Stones on the Gulf of Finland

A tall, weathered boulder rises at the centre of a rocky shoreline, a single seagull perched on its summit. Smaller rounded stones spread across dry, ochre-toned grass in the foreground and continue into the shallow water, where their shapes are mirrored on the calm surface; a flat sea and a band of pale sky close the composition.

Earthy tones of rust, violet, and grey-green model the granite stones under a soft, even daylight, while dry grasses are rendered in warm ochre and ivory strokes. The textured, close-toned handling of watercolor and tempera on cardboard gives the stones a solid, weighty presence, and the wide stillness of sea and sky lends the scene a quiet, contemplative calm.