“Harvest with the moon”

is a project born of my sentiment for old houses built from natural materials.

In constant invisible motion, they are quietly performing a last dance before decomposing into their constructive elements and merge again with Mother nature. Made of stone, wood, and clay they speak their own mystical language. Perfect, beautiful, and harmonious, they age and collapse in a unique poetic way.

In search of the source of this harmony, in the spring of 2020, I embarked on a journey to the mountains of my homeland Bulgaria and search and visited small abandoned villages rich in history and hundred- years-old architecture.

During my trip, I met carpenters and craftsmen, amazing people committed to studying and bringing back the ancient knowledge of building with natural materials.

Valentine, a craftsman from a small village in the Central Balkan, Bulgaria, told me about the old tradition of harvesting trees during the weaning moon when the sap in them is at its lowest. After the wood is left to dry vertically, for extra protection a layer of the blood from oxen, linen oil, urine, bee wax, or natural whitewash might be added.