October 31, 2013

Late night thoughts...

"I hear thunder in the distant.
 Dark skies are gathering.
Head under a carpet.
Who will bless the unwanted and give my heart some rest?"

I wrote a little poem. Small problems are maybe arising in my family. Not sure if I shall be worried or not...

Not much sculpting happening here tonight. Hannah´s face was almost done, untill I ruined her mouth, and that made me put her aside. Too late to start bigger projects. I need sleep ;-) Tomorrow is art school.

Here is one of my favorite songs ever. I especcially love the first video with all the nice pictures, even though I prefer the second  version of Nocturne with Anne Takle:


The lyrics are nice and dreamy too:

Now let the day just slip away

So the dark night may watch over you
Velvet blue, silent true
It embraces your heart and your soul
Nocturne

Never cry, never sigh

You don't have to wonder why
Always be, always see
Come and dream the night with me
Nocturne

Have no fear

When the night draws near
And fills you with dreams and desire
Like a child asleep so warm, so deep
You will find me there waiting for you
Nocturne

We will fly, claim the sky

We don't have to wonder why
Always be, always see
Come and dream the night with me'



See ya Friday!


October 30, 2013

Starting a new art doll - please welcome Hannah!! (Part 1)


I am starting a new doll tonight. It has been a very long time since I made a doll, and I feel a little rusty ;-)
But, I have decided that she will become a witch, and her name will be Hannah.

I use Prosculpt Polymer clay, and it is a blend between Caucasion and Fairy Light. I just use my pasta machine to soften and conditioning it.

Working on her face to start with, will give me the idea of her proportions in the end. I´m not good at making sketches in the beginning, I prefer to go along with the clay, and see where it will take me. It is nice to think like Leonardo da Vinci: "The doll is allready in there, you just have to carve away all the excess clay!" Or who said something like that anyway? I think I might have gotten it a bit wrong...

Tonight I thought I would like to show you how I start a face, and how it develops as I go along.

I start with a foil ball, and covers it with masking tape. Then I add clay. I make lines in the middle, and ind the center line of the face. Now I know where to put my eyeballs. 

She looks scary now, right? This is small white prebaked Cernit balls. 

Eyelids

More clay on the lower part of the face


Lower lip
Nose and cheeks

Oh - I´ve got so distracted, that I forgot to take pictures ;-)

This is enough work for one night!
Hannah's face is not finished, but I am too tired to do more work on here tonight. As I said, I'm a bit rusty. More to come tomorrow! Night!

PS: I like to use Dawn Schiller´s book "FaeMaker" as reference. This book is amazing!


October 15, 2013

"Life in a day" - A must see film by Ridley Scott and more!

This is the trailer:


"Life In A Day is a historic film capturing for future generations what it was like to be alive on the 24th of July, 2010. Executive produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald."

I watched this movie on youtube today. It was very moving, honest and moving! 

Whole  95 min. film:


I also love the instructor Ron Fricke. He made the timelap-documantaries Baraka (1992), Chronos (1985) and Samsara (2011). 

Here is Baraka:

Chronos:


And here is Samsara:


October 06, 2013

Just saying....


With the risc of sounding a bit airy-fariy:
 Sometimes we forget to believe in ourselves!
I have been sewing a lot of bags and purses lately, but non I was totally satisfied with. My sewing machine is not doing it´s job properly (or is it the idiot at the other end?) My seams are not strait and look like a drunk man´s doing :-( 
But I have decided that I will not give it up! I just need more practise, and figure out how to make that sewing machine become my best friend, and let it tell me it´s secrets, like why it is making such a funny noise while sewing, and why the seams arn´t allright. Perhaps I´ll take a look in the instructional manual too!

Today I will make a new attempt to sew a tote bag without any errors! See you later!

This is one of my bags. Part of the pattern is from Michelle Patterns, but I made quite a lot of adjustments. This bag is almost without errors (just itsy bitsy ones that you never will discover haha)

The  lining is the softest babyflonnel! The exterior fabric is cotton linnen with black cats - my favorite!



October 04, 2013

New painting "Expressionistic Flowers"

At my art school we are working with abstract and expressionistical flower painting. It is nice to learn new techniques and improve my painting skills, but flowers are not something I paint myself. 
What do you think?


October 02, 2013

My sacred altar


Today I would like to share pictures of my altar!
I have always had an altar in my home. A place to light a candle for my loved ones, both the deceased and the living ones. In my younger days, it was much smaller, but it have always been there - on a central place in my home. 
Both my parents are sadly dead, and it comforts me a lot, to light a candle for them both on their birthdays. I also place little sacret objects on my altar. I don´t think that I am religious in the typical way, but I consider myself a spiritual person. Especially I feel connected to drudry and other earth based religions like shamanism, but I also feel home with daoism and buddhism. 
Let me take you on a little tour around my sacred space!

This is a catholic icon. I love the Virgin Mary. There is so many aspects of her in many religions: Kwan Yin and the Avalokiteshvara. I feel very close to this energy.

This is a funny tube that makes the sounds of rain. A gift from my mother.  

I photo of my beloved mother. She is on a vacation to Santorini. Before the cancer. 

This is my father. He died 16 years ago. Still miss him. 

This is one of two little angels my mother made for me many years ago. 

These stones come from a sacret spring in my favorite forest "Rold Skov" here in Denmark. In the old days, people used to worship those holy springs, thinking they had magical powers and could heal. The rock reminds me to stay focused and keep my feet close to the earth. 


A gift from my mother. She called this Shakti and the following Shiva. They keep the balance on my altar. 


A little peak of my favorite books. 

Julia Butterfly Hill is my warror heroine!


An very old chinese jade amulet. I think it has a magical mantra carved in it. Should keep my wallet full of money!

Sage is good for cleansing and purifying.

This is an evergoing book I made for my husband. I write him little poems and love letters. He glues them in this book, and keep them on the altar. 

My druid prayer. 

This is a medicine pouch made from a turtle shell. I keep it as decoratin only. 

A big beautiful dreamcatcher made by the same shaman as the medicine pouch. Very extravagant! Keeps all the bad spirits away!

This is a special thing. My mother-in-law was traveling in Japan, and met a zen-munk that wrote poems. He also had taught himself danish, for no reason! He wrote mu husbands name onto the poem too!
My mother-in-law bought a large calligraphy, and it translates to this: 

"Every day in life is training,
Training my self,
Even if failure is possible,
Live every moment,
Equal to the total, 
Ready for anything,
I am alive - I am this moment,
My future is here and now, 
If I can´t stand the present,
When and where will I?

(Words for the day) 
-Soen Ozeki

You can see a little of the calligraphy on the next photo. My great Buddha is sitting in serene calmness meditation on this right underneath.



This is my new altar cloth crocheted by my mother-in-law. I love it! 30 hours of work she said. 

Every altar must have some flowers or something green. 

This is a Maya figure blessing the marriage. It was a wedding gift from my ex husband. He is divorced again ;-) He should have baught one for him self too ;-)

This was my mother´s magical amulet. She filled it with Herkimer Diamonds. She tried to become enlightened before dying of cancer. I think she made it. 

Kwan Yin jade on my mala (prayer beads) Mde by my mother. 

Shamanic drum
A painting of my favorite season: fall! And my favorite tree.

This is my new druid animal and plant oracle cards! A birthday gift from my husband. 
They are truely magical. 

This was a little peak into my spiritual altar. I have so much more, and perhaps I will share more some other day. I hope you enjoyed the sharing. 
Thank you for reading  ;-)