sticky paper

Last week I had two days of bookbinding workshops at Sigtuna Folkhögskola. Half the students were from the photography department and half from the art department. As always, a great bunch of people. It's nice to teach something so "hands-on". When they're done, they know 3 different techniques on how to bind a book and also how to make a folder for keeping paper/art/photos. With this knowledge (and a manual I've put together), I hope they're able to experiment on their own, making book projects, albums or portfolios.



Yesterdays selfportrait.

frozen forms

Outside it's grey, there's a little snow but underneath it's icy and treacherous, it's slippery and difficult to walk. Wish it would snow a bit more so we could go skiing in the woods.

Made another self portrait at the studio, and I did a painting (!) with colors (!). Haven't done that in a looong time. I feel very unsure about it so I'm not posting it yet. If ever. But it was fun and I hope to continue. I am a graphic person, content with a limited palette of one to three colors, but sometimes I long for more.

frosted looks

My latest self portraits. I look quite stern, but it's only from concentrating so hard.
I can't write anything more now, I'm soo tired. Good night!

time to focus again

I was happy to go to the studio again last week, after the winter break. But of course it takes a little effort to get into focus again. My camera thought so too.

Forgot to post the last self portrait (at the bottom) I did last year. I find it a little scary, but I post it anyway - as it is part of my working process.

turning of leaves

Tomorrow is the last day of the term at school, and this year is soon over. Though I haven't spent as much time at the studio as I would have liked to, I'm so pleased with the processes I have gone through. Projects I have started there, that I don't think I even would have thought of in the studio at home. Summing it up: I've done around 22 self portraits, started my Cellula project, my People I never knew I knew project and last week, the Leaf project (maybe I'll think of another name). Here are the first two. And the latest portrait.

valkyrie in green wellingtons

Here's the self portrait I did yesterday. With sturdy green rubber boots and gretchen-braids I felt like something out of a Wagner opera! Took a photo before I started with the shadowing. Comparing them now I'm not sure which one I prefer. It's not relevant to me if there's 100% likeness or not. Which one is more interesting? What's your opinion? I'd love to hear!

There's an interview with my husband Mattias here, take a look!

And have a pleasant weekend.

life in low gear

Usually I go by bicycle, but today I took the car to the studio... luckily. Outside it's the dark ages; cold, wet and dark, the photos are taken at 3.30 pm (!), can you believe it? And we still haven't reached the darkest day of the year; Winter solstice occurs on December 22nd.

I wish I could hibernate until spring.



Another self portrait today at the studio, and I started on some new drawings.
At home I'm working on an update of my web site. Hope to have it up and running by next week.

inspired by red

Fall is here all right, hardly any leaves left on the trees.









My self portrait project at the studio continues. I still consider it a "morning exercise", and try not to get stuck with it too long. There are other projects I want to do afterwards. But it's fun and really good for me, so I find it difficult to stop. Inspired by all the red around me I tried out a red pencil this time.

goals in life

Lately the mornings have been shrouded in fog. Slowly, slowly the fog lifts and the sun finally comes out, at least for a little while. It's getting colder and colder – there was even frost the other morning.

On my way to the studio by bike, I had to stop several times to photograph – it was so beautiful!







This weeks only self portait. That means only one day in the studio.
At least I've started on a new project, which feels really inspiring. It's a series of portraits and for the time being I call it People I never knew I knew. How many can there be? Lots and lots I hope.





Have a nice weekend!

more of myself

Two self studies, made last week. That's all for now.

blacks and yellows

This week I only managed to do one self portrait, which means only one day in the studio :( I've had some commission work to do at home.




This is another of my projects. I'm not sure yet where I'm going with this one, only that the paper is very large and I'm planning on filling it with my little "cells".

My studio mate had brought a sunflower for a still life painting. She pointed out the similarities between the flower and my drawing.

Nothing beats nature...


Tomorrow the girls and I fly off to Greece! Mattias' three weeks of freedom in the sun are over. We'll spend one week roasting somewhere, perhaps on the island of Thassos, and then we'll all go back to the cold, rainy north again. Yay.

Hope you all have a great week!

self studies

I've decided to start every day (when I'm in the studio) with a self portait. Like a morning exercise. That way I don't have to waste any time thinking about what to do, I can get right down to business. When I'm done with the portait, I have a more time consuming project beside me. I'll post pictures of that later.



Oops, turned out a bit skinny here...


Room with a view.