Normally there are three thoughts running through my head - exercise, food and art! Interesting mind I must have.. :) no but I've always been a thinker, and I've found that my head calms down either when I run or workout, or when I paint and get into a "flow". Those things are the best kind of therapy for me.

Can't remember the exact percentage, but between 75-90% of your thoughts are the same as yesterday. Thus, replacing "bad" thoughts with good ones is a long process. I'm pretty happy with my mindset nowadays (haven't always been though). Of course I have my worries and insecurites, but I have reached a new level of harmony, especially thanks to all the time I spend painting.

Another thing I am very happy about is the weather. S P R I N G, just saying! If you are going to guess tomorrow's weather, the safest guess is to guess the same weather as of today (there are studies on the subject). Therefore, I'm hoping for sun tomorrow too :)

This is my favorite category and I wish I could post more of it (unfortunately it takes hours and days to make a painting).

This is a third of a painting. I didn't really sketch much on beforehand. After the second picture (in the middle) was taken I started with the construction of the ear. I should have drawn it from the beginning to save time. Now I went back and forth changing the proportions of it = time consuming.

The background was fun to do. An easy way to do it is to prepare the color you want to use in one lighter, one medium and one darker version. Then put the light color where you want it to be and the medium color next to it. Blend them together on the canvas with a brush. Then put the dark next to the medium and blend them together with another brush. In this way instead of stripes you get a smoother result.

It always feels so strange when I try to explain something :)

I've started with a ritual to finish each session going over the painting with a pair of tweezers removing hair and other stuff. So much easier than realizing afterwards that "the fuzz" has dried together with the oil.

Another great tool I use is the tape line (and the ruler). I use it in the first stage when I draw the motive on the canvas.

I finished today's painting session quite recently, and I am more or less on track. A couple of more days and I can relax a little.

Toyen's Mythe de la lumiere is right up my alley. It is witty and playful and it awakens your imagination. Even though it is hard to imagine a wolf/dog being a vegetarian?)

(Photo credit: www.wikipaintings.org)

You can see this painting at Moderna Museet in Stockholm until mid-August.

No time for painting today, but I'll go all in this weekend!

A very simple video of how I paint the first layer. First I skiss the motive, then I fill the canvas entirely in color. This one has three distinct sections which makes it easier because then I can work with them one at a time. 

Still working towards my deadline so this is it for today! 

I need to get a lot of things done before the end of this month, so I am kind of stressed right now. Positive stress makes me more efficient though. I am also trying to avoid making mistakes - which happens easily when you are in a hurry. I've mentioned a couple of them before, but some of my most common mistakes are:

*I am hurrying to much to get the first layer done. Correcting old mistakes takes longer than spending time on doing it right from the beginning.
*Leave the brushes in the brush solution for too long. Not only the oil color but the glue that holds the brush hair together gets dissolved and the brush starts to loose hair while I paint. (do you say hair?)  
*Start painting the third layer before the second one has dried.

This one above is a little side project I have. Have you seen that there are bed frames with more or less the same pattern? Instead of getting a new bed frame, I thought it to be nice to have it in this format instead. 

I'd like to show you some other new stuff, progress pictures etc., it will come but not right now. I've also made a video when I paint. Nothing long or fancy, but it will give you a hint of how it looks like when I paint. In other words, I have some things in store so keep your eyes open for that. 

Knowing something about the artist might make the art more intriguing or understandable. That is one of the reasons why I share things with you here. It is a forum where I can share my thoughts with you, give you my side of the story and explain myself and who I am. Therefore, here is a little something about me: 

* I have lived in at least 20 different houses/apartments, 4 different countries, 9 different cities.

* I have had around 15 different employers (that doesn’t automatically mean I’m not loyal; I stayed with my last employer for almost 4,5 years). Some of my jobs have been dressing up as a devil on Halloween and doing a voiceover for a commercial for a famous car brand from Spanish to Swedish. I’ve also been offered to play a “sexy nurse” in a Spanish TV-series, but I declined that one.

*In Spain, I’ve been contamined and suffer from the Peter-Pan syndrome. I’m addicted to the feeling of freedom and I’m not planning on “growing-up” and conforming to all the norms of how life should be. 

When I posted the quote above in another forum, I got an interesting comment – a person said he believes in art but not in many artists  (also, there is a lot of “art” in nature without a creator). Worth thinking about!

I am back at my place and here’s a little something from what I have been up to lately. The other day I visited the artist Peter Sköld for a tutoring session in his studio. You can find information about his long career and his concept ArtistLab here: www.artistlab.se

Normally when you go to an artist school, you often study the craftwork about 90% of the time, and for the remaining 10% you develop your own art. Peter on the other hand offers custom-made tutoring and he can help you develop your style, ideas and concept to a much greater extent (If you want to learn a specific technique he can help you with that too).

When I studied my MsC in business we had to take a lot of classes I have had no use for afterwards. I became a generalist, not a specialist.  One of the most valuable things I learnt though was how to acquire knowledge, not the knowledge in itself. ArtistLab, compared to my years at university, is more efficient since it is based on one-to-one sessions and you don’t have to do follow a standard program with courses you don’t really need. Also, that is how I’ve done it in Spain; I have had tutoring on a personalized level and I really adore what my Spanish tutors have done for me. The only downside is that I live far away from both Stockholm (ArtistLab) and Madrid. 

I am thinking I will bring up some of the things I’ve talked about with Peter about little by little. This post is already becoming to long. Meanwhile, check out ArtistLab and also take a look at Peter’s paintings and look at all the incredible detailing. The pictures below is borrowed from his home page (with permission). 

I am still in Stockholm and I have a couple of things to share but no time to write it down! I promise a better update this weekend. At least I am full of inspiration, I've had a inspiring tutoring session, I've been to the contemporary museum here and there's more to come tomorrow.

Inspiration is a necessity, but lasts for a short time (for me at least). I need to sit down and transform the inspiration into something real before it fades away. I would definitely benefit from having my paint buckets here right now!

Just wanted to say hi, and say that I love public art, what about watching the sky while you are waiting for the metro?