Black and White.

The Lifebook challenge this week was to create a scale of light using only black paper and a white pen/crayon/charcoal pen. 

That left my with a lot of inspiration!

 

Last night I decided to have some fun in my Art Journal and create a double page using only Black and White.

Supplies:

Black and White paint

Black glimmermist

Black soot Distress Ink

Stazon Jet Black Archival Ink

Stamps

Stencils

Tissue tape

Charcoal pen and Black doodling pen.

I had a great time working with a limited amount of supplies, and it challenged my creativity!

Waiting for Spring.

This last week has been extremely cold here in Norway. We have had temperature down to -15 degrees celsius in Fredrikstad.

Since we have a dog who likes long walks in any weather, I'm so longing for Spring to arrive now!

I've been working on a canvas for some time that remind me of that. It's 50x50 cm (20x20 ").

I have used a lot of different supplies here. 

Lately I have been obsessed with Modeling paste. It's so fun to built textures, and when it's dry, rub distress ink over it…looks great!

The Butterflies collage images are from Tumblefish Studio.

True Intentions.

Happy New Year! I hope you all have had a good 2013 so far.

I have continued my creative life by signing up for a year-long Mixed Media art class organized by Tamara Laporte ( http://willowing.org/life-book-2013/ ) from Willowing Arts.

She is joined by 21 incredible Art Teachers who share their Mixed Media techniques, tips and tricks.

I'm super excited.

This week's lesson came from the amazing artist Monica Zuniga. ( http://monicazuniga.net )

We did a non-realistic paper doll using our favorite stamps, paint and collage images. 

She symbolize my true intentions for what I think will help me grow, make my life happier and more enjoyable.

Here she is!

The words are what I think are important for me to have a great life.

Awareness: Be aware of what's important in life and how lucky I am to be able to live a creative life with love and support from my family.

Courage: It takes courage to put yourself out there, to show others what you create.

  

Self respect: I have come to realize that respecting myself and the things that are important to me, is the best thing I can do to keep me and my loved ones happy. I have been a stay-at-home mom for many years, and it's my nature to think of all others before I think of myself, even though my family tells me to do what I love.

Love: I'm blessed with my family, our two lovely daughters and the most amazing, sweet and patience husband who support my art journey every day. I'm so grateful to have them in my life.

Kindness: Show kindness to others and you get kindness in return!

Create: To create art is a must for me. I find it so relaxing and I always feel happy and have a smile on my face when I've made something.

Friendship: One of the reasons for signing up for another art class. I love to surround myself with great people that have the same passion for art as me.

Truth will live - Untruth will pass away: Be true to yourself.

I'm so looking forward to my art journey in 2013!

Fundraiser update.

Remember the canvas "Believe" that I donated for the fundraiser arranged by
Scandinavian Center at Nansen field and the Norweigan Seamens's Church in San Pedro, California in October?

I'm pleased to tell you that it raised $250 at the silent auction. So happy about that!
I will absolutely try to do this again next year.

I've been so busy these past weeks that there hasn't been much time blogging lately.
We were lucky to have our oldest daughter home for a week in November, she's a student at Lund University in Sweden. I decided to drive her back to Sweden, and at the same time visit my family in Copenhagen, since we are not spending Christmas together this year.
I had a great time.

I've also been painting on larger canvases recently.
I made this for my dear husband for his birthday.

Since my husband is a Liverpool supporter, I had to include "You'll never walk alone."
The canvas is 65x65 cm (26x26 inch).

Joy

This weekend I had some wonderful time to play with my new supplies.
I had so much fun creating a new Mixed Media Canvas: JOY
The snow crystals are made with a stencils, modeling paste and German glass glitter.

New supplies.

Whenever I travel to California I try to stock up on my art supplies.
There are some really good online stores like Bikuben ( http://bikuben.com ), and Scrappiness ( http://scrappiness.no ), in Norway, and I think it's important to support them too.

Golden Acrylics are the perfect mixed media paint. I usually apply them with a brayer in random places on canvases or Art Journals, it gives a really good effect.

This year I bought Pan Pastels. I have wanted them for a long time. I did try Oil Pastels, but Pan Pastels seem so much easier to blend. I will be looking into a couple of online workshops held by Donna Downey.
I love to learn new techniques so I can't wait.

Stencils plays a big part when I work on canvases and in my Art Journals. It's so much fun building layers with Ink Sprays and paint, you never know what you'll end up with. I love it, and I think that an artist can never have to many Stencils!

I love Tim Holtz Stamp Collections. I got 5 new Stamp sets. I can't wait to use them.

German Glass Glitter, the real stuff, is something I buy every year. It works beautifully on holiday projects because it actually tarnishes, and gets the most amazing patina, it looks Vintage, which I love!

Magazines are a big inspiration source for me. I always get a bunch of the newest publication from Somerset Studios. I really want to buy them all, but magazines are so heavy in a suitcase, so I try to be reasonable!

I really enjoy spending time in bookstores. I alway check out Barnes & Nobles for new Mixed Media books. They have a lot to choose from.

As Many of you know, I just finished Kelly Rae Roberts E-Course Flying Lessons. I have wanted some of her prints for a long time, but found out that she does not ship International. I decided to order them and have them sent to my friends address in Long Beach, it worked perfectly. 
I'm now the proud owner of two beautiful prints from my mentor Kelly Rae Roberts! 

  

I´m Back!

I just returned from my trip to sunny California. I had a wonderful time visiting good friends, Disneyland, Universal Studios, Las Vegas and of course: SHOPPING!.

I also got to go to an Art Show (http://glitterfest.com), held by Whimzy in old Tustin. I forgot to take pictures inside the art show, but I can tell you... it was fantastic!

My friend Carol and I also had a nice trip to Old Orange. I can really recommend a whole day in Old Orange. You need time to look at all the cute shops and there are some great places to eat.

We spend a lot of time inside Country Roads (http://countryroadsantiques.com), an amazing store!





































The kids and I had a hot day (93 F) in Disneyland. There was not a lot of people that day, so we did not wait in line for a long time

The Haunted House was decorated for Halloween. It looked really spooky!












Our trip to Universal Studios was also great. I had not been there for a while, so it was nice to see all the new attractions. The Simpson roller coaster was a great ride, I did not have high expectations, but that ride was so fun!



Waterworld is a must see I think. Great show.






We meet up with friends at Crystal Cove state park, Laguna Beach and had a wonderful dinner at The Beachcomber watching the sunset. I don´t think you can eat any closer to the pacific ocean then here!









Speaking of food. We had to visit the place you get the best shakes, in our old neighborhood: Ruby´s at the Huntington Beach pier.

Las Vegas was also great fun. I think that trip maybe need a blogpost of it own!