Apple Keynote

In memory of Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011).  Visionary American computer entrepreneur and inventor with a passion for simplicity, ease, elegance, beauty and a human interface.

Steve Jobs turned personal computers from brown boxes into user friendly, minimalist, seductive devices and mobile phones into sparkling digital jewlry. You leave us with a legacy to inspire and think different. To create, invent and reinvent. 

7-year old girl: “He made computers that when you touched the screen, they touched you back.” 

Steve Job’s Stanford Commencement Speech 2005 where he talks about following his intuition, joy and curiosity. Being poor, getting fired from Apple in 1985, about life & death.

Think Different

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

“Think Different” is an advertising slogan created for Apple Computer in 1997.

iPhone photography: the last picnic for this year?

An Indian Summer and possibly the last picnic for this year. Migrating birds, flying over the lake. A gentle shift from summer into autumn. In the kitchen: days of apple. Root vegetables. Figs, satsumas, grapes and cheese. The basil on the balcony is still blooming and life drawing sessions have just got started. A glorious beginning to autumn.

I’ve been interviewed about my new Seasonal Shift Goal Kits and I’m already working on the Winter Shift Goal Kit. An exciting kit, shifting our focus from the active summer days and into the inner world of creativity, introspection and intuition!

Today, Apple introduced us to the iPhone 4S, but what I found really exciting and innovative is Siri, a voice control virtual personal assistant! “Ask Siri to do things just by talking the way you talk.” Siri writes and sends email messages and texts — and reads them to you, too. It searches the web, takes dictation and plays the music you want to hear. It helps you find your way, checks the weather forecast and shows you around. It places calls, schedules meetings and helps you remember things. And it wakes you up. Impressive, eh!? I think we’re going to have to get used to people talking to their phones!

I’ve got some goodies lined up for you who visit Marmalade Moon. I’ll soon be releasing some new desktop art: Golden Ratio Autumn Wallpaper and Vintage Folder Icons: Purple Grapes, both share their palette of rich purple and orange with the Autumn Shift Goal Kit. But first check back in on Friday for a new interview, and prepare to be inspired!

iPhone photography: Migrating Birds

Wacom’s Inkling is a digital pen that captures your sketch from paper. Recording your strokes and transferring your sketch digitally for further editing on your computer. The Inkling has a pressure sensitive ballpoint tip and can create layered sketches.

It’s exciting to see new technology unfold, bringing tools that bridge the gap between traditional, freehand sketching and digital input with a mouse or tablet. Both the iPad with its finger-painting and the Inkling give artists the tools to interact more directly with their devices, removing the clunky layer between your hand and your canvas.

A special thank you to my friend, artist Jamie Berry, who brought the Inkling to my attention. 

Related Posts:
Top 20 Apps to Turn Your iPad into a Portable Creative Studio
15 Best Photo Apps for iPad and iPhone

iPhone photography: computer error

It started last weekend with a faint but ominous and mysterious flicker. Last Sunday there was an election in Sweden, and on Monday it was clear that the racist far-right Sweden Democrats won its first-ever parliamentary seats. Alarming and deeply depressing. And then my laptop gave up the ghost.

In the middle of all this mess, it was a HUGE relief to find that all of my art work that I’d backed up on Dropbox was safe and sound and that I could simply continue working from a different computer, without having to also recreate all the art work I’d already done, both on the commissioned work and on the new collection of Process Icons. (Yes, I’m using a referral link in this post. If you register and install Dropbox (for free) using the referral link, we’ll both get extra free space!)

I’m way too busy  just now to even begin looking for the warranty for my laptop. In the meanwhile all of my e-mail, my bookmarks and RSS-reader are trapped on my broken laptop. This is why you won’t see much of me online, as well as why I might owe you a response to your e-mail. Please bear with me until I get the situation sorted out.

The moral of the story? “Always backup your data” and “there’s never a good time for a disaster”? My little disaster with my laptop is a catastrophe in my small world, but in the bigger picture, it’s a storm in a teacup.

I expected the iPad to be a revolutionary device and holding it in your hands, interacting with it, really is a revolutionary experience. It’s the computer of the future.

• It’s fast!
• It’s powerful!
• It’s intuitive, responsive, easy and inviting to use
• The iPad with its multi-touch screen and single tasking is the first computer that adapts to how humans work, while other computers expect us humans to adapt to how they work
• The iPad apps I’ve tested embrace the idea of simplicity, beauty, fun and ease. Just like the iPad itself
• The iPad is the first computer I’ve used where reading really feels inviting and user friendly
• This tablet computer is wonderful for a new kind of story telling! The iPad can blur the line between reading, watching films, gaming and I can see how people could invent new ways of telling stories where images, film, audio, text and interactive experiences all blend together into a new kind of multimedia story telling
• The digital environment on an iPad feels peaceful and focused
• The touch screen is crisp and sharp and the book-size feels user friendly
• The iPad lives up to its promise of long battery life
• You need a bag and/or a slip to protect your iPad
• You need a soft, lint-free cloth to remove marks left by your fingers

The iPad and iPhone are innovative devices that bring to mind Think Different, Apple’s advertising campaign from 1997

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The rebels. The troublemakers. The ones who see things differently. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Now, what I’m really interested in, is how I can use this revolutionary tablet computer as a digital, portable, creative art studio! I’ll be back on Tuesday with my findings and hope to present a list of 20 outstanding creativity apps for the iPad.

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?

Birch twigs decorated for Easter

It’s been an Easter full of contrasts. Sightings of black bunnies and crocus. Spring in the air. The joy of spending time with family and friends. There’s been egg hunts, reading, iPhone photography, walks and cooking projects (the lemon drizzle cake was delicious).

Imagine my horror when I woke up this morning and found the park covered in snow! And it wasn’t just a sprinkle of snow, it was a complete Christmas card landscape, except for the jingling of bells and singing of carols. I charged out onto the balcony and rescued the daffodils in the nick of time.

This Easter I wanted to spend some time ironing out the technical details for a new online store that I’m setting up for my new series of paintings. Somehow, I messed up big time and if you tried visiting my site during the holiday you will have noticed that Marmalade Moon was gone! What a failure!

I went through a series of emotions, everything from shock to relief to horror, until the site came back, magically resurrected…

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.