Preparing for winter

Lately I have had the urge to take pencil to paper and prepare for the upcoming winter. I have always loved the frosty season, and have plans to create an advent calender. This the Wooni-ish St. Nicholas. He has a woody feel. I wanted his beard and forehead to appear like wood, a suggestion of age and wisdom.On top I believe there will be a banner saying "Merry Christmas".  But before any of this can start to happen I have to finish Basti's Christmas stocking....which I started while I was pregnant... This year it has to be done.

This little elf, known as Ben is another winter inspiration. I am not sure what I will do with him, but he seems to beg to become softer to the touch.

Even though I have a wonderful little bamboo so that I can draw on the computer, I have a certain aversion to it. There is just something magical about paper, the texture of it underneath my palm, the smudges, the effect of the eraser, and so on.  I have always had an obsessions with textures, like Amelie, I love sinking my hand into barrels or bags of beans, legumes, sand, flour. I could caress stitches for hours, and I always catch myself stroking the cloth whenever it lays before me. I even have dreams of textures. First they start out as rough static textures that make me feel uneasy and slowly they turn into smooth surfaces that sooth me and make me feel that everything is alright.

I wonder what they mean...