Some WIP art journal pages, photos from Stockholm, and I'm packing my suitcase again

It has been yet another unproductive weekend spent mostly on the sofa, mostly thanks to a colonoscopy on Monday. Have you ever had a colonoscopy? Most people who have never had one, find the procedure itself the most worrying part, while actually, it is the least disagreeable part. At least if you have a doctor like mine - you get some muscle relaxing stuff put into your vein and happily doze through the whole thing. By far the worst part is that disgusting stuff you have to drink to completely clean your bowels beforehand. I've had several colonoscopies, and many more to come, and having to get those 2 litres down is always the thing I dread most. It takes me ages, and it just makes you feel sick and miserable and exhausted.

So I didn't get much drawing or painting done, this week, but I have a couple of journal pages that I started. The first one is in my Leuchtturm journal, and it turned into a bit of a colour sampling page, as I tried to decide which red to pack for my next adventure (more about that at the end of the post) - Cadminum Red Light (top) or Cadmium Red Medium (bottom). I decided for the latter.

I have quite a few stamps and stencils, but I hardly ever use them these days, and I try not to buy an new ones. I do like their designs, but in my art, I just prefer to use my own designs, instead of someone else's. But I went to a big craft shop in the centre of Stockholm, and I just couldn't resist buying some clear stamps with sentiments in Swedish.

These tow pages are in my Moleskine journal, and I actually started them in Stockholm, in my hotel room, using some of the pieces we had used and created during the workshop.

I also got some more photos from Stockholm and Vaxholm edited.The beautiful old town, Gamla Stan, with its warm coloured old and wonky buildings.

It was especially magical in the beautiful evening light.

Norrhamnen in the early morning light. If you ever go to Vaxholm, make sure to visit this little bay, just a few minute's walk from Söderhamnplan (where the bus and boats arrive), and to stop at the Hembygdsgårds Café. It's a charming place, and they have amazing food and cakes at the café! Unfortunately, I didn't have time to go there this time, I only had half an hour for a quick visit before the workshop started, but next time I'm there, I will!

On my last day, I met up with a friend I only knew from Facebook. We went to Rosendal, a charming garden with a café on Djurgården. Social media are great to find and connect with like minded people all over the world, but it still just isn't quite the same as actually having a coffee or lunch together and talking to each other in person. It was so lovely to meet her, and we had a great time, and it was the perfect thing to do before having to go to the airport and travel back home later that day.

Tomorrow, I'm off to another adventure. I've always wanted to go to an art retreat, but I was always far too late and they were sold out long before I even knew they existed. But a year ago, I was finally early enough, and now I'm going to spend next week drawing and painting in Scotland. I would have preferred for my two art adventures abroad to not be quite so close together. In my mind, I'm still in Stockholm, and still full of all the inspiration, which I can't wait to let flow into my art journal. But of course I'm also very much looking forward to next week, albeit feeling slightly apprehensive about spending an entire week with absolute strangers, in shared accommodation... But I'm sure it'll be a blast. And after Scotland, I'll travel to the other end of the isle, to lovely Dorset, to spend a relaxing week with N. I am really looking forward to that. Relaxing, resting, doing nothing, recharging. That's just what I need right now.

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Back to every day life and more daily teacups

After all the great inspiration and new ideas and technique from the workshop in Vaxholm, of course I just wanted to take my art journal out and start playing. But my energy level is  extremely low at the moment, and I needed the weekend to just relax and catch up on sleep after my late flight home last Tuesday and straight back to work on Wednesday. I am slowly learning to listen to my body, and to not feel guilty for not doing anything when I need to slow down and rest. But although I didn't get as busy as I would have wanted to, I still got a bit of something done.

I did this little sketch while in Stockholm, and finally added the lettering. There are loads of sausage huts and stalls every where around town, and even in the tiniest kiosk, you can usually get a grilled or cooked sausage. For me, when in Stockholm, a grilled sausage is a must. As are cinnamon rolls, mint krokant chocolate, and bags and bags of sour sweets...

I also finished this sketch that I did earlier this month, in a new sketchbook that I found in a local art shop. It's by AMI Art Material International, a brand that I didn't know, and it has 180g/m2 watercolour paper. The paper is smooth on one side, and has a bit of a strange texture on the other, sort of lines ridges. But it's bound so that you always have the same surface on both pages, left and right, so that you can have a double spread with the same texture. It is landscape format, as usual, but with approx. 20,5x14,5 cm slightly wider than the Moleskine watercolour journals, which I always find just a bit too narrow.

Another little sketch I did while in Stockholm. There's a shop called Pen Store in Södermalm, and of course I had to go and check it out. Pens, pens, pens, and some gorgeous notebooks too. Wonderful. Of course I had to by some pens... and sketch them...

I'm also back to my (almost) daily tea cup drawing. I'm trying a new approach to drawing them, and I think I might finally get the hang of it eventually.

It's not just all tea cups in my sketchbook, though. I just loved the pattern and colours of this pear. I have one box of all kinds of pens and some coloured pencils just in browns and greens, because I love those colours so much for drawing.

I finally got one of those blue Caran D'Ache photo pencils, and tried it out in a little abstract sketch in my Moleskine. I was a bit disappointed that the blue was still visible after scanning or taking photos, but of course, as usual, I hadn't read the instructions properly. It doesn't shop up when you scan or photocopy it in black and white only. Which is rather nice, actually. Because it means you can have it both ways. Scan it in colour to see it, and in black and white to make it disappear. And it's a nice blue anyway.

I didn't do much art journaling, but I have started a new art journal. I'm using a bright pink Leuchtturm 1917 sketchbook for this, which is slightly wider than a Moleskine. I've only got as far as a first couple of layers of background on the first two pages, but hopefully, I'll have more to show next week. As well as some more photos from Stockholm. I just didn't get round to any editing this week.

A magical long weekend in Sweden

I'm back from my long weekend in Stockholm, and it has been absolutely wonderful. The nice thing about going to Stockholm for me is, that I don't have to do anything, don't have to do the sights. I've been there before so many times, that I have seen all the views, sights, museums, all the things you would normally want to see when visiting a foreign city. So I just walk around, sit on benches, go to favourite places, enjoy familiar views. I didn't even take a lot of photos this time. Stockholm seems to be one big construction site at the moment. Everywhere, the ground has been ripped open, buildings are wrapped in scaffolding, and the skyline seems to be dominated by cranes. Good thing I took loads of photos four years ago. I also didn't go to any museums. I would have gone to the Nationalmuseum, but that is closed for renovation until 2018. The closest I got to a museum was wandering around Skeppsholmen and sitting in the outside café of Moderna Museet on Wednesday afternoon. After having been up since 4am, I was exhausted and it was lovely to sit in the shade, drink a refreshing iced latte and draw one of the red polka dot trees. As so often when I travel, the weather was unusually warm and sunny. Blue sky and up to 24 degrees Celsius. I am very grateful that it wasn't raining all the time, but it was getting a bit hot for me at times, I have to admit.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I attended Orly Avineri's The Visual Journal as Sanctuary workshop. It was truly magical. I am still glowing in the aftermath of this experience, and I'm finding it hard to put it into words. It was three days of stories, company, creating, transformation, growing, playing, chatting, experimenting, magic, wonder, alchemy, and so much more. It was a wonderful group of kind women and a glorious location. It was just simply perfect.

And I am very happy with my journal, that started out as a passport of a stranger and slowly turned into my own little book, developing and now containing so much more than I could have imagined or expected.

I really like taking online classes, they are a great opportunity to learn from teacher you would otherwise never be able to take a class with. But I had been wanting to go to a workshop or art retreat for ages, to actually be there, with the people, instead of just watching videos and posting in a Facebook group. And I'm so glad I went. I did not quite know what to expect, but whatever it was, the class far exceeded my expectations. If you ever have the chance to take a workshop with Orly Avineri, do it! It really is a great and enriching experience, and she is such a wonderful teacher and person.

I spent another one and a half days in Stockholm after the course, more walking around, being there, some shopping too, of course, and some more ice creams (I always feel like I'm in heaven with all the sweets around everywhere in Sweden!).

Now back home, I'm looking forward to getting back to my easel and art journal, and incorporating and experimenting with the new techniques I've learnt at the workshop.

I'll try and post some more photos next week, once I've gone through them all and had time for some editing. It seems that my card reader is broken and it took me ages to figure out how to get the photos off the card and into Lightroom, so I didn't get round to much editing yet.

Stockholm i mitt hjärta, Part 5 - Södermalm

It's been absolute ages since the last part of my little Stockholm series but there are still a few places to go and sights to see. Last time, we've visited the told town, Gamla Stan. Today, from there we're crossing the bridge and take a stroll around parts of Södermalm. First we walk up to the thop of Katarinahissen, from where we enjoy the view over Slussen and Gamla Stan...

... and Ryssgården square and the city museum, Stockholms stadsmuseum. On a fine day like today, we can see all the way across the water Kungsholmen and with its dominant Stadshuset.

We then climb a bit further up the hill and enjoy the sun and a cup of coffee at Mosebacke.

Refereshed from the break, we explore walk on eastwards past Katarina kyrkan...

... and through the small cobblestoned Mäster Mikaels Gata with its charming old cottages, many of which built of wood.

We walk along the top of the steep cliffs, enjoying the beautiful view of the Gamla Stan across the water as well as the local wild life.

Why not stop at the little cafe with the beautiful view and enjoy a delicious ice cream. It is, after all, a lovely and warm spring evening.

Let's cast one last look back over the water, to the lush greens of Djurgården, before we head back to the bustling city.

Next time, we'll head out of the city again to visit the oldest town in Sweden. I hope you'll join me again.

Stockholm i mitt hjärta, Part 4 - Gamla Stan

I've meant to post some drawings, sketches, or even paintings after all the photography posts, but I just haven't got round to doing much. So I'm sharing some more photos today, another part of my Stockholm series.

And oh my, it has been ages since my last post in this series - June, to be exact, and not June last year, but June 2013! High time for a new post, and there are still some more places I to go to. Last time, we visited lovely Djurgården and spent some time in the outdoor museum Skansen. Now let us venture into the heart of the city, the old town, that dates back to the 13th century - Gamla Stan. Let us stroll through the narrow alleys, preferably the quieter ones, away from the crowds.

Gamla Stan is probably the most photographed part of Stockholm, and it seems that it's always the same lanes, places and corners that get captured. So I've played around with textures, to try and make them look a bit different.

Can I get a job here, please?

Even though the main alleys and squares can get very crowed during the holiday season, Stortorget (the big square), is still worth a visit. Not only because of the beautiful old buildings surrounding it, but also because of one of my favourite cafés - Chokladkoppen. A big cup of hot white chocolate is just the perfect thing to warm you up on a cold day. And in summer, you can sit outside, and watch the people on the square and enjoy the mild air, and a slice of white chocolate cheese cake.

Tyska kyrkan (the German church), or Sankta Gertruds kyrka, was founded in 1571.

There are, of course, many more interesting sights and buildings in Gamla stan - among them Stockholms slott (Stockholm palace), also know as Kungliga slottet (the Royal palace). But we'll leave the old town now, for some more exploring. I haven't yet decided yet where we will go next time, but it will definitely a nice place.

Stockholm i mitt hjärta, Part 3 - Djurgården & Skansen

Welcome back to lovely Stockholm! It's been a while since my last post in this series, but today, we're going to spend a lovely late summer's day on the island of Djurgården, visiting the outdoor museum Skansen, and enjoying a nice cup of coffe and a slice of cake. The best way to get to Djurgården is to walk along Strandvägen and across Djurgårdsbron. There are some great museums, the impressive Nordiska Museet, the fascinating Vasamuseet, and the charming Junibacken. But it's such a nice and sunny day, that it is best to spend it outdoors.

There's so much to see at Skansen, the outdoor museum, that we head there straight away. We're taking the the main entrance, which means you can take the escalator up (you could of course walk, if you wanted), and then wander around the little village with all its different and craft workshops for a bit. Then why not take a cup of coffee in the shade before setting off to explore the rest of the place.

Skansen is full of historical buildings and sites from all over Sweden, it's a walk through time and space.

I think it's time for a refreshing ice cream now, after all the walking...

And off we go again, to visit some of the animals in the zoo. Of course there has to be reindeers and mooses, they're so typical of Sweden, aren't they. The reindeers don't seem to enjoy this hot late summer's day very much, they are all lying on the ground panting. And the moose seems to prefer to lie in the most muddy patch - I guess it's the coolest place there.

We enjoy the views over the city one more time, before leaving Skansen to go for a little stroll to some other parts on Djurgården.

Walking northwards along the water to Waldemarsudde, where we spend the rest of the afternoon in the café, enjoying the sun, a nice cup of coffe - and a delicious blåbärspaj med vispgrädde. No wonder, the little bird is eyeing the cake enviously, it really is most yummy!

There's a lot more to see and do, you can spend all day on the island, walking around and visiting galleries and other places of interest. But we'll leave Djurården for now, after all, there's so much more to visit and explore in Stockholm. I hope you enjoyed our little tour, and will join me again in the next part of this series, which hopefully will be up soon.