"Zabel’s Colors" is a story about a white-winged butterfly who loves colors. She would like to be colorful like other butterflies. Her quest to find colors takes her to a journey deep underground, where she meets cicadas who are preparing to emerge by practising a song. Finally, in the deepest dark, Zabel meets a diamond who helps her to see her own beauty and self-worth that is not dependent on the outside world.

Zabel’s wings are a metaphor for self-discovery. The message of the story is that we all hold color and multitudes even if it's not always that clearly seen or understood and it looks different for each of us. Yet we are beautiful treasures, valuable and deeply loved. The story aims to strengthen the reader and encourage them to face difficult feelings and situations: to go through them rather than run away, and there is a reward for it.

My aim is to tell poetic and beautiful stories that heal. My work has many layers of depth both in the words and pictures. I love working by hand and creating textures. My work is intertwined with travelling and I am always looking for treasures, both in people and in nature. I illustrate using mixed media technique: I combine painting with acrylic gouache with collage and monoprinting.

Note: the book end with a gatefold page.

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Education:
Sandberg Instituut, Holland
Applied Arts
Graduation: 2010

Published titles: 4

https://kuvittajat.fi/en/portfolios/saara-vallineva/
@saaravallineva