iPhone photography: My desk in the studio. August 2010

Welcome to another day in the studio! Today I’m so excited and relieved to finally have got the printer to work!!!! I daren’t think how much time and money I’ve spent trying to get it to work ever since April! It’s been such a drain. Most of the time I love the independence of running my own creative business, but sometimes doing everything yourself can feel pretty heavy going and especially when you run into a silly technical problem like this one with the printer. Phew… I’m sooooo happy it’s been resolved!!!

Breaking Ice. Detail of art print

Breaking Ice, a painting I made at the end of March, came out beautifully on the heavyweight, matt paper with ultra sharpness that I purchased early on this summer! This paper really brings out the colours and gives the print a gorgeous, sumptuous feel and appearance. Oh, joy! I’m thrilled and nervous to finally be able to put Breaking Ice up for sale in the shop!

iPhone photography: Lunch. Sandwich and orange juice

It can only be downhill from here! At least today. We went for a swim in the lake after lunch. Dinner out tonight to celebrate that the printer finally works!

Leaves and acorns. Sketch and inspiration

Here’s a sketch and some inspiration for a new project I’m working on right now. (See the reflection of my iPhone that I used to snap the photo with, at the bottom of this picture?) Leaves, acorns, greens and simple organic shapes… I’m still playing around, following my intuition, seeing what happens and enjoying trusting the creative process. I’m not sure what I’ll make of it yet, or what it wants to become… Maybe it’ll turn into desktop art because soon it’s time for the Summer Edition of Club Marmalade Moon and something green and organic would be perfect for a summer desktop, wouldn’t it?

Tags: art, celebration, creative process, gratitude, painting, prints

Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupting. Photo by Sverrir Thor.

It all started with a volcano erupting. Our airport closed and so business people were getting taxis to take them further south in Europe (for huge amounts of money) in the hope of catching their flights or getting to their destinations, and because of that, traffic on ground was crazy. Trains, busses, cars and subways came to a halt. So I showed up late for an important phone conference. “I’m so sorry I’m late, a volcano just erupted”.

“No, no, no, thankfully it’s not anywhere close to here, it’s Eyjafjallajökull on Island, but it still has an impact on lives here in Sweden.” I thought about firebirds, the Phoenix and dragons and after the meeting I talked to friends and family who had trips, dreams and hopes planned.

Next there was a power cut. And it lasted a whole day. I couldn’t use my computer to finish my illustrations and icons for clients who were expecting them. And I wasn’t able to communicate with my clients to tell them what was going on. I couldn’t get out on the internet, my cell phone was out of a charge so I couldn’t use that and my phone runs on the broadband so that was out of sorts too. Cut off. No communication. Until late in the evening when I found a wobbly bar stool in a hotel with a broadband connection. By then I could use a drink. Or two.

Then Marmalade Moon went offline. Just to add some spice and excitement to life. And my blog was gone for five whole days. I don’t like to point fingers so I won’t leave an explanation to what happened. Let’s just say the dog ate someone’s homework, and that I’m very happy that I could restore my site yesterday. I felt so disconnected without my blog and missed you all! It was like my window to the world closed. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for visiting, and a huge thank you for all your kind e-mails of support when the site was down!

Next, I had to spend the weekend catching up on work, since I was behind on my illustrations because of the power cut. So I couldn’t go to the weekend course I’d signed up to and paid for, to draw and paint dancers in movement.

I almost forgot this, it turns out that I have to buy a new printer to be able to make prints of my new paintings! Why? My five-year-old printer is too old to want to talk to the latest operative system for the Mac…

Oh, and it snowed today! Come on, it’s the end of April!

It’s week seven of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron hosted by Suzy Greaves on The Big Peace Blog. This week two interesting topics are in focus. Perfectionism and jealousy. And with all the events of the week I can definitely say that I’ve had to let go of any attempts at perfectionism!

Isn’t it ironic that this week when I’ve felt so cut off from the world, we’re recovering a sense of connection? We’ve been learning to accept the possibility that the universe is helping us with what we’re doing and to expect the universe to support our dreams! That’s not exactly how I’ve experienced this week… although the power cut was a reminder of just how much we rely on electricity and how much participating in an online community means to me. I suppose one can say, that I did recover a sense of connection, in a very real way!

Before I sign off, here’s a quote from week 7 of The Artist’s Way that I found particularly interesting. “To the perfectionist, there is always room for improvement. The perfectionist calls this humility. In reality, it is egotism. It is pride that makes us want to write a perfect script, paint a perfect painting, perform a perfect audition monologue. . . . “A painting is never finished. It simply stops in interesting places,” said Paul Gardner. A book is never finished. But at a certain point you stop writing it and go on to the next thing. . . . That is a normal part of creativity – letting go.” What would you do if you didn’t have to do it perfectly?

Tags: illustration, prints, technology

iPhone photography: Ice melting on the lake in April

Ice in April. As you can see, it hasn’t melted much since March, when the ice on the lake inspired me to make this painting and for all my efforts, I still can’t coax the printer into making a good print of Breaking Ice. In stead, it prints horrible washed out and pale, faded prints. I think it simply just won’t cooperate with the latest operating system, since everything was working fine before I upgraded. Isn’t it frustrating when dealing with technology is like walking in sand?! Two steps forward, and one step back. At least I got this dreamy, serendipitous iPhone photo out of the process.

iPhone photography: Test print of Breaking Ice

Tags: art, painting, prints

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, green, natural media, nature, painting, prints, spring, winter