Võru is a small city in Southern Estonia with big dreams. A few years ago, hoping to beautify their neighborhood and attract visitors, the city’s government began offering owners of residential buildings a free original painting on one of their short walls. The building owners only needed to agree to preserve the painting during any future work on the building. Owners who express an interest even get to work with the artist to choose for themselves what kind of painting they would like.

The artist commissioned to do the work is a really interesting guy. He’s the surrealistic painter Heiki Trolla, who paints under the name Navitrolla.

Translated from his website:

“Navitrolla is definitely an unique artist in Estonian art. He is known for his paintings full of fantastic landscapes and absurd animals. He did not choose the path of an artist consciously. Although ever since he was little, he admired paintings and had a great respect for artists, he never thought of being one. The title was simply too great for him. Now he is concentrating on just existing rather than thinking about what he is.”

Maybe the translation is flawed, or maybe he’s just a really humble guy, but I think it’s safe to call him an artist. Okay, for a man in his forties, he’s got a surprisingly childlike fondness for giraffes, teddy bears, rabbits, and mushrooms, but I think he makes it work.