What a good day! You think that you'll NEVER be ready, but, that's all in your head. I was more than ready when the first guests showed up at my gallery door today, and it was so pleasurable, that I can't wait to do it all over again tomorrow. Good weather, lots of friends and family, and even a nice mix of total strangers who were ever so positively liking the work. I'll have to make more brochures, cause they disappeared fast.. The cookies went like hotcakes, too. My feet hurt from standing so long, but it's a small price to pay for the fun of putting your work out to a appreciative audience. Thanks everyone for giving me such a nice day.

August Expectations

Again, I'm surprised that it's only a few days until I present the last year's work to friends, family, and anyone who wanders into my gallery, Lille Atelier, Lille Øvregaten 16, in beautiful Bergen. After 3 great weeks in the U.S., I returned to face squarely the fact that I had tons of work to do before I could present my work in a manner that would make me proud. Invitations to make and deliver, posters, folders, emails, blog update, opening wine to buy and I have decided to make chocolate chip cookies and mini brownies to have with the rosè wine.....the list is still not complete. I have taken a breather day today, but tomorrow it's back to the list,..... check/check/check....I am not exactly nervous, but that will come on Friday nite/Saturday morning. It'a funny, but even though I have done this a dozen times before, I keep surprising myself by the small things that I forget-until the last minute. Last year a tourist to Bergen, by way of a cruise ship, wanted 2 paintings, but needed to have them dismantled, packed and ready to go on an hour's notice. I need to be ready for that again.... I will be ready and it will be fun. If you're in the neighborhood, please drop in!! Wish me luck!

Well, it's July 1st and the sun is shining here in lovely Bergen. We are not having to deal with heat waves and humidity...just cool temperatures and a little less sun than we would like. No complaints, though, cause the midnight sun effect is, and will be, in place for another couple of months. Today there is another huge yacht moored off our "front yard". It is a wealthy tourist from New Zealand !! I guess that the fjords of Norway just keep attracting the rest of the world to come for a visit. This morning the helicopter landed on the back deck, with the owner onboard. Now they can plan their cruise up to the north cape-or beyond.

I feel as though the summer is getting away from me, cause it is still cool and we haven't really done anything resembling "vacation" activities yet. Heading for the USA on Monday, though, and I guess I can start to prepare myself for some heat. (Probably complain about that too!) Just wishing to see the family and friends, and get some tan.

The painting is coming along, I keep telling myself. The last paintings have been a struggle, and I am always (ALWAYS) wondering if they are worthy to be presented as finished visions. I look around the net and at other works at galleries and museums, and don't find anything that I can say that my work resembles, and I don't know if that's a good thing, or a bad thing. Something to be said for originality, I guess, but at the same time, don't know if they're increasing in qualities that I am striving for. The only solution I can see is to continue plowing on. Will be photographing the group that I will be using for the August exhibit tomorrow, so I will put one or two on this site. Got to go for now, but I'll return with more updates as I work on putting my exhibit package together. Love and peace.

SUMMER???!!!!

What am I thinking....I realize that having a blog obliges some information from the BLOGGER! My blog has been so neglected, but if you're really wondering what is going on with me, this is a better place to look than FB....that is just the short version of a blog...not even that. It is so superficial that I am beginning to wonder.....I know that it is a great place to connect, but after the connection, isn't it better to have a place that a person can vent/inform/muse in a lengthier way, getting into the real issues that interest us? Like lately, I have been investigating ALOT of web sites concerning health, mainly the fats/cholesterol/carb myths that have lead us down the path to sickness. Now, there are ALOT of environmental issues, gene issues, etc. that come into play when we talk about a healthy body, but I also understand that after decades of the American Medical Association (Heart Association) denouncing natural fats, meat and dairy, it is tough for them to admit that they got it DEAD wrong. Look at our society as a whole. Look at the size of our teenagers and children-not to mention the adults. The fat-free, more carbs pattern of living has given us one of the most unhealthy populations in the world, not to mention one of the sickest industrialized food systems imaginable. After having stumbled onto a good no/low carb website here in Norway, I became intrigued...then obsessed with different countries (Sweden, Australia, Great Britian, Canada, US) research on how to get into the most healthful state possible. I am now 6 kg. (15 lbs.) lighter, haven't suffered hunger one minute, eaten all the things I have been told will kill me for a couple of months now, and scanned the web for everything I can find on why the myth persists that fats make you fat. I can't go into it here, but do the same thing yourself and you will maybe find a way off the hamster wheel of food/medication/guilt/exercise hysteria...

I am painting, in case anyone thinks I couldn't possibly have time to do that while immersing myself into this other area. Been in Aarhus, Denmark to visit Aros, the museum there full of wonderful Danish painters, especially Per Kirkby. My August exhibit will be hard to arrange, cause I have so much to choose from, and so little space to show in...have to look for a larger venue next year (or the remainder of this year). Take care...keep in touch-pray for sun!

Wow, it's the end of April and I guess everyone has given up on me....I am still here and still painting/cooking/exploring. This winter has been long and cold, but the temperature is doing what it usually does in April-fooling the heck out of us. One week, fooled into thinking that summer came early-then the next....snowing and blowing and cold as a polar ice storm. Crap. We spent a long Easter in the mountains getting what we thought was the last of the skiing season in, only to find that it's still snowing and ski season is going to last far into the summer. Actually, the glaciers are going to open for summer skiing May 1st, and the winter ski resorts are just closing down now.
Makes for alot of good painting in the studio without feeling guilty for not basking in the sunshine.
The paintings are more abstract these days, with the feeling of spring breaking through, as usual for this time of year. The odd flower painting forces itself through, although it's not so recognizable as a flower. (Take my word for it!) Now I have started a series of paintings using my childhood home in Sayre as inspiration. It's not obvious, but the forms and colors and emotions are all associations from Pitney St. The sketches are loose, and only suggest shapes that are a jumping off point for what actually works once the painting takes off. I am pleased with the first two paintings, and this coming week I will continue down this inspirational road. I have purchased new canvas, and will be stretching up 5-6 new blank canvases in the week ahead. I am optimistic and feel like a kid on his way to school for the first time. It's frustrating and hard, but challenging and rewarding, so I hang in there for the ride, knowing that I will succeed in the end.

Oh, the end of February and the winter in Bergen has been unbelievable this year. Temperatures have kept below freezing, the snow that has fallen has stayed, and piled up, layer upon layer. The skies have mostly been clear and blue and the sun has shone at every opportunity. Not since 1918 have we had a winter like this! (statistics say so.) In just under a month, we will screw our clocks ahead one hour, and then I will feel the usual surge of enthusiasm to make the most of that extra hour! I have been in the studio nearly every day since the beginning of January, and the work is coming along. This year's exhibit is in August, so I must have about 10-12 new paintings; just plain need as many as possible to be able to pick and choose what represents my best work this year. I have decided to paint a larger format (1 meter x 1.20) with a few smaller sizes, but will concentrate on the 1 meter area to experiment on. I get alittle claustrophobic working small, but I see that there is a period coming when I will go down in size and stay there awhile to accumulate some proficiency there. I have begun painting my interpretation of landscapes... choosing some gorgeous photos and turning them into my own creations. Rather, they start out as forms and colors that interest me, and from that point on, the direction changes according to whim. So far, so good. Stay tuned.

Ahhhhhh, a new year and the freedom to dream big. Christmas is all consuming, and I always wonder where it all went when Jan. 1st rolls around. We have had a quiet Christmas gathering here in the mountains of Norway, at Geilo. The snow is almost 3 ft. deep, it's -15 C outside most days (colder at night), and we have enjoyed this time together. This is one of the few times each year that I get my boys both under one roof for an extended length of time. They enjoy each other's company, and I get to remember what it's like to forget myself and practically run on autopilot to get the Christmas experience to come off somewhat entact. No wonder I haven't even thought much about my studio, and how lonely it must be feeling....abandoned since around the 10th of December! How nice it would be to have a room that I could have some basic equipment in up here and enjoy the process of painting "in my spare time"!! Well, now that the busiest holiday of the year is over, I COULD have the time, if I insist on it...which is really the only way to get it! Here are a few pictures from Christmas 2009, and I wish all of you a very successful and inventive new year, with lots of health and happiness.