The Accidental Brush

It was by chance that I discovered this magical little creatures. My pen seems to take a life of its own as it dances across the canvas carving out the details of these small creatures called Punies. It has been a year now and I have been documenting the life of the Punies through my art. These adorable pixie like creatures lives in a magical pathway that is invisible to the human but it has been their home for many centuries.

The Punies Explained

They live in tiny little houses made of twigs and leaves. Some of them lives in hollow trees with the owls.

They live on mushrooms, berries and a special concoction of moondew mixed with rosemary collected during full moon. They are no larger than 5 inches tall and just like humans, they do have emotions like faling in love, jealousy, happiness and sorrow.

Since the ancient time, they are regarded as the balance brought into existence by mother nature to nourish the earth and do small deeds for the creatures that dwell the forest. Generally they are good natured creatures.

The Punies they rear foxes. Red foxes. The foxes are their traditional rides in the forest. Foxes are fast and agile. During the fox hunting season, the Punies are usually quite distressed because their foxes are captured by the Humans and their hunting dogs. They never quite understand how humans can ever be so cruel. To feed their cravings for fur? During this time, the Punies would create confusing scents to save the foxes from the tracker dogs.

(This little boy receives his first fox and they have the same crooked teeth to start with)

Once a Puny reaches adulthood, the will own their own foxes to care for and that will be their companion for life. Usually the birth and the death of a fox is a great deal to the Punies.

They also rear owls. Owls are their close allies. These owls are often the called the Whisperers. They carry tales and stories from the far end of the forest to the Punies. They are also used as transportation if the travelling requires speed or passes through rivers. Owls are regarded as sacred animals and in their folklore the owls are actually spirits of departed Punies that could not bear to leave the forest and continue their duties in protecting them in the form of an owl.

Duties of the Punies

(Simple Knighting ceremony by the Puny King)

The Punies are generally divided into different tasks. The entire Kingdom is lead by a Puny King. He will host a ceremony to knight Punies that are appointed as Guardians. To be appointed as Guardians is the highest Honour to a Puny. A Guardian is tasked with the job of ensuring that the forest has its balance and every creature can co-exist peacefully. The Guardians are rumoured to be protected by a legendary White Wolf that is half ethereal in form. The White Wolf has the ability to restore barren earth and revive dead trees.

(Punies are generally fun loving creatures and they co-exist with every single living thing in the forest peacefully)

• The entire illustrations are mine and so is the write-up. I am an Illustrator and storyteller. I wish to bring education to the community particularly one on protecting our Mother Nature. We don't have another Earth to live in. This is our only planet and we need to do whatever we can to protect it.

This is yours truly...and the Punies of course