Olle Nyman: "Utblick, övre gården" 1931, oil on panel

Here are some paintings by artist Olle Nyman from a trip to Duvnäs Gård, Olle Nyman’s house and studio. His house has now been converted into a museum and exhibits a unique artist’s home with beautiful interiors. There’s something so very inspiring about visiting an artist’s home and studio! The collection of books and art, the artist’s paints, the collection of shells, the sketches, broken pottery for his sculptures… work and life in process.

There’s also a wonderful café, bakery and restaurant, Koloni, that serves food made with organic, fair trade products. You find Koloni in a small whitewashed building that started off as Olle Nyman’s sister’s garage. Kajsa was one of the first women in Sweden who got a driving license and she was very interested in cars!

Olle Nyman: "Lunden 1" 1966-68, oil on canvas

Olle Nyman: Roussillon 11, 1948, oil on canvas

Olle Nyman: Köksbordet, 1980, acrylics on panel

Tags: acrylics, inspiration, natural media, oils

Breaking Ice

I just finished this painting as a thick layer of mist rolled in from the lake. “Breaking Ice”. The colour palette is very much the same as in this reference photo I took of ice floes on the lake. Inspired by nature, the turn of the seasons, the lake, the beauty and miracle of an everyday experience or “ordinary magic” as mosaic artist Concetta brilliantly phrased it.

Tags: art, blue, Breaking Ice, digital, green, inspiration, natural media, nature, painting, prints, spring, turquoise, winter

Brooch with crescent moon button made by Mousy Brown's House.

I’ve dedicated this week to working on a series of digital paintings based on sketches and ideas that have been evolving the past few months. Now the time is right for working on them, I’m giving the project time and space and I feel full of creative energy! Isn’t it easy to forget that there are cycles to creativity?

In the meanwhile the ground is still covered with slowly melting ice and snow which tricked me into forgetting that it’s Easter next week! Spring is on its way, and soon it’s time to put together the Spring Edition for members of Club Marmalade Moon.

Speaking of Easter, if you’re looking for a fun crafting project for a beautiful Easter decoration, friendly, clever and crafty Mousy Brown’s House has just the thing! This is also the source of the extraordinary gorgeous purple and gold brooch (in the photo above) that I’m the proud owner of. Notice the vintage button with a crescent moon? What amazing, thoughtful and creative attention to details!

Now I’ll sink back into painting.

Tags: art, creative cycle, creativity, digital art, natural media, painting

Black boots and Italian basketweave scarf.

Autumn. Boots and scarf and hat and gloves. Shiny street, wet from the rain, sometimes black with a little purple or blue.

My head is still spinning from this week’s adventure with natural media software, Painter 11. The way the paints interact with each other and the canvas, the texture and detail is mind blowing! Exploring the brushes, markers, chalk, pastels, watercolor and oil, just to mention a few, and if this isn’t enough you can make your own brushes with the RealBristle tool. You can control the width of brush strokes by the tilt of your pen, just like when you use a real, traditional brush! It’s amazing… You can decide to leave a layer of digital watercolor in wet mode, so that it’s still wet when you continue, whether you continue working on your painting a month or a day later! It’s like having access to all the natural media you can imagine, without having to take it out of storage, wash the brushes or deal with the toxins, mess and expenses! There’s a free demo of Painter that you can download to give it a trial run.

This weekend I’m looking forward to visiting the blogs of fellow artists in The Fish Bowl. Seeing Julie and Julia at the beautiful cinema Skandia, designed by Gunnar Asplund in 1923. Creating a reading corner with a grey sheepskin Lamino armchair in the living room and washing the kitchen floor.

I hope you have a wonderful and restful weekend!

Red leaves and berries.

Tags: art, autumn, black, grey, natural media, orange, Painter, painting, red, software, technology, watercolours