Pesta

Size: 35 x 25 cm

Materials: Watercolour on watercolour paper

To get back at the pandemic, I’ve chosen to start my Creatures of Folklore series of paintings with Pesta.

The painting shows her walking to a village in the mountains. But we all hope to see her leaving really soon. I, for one, have had quite enough of her. I made it using watercolour, watercolour pencils and a tiny bit of gesso on watercolour paper. The size of it doesn’t show in the images but it’s 25 x 35 cm or 9.8 x 13.8 inches. So neither large nor tiny.

The idea came out of pure spite and annoyance at the current pandemic and the way some people choose to do stupid things. Making it last longer than necessary and spreading it to vulnerable people.

I’ve chosen to unify some of the legends of her appearance but mainly focus on the Norwegian character made known through the drawings of Theodor Kittelsen. He made her the main character in his collection of drawings, poems and legends about the Black Plague called ‘Svartedauen’. Which he published in the year 1900.

Blog post: Pesta - A painting of the Plague
Video: coming