A #witch and an #owl, or, 2 witches. #watercolour and watercolour pencils on paper, ca 30x40 cm.

Not only humans can be witches or magicians...it is well known that certain animals and plants also have a knack for magic. The owl is certainly one of them.

One of the things that I learned from the Ogham alphabet is to go outside and get to known the trees that are connected to the letters of this medieval Celtic alphabet. Several years ago I made this painting of the first tree in the Ogham, Beithe or birch. Lately I've taken up the journey again, to learn more about the ogham, the lore of the letters, the magic and myth connected to it, and of course the trees that represent the letters and the land they grow in. A natural way for me to connect with something is to make a drawing or painting of it - as I did with Beithe. This year and the next I am planning to complete this series.

Elves and fairies | thimsternisse

Learn more about Dutch folklore! The belief in elves, fairies and the spirits of the dead can be found world wide in all sorts of cultures. The Dutch and their ancestors are no different. They believed in 'earthmen', kobolds, dwelling lights and 'witte wieven', among others. Read more on my website!

A local museum is apparently spreading the pseudo-historical idea that Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) is really Odin. They should know better. I'm no expert myself, but it doesn't take much research to realize that no, Sinterklaas is not Wodan or Odin - even though there is obviously a lot of folklore concerned with the celebration of Sinterklaas. If you're interested, why not start with my article of some years ago which touches on some the figures and ideas surrounding Sinterklaas:

Odin and Sinterklaas | thimsternisse

Zwarte Piet/Black Pete, a short history+update on the cultural debate | thimsternisse

It's Sinterklaas again, woohoo, bring on the peppernuts! At first I didn't want to bring up the tired debate about Black Pete, but a local museum that is spreading some disinformation about Sinterklaas at the moment made me decide otherwise. (I'm sure they mean well but my historian's heart cries). I will share an older bit about how Sinterklaas is not Odin in another post, but for now, if you feel like it why not read a bit about Pete:

Wanted to do an old fashioned fairy/fantasy autumn piece for a while, so here it is. Perfect for this spooky season!

Autumn Moon Watercolors and watercolor pencils on paper ca. 40x30 cm.

Sent off a pagan package today, with some of my drawings: an original ink drawing on the cover of a blank note book & prints of the eight pagan seasonal feasts - all black, red and white.

Another freely downloadable book about witchcraft in post-witch hunt Europe, this time including a chapter about an 18th-century Dutch witch doctor (also by Willem de Blécourt)!

Free PDF book by Owen Davies et all about witchcraft in modern Europe, including a chapter (by Willem de Blécourt) about the Netherlands. Download via link!

Worked on and off on this new piece for the last days...I feel like going for a walk now!

 didn't forget about inktober, but I decided to work on larger works & post something once a week. Busy life and all that. In the meantime, here is a watercolorpainting I did a while ago for Dutch scifi & fantasy site fantize.nl Had great fun making this!

Title: The Owl Witch's Library Size: ca. 30x40 cm. Materials: watercolor + watercolor pensils on paper

#Inktober2023 day three of my witchy drawings...to be honest I don't like this one, the ink is bleeding all over the paper. It was also a problem with the other two drawings but now I'm really done with it. But a challenge is a challenge, so I'll continue tomorrow with some fresh new ink-proof paper * fingers crossed*

#Inktober2023 goal: make a #witchtober ink drawing every day... Day 1: a freestyling flying witch, here depicted with Pen & Ink, my partners in crime.  (Background is the beautiful fabric of the Tempest dress by Disturbia Clothing)

New brainfood! I updated my Thimsternisse-website with 19th century Dutch folklore about witchcraf

Witchcraft and magic in Northwest Europe | thimsternisse

Equinox, a meditation on life and death