endless changeful music."  ~ Tolkien

Was that the distant sound of sweet singing I heard? Voices of  Lothlorien perhaps.

Even the ant hills looked a little surreal in the afternoon light, almost as if they were sleeping beings that might up and walk at a moments notice, or when the full moon shines upon them?

~*~

Our wanderings took us near to the pretty village of Castle Combe which is only just a few miles from me. I'm not sure if I've shared pictures of the village before on here, I may have done?

It's a very picturesque Cotswold stone village and very much loved by tourists. Maybe you might recognise it from the film Stardust?

~*~

Although the sun has been with us these past few days and yesterday I was gardening in a tee shirt my thoughts and ideas have been of the north. The latest two finished paintings reflect this. This one below I have slightly changed from my original drawing. 'The Jewelled Breath' available as a print from my shop here

The other painting I haven't got around to scanning yet, so isn't available as yet, but will be shortly. I will take it with me on my next trip to town. I have named this one 'Queen of the Earth, child of the sky'

It's painted on canvas which I often struggle with. It's strange how moving paint across a different surface can behave so differently. Wood and paper is fast, but canvas always so slow, for me anyhow. 

Thanks for all your comments on the last post, so sorry I haven't replied to any, I will get around to it. Time seems to be playing tricks on me at the moment.

Enjoy the sunshine! 

X