iPhone Photography: Cherries

I didn’t make it to the Farmer’s Market this weekend. I was too busy working on commissions. But I saw wood pigeons in the oak tree outside my windows. I heard the sound of acorns as they hit the ground. I saw the Big Dipper from my kitchen window. I thought of absent friends. Separated by time or place or death. I felt the scent of red sage and enveloped myself in the soft touch of my corduroy jacket. I cried when I listened to Jeff Buckley (it never fails).

I saw a rainbow and made a wish. I ought to have done some laundry and the freezer desperately needs defrosting, but I did none of that. In fact, I struggled to remember meals. Sleep. Instead I thought about the ancient Egyptians and their royal tombs and made sketches for my commissions. The scent of Calamintha brought me to Tuscany. Greek Basil brought me back to Crete. Then I bought two handfuls of cherries and put them in the brown bowl we bought in Barcelona. Travelling in my mind.

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!

Dreamboard. Full Cold Moon. December 2009.

Something astonishing happened while I was creating this dreamboard. Three nights in a row, I heard a bird sing just as I was watching the moon. That’s something quite unusual at this time of year, to hear a bird sing at all, and particularly at night… So I realised that a bird had to be part of this dreamboard, and I created a bird that is red and alone, so the bird would stand out as clearly as the birdsong I had heard.

I’m asking December to bring me a peaceful and white winter. Time to recharge. To appreciate the beauty around me and bring it into my home. I see effortless, playful minimalism and strength in this dreamboard too. And music.

This is the third dreamboard I’ve made and the first one that actually has the moon in it. Here you can see some images from the creative process behind The Full Cold Moon.

My previous dreamboards have been about exploring creative expressions and giving my creativity wings, but when I look at this dreamboard I see a winter holiday card and a pattern for textiles. I’d like to make curtains like this! I’m not sure how I could make it a repeating pattern vertically, but I’ll see what I can do to put this idea into print. This is a creative dream I’d like to bring into my new year!

I love the intuitive process that these dreamboards bring out! It’s so exciting and powerful! Thank you Jamie for hosting the Full Moon Dreamboard Circle!

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!

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.

iPhone photography: Train tracks at Västervik railway station.

There’s something entrancing about the sound of trains rattling by. The hypnotic rhythm of the train drawing closer and passing by into a future of its own. Rails singing. The sound of travel.

An hour before dusk I was sitting by the harbour watching the fish come up to the surface to feed. And in Västervik, I found the house that my Swedish grandfather grew up in. Travelling through Småland, passing through the coast, fields, and deep into the woods, past lakes, rivers and meadows. Tints of yellow and rust among the greens.

Arriving on Öland, “solen och vindarnas ö”, the island of the sun and the winds. A ruined castle. Crafters and artists. Traces of a 18th century seaside resort. A spa-town off-season. Windmills. Endless flat plains and long white beaches. Harvest festival and art happening.

Sometimes time is elastic. A short trip packed with impressions expanded my sense of time, leaving me with a feeling of at least twice the time. Heightened senses, just like falling in love.

I saw a magnificent rainbow and I can’t remember when I last saw the Milky Way so clearly, the stars so bright! And yes, I made wishes.

iPhone photography: Sailboats and sunset. Borgholm, Öland.