MELTING WATER

Sunrise 08.24 - Sunset 17.23

Its moist on the dirt tracks. The upper layer has melted and turned into a slippery, muddy substance. Winter has retrieved for a while and temperature has risen to well above zero. You can feel a subtle touch of spring. But make no mistake, winter isn’t far off. Snow is melting, some small areas of white remain on the north slopes of hills. Crystal clear pools of melting water are all around. Small display windows of the world below the surface.

HOAR FROST

Sunrise 08.30 - Sunset 17.15

This day you could experience the growth of hoar frost on trees. In the morning the trees, the branches were clear no ice. During the rest of the morning and the beginning of midday a thin fog arrived and the hoar frost was growing on the branches. An amazing experience. Mostly you wake up and you are surprised by hoar frost but this time it was setting in a few hours, almost in front of your eyes. And just as sudden as it appeared it disappeared. A few hours hoar frost this day.

RAVENS

Sunrise 08.32 - Sunset 17.12

Some days, when temperatures are low, life seems to have abandoned the woods. No birds, no forest creatures and plants and trees are in rest. But luckily some semi domesticated animals still roam the forests. The animals are set free in nature and have to manage even in these harsh conditions. But they do well. It are friendly animals sometimes lonely and sometime in small herds. Once they were wild and belonged here. Perhaps in some decades, some generations they will be wild again…

For the ravens it doesn’t matter what is going on. It is mating season for these beautiful birds and you hear them from a distant. Searching for a partner, claiming a territory.

COMMON KESTREL

Sunrise 08.36 - Sunset 17.07

The low lands are covered in ice. The frost is steady and staying for a while. The landscape is changing, becomes harsher and hostile. But now the ponds and lakes are frozen it also becomes more accessible. By foot or by skate, a very popular outdoor activity.

Wind becomes stronger, snow arrives and the sharp flakes feel like needles. A common kestrel is concentrating on its prey. Food he desperately needs to survive. It is easy to approach the bird and observe it. The sharp snowflakes seem not to bother it in its quest. A tough bird.

On the flooded river forelands ice skaters follow the ice not aware of the struggle of life. But what an experience once again.

COLD RIVER

Sunrise 08.37 - Sunset 17.05

The river forelands are changed. A white coat of snow and ice has covered it up. The shallow waters are frozen. The ice is still thin and skating is only possible in a few places. The wind is blowing and it is cold. In the river forelands some bushes with wild teasel are still standing. Some goldfinch are anxiously searching for the last seeds, hidden in the sturdy reminisces of the flower. All at the edge of a cold river.

WILD DUCK

Sunrise 08.38 - Sunset 17.03

Wild ducks gather at the edge of an ice-hole of a pond. It seems the animals know exactly where they can find open water. Male and female side by side no quarrel no fighting just surviving wintertime.

THE FOX TRAIL

Sunrise 08.40, Sunset 17.03

The trail of a fox is clearly visible in the freshly fallen snow. The paws with sometimes a stroke of its tail in the snow. It follows more or less a track through the forest and sometimes it wanders of to a mouse hole, perhaps it even catched the mouse. The track disappears towards the heather witch is covered in snow. A thin fog is covering the distant tree line. A strange sound is coming closer I know it but I can’t place it. And then out of nothing, a V-shape flog of whooper-swan appeared out of the fog. The front swan looked just as surprised as me and turned right and within half a minute it was all over. No sounds, no swans just snow and mist. The silence of winter.

BEECH AND OAK

Sunrise 08.43 - Sunset 16.54

High rise the beech and oak trees. Their treetops empty, their structures beautiful in sight. They seem more solid when the sunlight strikes along their barks. One kind so smooth but when you feel it, you can compare it with sandpaper. The bark of a beech tree. The other is like a mountain ridge with high peaks and deep valleys, although it is vertical situated. The oak tree.

SUN RISES, NIGHTLY FROST

The sun rises above the plain. It is a few degrees below zero. A mixed herd of cattle and horses is grazing. The air feels moist, cold and pure; you can almost taste the ice in the air. At the edge of the path, on the ground, small icy rims developed during the night on the fallen leaves of beech trees, natures lace-work. The puddles surfaces are covered with ice. Thin, smooth and fragile, the first ice after days of rain. In the forest two green woodpeckers are searching for food. Bright green feathers between the dark trees, almost as bright as light, hard to miss. Welcome sightings on a winters day.

BLACK FOREST

A short walk through a true black forest. The wet tree trunks looked dark, as dark as ink. A sinister atmosphere, no sounds, no birds, no animals only the dripping raindrops. But then, at the edge of the forest a buzzard was resting on a branch of an oak tree. The darkness of the forest was coming to an end. Although it was clouded, the sky looked bright above the vast plain. Then the buzzard took of and spread its majestic wings. Light at the end of a dark day.

GRAZING HORSES

This morning a small herd of horses were grazing on a plain enclosed by dense forests. The animals were at ease and a tranquil atmosphere surrounded them. Just to watch them makes you feel calm and balanced as well.

A LINE OF BIRCH TREES - 6 January 2013

A line of birch trees in the field marking a field track. Bright white its bark and deep black its marks, scarves of a robust life. And still they look elegant, even fragile. Standing on a tapestry of golden, air dried grasses.

LEMMING ROCK – 05 January 2013



Lemming rock is finished. It was a pleasure to be with this little rodent so close for a while. Every hair of its fur, every eye glimpse, I know it all. Hiding between some huge boulders high up the Norwegian mountains.

A GREY DAY

Some day’s all colors seem to have disappeared. Though temperature is well above zero, about 8° C, it feels chilly. Perhaps it is the wet atmosphere and you would rather stay inside. But If you go outside you will be surprised. The structures of trees are more clearly, like graphics. The pond is dark like ink. The forests are more open and you can see animals foraging. Like the roe buck at the edge of a field I saw. The colors of the animal almost blend completely in. I hardly could see it against the background of the trees and bushes, luckily I brought my binoculars. What a magnificent animal.

WILD BOAR

What a morning. I went to the forest and decided to hike some abandoned paths. Abandoned by humans that is, because there were many traces of wildlife. In the beginning I discovered some traces of woodpeckers and beneath, on the forest floor some cup lichen, a magical moss-like plant. In a very quiet and dark part of the forest, at the edge of a vast plain some strange dark forms on the forest floor catched my eye. When I got closer I saw two young wild boar, dead. What happened here? No traces of wounds were visible. Perhaps starvation or an encounter with a large male boar? A murder mystery, that’s nature as well.


On the plain two hen harriers were foraging. The hike ended at the edge of a beech tree forest. What a morning.

LEMMING ROCK





On the drawing table a lemming hiding between the rocks. Last summer. In the Norwegian mountains near Gausta toppen, we found the remains of a lemming. An ideal place for these little rodents. A small animal between the impressive heights of the mountains. A wonderful place to be and when I am drawing I go back and dream of the experiences we had in these mountains.

NEW YEARS GEESE

Hundreds of geese passed by, spreading their wings to the south’s. An incredible sight and they seem constantly chatting with each other. The distinctive sound of geese flying together. What a start of a new year. For the geese it’s just another day of the winter season …


Happy New Year everybody and enjoy the outdoors!