Trolls and frogs

I had a quiet spell after Open Studios, work was busy (the paid work that is), and I didn't feel ready to start anything new. I had a couple of ideas on the boil but nothing really grabbed me. Then I saw a photo that my son and son-in-law had taken in Iceland.

It was of a rock formation in an area of Thorsmork called "Trollakirjka" or Troll Church. It was obviously a Troll, probably asleep, pretending to be a lump of rock. I was instantly inspired, and knew I had my next project - I was going to bring the troll to life.

The face was already there, I just had to accentuate the features and use the greenery as a moustache and beard. I added red eyes - to show he was now awake, and put in a bird. My North America landscapes have an eagle but I felt a raven was more appropriate here - Huginn or Muninn perhaps.

I had tremendous fun with this, and it started my creative juices flowing again. The troll was followed by 2 more in the wall-art series, colourful tree frogs "Blue eyes" and "Black eyes".

It reinforced my belief that creativity can't be forced. I just have to wait for the right project to come along and then go with the flow.