Winter 2024
outside
It’s winter in Norway and we welcome the freshly fallen snow and its ability to blanket a landscape with quiet. Snowflakes whisper 'shh, slow down, slow down' as they float around us, suspended, to the ground. We stand with our cheeks facing up to the sun as she graces us with her presence, all warmth and caprice.
These are our little moments of defiance, worshipping the earth, slowing down, dancing, moving out in landscapes, gathering over something warm and delicious.
And these are the songs we have on repeat this winter.
Over the years, I have used mark-making as a kind of creative meditation to start the day. I’ve often found myself making patterns and marks while on the phone or in meetings at various desk jobs over the years. I have sketchbooks filled with pages of patterns serving as my own sort of record-keeping or language. This habit puts me in the good frame of mind to focus and lends itself well to my creative painting practice, allowing me to test out various shapes and brushstrokes. Recently, I've made a limited series of these creative meditations available on my web shop. Each painting is acrylic + charcoal on raw canvas, with the unstretched canvas and raw edges intended as part of the piece. This series is all about process and the simple beauty of evidence of art made by hands.
These paintings can be stretched by your local frame shop, or you can tack them up directly on the wall using wooden or metal tacks for a modern look. For other display ideas, feel free to send me a message!
Field Goal, acrylic + charcoal on raw canvas
Moon Phase, acrylic + charcoal on canvas
Inner Space, acrylic + charcoal on canvas
In Norway, winters mean going to the cabin, specifically mountain cabins located on snowy mountain-tops with hardened, stunted winter trees. (It’s too cold and windy up there for them to grow straight and tall like in the flatlands). The mountain trees lean and create shapes in the nighttime landscape, resembling lighthearted versions of the White Walkers from Game of Thrones. I love observing these trees and sketching marks similar to them in my sketchbook, eventually adapting them into paintings.
Norwegian mountains + snow-covered trees
snowy trees + cabin time: xc-skiing, board games, sitting around all day in your woolen long underwear
Winter Tree, 14 in. x 14 in., acrylic and charcoal on canvas
inside
Besides delving into my slightly embarrassing guilty pleasure, which is fantasy-romance books by female authors (specifically Rebecca Yarros’s new series: Iron Flame + Fourth Wing), I’ve been enjoying various warm and cozy drinks next to the roaring fire. January has vacillated between -30 and 40 degrees here in our neck of the woods in rural Norway, so I love to brew up something nourishing to take the chill off after an evening walk in the moonlight. Here are my favorites:
Spiced Hot Chocolate:
Ingredients:
100 grams Belgian milk chocolate or dark chocolate
1 tbsp sugar (optional if using milk chocolate)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp chili powder
2 cups milk of your choice
Instructions:
Slowly heat all ingredients in a saucepan over low heat, whisking gently.
Avoid overheating to prevent burning the milk.
Serve warm with homemade whipped cream sweetened with maple syrup.
Spiced Coffee
Ground your favorite beans and add 1/4 tsp cinnamon + 1/8 tsp salt to the grounds in your filter. Brew as normal.
Nourishing Lemon-Ginger Elixir:
Ingredients:
2 cups water
Juice of 1/2 freshly squeezed lemon
1 tbsp freshly chopped ginger or ginger juice
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 garlic clove, minced
Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a pot on the stovetop.
Heat until warm.
Strain and serve.
