A Bed of Roses. Collage.

New Year’s Eve will be lit by a Blue Moon and the moonlight will welcome the new year, 2010. Obviously, this only happens once in a blue moon!

As I prepared my dreamboard for the Full Moon Circle, I thought a lot about this. The Blue Moon shining as fireworks go off and the new year rings in. The passage between the first and second decade of this century.

Then I thought about the word I’ve chosen to guide me through the New Year. My word is “ease”. I thought of clouds and minimalism. But in the end my research of the word and its origin lead me to the synonym “bed of roses”, and that was irresistible! So here it is, passionate, romantic ease!

Tags: collage, dreamboard, dreams, ease, full moon, making wishes, vintage

December. Walnuts, swedes, cranberries, turnips, pomegranates and passionfruit.

This year the Winter Solstice occurs on December 21. This is the shortest day or longest night of the year and I think it’s fascinating that although the interpretation of Winter Solstice has varied from culture to culture, most cultures in the world and throughout the times, celebrated it as a turning point and have held a recognition of rebirth, involving holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations around this time. And still do.

Blue Branches is inspired by my longing for light during the dark winter months. The crisp blue quality that is specific to blue winter’s skies in the north and the beautiful twilight blue hour or l’heure bleue, with its intense blues. I’ve been documenting the process of how this image was created in my Creative Minutes project.

This desktop picture is a perfect match for the collection of Luminous Blue Folder Icons and as usual the download includes fullscreen, widescreen and iPhone versions, both with and without a desktop calendar for December.

Save this wallpaper to your computer.

Tags: blue, Blue Branches, collage, desktop calendar, desktop wallpaper, nature, sky, trees, watercolours, winter

Dreamboard. Full Frost Moon. November 2009.

This dreamboard didn’t turn out as I had planned it, not at all. And here I thought I had clear idea for what I wanted to bring into November! Since I’ve been spending my autumn expanding, following my heart, being in my creative process, participating in projects, resetting my internal compass, getting to know new friends and connecting with old ones, I felt it was time to, consolidate. To retreat to my home, to prepare for the holidays, find peace, bring beauty to my home, do yoga and sort out drawers. That is what my dreamboard was supposed to be about, but it took a direction of its own.

What I see is a dreamboard that’s about giving my creativity wings! Finding creative freedom. And a dreamboard strongly influenced by the bright colours of the autumn leaves, that bring me so much joy and inspiration!

For those of you who feel inspired by this dreamboard, I created Satsuma Sky, a desktop wallpaper and calendar for November with this motif. I hope you enjoy it!

Tags: birds, collage, creative process, Creativity, dreamboard, dreams, full moon, making wishes, nature, orange, sky, watercolours

November. Chestnuts, satsumas, celeriac, mangos, parsnips and pears. Darker days and candlelit evenings. Shades of orange and brown. I’m so enjoying experimenting with watercolours and collage techniques. This desktop wallpaper takes its cue from the autumn skies, watercolours and the explosive oranges of autumn leaves. A perfect backdrop for both Luminous Orange Folder Icons and Luminous Purple Folder Icons.

The download contains fullscreen, widescreen and iPhone versions, with and without a desktop calendar for November.

Save this wallpaper to your computer.

Tags: birds, collage, desktop calendar, desktop wallpaper, nature, orange, sky, watercolours

Dreamboard. Full Harvest Moon. October 2009.

A Dreamboard for the Full Harvest Moon. Layers of transformation, expanding creative expressions, painting, photography, writing, type… The past, the present. And finding a focus for the future.

I was standing in the museum of a castle ruin, reading fascinating (no I’m not being sarcastic) and informative text on those typical museum boards, when suddenly the graffiti on the wall behind the board caught my attention. Or rather came forward to me, like a wave of text, like light, layers and layers of graffiti carved onto the stone wall. And I started to photograph the graffiti, going from room to room, floor to floor, captivated by it, following its light, and forgetting everything else… The earliest date I found was 1609, and the most recent was 2009. It was like a living memorial to all those people. I imagined each person writing their name on the wall, carving glorious moments of stolen kisses, or writing a “here I am, I exist” in the middle of an everyday experience… I wondered if people ever recalled, later on, the moment when they crafted that graffiti…

When I returned from my journey to Öland, my best friend wanted to see my photos from my trip, but I mostly have loads of photos of this graffiti from the castle… One of the images, the one below, was the starting point for this collage, and was meant to be the focal point, and yet it didn’t make it in! Somehow it just got to be too much.

Here is a desktop wallpaper and an October desktop calendar version of my Harvest Moon dreamscape.

Centuries of layered graffiti on the wall of a castle ruin.

Tags: collage, creative process, Creativity, dreamboard, dreams, fonts, full moon, grafitti, handwriting, history, layers, letters, making wishes, orange, Photography, purple, vintage, watercolours