A new bike, a package and lots of fitness.

You know, something just ends without me noticing

and something increases for no special reason. My health focus is one that increases. The other day I bought myself a new electric bike (elbike) and what a joy it is to ride it. The engine stops the minute I stop using the pedals, so I still need to use energy, but I won't be as outworn as with my ordinary bike and that leads me to use the bike much more often.

The seat is somewhat different from the one on my old bike, so I feel a bit sore " you know where". But I count on it to pass rather quickly. I'm really looking forward to spring and summer and many trips out on my bike.
Three times a week I'm also still walking the trails, so I've had quite a change in my days. Each Friday I have my sons company, and he pushes me more than anyone else. What started with 4 rounds has increased to 9 rounds now, thanks to my son and his pushing. Well, to quit smoking didn't exactly harm either.

Yesterday I received a package in my mail box, and the above charm and chain were in it. Thank you so much Kristin, I'll feel really special wearing it.

I've also made some more etegami, and I really love the simplicity of making them. Below is a card I made for my facebook friends for Easter, good wishes.

The next one contains a term we use to tell someone to shut up or behave. It says, Have a pear.

Above is a longing for spring, it says Everything is up for a new start. It's made on a dark substrate and I'm very happy for how it came out.
This last one was made after the bombs in Belgium and inspired by all the tomatoes I eat.

Thank you all for your lovely comments, it's really a joy to read each one of them.

Linking to Paint Party Friday.

Little by little.

It doesn't take much to make me happy,

and right now a few things makes me very happy. Little by little my mother is recovering from her brain stroke, I've started to paint again and each day now the birds are throwing the most beautiful concerts. Sparrows, tits, blue tits, trushes, sparrows, magpies and crows just to mention some. As if that wasn't enough, my garden is slowely awakening. Today I photographed the very first flowers, or more correctly, the first flower buds. The bright yellow Eranthis is the first flower to bloom, and it's very welcome. I won't mention the hail that came later on, I'll just see past that.

I found an unfinished mandala, and sat down to finish it. It's such a joy to get back to painting again. First of all I had to clean out and tidy my studio. It has been locked up for winter and has served more or less as a storage room. But, today I dug my way in there and now I'm enjoying all my colors and some time to paint.

This mandala were done using Neocolor 2 crayons, Twinks and I also did paint with some spray inks. I'm not over the top happy with this one, but as the first one in a very long time, it's ok.

The next painting is Twinks only, on top of  black paper. To paint on a dark substrate gives some interesting results. The colors behave differently, and the depth is much more visible.

I call this one done, even that I feel something is missing. I would love to add some white to it.

It feels good to be back, and now I have to pop in and say hello to all my blog friends.

Something sad, something good and a bit fun.

I have not been making any art lately,

other than knitting some dishclothes. Wednesday November 26.th my mother had a brain stroke and she didn't understand what had happened to her. She was so looking forward to see my brother and his wife coming to visit her Friday 28.th. I'm very happy they they were there to look after her, and not least for bringing her back home. I'm glad to report that she is much better now, she can talk, walk and do many different things. The right side of her body is affected, so she has some trouble with balance when walking, and of cause, her strength isn't the same. But, I'm sure she will be able to regain her strength as soon as she starts rehabilitation. I'm working on establishing a good quality rehab for her.

Late yesterday evening, I were out to pick up some more firewood, I heard this terrible noise. It sounded like 50 grizzly bears. It was, to my surprise, an American 911 police car and during it's last turn before parking outside my sons house, the engine delivered an extra sound like a gun shot. Instantly, I were ready to let go of all the firewood, freeze and hands up. My goodness!

Our son has a friend that is over the normal level interested in old and special cars. He buys and sells them all the time, mostly buys them, I think.

Well, handyman and I had a good laugh, and I'm still chuckling. Who could ever imagine to have such a car at ones doorstep.

I'm not sure to be back before Christmas, so I wish you all a good one, right now. I hope to find time to be creative after Christmas.

I need your point of view

I've had some busy days doing other stuff than making art.

Hopefully things will settle down so I can play with my colors again. I've looked into the possibillities of making prints of my art, but have a hard time to decide what to do.

What I ask myself is this:

Do I really want to reduce the value of my originals by selling it as prints?
I know I'm not excactly a Picasso, but still.

Should prints be made by professionals or would it be good enough to make them at home?
This is a question of quality and price. I would love to let a future customer know he/she has bought quality above low price only. I appreciate quality in all aspects of life, and I'm sure there is a
REASON we have professionals.

How many prints from one original?
If I end up making prints, I'm sure I'll set some limitations. Would 10 pieces be fine as a standard?

Should the originals be sold as well?
Yes, I see no point in collecting my own work, except perhaps some rare ones that's hard to live without.

If you read this post, please let me know your thoughts about this issue. How do you do it, and what's your experience? Oh my, there's so many questions to be answered, and I don't have them all.

I've been urged to do commissions and put my art into the world, but I'm not quite sure I have the confidence needed.

Art in thos post made using watercolor pencils, before and after background.

I'm trying to expand.

How much do you think of composing your art pieces?

We're probably all aware of The golden ratio, or the rule of thirds. but do we pay attention to it? I have decide to research it and learn more about the use of it. It's quite interesting when one first start to look into the subject.
Resently I came across a theory based on the golden ratio, and I found it so interesting that I tried it on a piece I made. Photo below.

The theory is based upon how we, by nature, look at things. At least for those of us which are reading from left to right.  By composing your art following this theory, you should be able to keep the viewer's interest to stay with your piece.

The blue lines shows the golden ratio, and to achieve a good and balanced piece of art, one do place the main motif at one of the crossing points, A,B,C,D. This is the rule, whether your sheet is small or large.

The upper right square is made into a smaller 9 square piece and then again an even smaller one lower left. The dark red line indicates the viewers way into your piece of art. Starting top left, and it will be up to us as artists to create interest along the line. Your most valued point of nterest, should be within the square in which the dark line ends.

Now, how did I use this in my piece?

From the start I thought of making a curtain from top left, stright down, hanging with folds, but found that it would disturb too much. Instead I made the wall quite dark, and added some darker spots a bit closer to the table, leading the viewer to the walnuts. Even though I planned this for quite some time, I missed out on a couple of things. Learning, always learning.

The walnuts should have been further back on the table, I would love them to break the table line. Now, I put in much effort to make the walnuts as realistic as possible, hoping for the viewer to want to see more. And, lets say the viewer wanted to see more, he sees some pears, but what's catching his eyes is the red rosehips, smooth and shiny. (Contrast to the walnuts) The rosehips are made realistic as well, but it doesn't show well in my photo. After looking at the rosehips and bird, the wiever sees this stright line upwards. The surface of the crown/cage is rust, non reflective, again a contrast to the rosehips. He reaches the top, and find the reflective ball. This is where I missed out again, the crown should have been stretched an inch upwards. Looking at the smooth shiny ball, the viewer notice the leaves, and I had pure luck with my branch. I didn't plan that to happen, but the branch leads down to the walnuts again. I also made quite some work with my branch, to keep the interest up.

If the viewer is still there, he probably steps back to have a look at what this is all about. That's when he notice my main subject, the pears. The soft and silky surface, in contrast to everything else. I deliberately avoided pencil strokes or splatters on my pears, to create a huge contrast. The tablecloth and wall is also made to highlight the softness of my pears.

There is very few strong white highlights in this piece, and that is excactly what I planned. The front rosehip, the bird (eye and beek) and the juvel of the crown, are the only places you'll find the highlights. Why, you may ask. Because I wanted it to have a soft, calm and cosy atmosphere.

Do you think my plan works?

Last post in 2013.

Yet another year has gone, and as usual, we have been celebrating the last week. Our celebration has been going for 5 days and that's enough. Family and friends have been visiting, a lot of cooking and not least eating. Right now I feel like a well filled sausage. 2014 has to include morning walks again.

2013 has offered a lot of magical mornings for me, photographed and filed.

I'm lucky enough to have a view, from our house, to watch the sunrise, and each time I find it beautiful I try to photograph it. Above is a collage of a few of my photos. The colors are so beautiful, and to watch the sky dressed in these colors is truly magic.
I can't see the sunset though, but in the coming year I'll try to catch some sunsets too. Either by driving to the ocean or to climb the mountains.

I wish you all a happy new year, may all your dreams come true!

Not much painting these days.

Not much creative work at all.

The exception is photographing beautiful sunrises, and yesterday my dinner table chairs got new upolstery. It's a great releaf to have done that. They were used a bit too long and desperately needed to be fixed.

My mother returned home from Spain for Christmas yesterday, so the family is full once more. I'm not quite ready yet, monday will be the the day for polishing all the doorknobs. A hundred years old brass doorknobs need to be polished at least once a year, and Christmas is a very good occation to get it done. It's so beautiful with them shining in all the soft lights.

The gifts are bought, not wrapped. No coocies made, and won't be either. I am the one eating them and I certainly don't need it. Looking forward to a new year with lots of painting and other creative stuff. In the meantime, I'm photographing sunrises.

This is my post # 499, so I just have to write one more in 2013 to round it off, so to speak. I wish you all a merry Christmas, and I'll be back before the end of the year.

Sunday ponderings

 

This week

 has been a week for restoring my complete photo collection. My computer had a brand new hard disc installed, because the original one was broken, and I lost all my photos. I always keep a backup on an external hard disc, so it wasn't a disaster, but I didn't realize how big a job I had done with my photos until I reinstalled them. That made me decide to transfer once a month from now on.

 

 

All the work, to catalog or file them, had to be done over again, and I've had the most enjoyable week diving into all my photos. What hits me the most is this: what an incredible amount of things I've been doing over the last three years, not least, producing photos.
 

This time I've had a real cleanup as well, and it feels good. You know, I'm the kind of person that transfers my photos, use the good ones in my blog, and don't think any more of them at all. That's ok for a week, not for three years I can assure you. Lesson learned! 

 

Even though I had a creative day job, it's not comparable to my creative life now. Earlier I solved "problems" for other people, now on the other hand, I'm free to create in a much wider range. When filing a group called  Paper art, I found, what I still think is, the most intriguing and surprising thing I've made over the last years. It is the end result that surprises me even today. 8 triangles put together holds a perfect circular form, and shows off an accurate square as well. Have a look!    

 

Another file it took me awhile to Complete, is the doll file. I still can feel the satisfaction of how well the dolls photographed, Viva in particular, and I still smile when seeing the photos. I really do appreciate my life as a "home player", and I truly wish that alot more people could have the same opportunety.

 

 

In my garden file, I found the photos used in this post, it seems I have a real soft spot for delicate fragile flowers. Foliage is another thing I find interesting, perhaps I should make a file on all the different foliage in our garden as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

No computer.

My computer broke down.

It's so irritating, I bought it in February and now it's broken. For the time being I have to write on my ipad, with no access to any new photos. I don't know how long it will take to get it fixed, but it might take as long as three weeks I've been told.

I know the computer is just a tool, but it has become a much used one and I feel a bit helpless without  it. There's nothing else to do but wait, so until I get it back you'll have to do without anything new from me.

Something is happening after all.

The spring is very late this year, but still something is happening. I took my camera and photographed some of the flowers blooming right now. Much seem to have frosen so this year the garden won't be as usual.

 

 

 

Otherwise I'm busy preparing for our vacation. Reading and planning and not least preparing a suitable wardrobe to bring. This last weekend we had a big celebration in our extended family. One of the boys (Sandra's brother) had his Konfirmasjon which, from old days,  means to confirm the baptism. These days others than churches host ceremonies like that.

 

The youths are now to concider as grown ups, even if it's just in the name of it these days. This ceremony is held the year the youth turns 15 years old.

The gifts given are money most times, and it's not unusual that the youth receive 3.500 USD. Now it's just Sandra left, and I think her mom is happy for that. It's quite a big party to throw ans it takes alot of planning and food making. Normally a three-course dinner is served and then alot of cakes and coffee later on. With 20/30 persons attending it's much work in a family to overcome.

It all went well and the main person ( 15 yo.) held a speach so touching we all had to blow our noses.

He gained alot of extra respect for that task and it was nothing less than amazing.

 

Enjoy! 

 

Finally done.

 

 

I'm so happy to report the first floor is now all washed.

 

It took it's time, and as Janet commented, it's hard to know when to stop. There's always new things to take on and the job seems endless. I've always thought of myself to be a good everyday cleaner, but now after this round I have my doubts. Where does it all come from? We're only two adult people living here, it's hard to believe that we are the source of all the dirt.

I want to show you a chandelier we have here. It's made some time in the early 1950's My uncle was a very skilled and known woodcarver and he made this one. The lampshade below he made out of paper which is now very fragile. It even had some damages that I fixed using matte medium and adding a thin sheet of paper on the back.

When I grew up, woodcarved items appeared in each house belonging to family members, that's the reason I've never been attracted to woodcarvings. The candelier was left in the house when we bought it, and we chose to keep it because my uncle made it. At a certain point I might give it to one of his children, which I think would love having it.

Have a look at the lampshade, do you see the texture on the dark papers? Isn't that the same as we try making today?  Every other paper has tulips painted onto them, and the tulips are truly beautiful yet simple.  

The chandelier hangs in our  hallway and it suits well together with all the doors and the staircase leading to the second floor. The wood has a much warmer glow than shown in the photo below. The whole thing is a great dustcatcher, and we have to disassemble it each time it needs to be cleaned.

Second floor reminds, but I'm not sure I'll take on that job right now. My arms and hands feels like they have been battleing a whole year at least. I intend to buy myself a steamwasher before I start upstairs. The bathroom is all tiles and a steamwasher could be useful there.
I do hope you've had a bit more creative days than I have. But, hooray it.s done!

A tiny blogbreak.

 

Seems there have been an unplanned blogbreak here.

All in a sudden some sort of cleaning desire came over me, and I have been cleaning all week. First floor almost done. Ceilings and walls, windows and curtains, all washed. It's not that I love washing, but the unresistable feeling when it's all done was temting. We've had this beautiful sunny weather and that make me feel so energetic.

Below are the diningroom curtains out to get aired. Each spring I hang them out to dust off them before I put them away. Summer curtains are up now. It always make such a change the first days. And I love it when it's time to put up the dark ones again.

Over the weekend I'll start washing the kitchen cabinets. It's good to clean up and get rid of all kind of stuff that has been piled up during a year. It's an incredible amount of things.

That's what I've been up to, and probably will do coming week as well. I do try to catch up with blog reading though.  What's on your to-do list coming week?

Alot has been done.

 

I have made a deal with myself

 

to work on my series each weekend. This weekend was a good one, alot of work was done.This morning I felt for doing a little experiment, I took a photo from my spiral series and started working on it in picasa. Below is the actual photo, remember?

 

 

After an hour or two the result is nothing like the original photo except from the motif of course. I am becoming more and more greatful for taking the job to understand how things work on this computer. Why on earth didn't I do that earlier!

Now I plan to print this testing photo, to see how well it transfere onto different types of paper. I'm especially interested to see if it will work onto a 300 gr. uneven watercolor paper, because I like that surface. Would you say this is digital art? I do, but it's handmade to start with. That's the most pleasant thing, to feel the ownership of it all, to have done the whole process.

 

 

 

It's such a thrill to learn new things and especially when one learn something one has been searching for. There are still alot more to learn on how to manipulate my artpieces and I'm on my way.

What have you been up to lately?

Still here

 

We're still here, both I and king winter.

The frost has eased up a bit and the result is more snow. I wonder whether we'll ever have summer again. Right now I've had enough of winter and long for warmer days.
I have been  very busy this week making art for my coming series. Now I look forward to start publishing it all. First post will be on April 12th. That first post is an introduction, a bit background stuff.

 

 

 

I'm really pleased on how the art turns out. It's a mix of handmade and digital art. Since I took the time to figure out things in Picasa, I've found a new expression for my art. Perhaps you'll find it interesting too. It's not quite the same to do the research work, much more fun to make art.

That's all for now, I have more art to make. Enjoy your weekend!

Hey, how could I know.

 

I wonder why I developed to be so unknowing/uninterested in tecknical stuff.

 

Today I made a big step forward when talking of Picasa. How could I know I had to download the latest version of that program?? Well, at last I understood and there it was, all the stuff I had seen before. I was so happy I made two collages promptly.

Now I have a big reading job ahead, but that counts as peanuts compared to all the braintwisting I did today. Before downloading that is.

 

Since I filed all my photos, it was easy to pick a file and choose the ones to collage. Nothing new, I'm afraid but it was done in pure happiness. Here they are, my paainted faces once again.



 

 

So are the Russian dolls

 

 

I hope you will excuse my impulsiveness, I couldn't help making them. From now on I'll file the ones I make.

 

 

I hope you'll have as much luck as I had today.

 

Big job done.

Finally I took the time to organize all my photos.

I absolutely should have done that job in Picasa too, but can't figure out how it works. One day I will though. It's so good to have done it on my computer, now it's just to go to the actual catalogue and find the photo I'm looking for. That is, I don't have to search through the whole lot to find a certain photo.
To start with I have organized them in catalogues like watercolors, garden, knitting and so on. Later I intend to divide them into actual years, if it's nessesary.
While doing the job, I found these pictures showing our Lilac tree blooming. Aren't they beautiful? Can yoy smell them?

They are quite a sight when blooming each year. Looking forward to the spring now with all the lovely happenings in the garden.

I remember when I first discovered Picasa, not knowing what it was. I did understand it had something to do with me, because alot of my photos were there. But, why so many of the same and why so messy? I did a huge cleanup, and returned to a blog almost emptied for pictures. That experience thought me to be a bit careful, to first understand and then go to action. We have an extra hard disk for backups and that helps alot. I can always replace them if I should push the wrong button.

I hope you have interesting days too.

A treat.

Today Sandra and I paid the artshop a visit.

I was out of some supplies and had to stock. I brought my camera to photograph a little. Astrid, who was there was kind enough to allow me to. Astrid is an artist which paint the most amazing paintings. I asked for her web address and she told me. If you want to have a look, this is where you'll find more of her work. She is from up north, and that shows in her paintings.

Both paintings abowe are made by her, and especially the lower one shows the nature as it is up north. It's almost as one can smell the ocean.

The green painting attracted me too, can't excactly say what it is, but I like it. And have a look at the one below, large shiny "stones" glued onto it and that gave an impression of being out in space. Cool work.

Last thing I want to show you is these two ols school chairs. Look what have been done to them. I fell for the chairs instantly. ARGH......... I had axcess to several such chairs a couple of years ago.

The reason I needed the camera today, was that Handyman bought me a new computer yesterday and I had to try it out. This is the first post I.m writing on it. There has been some arghs and  uuuups, but isn't it always like that with new stuff.....

It's not quite as easy to find my way in here, but in a week or two we'll be the best of friends.
Take care!

A colorful morning.

 

We had this beautiful sunrise today.

Minutes after I took this photo the sky was dull grey and it seems we're going to have something down pouring, snow or rain. I always feel this magic during the few moments of sunrise. With these splendid colors it's even better.

Earlier this month I picked up a broken branch and put it in water. That act paid off well, now it's flowering and the leaves are on their way. Can't wait till spring, it's closing in now. Enjoy the sight.

By the way, it's a branch from my forsythia bush.

A day away.

 

Yesterday was a different day.

We got up early ( 05.45 AM) and went for the city of Kristiansand. It's a three hour drive. Handyman had to attend a meeting there and I went with him for company. ( and some shopping)
I'm sorry I couldn't photograph the nature during our drive, too dark, but you should have seen it. Lots of ice running down the huge stones/mountains. It's been a long time since I saw that. The main road is quite narrow and those ice walls on both sides of the road was an impressing sight.

When there, the weather wasn't as good as I had hoped for. Snowy and windy, with other words cold. Handyman left me and I had 6 hours to explore the city. Always exciting. A big disappointment was to discover that the museum was closed each Monday.

I did a little shopping, nothing serious just small artsupplies. Some black paper, erasers, tags, yarn, purse and a tool to change paper into waves (don't know the correct word)
We returned home 19.30 PM. A long day, and Handyman was so glad he found me in the city. He knows me well enough to know that I completely miss the sense for location.
He called me after parking the car and two minutes later I was there. To his big surprise. He forgot to think about the fact that I had spent 6 hours in a relatively small center.
All in all a good day. Today I have been relaxing and thought of some new challenges to do.

I hope your days are good too.

Still frost.

 

The weather is still beautiful, clear sky, sunny and freezing cold.

I took my camera to photograph the frost and got some great photos. Our conservatory has single glass windows and they are beautiful frosted. Have a look.

Indoors the sun makes some marks too. I caught this shadow the other day.

Ant this is what caused the shadow.

Our old stove. In fact it's over a hundred years old.
I haven't done much art lately, just a canvas painting that needs more work before I can show it. Dinner guests today so I'll have to start cooking.

Enjoy your day.