Songs From Anneland: "Home is where the heart is"

"Home is where the Heart is"
Acrylic painting 30x25cm.
Price: 395 dkr,- plus shipping

I am that sort of person that likes to start projects, but hate to finish them. Well, that is accually not quite true, I just like the start much better than the endings. I get so easaly bored with a project, especially if I am somewhat a bit challenged by it.

When I start a new painting, I have this idea of what it will be like, or perhaps I am just experimenting with a new tecnique. Very often I will get bores and leave it and start something new. This results in me having a lot of unfinished painting and dolls lying around.

I think it will be nice to challenge myself a bit with that. I will try to finish them one by one, and get them out of the house.
The painting on top: Home is where the Heart is is a small acrylic painting and was just an unfinished background I never finished. Now this one is my first to finished in this personal challenge! Jay!

I have a theme I work with, witch I call "Songs from Anneland". The paintings are very often about distant childhood memories, my dream of having my own secret treehouse, friendship, loneliness, sorrow and love. Here are some larger one I´ve painted in the past:

The Price of Solitude

Who will love the rubberduck?

Songs of Anneland

Wanderlust

Today I painted this little painting: "Home is where the Heart is".

The Fox & the Crow

Update on Fox Maiden

Good evening. I finally finished this painting. It took some time, and there are several details I´m not that pleased with, but I guess it is done.

Acrylics,

24x33 cm (9,x13")

240 g/m2 acrylic paper. 

New painting "Fox Maiden"

Good evening! This is a painting I am working on these days. It is a slow process, but I am slowly getting done. Thank God for acrylic paint! One can keep on painting layers of paint untill the painting is finished. 

In this painting I am working on a fox poweranimal and a forest spirit. I´ll keep posting WIP pics the next days.

Bye for now!

New paintings. Will I get finished on time?

Good evening!

I just realized that it has been a very long time since I wrote something on this blog. Shame on me ;-)

Tonight I thought I could show you some paintings I am working on. It is somehow a funny process, because they need to be finished by next week, and I don´t know if I can make it. I am participating in a exhibition, and had to come up with titles and size before I had actuallly painted the painting. That´s because of the deadline for printing the shows program....

Well, I normally don´t get stressed out that easily, but this is putting quite some pressure on my creativity ;-) I named them: The Magic of the Night, Primordial Force and Transformation. I had the themes in my head and most of the motive, but the painting keep taking me places that wasn´t planned.

Like this one: The Magic of the Night:

 It is still not finished. I need much more trees and flowers and stuff. I loved the way these two rascals turned out! Still need more midnight magic though ;-)

The second painting is different. In danish it is called Urkraft, and I acually don´t know how to translate that word. Google suggests "Primordial Force". It´s all about nature, ergi, energy, sensuality and so on ;-) Very much not finished. I´m painting in a nice white stag in there.

The last painting is also very different. It´s called Transformation because it is going to be about uniting man and beast. I am very much into Jung, so in my imagination, the unity of man and beast will create transformtion and make ud able to reach for the stars.

Time for bed. I will keep on posting my progress with these painting, and please cross your fingers. I need some luck if I am going to finish these paintings on time ;-)

Visionary art

This is a painting I made for one of the exercises from the book

I am currently reading "Garden of the Soul - making Sacred and Shamanic Art" by Faith Nolton.
From Amazon:

"Gardens of the Soul explores the different ways sacred art can expand awareness and nourish the soul. Through her paintings and writings Faith Nolton shares the creative processes of sacred art — both the inner journeying work and the practical art techniques. She weaves together her own shamanic practice and spirit conversations with her skills as a painter and poet. Her paintings uniquely reflect a world of mystery and nourish the soul."

Each chapter is ended with a exercise, for the reader to explore the theme futher on ones own. 
I always find it easier to learn something new, if the context is a bit systematic. 

It was fun making the tree, but it isn't good enough. It was stupid to glue those flower-rhinestones on, and the leaves on the tree is a bit funny-looking. I used Interference paint from Golden, but it is hard to see from a photo. It has a beautiful shine from different angles. 

I tried to come up with a tree, that represents the Universe. How everything's connected, and that the tree lives in a physical world, but its lifeforce is universal and transcendental. Like we all are. 

I like the background. It was a lot of mess with water, acrylics and salt! 

Down below is the tree from the book that Faith Nolton made. I really like the book, because it takes you through some exercises that unleashes the creativity within. I never realized, that the artform I love, has a lot of similarities to visionary art. 

The Ugly Duckling

I don´t think I ever showed this little painting I made for a artist swap once. The theme was H. C. Andersen, and I made a little painting of the ugly duckling.
The text is: Life is the only teacher or school. I think it is a quote from Mr. Andersen himself.

Practicing the art of painting clouds :-)

New Painting

Nice new tree "Blue Moon"

I'm having a bit of fun with the Golden Acrylic Interference paint. It's soo pretty! 

More little trees

Did you know that I adore trees?

Little paintings 10x10 cm (4x4"). Streched canvas, acrylic painting, Swarovski crystals.

They can all be buught HERE

Update on painting "Night Drum"

This painting is huge, and I´m learning that big paintings take a lot of time... I changed the background from purple to brownish. The harvest is ripe and nature is exploding with energy and power. When the big central tree is finished, I´m going to start working in the animals and the persons drumming. The lake and island will be done at the end. The cauldron will be simmering.
Wow! This baby is taking it´s time to be born!

Still painting

Im still painting on this big painting. Here is what I have for now:

Painting on such a bog canvas is quite an challenge to me. Right now I am working on the forest floor and the purple fields in the background. Istill consider my work on this painting as part of the background... 

oo much work to  do. I take wip picures to see my progress. Otherwise I can´t see it from time to time. 

Tuesday update!

I like having many different projects going on at the same time.

Today I am sketching ideas for a new painting for my living room. I am waiting for my new couch to arrive, and the room needs new art! This time I'm going for big!!!

The first sketch: 

Dreamscape, little lake, a tiny island with a boiling cauldron in the middle, a big tree in the middle of it all, forest, stars, emerging fields at the back, lots of trees and several animals. Those with an interest for shamanism and earth bound philosofy will understand my perspective ;-)

Scanning it into my pc and printing it in size A4

Drawing it onto transparency film and projecting it on my big canvas 

Tracing det drawing with charcoal and painting over it with yellow ochre acrylic paint.

Now all the proportions are good, and I'm ready to start on the background!
See you later!

Update on painting "Songs for my beloved"

I´m still painting on this whimsical piece. 

New painting: Songs from Anneland: Songs for my beloved"

I still paint themes from my inner world of whimsical dreamscapes. I can´t really help it, it´s just the way my feelings and emotions wants to be expressed. Some people find my paintings dark and a bit scary, but to me they are full of love, light and hope. The scary part is just the inner shadow part, feeling alone and melancholic, but never without hope and trust. 

This one tells the story of a tree, growing out on a cliff, singing odes for it´s beloved, the silent moon. Does she hear his songs of love? The painting isn´t finished yet, there are lots of work to do with it, but I thought I could show you some work in progress photos:

Copycat ;-)

I saw this youtube video about how to make this painting with LED lights. It looked like fun so I tried to make one myself. I can´t find the video and share the link, so this is me being a copycat ;-)

Update on "Maria"

Maria is coming along nicely. She looks a bit like a doll, but I like her facial expression. More work on the mouth and hair. 

Abstract portrait not ending up the way I planned...

I have been working on this painting the last few days. Nothing much, just a lot of paint in some colors I hardly ever use, to try to come out of my comfort zone.
It started out like this:

Then I thought it would be nice to add a face:

 I tried to keep it simple, but no matter how I tried, it ended up like this:

Of course it´s not finished, but I have this funny feeling that I have painted The Virgin Mary.... Being a pagan, thats a surprise! I wonder how it will end up? 

Update late sunday: 

Finished painting Reach Out

Merry Christmas out there! I am spending my holidays in the studio, sewing, painting and planning new projects. I managed to finish this painting last night: Reach Out. I talked about my quest on my 40. birtday in a prewious post, where I was inspired to paint 3 paintings. This was number 2, and is my vision of the great lake in Rold Skov, called Store Økssø. It has to do with maturnety, the gidt of motherhood, bringing light to death, blueberries, pinetrees, circles and fish (was not included in the painting).  I am quite pleased with my painting, but there is allways something to be annoyed about, right? Room for improvements! I want to have a more "mystical" style. More abstract and airy, but no matter how I try, I end up in this cartoonish style of painting. Perhaps it's just how it is? Can we fight our own style, and paint like we admire in others, or should we just accept our own? I dont have the answer to that. I just try to accept the expression that is truely mine. 

So, what do you think?