Snowy Night. Winter landscape with full Blue Moon.

If something happens “once in a blue moon” it happens very rarely, but it does happen and I see this idiom as an expression for a miracle. I love the phrase!

This month there actually will be a Blue Moon on December 31, New Year’s Eve. How magical this sounds! But, what is a Blue Moon?

Traditionally, the Farmers’ Almanac referred to the Blue Moon as an extra full moon that occurred in a season. A season normally had three full moons. If a season had four full moons, then the third of the four full moons was known as a blue moon. According to modern folklore, a Blue Moon is the second full moon in a calendar month and it’s this kind of modern Blue Moon that we’ll see this month.

Here’s a desktop wallpaper to put you in the mood for the Full Blue Moon. Snowy Night, a desktop picture with a magical, moonlit winter wonderland. Blue and white snow drifts, the full moon and a starry sky.

Save this wallpaper to your computer.

Tags: blue, full moon, landscape, nature, peaceful, sky, stars, tranquil, white, winter

Snowy Day

Here in Sweden, our days grow short and dark this time of year! Sparkling, white snow makes all the difference, it lights the landscape up so! I am happy to present a winter wonderland desktop picture that I made one snowy day last winter and hope to brighten your day and perhaps your night! Or your short day… All depending on where in the world you are!

Snowy Day, is a tranquil, bright winter landscape with drifts of snow and a gleaming sun. A perfect winter wallpaper for a really minimalist, peaceful and uncluttered, snowy desktop look. Bringing some life to your desktop while still helping you stay productive and focus on the task at hand.

Not sure how to customize your desktop? Check out the Help Desk where there are tutorials both for Windows and Mac.

Save this wallpaper to your computer.

Tags: blue, landscape, nature, peaceful, sky, snow, sun, tranquil, white, winter

The creative process of The Full Cold Moon

Here you can get a peek into the creative process of The Full Cold Moon.

How it started off with the basic composition with bare trees and a full moon. How I added snow and then a bird that got too detailed to fit in with the rest of the image. How I gave the bird flat colours so it would fit in with its surroundings, although I still miss the bird in all its glory!

Tags: art, birds, creative process, full moon, grey, red, snow, white, winter

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!

Tags: birds, dreamboard, dreams, full moon, grey, making wishes, nature, red, snow, trees, white, winter

Frosty trees against a blue sky

I’ve continued my studies of the sky and trees that I started experimenting with on Thursday.

In this version, the branches turned frosty, I suppose it’s a sign that I long for snow!

Tags: art, blue, Blue Branches, Creative Minutes, creative process, frost, layers, nature, snow, trees, watercolours, white, winter