I paint stories from the forest.

Sesilja ✦ Wildlife artist ✦ Finland

[sesiljalindell]

Hello,

I'm Sesilja, a wildlife artist from Finland. My artwork is inspired by the wild nature of my homeland and it’s inhabitants, and the stories told by them and about them. I hope you enjoy my work!

If you have any questions concerning my artwork and / or prints, you're welcome to send me an ask. ♥️

✦ Print shop ✦ Instagram ✦ About

[sesiljalindell]

Stickers! This little crested tit from my painting Persist is now also a sticker. I'll be including one of these cuties in each order from my print shop. ♥️

[sesiljalindell]

I wanted to dedicate a post for detail shots of the branches I painted for my piece Ascent – I had so much fun crafting these gangly tree limbs.

Print shop ✦ Instagram

[sesiljalindell]

Ascent 31 x 44 cm ✦ Gouache on cotton paper Available as print

Skulls on branches forgotten to timebound to decay into land once worshipped.

Cries of woodpeckers echoing highwith sounds of boundless loss and hardship.

It was custom long ago to hang the skull of a slain animal, particularly the bear, onto a pine tree branch after it had been brought down. This was done along with numerous apologies for having taken the creature's life, to make sure the spirit was appeased and held no grudges. From the branches the bear’s soul could then ascend back to the stars, where it was believed to have come from, to once again return in it's earthly form.

This custom has pretty much died out in the last century and now mostly lives in memory, but you might still run into a bear skull hanging on a branch in a forest somewhere, if you're lucky. Or unlucky, however you see it.

Black woodpeckers are mystical birds which have been seen as bearers of ill news and even death. If you hear it's cries in the forest, bad luck might be headed your way, I'm afraid.

Print shop ✦ Instagram

[sesiljalindell]

Augury 21 x 28 cm ✦ Indian and coloured ink on paper

The pike has a special part to play in old folklores of the Finnish, Karelian and Sámi peoples, with various beliefs connected to it. This respected and even feared creature was in some myths thought to have supernatural powers, like ability to travel down into the world of the dead and back. When fishing, if you happened to catch an unusually large pike, it could be seen as a death omen; a sign that you'd soon be traveling to the beyond along with the monstrous fish. Folklore around the pike isn't all about death, though. Some peoples thought it to be the ancestor and protector of all fish, and it's bones were believed to have magical powers. They could be used in divination or spellcasting, usually to ask for a good harvest. Some people would even keep a "pet" pike in a well or a spring, to give protection and bring good fortune to it's keepers. I feel like nowadays these myths are mostly treated as just tales, but they tell a fascinating story on the significance this animal used to bear to the people living in this part of the world.

Print shop ✦ Instagram

[sesiljalindell]

Detail shots of my painting Ascent Print shop ✦ Instagram

[sesiljalindell]

Augury, uncolored version 21 x 28 cm ✦ Indian ink on paper Print shop ✦ Instagram

[sesiljalindell]

Detail shots of my painting Augury Print shop ✦ Instagram

[sesiljalindell]

Persist Series of two paintings ✦ 18 x 24 cm ✦ Gouache and water colour on paper Available as print

Probably some of the cutest of all the little birds: the crested tit and the willow tit. I remember them being a common sight at the bird feeder at home when I was a child. Since then their numbers have been steadily decreasing, most likely due to loss of biodiversity in our forests. There is so much less natural old forest near my childhood home these days, and I feel like there is less bird song as well. This spring when I saw a crested tit and heard it sing, it gave me a weird sense of relief. Maybe it was building a nest, getting ready to resist the odds and persist another year. And it will, as long as we let it.

Print shop ✦ Instagram

[sesiljalindell]

Persist 18 x 24 cm ✦ Gouache and water colour on paper Available as print

[sesiljalindell]

Persist II 18 x 24 cm ✦ Gouache and water colour on paper Available as print

[sesiljalindell]

Detail shots of my painting Funerals Were Held Print shop ✦ Instagram

[sesiljalindell]

wip shots of Persist Print shop ✦ Instagram

[sesiljalindell]

Funerals Were Held 22 x 30 cm ✦ Ink on cotton rag paper

Death has become something we find uncomfortable to think about. Unbearable to look at. We hide it away in appropriate facilities, sterile rooms, compact boxes.

Outside our boxes, the passing of souls is an ordinary thing. A balanced, necessary chaos that belongs to all.

Print shop ✦ Instagram

[sesiljalindell]

wip shot of Persist Print shop ✦ Instagram

[sesiljalindell]

Detail shots of Absorb. Print shop ✦ Instagram

[sesiljalindell]

Detail shot of my painting Funerals were held Print shop ✦ Instagram