Finding inspiration

I was hoping to finally post some art stuff again today. I've actually been busy playing with paints all weekend, and I was looking forward to put it all into a happy, colourful blog post to share. But while I really love winter, the snow, the long, cozy dark nights, there's one problem: light. I just couldn't get a decent photo. And it wasn't only the light. The angles, the compositions, the colours. Nothing worked. Not even Photoshop could help me fix it.

I have neglected my camera a lot during the last year, and I feel completely out of touch with photography and photo editing. So I decided it was time to find some inspiration and went out during one of my lunch breaks to take some photos in the park on the campus. Which is not really a very inspiring park, especially in winter (which in turn is probably why it's a good place to try and find some inspiration). And I totally enjoyed taking these photos with my Iphone and the Hipstamatic app.

I'll try to take some photos of my art journal again at the weekend, and hopefully I'll be sharing them soon here.

I've also made some changes to the design of my blog. I've wanted a simpler design for ages, but just couldn't figure out how to remove that light frame around the photos with the simplest of the Blogger templates. Until now. And I'm much happier with the new design (although it might still need some tweaking). Except for the header, which is just temporary until I've come up with something more inspiring. A complete re-design (and possibly move) has actually been on my to do list already at the beginning of last year, but I'm just not ready for that right now.

Organising inspiration

I love art postcards, and I can't leave a museum without having purchased at least half of the cards available in the shop. They're not only a nice memory of the places themselves, and of the paintings that most captured my interest (although they never seem to have a postcards of the ones that spoke most to me) but also a wealth of inspiration and reference. I used to put them into photo pocket sheets and keep them in two big, pretty folders. As the cards got more and more, the folders got fuller, and over-full, and eventually so heavy and bulky that they became hard to handle. With the result that they've been sitting on the bottom shelf of my studio book cabinet for years, untouched. 

Being pretty much useless in this state, I decided to store them in a way that makes them more accessible and easier to use and work with. I bought a pretty wooden box as well as a smaller cardboard one, and took the cards out of their pockets. The boxes filled up very quickly, and the wooden one (reserved for just art cards) is already full. Too full, actually. I think I need to get another box. I want to keep them easily accessible, to be able to look through them, which isn't possible if they're sitting too tightly.

Apart from the art reproductions, there's a whole pile of other cards - reproductions of old monochrome and (hand)coloured photos (and some newer ones too), old views of towns and landscapes, old advertisements from the times when they were hand drawn and painted by artists, manuscript illuminations, and more. Those went into the cardboard box.

Now the only thing that needs to be done is to sort them in some way or other. Alphabetically? Individual artists? Genre? Style, subject matter, art movement, era, medium? I'm sure there's a whole lot more options to consider. I intended to sort them by individual artists, but on second thoughts, it will probably be more of a mix of different criteria. Whatever makes them most useful to work with. While going through all of them, I discovered so many forgotten treasures and memories, and I can't wait to incorporate these, and other collected images, into my work flow. And to make more time for museum visits - and buy more postcards :):

Blank Canvas

I've been painting (more or less intensely) for many, many years, and for quite a few of those, I went to classes run by a local artist. I've learnt a lot from him over the years, but there is a time when one has to move on from one's teacher in order to develop further, and in my case, this moment has been long overdue. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for everything I learnt from my teacher. But he has his own style of painting, and his own view of how to mix colours, and of which materials and brands to use, of how things should be done, or not. And his way of doing things might not necessarily my way. At least not anymore. In the past three years or so, I've discovered a whole new world, thanks to the wonderful world of blogging and online classes. I discovered new techniques, new paints, new ways of mixing colours, new subjects, new styles, new inspiration.

So now, as we near the end of another year, I have decided that now is the time to break away from the "old" ways, and that the best way to do that is to start again, from scratch. To re-discover painting, from the very beginning. How to mix colours, how to paint different techniques, different subjects, with different mediums. I'm also in the process of re-arranging my little studio, to make more room and space for creating, so this seems to fit just perfectly too. A fresh start all around.

This whole process of re-discovering painting for myself might take a while, and I don't know how much I'll be blogging about it. I might just have to take some time off, for myself, to play, to experiment, to find my own way. I really don't know. All I know is that in order to grow and develop,  I have to start again from the beginning. Apart from re-discover my preferred medium of the past 15+ years, acrylics, I also want to finally try and discover the world of oil painting, something I've  been wanting to do for ages, but never really quite dared. It all just sounds so complicated and dangerous, what with underpaintings, long drying times, self-igniting substances and fumes...

So in the next few weeks, you might see less about painting etc., and maybe instead more photographs (another of my passions), inspirations, and a bit more about my latest passion - you might have guessed already - pottery. I really don't quite know myself how this will all go, but one thing I can say for sure; I'm really very excited about it!

Throw it 'til you break it

I just came across this video, and I just love the bit towards the end, when he says that on the first day of wheel throwing class, he always has his students throw it 'til they break it, as this is an important step in throwing - and growing. Yep, did that, though not really on purpose. And my teacher could save it by cutting off the top, as it was the wall that broke because it got too thin. So I guess I can only grow now (and hopefully my bowls too, when I finally get the hang of pulling the wall).

He's got a great series of videos for beginners. Of course, it's much better to go to a class, do it yourself, and have a teacher helping you. But watching and observing others is helpful too. But of course every potter has their own way, and my teacher is doing some things differently than he does. But the basics are the same. And I still just find it simply magical when they pull walls!

I'm a winner!! Thanks to Featuring Magazine

I meant to write that post 3 months ago, but well, better late than never, right?

I mentioned in my last post that I used some patterned paper I had won in a give away. Three months ago, a big envelope from Gauche Alchemy appeared in my post box, filled with all kinds of goodies perfect for art journaling and mixed media projects. And it was a really uplifting surprise, because that day hadn't been a very good one. But that really made my day. Well, where had I won these goodies? I hadn't entered any competitions or anything. But I had pre-ordered the latest issue of Featuring Magazine, by which I automatically qualified for the give away draw.

If you don't know it yet, Featuring is a printed magazine filled with inspiration from all kinds of artists all over the world. The first issue appeared in spring 2012 and so far, four issues have appeared. There's so much inspiration to be found online, but it is really nice to lie down on the sofa with a beautifully made magazine in your hand and flip through the glossy pages filled with creativity. I like the fact that it combines different media, and that it is based in Europe, which makes shipping rates affordable.

Thank you, Gauche Alchemy and Featuring Magazine for a lovely surprise! And I hope that there will be many more issues of Featuring.

A postcard swap to help the creative juices flow again

As I mentioned in my last post earlier today, I'm feeling a bit uninspired at the moment. So today, when I came across a postcard swap, I spontaneously decided to sign up for it, in the hope that having to produce 10 postcards over the next couple of weeks will help me get back into the creative mood.

While I'm a little bit intimidated about it all (will I be able to come up with 10 decent postcards?), I'm also quite excited about it. It's the first swap I'm taking part in. I've tried to take part in one before, with an online class I was taking, but it took me so long to sign up with the internet site were we had to register our addresses, that by the time I finally managed it, I was too late. So all I got from that attempt is being registered with and receiving a steady flow of e-mails from a website I'm not even sure what service they actually provide.

The swap I'm taking part in is the DIY Postcard Swap, organised by Hanna of iHanna's Blog. In this swap, you have to create 10 postcards and send them out to the 10 addresses you receive by November 14 at the latest. And in return, you'll (hopefully) receive 10 postcards from all over the world. It's not too late to take part, registration is still open Sunday, November 3.

So, that's my weekend sorted...

A walk in the woods

I've somehow lost my motivation to pick up a paintbrush the moment. So I've picked up my camera again, and, having recently purchased Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CS6, I'm spending quite some time learning how to use them. Which has inspired me to do some processing using textures again.

I've also started uploading photos to my 500px account. It's a photo sharing comunity that focuses more on the quality of the photography than the comunity, although you can also follow other members, and leave comments etc. I've signed up there at least two years ago, but haven't uploaded an awful lot. The quality of the photography there is just mindblowing, and I was really intimidated to add my amateurish experiments. But if you want to learn and improve, you best learn from the best, and 500px is a great source to get inspired, and see how the pros do it.

I've also created an account at Ipernity, which is sort of the new Flickr. I got tired with Flickr some time ago, and with their new layout and everything that they've introduced recently, I can't even find my way around there anymore. Ipernity sort of is what Flickr used to be before it got too popular and redesigned. And for old Flickr users, there's really a lot that looks very familiar. Unfortunately, there also seems to be all, or at least a lot, of what I came to dislike about Flickr. But I'll give it a try for a while, and see how I like it.

So I'm going to take a little break from painting, and with autumn finally arrived, I hope to get out with my camera for long walks in the autumnal woods, dive deeper into Lightroom and Photoshop, do lots of processing, and hopefully find my inspritation for painting again.

Gelli printing

We've been having a bit of a heat wave here this past week or two, and unfortunately, I'm not made for high temperatures. When the temperatures climb to over 30 degrees, I just don't want to move at all anymore. I don't even feel like painting any more. But yesterday, I decided to pull myself together. I didn't want to miss yet another Paint Party Friday. So I got out my Gelli plate, and started some printing. I can't believe that this is actually only the second time I've used my plate since I got it, and that the first time was over 4 months ago!

I kept to a limited colour palette and made very simple prints with just one layer of paint, and two or three different stencils. After having printed almost 20 sheets of paper, I cut a bit of the top and bottom off each sheet, and then printed the back of all of them. Eventually, I want to bind them all together into a little journal.

Happy Paint Party Friday! 

Hope you're staying cool.

Stockholm i mitt hjärta, Part 2 - Daytrip to Vaxholm

It's time for another visit to lovely Stockholm, but before we venture into the city to take in all the sights, we go on a little day trip. A few miles north of Stockholm, on Vaxö, one of the many islands of Stockholm's archipelago, lies the town of Vaxholm. To travel there in style would of course be by boat. But as someone who loves to be at the sea, but prefers not to be on or in it, I took the bus. The journey takes about a good half hour, if I remember rightly, so a little walk was the thing to do first upon my arrival. I walked along the water, not really knowing where I was going, just following the path. And a very nice path it was.

Eventually, I came to a lovely little bay, Norrhamn, the northern harbour. What a beautiful sight it was, even if the sky was rather grey most of the time of my visit.

At the other side of the bay was a lovely café, Hembygdsgårds Café. It's back garden at the water offered a pretty view. As it was lunchtime, I decided to stay there for lunch and had a delicious meal, of which the café's cat was obviously very envious.

After lunch, I set out to explore the rest of the town. But alas, I didn't get very far. The cake's buffet was just far too tempting. I mean, who could resist a lovely Polkagris Cheescake? Not me, certainly. And anyway, it's a holiday. So where was I going to rush to anyway?? So cake it was, and a cup of coffe, and I was lucky enough to get what was probably the best seat on the entire island, on the café's porch. And the sun came out for a short time too. Perfect.

Now I really set off to see some sights. I walked back the same way I had come, simply because it was such a lovely walk, and then took the little ferry to take me to Kastellet, Vaxholm's castle, which sits on its own little island. It's origins go back to the early 15th century, but to be honest, I don't think it's a very exciting place. There's a museum, but I didn't go in. Instead, I just walked once around the island, and once around the courtyard, and then went back to catch the next ferry. 

What I did like a lot, though, were all the little details in every corner. Flowery bicycles and boots, and a perfect corner to spend the evening reading in the afternoon sun.

It was getting late in the afternoon, and so there was just time for an ice cream and a stroll around the town's centre and harbour, before it was time to get the bus back to Stockholm.

I'm trying very hard to stick to the "less is more" principle with my photos, but I'm afraid I'm not doing a very good job. But I've got just too many of them. Believe me, this is still just a very small selection, I've got loads and loads more. And I hope you'll join me again next time, when we will finally venture into the city of Stockholm.

TrainSketches || More leaves and a few feathers

More trainsketches, and more leaves. Nature never ceases to inspire me, I love trees and leaves, and leaves are just so fun and easy to draw and paint. As it's all grey and white outside, I wanted to fill my pages with an extra colour burst. And leaves are just perfect for that.

I'm learning to get to know my watercolours, thanks to my trainsketches, and I'm getting fonder and fonder of them. And it's a quick and easy way to add some colour in the evening, when I don't have the time and energy to get out my acrylics. I just love the vibrancy of the wet colour on the page...

... but am always slightly disappointed about how mucht the colour fades once the paint is dry, I must admit. Of course you can just add layer and layer of more colour, but I usually end up covering up all those little white spaces, which I try to leave out. I think it might be the paper of the sketchbook, though. While it takes watercolours pretty well, it's not proper watercolour paper. I found some watercolour sketches done on proper watercolour paper the other day, and the colours seemed much richer. But I'm not complaining. I love my little sketchbook, and it serves its purpose beautifully.

Sometimes I add the background colour first and then decide what colour I want my subjects to be, if I don't already know what I want. Here, I did the leaves first. I know I wanted them to be colourful. I wasn't sure what colour to choose for the background, and I even considered just leaving it white. But I prefer colour, so decided on a neutral blue. Just a few brush strokes in a darker shade to add some shadows to make the leaves pop off the page. I love how little it often takes to achieve a great effect.

I added the finishing touches the following morning, in the train. Some broader pen lines, and a few touches of white here and there. I love adding dots and things like that all over the place, like I did with my other leave sketch, but here it wouldn't really have fit.

And of course I've already begun my next sketck, again inspired by nature: feathers. The pencil and pen sketches have been completed, now they're waiting to get some colour over the weekend.

Linking up to the fabulous Paint Party Friday. Make sure to pop over and have a look at all the other talented artists sharing their work. It's always worth a visit.

Stockholm i mitt hjärta

When I arrive at Arlanda, Stockholm's international airport, it always feels to me like I'm coming home. Ever since that day in July 2001, when I, an exchange student full of expectations and a very basic knowledge of Swedish, arrived in that country and city (and it was my first ever visit to Scandinavia), that was going to be my home for the following 12 month, I felt I had come home. And it still feels like home, every time I go there. And even when I’m not there.

Last year, after not having been up there for a good 6 years, I decided that it was high time for a visit. I booked a one week's holiday, all on my own deliberately. This was going to be a week of just me and the city, a trip down memory lane, a week of re-visiting all my favourite places. I was so excited when I left for my holiday. What would the city be like, look like, feel like, after all these years? Again, it immediately felt like home.

One of my first trips led me up to Frescati, where the university is located. It was my first visit up there after ten years, and I admit that I chose a Saturday morning for my visit on purpose - when the university campus could be expected to be relatively empty. Yes, I was a little bit afraid that this visit might turn into a bit of a sad, melancholic experience, but I'm happy to say that I spent a wonderful Saturday morning and early afternoon up there. I wandered through the corridors that connect the six buildings of the university's Södra huset, popped into the university library, where I spent a good many hours, and treated my self to a big bag of my favourite sweets at the shop.

I then walked up to 'Lappis', the student housing area, and looked up to the window of “my” room, wondering who was living there now, and if they enjoyed their time there as much as I had. The university campus is situated in Norra Djurgården, which is part of the city's national park. As I had done so many times before, I followed the path behind my "building" to Lilla Värtan, along the strait on the one side, and Stora Lappskärsberget on the other, and on to Lilla Lappskärsberget and into the woods of Lilla Skuggan.

I was looking for a very specific place, a little lake in the middle of Stora Skuggan area, where I had sat many evenings, enjoying the long Scandinavian summer evenings. It was a wonderful day, blue sky, mild temperatures, a light breeze (that would bring some rain only a few hours later), and I spent a good hour there, enjoying the silence, reminiscing, and eating far too many very sour, but oh so wickedly delicious 'godis', before returning to the city centre.

I spent a wonderful week in Stockholm, and I was surprised, and pleased, how little had changed - all my favourite shops, cafés, places, everything was still exactly how and  where it had been 10 years ago. I visited many more great places - so watch this space, there'll be more coming.

Project365 | January 2013

The first month of the year, and with it the first month of my photo-a-day Project365, is already over. I must admit that there were days when I struggled a bit. Grey, dull, dreary days, when my inspiration was as low as the temperature - around or below 0. It wasn't necesarily a lack of motives, it was me being totally unmotivated and uninspired. But I tried, and I did manage to find something to capture the day each day. And sometimes even something quite unexpected and suprising, lack that bright blue sky today - something I haven't seen in quite a while. Of course there were also many days when I took plenty of pictures, and found it really hard to decide, which one to choose for my photo of the day.

It's been only one month yet, but already I so enjoy looking back at the month through my pictures. Some of them, the early ones from the beginning of the month, already seem ages ago. With spending most of my days with a far too long commute and working in a far too solitary place, my life often seems, well, rather boring and uneventful. Looking at these pictures, I'm amazed to see how much has happened in these past 31 days, and how many beautiful little things can be found around us every day, if we just care to look for them. Even on a dull, boring, grey day. Now I'm looking forward to what February will bring!

TrainSketches

I've been keeping up my train sketches every day since I started last week. Okay, that's only four days so far, but I totally enjoy it, and I definitely plan to keep it up. It's a perfect way to start and end the day. I do the sketches in the train, add some details, then add watercolour in the evenings or weekends at home, and sometimes add some more details again with pen in the train. Even if they're "just" little sketches in a not so big sketchbook, they do take quite some time to finish them. But there's no hurry. And looking through the finished sketches early morning in the train, just makes me happy. Can't wait to fill this book!

Indigo Bubbles

Pink

Flower Garden

27-72

Four finished pages, and a new design has already been drawn for tonight's commute home, combining patterns and flowers. Pure bliss!

Inspired by a challenge

Last week, I was challenged to the '5 shot challenge' on Instagram by Judy from hey jude photography (jls316 on Instagram). The assignment she gave me was to take pictures of #round/circle.

I seem to remember having read somewhere that the challenge should actually be accomplished within 5 days or less, and that you're not allowed to post anything else in between. Well, I didn't stick to that part, I'm afraid. That was also due to the fact that I had to stay at home for a few days to nurse my bad cold, which limited my inspiration (although it did made for one of the shots for the challenge).

"Round" and "circle" sounded not too difficult, but I soon found out that it wasn't quite so easy. At least if I didn't want to go for the obvious, like traffic signs etc. I wanted to look for less obvious subjects, which really was a bit of a challenge. Especially when I tried to find subjects in nature, during a walk to the woods and along the river during my lunch break yesterday. Maybe it was because it was such a grey and uninspired day, and my mood wasn't really the best, that I couldn't find anything at all. (Although I'm quite sure that now, that my five shots are done, I'll see circles and round things pretty much everywhere, including in nature!). I did find the perfect subject for my last shot last night, though - a bright red lifebelt and glowing orange buoy in a boat on the river. I almost missed my train because of it. So I completed the challenge, and I passed it on to Maureen from Cottage 960 (cottage960 on Instagram), with the assignment to find and take photos of #transparent.

I really enjoyed the challenge. I hardly ever set myself a theme, and it was a good exercise for me to go and look for subjects to match one. And it has inspired me to do so more often. So I'm going to try and set myself little themes from time to time, both for photography and painting/sketching. Maybe I'll continue with the round/circle theme, or even try "transparent" myself.

New year, new word

I've been taking a little blog holiday and have been enjoying a two and a half week's holiday of day trips, long walks and lazy days. No blogging, no painting, no drawing. Just relaxing, and enjoying the time and company (and struggling with a nasty cold). Oh and taking tons of photos. A few with my rather neglected camera, and loads and loads with my iPhone.

The holiday is over, the new year has started, and with it come new plans, dreams, wishes, resolutions - and a new word. This is the third year that I've chosen a word to accompany me throughout the course of the year. My first year's word was Inspiration. I wanted creativity, painting, drawing, photography back on a regular basis in my life, and I was looking for inspiration all around me to get me back on track. It worked. Last year, I chose the word Journey. I wanted to continue on the path I had begun following the year before. At the end of the year, I wanted to find myself in a distincly different place from where I started 12 month earlier. I invited changes, big and small. It worked.

After those two quite successful years with my words, I felt it was time for a bit more action, as they both were somehow rather passive. So my word for 2013 is Do. This year, I want to get things done. No more procrastination, no more waiting for things to happen. Do it.

There are so many things I want to change this year, so many plans and dreams, some of them more realistic, others maybe more wild and adventurous. But we'll see. I'll definitely give it a try, and DO what I can to make things happen.

As for the blog, there are a few things I want to change this year, some of them long overdue.Well, two main things, really:

1. blog more often
2. give my blog the makeover I've been wanting to give it for the past one and a half years

Have you chosen a word for 2013? What is it?

Playing with my new mobile and Instagram

I finally got myself a new mobile phone, after the battery of my old one had reached the state where it wasn't really possible to use it anymore without it being plugged in. I had been thinking about getting a new mobile for ages, but just couldn't make up my mind about what I wanted. At the end, I couldn't resist the new iPhone, and I was so excited that I didn't even had to wait the usual 2-5 weeks for it, as the phone shop just had a delivery the day before, and I could take it home and start playing with it straight away.

It's my first smartphone, and now instead of reading, I spend most of the time on the train playing with it, looking for new apps, listening to Swedish audio books, which I don't even have to download on to my phone anymore, downloading music, and taking photos and editing them on my phone with the use of different apps. My latest 'discovery' is Instagram. Yes, I know, it's nothing new, and even I had heard about it long before I even considered getting a new mobile. But right now, it's all new to me, and so much fun to use.

Are you using Instagram? I'm still finding it a bit confusing to find people there. You'll find me here: NORDLJUSDREAMS

The first step

I should really be somewhere else now, doing something complete different today and the next 10 days, instead of being where I am and doing what I am now. But sometimes life doesn't go according to plan, some rescheduling is required. But at least it means that I can go the party today, and that brightens this otherwise rather depressing day at least a little bit.

autumn day, mixed media on canvas, 40x40cm

I've been very busy these past few weeks and months, both with work and with my paints and brushes - and some additional materials. Last weekend we hosted our annual technological-historical conference at the library, and this year's topic was "material flows / material cycles".

paradies, mixed media on canvas, 40x40cm

This year, I had the chance to make a little contribution too, by showing some of my paintings. The idea was to show how one's work can be a source inspiration in different ways. (I've already talked about this a little bit in another PPF post, a few weeks ago). Book covers and pages of old journals that needed to be disposed can be re-used as collage elements or to paint on. Old library tickes and catalogue cards, decades-old calendar sheets, little notes and letters can be found between the covers of those old books, and they make perfect elements to use in a painting. The surroundings of the library, the river and the nearby forest with their bird and nature reserve, are a well of inspiration too, and can find their way into a painting, be that the light and autumn colours in the park, or some photographs that turn into collage elements.

paradies, mixed media on canvas, 40x40cm

It was a bit scary, but also exciting, to show some of my work to a group of more or less complete strangers. Would they like it? Or would they think it was just silly? It was a bit of a test for me, and I was quite glad to have the change to do it in this small, protected environment. The reactions were very positive and encouraging (although some of the remarks made me laugh a little bit - yes, even librarians have a life outside the library, and other interests than just books!).

My little display of my my work - my first ever!

So this was the first step outside. Now we'll see what comes next, and how this journey continues. But now it's time for the party!

Happy Paint Party Friday