I've got triplets!

…Triplets in the form of swirly trees.

Yet another creative lady has approached me about the swirly tree I painted on a wall in my house, and asked if she was allowed to use my design for her own home. Just as the first time this happened, I was so flattered by this request.

As well as having a swirly tree twin in Texas, I’ve now also got a triplet in a country side studio in France.

She has made her own version of it – this tree is more curvy than mine, and it looks more fairytale-like.

Love it! What do you think?

You can find her post about the tree over at her blog Erzaveria.

Searching for my lost creativity...

I’ve lost my inspiration…

No, seriously!

Which is why Creative Artista has been very quiet lately – I’m sorry!

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve stopped going to my jewellery course (don’t worry, I might pick it up in the autumn again) or if it’s because we’ve done so much stuff around the house – painting and decorating, and redoing 2 bathrooms completely.

I want to paint, but everytime I think about it I become really lazy and I just can’t be bothered putting out all the stuff I need and then tidying up after myself. Poor excuses, I know!

Hopefully my creative spirit will come back to me really soon. I do miss being the creative one.

I came across this image somewhere on the internet, and I felt quite inspired by that. The hair is absolutely epic, and I would love to paint something similar. 

Another handmade silver ring - with a black glass pebble

What can you make out of a black glass pebble, a small silver plate and a piece of silver wire?

This is what I worked on in my jewellery making course earlier this year. I am sorry for being so slow to actually upload it on my blog.

Before I started bending the wire I decided to make it half round in the middle, and flat on the sides. I didn’t want any visible soldering, so therefore I chose to make the bits that are holding the pebble in place and the actual ring bit into one piece. Easier said than done!

Bending the wire into the exact shape of the pebble took me several tries. Here is a picture of the ring in progress.

As you can see the wire is all over the place and it’s not at all shaped as the pebble yet. In this picture I’ve simply laid the pebble on top of my finger to give you an idea of what it might look like when it’s ready.

Once I had managed to bend the wire into the right shape I soldered on the small silver plate on the back, so that I had something to glue the pebble on to.

This is my finished result. 

My swirly tree has a twin in Texas

Do you remember last year when I wrote 3 different blogpost on the progress of painting a swirly tree on the wall? If not, then may I remind you by directing you to swirly tree post no. 1, swirly tree post no. 2, and swirly tree post no. 3.
My finished result was this - an olive green tree painted on a white wall in my house:

Now, a while ago I received an email from a lovely lady in Texas called April. She was very impressed with my design, and asked if she was allowed to use if to paint a tree on her wall. Of course I didn't mind it, but instead I was extremely flattered! Someone halfway around the world liked my tree so much she wanted it on her wall! :)
April didn't paint the tree exactly the way I had done, but she decided to add a personal touch on hers to make it fit in more in her house. She painted a grey silvery tree on a red wall, which had a very dramatic effect. She also made one of the branches longer, and added some falling leaves and some birds in the tree. This is her result:

Absolutely amazing! I am very impressed with what she has created.
April runs a photography blog, and you can see her tree post here.

My handmade silver ring - the "blob"

I had a few pieces of scrap silver left at my jewellery course, and I decided to melt it all down so that it didn't go to waste. The melted silver turned into a "blob", and I decided to make a ring out of it.

I used a square wire for the ring itself. I flattened the ends of it, and when I bent it round I didn't let the ends meet, but I saved quite a bit of space in between. I then soldered the "blob" onto the ring where the space was, and this is how it turned out. Here you go, mum. This one is for you :)

Just another pencil portrait

My dear friend Laura kept asking me if I could do a potrait of her, so I decided to draw one for her birthday.

I felt like a right stalker when I looked through all her photos on Facebook, to find one that was of good enough quality where you could see all the little details. This is how it turned out. She was really chuffed when I gave it to her, and I'm so glad she likes it :)

It's just made with normal soft pencils on a quite thick sheet of A4 paper.

Unique lighting

I used to work in a warehouse for lamps a few years back (yeah, I know - great job... not!) and to be honest I got a bit obsessed with lamps. Not normal boring lamps, but unique and creative lamps. The artier - the better! Lamps don't only function as light sources, but they are for decoration as well. 

I do admit, the lamps in my house are quite plain and boring, but I am looking to invest in some more creative and unique lamps to match my creative mind :) I want the interior decorations in my house to be as arty as possible.

The dream would obvisously be to have one of those amazing Chihuly chandeliers that I wrote about in my last blogpost - but I think that's gonna have to stay a dream. 

I've been looking at some fantastic handmade wall lights that I would give anything to have. What do you think about these?

Or what about this wall lamp made out of reused umbrellas? That sure is creative!

I do quite like lamps made out of other things, such as this old typewriter lamp. My friend actually made me a table lamp out of an old converse shoe not long ago. Interesting... The thing is that I had to take this lamp in my hand luggage on a flight. The staff in the security control sure looked at me funny when they looked through my bag!

 

When it comes to ceiling lights I've got a thing for swirly baroque style chandeliers. I used to have one very much like this one, which I loved, but I had to give it away when I moved over to England. My sister is now taking good care of it back in Sweden. 

I've got a silver one in my house now, but it looks awful (my boyfriend bought it before we even met). I'm thinking if it's possible to spray it black with some matte spray paint. It would look so much better. Any suggestions?

Chihuly exhibition at the Halcyon gallery in London

Just over a week ago, which was the last weekend of January, my dear boyfriend took me down to London for a couple of days. I haven't been to London for years, so this was really appreciated. 

We hadn't planned to do any touristy things at all, but we simply had some nice strolls around the city. We visited Covent Garden market - I love that place (but not as much as Camden, of course!), and we had a very short look on Oxford street before we got bored. What's the point of going there when you've got the exact same shops in Leeds?

Anyway, when we turned off Oxford street we got to New Bond street, on which the Halcyon gallery is. We looked in the windows of the gallery and were both gobsmacked. In there was one of the most fantastic exhibitions I've ever seen! I've always been fascinated by glass art, since I come from the part of Sweden that it known for glass blowing, but this was truly amazing.

The gallery was hosting an exhibition by Chihuly, and I was sold first thing! Just look at these fabulous pieces.

The glass pieces are all inspired by shapes you can find under the sea. The massive ones you can find in the gallery's two windows (one blue and one purple) look like octopus arms and sea shells mixed together - twined and twisted in every angle imaginable. It's very mesmerising looking at it all. Unfortunately my camera doesn't do these pieces justice, but you really have to see them with your own eyes.

Chihuly also exhibited a few abstract paintings with "splash" effects. I love abstract art, and it's what I prefer to paint myself. These paintings with simple yet beautiful patterns, and the contrast of colours, are gorgeous. Just my style! I wish I could hang one of these in my livingroom. They're definitely something to get inspired by next time I decide to be creative enough to paint. If only I had some motivation!

Fascinating staircases

When decorating a home there is so much to think about – tiles, wall colour, fabrics… you name it! But have you ever thought of doing something as extreme as changing your staircase to something more creative and eye-catching? Most people think that stairs are just stairs, and that their only function is to take you from one floor to another. I guess this is true on one way, but just take a look at the creative staircases below, and you might change your mind! 

Stairs aren’t just stairs, but they work perfectly as book cases as well. The one that really caught my eye is the first one of these four (could it be oak?). I like the fact that it’s so chunky, and that the shelves are square.

If you have a small home, space saving stairs could be a great option. And they look so extremely stylish too! But oh my, it sure must be scary walking in them. Better watch where you place your feet! I absolutely love the staircase made out of wooden boxes that have simply been hung up on the wall. If you are looking to do something like this for your home it might be easier to build it yourself, rather than buying a ready-made one, in order to fit it in perfectly with the angles of your home. But don’t think that you can just build a staircase with any creative materials you find (like the wooden boxes below). Remember that each step needs to be able to hold a heavy weight, and therefore it’s essential that you buy some high quality, professional stair parts, like the ones in the range of Richard Burbidge from Flyde Stair Parts.

.

 A set of creative spiral stairs can be just enough creativity in your home if you’re looking for something that stands out, but not too extremely. The wooden stairs with chunky steps have a really natural feel to them, and they would fit in most homes. If you prefer to style up your staircase with patterns, a great way to do so is to opt for a printed or painted banister, like the one with the tree motif below.

If I could change the staircase in my current house I would definitely go for any of the two below. The black one cause it looks so dramatic (just imagine that black and those patterns against a light wall – what a cool contrast!) and the one with the tree banister because I’ve got a bit of an obsession with trees since I recently covered a whole wall in my house with a big tree painting. And also, the tree staircase is the most similar one to the stairs I’ve already got in my house, so this would actually be feasible to create!

Beautiful Sister

A portrait of my beautiful sister, made in 2009.

A little extra present I gave her for her 20th birthday.
I've used acrylic colours, and I believe the painting is 50*50 cm. 

Don't ask me why I chose to make a swirly greenish background!
In the original picture she was standing on a boat with lots of trees and water in the background - I just couldn't be bothered painting so many details!

I'm sorry about the poor quality of the photos - they have been snapped with my mobile phone camera.

As you may recall, I posted a silly drawing of my two sisters making funny faces a while ago.
Click this little image and it'll take you to the original post. 

Orange Swirl

New abstract 3-piece painting made with acrylic paints.

This is no complex painting in any way, but it's only a bit of doodling. I simply needed to fill a space on our livingroom wall that looked extremely empty, so I got inspired by the decorations that were already in the room and tried to match the colours. As you can see I've got a thing for orange ;)

Inspirational wedding headpieces

The second term of my jewellery making course just started this week, and I found out that my class mate just got engaged and is getting married later this year. I am so happy for her! Naturally, I started thinking about wedding jewellery. Would this be something that I could create in jewellery class? I've had a browse online for wedding tiaras, and I've understood that I'm far from being able to create anything as gorgeous as this!

That didn't stop me looking though. I know I couldn't possibly create vintage looking headpieces such as the one above - there are way too many little complicated details. But I am sure that with some practice I would be able to create something more simple and contemporary. 

There is an evening course in millinery at my college as well, which is a fancy word for hat making. Perhaps if you mixed the skills you would gain from that course with my jewellery making skills, you could create some pretty side tiaras such as these:

After having had a proper look online for some wedding headpieces I found my favourite one. I absolutely adore this vintage looking piece with a dragon fly. I love the whole motto of the dragon fly - to seize the day.

Carpe Diem

Some old finds from back home

Happy New Year everyone!
I went home to my family in Sweden for Christmas, and I haven't really realised before - but oh my they've got lots of my old paintings and sculptures up in their house! Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so I only snapped a few bad quality photos with my mobile phone. Here are a few of the things I made between 2003-2006. Nothing great, but it's fun to get reminded of them, and think back about the time when I made them.

This black rose with the barbed wire and the blood drop (I know, how dramatic!) was made during my college years, either in 2003 or 2004. It was simply my dark period, and I loved everything black. This painting was made with aquarelle (water colour) on normal paper.

One of the first things I made in ceramics class in college was this swirly vase made of red clay.

Vibrant colours - african women. Two tiny little aquarelle painting made on A5 paper, and mounted together in a big wooden frame. Made in 2004.

What can I say... feet. Imagine them sticking our from underneath a duvet. Acrylic painting from 2005.

A simple red rose with a drop of water that I painted for my lovely grandma in 2005. Nothing special about the painting, but it's very simple and it has got a lot of contrasts.

These two paintings are about opposite feelings, or something like that. "Dream, Fear" and "Light, Dark, Love, Hate". They were simply made on a rainy day when I had nothing better to do than to take out my acrylic paints, and doodle and splash on a couple of canvases. I must say, drenching the brush in red paint and splashing it on a pretty much finished painting was a surprisingly good feeling.