Thankyou Liivia!

Yesterday I was listening to music
while
seeing images
while
working with my hands
while
sitting comfortably in our sofa.
And I was feeling completely content.


hangers for my photographs

The music was from here
The images were from here.
The work in my hands was
making nice "hangers"
for my photographs.
The contentment was gained
from having gotten alot of work done
- effectively.
(Sandpapering MDF-boards,
glueing seven pictures on to seven boards,
pressing the pictures on the boards
under heavy books
Painting new boards white.
Glueing little lables
with my name
onto the back
of the boards.
Printing and cutting up extra lables
to last me for a long time.)

To sit down
and enjoy
the present moment
after doing my work
was heavenly!



Liivia -

Your pictures took my mind
to a place where
I felt at home.
To a place where
just everything was right.

There was life, joy and peace
in your pictures
wich flooded over to me.

I looked through your slideshow
in full screen mode
atleast three times.

Thankyou Liivia!



Liivia Talossas blog is here.

I painted this a few years ago.
(oil on canvas 40x50cm)
Now I am painting
the same theme again.

This time I work on six paintings
in the same time.
They are 20 by 20 centimeters.

The challenge is
to paint all of them as a family.
They should look harmonious together
yet each one should be a strong individual.

I already painted one family
of cups of jars.
Some of them are shown here.

And when I have finished these six ones
I will do another six.
Another family...

It is a rewarding and fun job!

The Swedish Reality

If I sell products for 1250 Skr
I get 400 Skr left
for my living
- after that the State has taken what it demands.

The Portrait

I went into the city today...
I was to get my portrait from the framer and deliver it.

Annika at Nobel made a wonderful job - again - framing one of my portraits.


This is across the street from hers.

After visiting two shops - while I was waiting for my cab - my mood imroved much!
Thanks "Syster Lycklig" and "Mor Karin!"

And the cab droped me of in Eskilstuna.

I had the honor to paint their lord mayor.

It was a party - lots of people came to thank Jonny for his years in Eskilstuna




And I said:

"I fyra månader har jag umgåtts med Jonny hemma i mitt kök där mitt staffli står.

Att måla ett porträtt är en en process fylld av behagligt lugn och koncentration - som är A och O för att jag ska kunna åstadkomma något.

Och vånda - när jag tycker att det ser alldeles förskräckligt ut och inte kan förstå vari felet ligger.

Och hopp - att porträttet i slutändan kommer bli fint. (För det har jag lärt mig av erfarenhet.)

Att måla porträtt innebär mycket glädje - som när jag lagt det sista penseldraget och jag längtar efter att få visa det.

Och nu är jag här. Jag är så tacksam att ha fått detta hedervärda uppdrag att ha fått måla er kommun-fullmäktiges ordförande!

Alla som varit i mitt kök de senaste fyra månaderna har samstämmigt - och opåverkat sagt att han ser väldigt sympatisk ut. Och jag har varje gång svarat att de har helt rätt.

Tack! "


Back home in the evening.
Noak had been "swimming".

...And do you know what was the highlight of the day?
Ask me and I´ll let you know!

Lucky me!

A couple a nights ago I layed awake
thinking of how difficult the portraitpainting was
at the moment...

I have found that just as easy
as it feels starting painting a portrait,
just as difficult it appears toards the end...
Everything should in the end
just feel confortable and right to look at.

What is lacking?
What is wrong?
How do I take it from almoust ready
(atleast all the canvas filled) to being ready?

The answer I have found is; work. Concentrate. Move on.
And relay in that I will make it.

After painting today I felt relaxed and fine!

This portrait should be
framed and delivered
by June 19th.

Am looking forward to
finishing this portrait!

Today I reached the point
when I had filled
all the canvas
with paint.

Now I will be "sculpting" his head
so that it "comes out of the canvas".

I will work with the lights and shades,
with he softness,
with all the small nuances.

And I will be making
Jonnys teeth
alot lighter!

It is the first time
I make a grey background.

Did I tell you
how much I needed a commission?

Did I tell you
how empty my pockets were getting?

Did I tell you
I even applied for two jobs
- that I didn´t get?
Good for me I didn´t!
If I would have -
I would have had to say
"sorry, I do not have time to paint"
last week as Gudrun called me from Eskilstuna.
Instead I said YES!

In two days I am going
to meet with Jonny in Eskilstuna
whos portrait I will be painting
this lovely spring.

Tell me!

Intelligent people, wise people, tell me;
What if I sell my photographs through here?
www.imagecatalog.com
I have no idea myself,
if it is a wise thing to do
but I welcome ways to earn money
for our survival :-)

It is time to write...

It is a strange time right now.
It is a time in between.
I don´t know really in between what.
But that is what it is.

I have finished my last painting
of Blekinges former Landshövding; Ingegerd Wärnersson.
Being a Landshövding
is like being a king/queen
for a part (landskap) of Sweden.
I will show her portrait to you
once it has been delivered.

I have printed
one hundred folders
on thick paper
to send out to big companies
telling about my portraits.



I am happy with the back of the folder with the little armchair

I am trying to get hold of
the right people
to send my expensive :-) folders to.
I seem, after all,
not to be souch a bright detective
as I first thought I was!
My list is long
of ideas of who would need portraits
but from there,
to getting the RIGHT names and addresses
is a bumpy road.

You know that for the last
years I have been blessed -
just as a job has come to an end
a new job has found me.
So... I have to keep on doing what I can do,
be happy and live in faith!

The other night
I layed a wake for a few hours
coming up with ideas on how
to survive financially...
I thought of painting watercolors.
One or two a day.
I also thought of painting
small, beautiful
portraits of children
that private people can afford.
in oil on MDF-board.
So I started working on a
webpage for children.

And the photographing...
I started making
a homepage for that as well.
see here!

And I have not asked you yet...
Alix and Susanna -
may I use some of your kind
words that you have given me
regarding my photo-portraits
on my webpage?

Any one else who wants to provide
words for people to read
about my photography?

This time in between
is exciting somehow.
It feels like a creative time,
and it´s also full of BIG question-marks
wondering how
my wallet is going to be filled.

Maybe this is a start for something new.
And you know what?
That new - what ever that will be -
YOU, my dear blog-friends,
each and everyone of you -
are to be thanked for.

You are inspiering and supporting me!

In your imagination - please, just add a little smile to my face
and everything will be fine!

This is a portrait I just finished.
Now, if you need SMILES,
please proceed to this place.
Sit and be happy
while you let the hours pass by...

When is this painting going to be ready?
When it is we will CELEBRATE summer!

I am working on the background
over and over.
Plus a few, little strokes here and there.
And her teeth. Gotta get them right.
Please, no more smiles! No more teeth.

However, I have had a good workingday!

I uploaded these pictures directly
from my camera. Saved LOTS of time.
Usually I improve my pictures
in photoshop before publishing.

For my colors I use baking-paper that I attach to a little board. If there should be much color left on it at the end of the day, I keep it in the freezer till next painting-session...
I find my "used palettes" beautiful with all their random colors! I can often tell even years later from looking at a used palette, wich painting I was working at using that specific bakingpaper.
(However, despite of their beauty, I no longer keep them like I have in the passed. No, I have become a good girl - I throw them away!)

Uschi, you´ve said sometime that you like how I can focus...
I focused today. And yesterday. TWO days in a row!!!!

My job is very much about focusing. I am nervous before I start painting. But when I decide to get myself together and sit down in front of the easel I do most of the times get myself in to what I am doing. I focus... and I have come to realize that I love my job! I have not always. But I DO now!

It is important for me to set up a clear goal for what´d like to achieve in the day. Then I go for that and nothing else. Today I was concentrating in her mouth/teeth. Then, from there I continued seeing many other things and fixed them as well. I am about to finish this painting. I will NOT look at it for some days now. Doing so I will hopefully see it more clear next time with fresh eyes and understand what is lacking.

Tomorrow I will start painting Ingegärd Wärnersson. (I prepared her canvas yesteerday.) We will see, Uschi if you´ll recognize her...

By for now from me sitting out in the balcony.

Ingegärd was so sweet.
My day has been good!
I LOVE coming to new cities...
Karlskrona smelled ocean and new cut grass.
I have checked my pictures now
and found that I have plenty
of good material
to choose from!

Love from me to you
at 22.30
on the train
back home!

(On this picture I am using myself,
checking the light/composition
before I take her pictures.)

p a s s i n g . b y . . .

NOW, right now
I am sitting on a train
heading for Karlskrona
with my camera.
I´m starting a new comission;
painting the mayor of the Blekinge county;
Ingegärd Wärnersson...

My schedual:
13.24 arriving in Karlskrona
14.00 Lunch
14.40 Meeting with Wärnerssons secretary
14.45 Setting up my photographing gears
16.00 A walk with Wärnersson
16.30 Photosession
18.30 Taking the train going back home.
23.40 Arriving in Stockholm
xx.xx Taking a cab home
00.20 Home in bed.

Love,
/Olga

A lovely sunny day.
I stayed in while the boys took a long walk.
I felt like organizing.
Thinking back. Thinking forward.
Thinking of OlgaPortrait.
One of the many thoughts was that I needed
pictures of me, the artist - the portrait-painting Olga.

So I took out my tripod and pretended I looked
a little better than I actually did today :)

So, now I am happily removing one thing from my to-do-list...

I am not fast, so to speak, when it comes to deciscions
...or very good at buying new things, for that mather.
But sometimes it happens that I do need sertain things.
I am very pleased and proud of myself
that I´ve found a solution how to handle this...

So if I need something I decide;
next time I get a new comisson (money) I´ll get it.
And until that comission comes
I have time to do the research that is needed to get the right thing.

I did like this when I got my camera.
I did like this when I got good light (today) in my studio.

I was about to buy armatures for the light-tubes...
Then, the other day, I was quite lucky,
when we were out walking Noak and I;
I found the perfect armatures for the purpose.
(looking alot better than the ones in the shop I had seen.)
They (and maybe 70 more of them, worth maybe 200 euro each)
had been thrown away at a school very, very close to here.

Today the nice electrician came
and got the lamps (PHILIPS 36W color:650) shining
B E A U T I F U L L Y in the sealing.
Now I could even paint in the night if I´ld like.

And the comission?
Painting the former mayor (landshövding) of the Blekinge county.

Much good.

Our son will finally start kindergarden.
(On March 3rd, in a nice place - different from where he was to start last september)
He longs for it. Loves to play.

Also soon I will have fixed the lighting-issue
in my studio (read kitchen)
I will decide tomorrow in a shop what armature to use.
I´ll order the full-spectra (day-light) -tubes
...and give Anders, the electrician a call.

So... SOON I will have enough time
and the right lighting-temperature for painting.
My work will be easy as a dance on roses!

Right before Christmas I had a request of painting three portraits.
Nothing set yet. Just a request. I´m not the only one being asked,
but I am "in the game". And if I get that commission
I´ll have paintings at my easel lasting me a year!!
So I was very happy for the request!

And today I am happy for another request;
An English-speaking newly-wed gentleman called my cellphone earlier today.
Wanted a portrait of his wife and himself.
Wished to make an appointment with me...
Nothing set there eather ...yet.

But what is cool about this is that in 2006 - all of a sudden,
I started getting commissionsregularely.
And several times it has happened that
just as I am aout to finish with one portrait the next job has turned up.
This is happening again; in just a few days
I will have my present portrait framed.
After that I have one other good job.
But it doesn´t hurt at all to have two or three jobs at the same time
to alter with...

Would do you think of my motto?

GOOD paintingday

Yesterday I had a really good paintingday!
This portrait should be finished by christmas.
Feels good this far.