Just in time! My Christmas present for my Mum (which I started almost three months ago). It's from her (and my) favourite of Grimm's fairytales: Jorinde und Joringel.

Jorinde and her beloved Joringel are about to marry, and go for a walk in a nearby forest. In this forest, however, there dwells an evil sorceress who turns into an owl at night and turns people to stone, but young maidens she turns into birds and takes them off into her tower.

After Jorinde and Joringel have walked in the forest for a while, suddenly a great sadness falls over them and Jorinde begins to sing:

"Mein Vöglein mit dem Ringlein rot
singt Leide, Leide, Leide.
Es singt dem Täubelein seinen Tod,
singt Leide, Lei - zicküth, zicküth, zicküth."

("My birdie with her ring so red
Sings sorrow, sorrow, sorrow.
My love will mourn when I am dead
Tomorrow, morrow, mor- jug, jug, jug.")

When Joringel turns around to her, he sees that Jorinde has turned into a nightingale, and an owl with red-glowing eyes flies about her, and turns into the sorceress, who catches the nightingale in a cage and disappears with her. Joringel cannot move.

He then dreams of a red flower with a pearl in its midst, and after searching day and night, he finally finds it. With this flower, the sorceress cannot harm him as he enters her tower and frees all the enchanted birds, and finds his Jorinde.

Watercolour. The style of the picture is inspired by Russian painter Ivan Bilibin, who illustrated the Russian folk tales. [link]