My poor neglected blog! I'm so sorry that I haven't had time with you, I promise I'll do better when I've finished this course.

The England trip is coming up. Matthew is over there already to get some extra quality time with friends and family. I'm going over on the 21st and we'll spend Christmas and new Years over there with Matthew's side of the family. Looking forward to it alot, but I must admit I'm a bit worried about school. Even though I've been working my butt off it seems my Bachelor's Thesis is moving at a snail's pace >< Let's hope everything is done or atleast close to when I'm going to England so that I don't have to bring a million books with me!

Time to stop worrying! It's Christmas soon after all. :D So to everyone out there:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! <3

Frustration, Trotsky and a big cup of tea

“Life is not an easy matter... You cannot live through it without falling into frustration and cynicism unless you have before you a great idea which raises you above personal misery, above weakness, above all kinds of perfidy and baseness.”
-Leon Trotsky

Frustration has been a major theme the last few days. Sometimes things just seems to fall into place, other times they certainly don't. I've had this nagging feeling of being way in over my head for a while now, this being connected to my current studies. To put it plainly: they drive me bonkers. Quite often. And at the same time I feel that this is where I'm supposed to be, even if it's difficult certain days. Luckily I'm surrounded by people who love and support me no matter what I do. And sometimes you just need to scream and kick and throw an oldschool teenage inspired tantrum to get it out of your system. So now when I've done that it's time to get my act together, make myself a big cup of tea and get the work done. ;)

Sunday feeling

It feels like Sunday today, very slow and sleepy feeling in general. School is taking up most of my time but I try to clear my head with some creative work from time to time, otherwise I think I'd go crazy. Working on an A3 acrylic painting. It started out as a doodle and was supposed to be something else entirely but certain days the picture wants something else than what was originally intended and I find that it's wiser to go with the flow when that happens. So far I'm content with where it's going and I think it can turn into something that I'm happy with. If my camera wasn't being grumpy I'd post a sneak peek. Drawing and painting (or any sort of creative work) can be very therapeutic. I like the feeling of the mind resting in a picture during its creation, very peaceful and satisfying. The end result seems to matter less and the picture turns into something beyond an artistic expression.

Pencils, crayons and a bit of spare time

Matthew, pencil and crayon on paper, 27x35 cm.

Insecurities

"What an artist worries about when he plans his pictures, is something... difficult to put into words. Perhaps he would say he worries about whether he has got it 'right.' Now it is only when we understand what he means by this modest little word 'right' that we begin to understand what artists are really after."

- Ernst Gombrich

Paintings on the wall

Paintings on the wall

Detail of one of mum's absolute favourites when it comes to my art. Gaia, 81x100 cm, acrylics. Still a work in progress that I seem to never get around to finishing :P

Updated Gallery!

I've been busy the last few days and haven't had time to write but today I put the school books aside for a bit to update my little blog <3

Check out the Gallery! New pictures up:

* Still life with peacock feathers
* The Touch of Illusions
* Cotton Candy
* Portrait of a Woman
* Me, Myself and Mumrik
* The Shape of Things
* Pearl

The Harvest Festival was lovely as always and all the nice comments about my paintings really warmed my heart, thank you everyone! Positive feedback like that is what keeps me going when things are tough and the inspiration has disappeared. You never know if people will like what you do and it's always such a nice feeling when someone comes up and tells you how much they like your creations.

I would love to just spend the rest of the night sketching but I have assignments that need doing. But who knows, if I get a lot done I'll probably bring the pens out, it's hard not to when you have images stuck in your head that needs to be put on paper :D

Close-up of Cotton Candy

Preparations and free prints, Skördefesten 2011

Some of the paintings for this year's Harvest Festival and my exhibition "Invitation: Take a Walk Inside My Head - Portraits of Women" is in place:

Pearl
Me, Myself and Mumrik
Portrait of a Woman
The Shape of Things

There will also be some free postcard sized prints of DreamEye Ragdoll so make sure to stop by Nyströms Skoaffär on Storgatan in Borgholm and get yours. :D

Sneak Peeks!

Some sneak peeks of a few paintings (acrylics and gouache) that I'm thinking about using for this weekend's exhibition. Haven't decided how many or which ones, that will probably be decided on location on Wednesday but these are my top candidates. ^_^

Sneak peek: The Touch of Illusions

Sneak peek: Cotton Candy

Sneak peek: The Shape of Things

Sneak peek: Portrait of a Woman

Sneak peek: Me, Myself and Mumrik

Sneak peek: Pearl

And don't forget to drop by Nyströms Skoaffär if you're in Borgholm this weekend ;) This is how excited Ernie was about the paintings:

Education

When it comes to education I've pretty much always followed my heart. I have this philosophy that if it all comes crashing down, atleast you can say that you went for something you really wanted. Picking something based on what other people say or because you're afraid of what other's might think just isn't good enough and you will most likely regret it big time further down the line. And don't despair if you don't understand everything from the start because:

"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance."
- Will Durant

Bachelor's degree, major courses/areas
Form & Design
Image & Media Education
Art History A
Art History B
Art History C (in progress)

Paris American Academy
Course: Fine Arts
*Painting
*Drawing & Composition
*Color
*Perspective
*Art History
*French

Honoluly Academy of Arts
*Ceramics: Surface
*Ceramics: Creative Clay
*Jewelry with an Attitude

Hawaii Pacific University
*Art of Asia
*French I

Literature
*History of Literature A
*Fantasy Literature: Harry Potter
*Children's Literature: Astrid Lindgren's Authorship
*Children's Literature: Introduction to Children's Literature

Secondary School
The Art & Design program

Skördefesten, exhibition, theme: portraits of women

I didn't think I'd have the time to put something together in time for Skördefesten (The Harvest Festival) on my home island Öland but I thought I should give it a try anyway and see how it turns out so now I'll be showing a few pieces in my hometown Borgholm. Very spontaneous, I like that a lot. :D My friends have a lovely little shoe store on (the tiny) Main Street where my work will be shown over the weekend (thank you Britt and Göran!), so pop by if you're in the neighborhood. All the stores will be open past their usual hours and The Harvest Festival is a really nice event in general, one of my favourite times of the year. <3

The exhibition: "Invitation: Take a Walk Inside My Head - Portraits of Women"
Artist: Malin Wernersson
Place: Nyströms skoaffär, Storgatan, Borgholm, Öland.
From: Thursday September 29th
To: Sunday October 2nd

Also check out Artistbutiken's exhibition in Färjestaden (by the harbour) with the very lovely and inspiring ladies Elin (http://eeelins.blogspot.com), Ida and Anna!

Playing with ProMarkers is always fun

I find it very relaxing to draw with ProMarkers most of the time. An unfinished water nymph-thingy, Air Spirit and Detachment.

Old Drawings

Some of my old drawings: #42, Apocalypse and Odin. All done in pen and ink.

Phail Scan

The first one turned out a little bollox but oh well, the close-ups are a bit closer in colour. Apparently my scanner has something against ProMarkers..

Doodles

Some doodles from my Inspiration Book.

Pencil

Old picture of Dobby and Kreacher (Original: 27x35 cm), pencil.

Quick doodle from the other day: The Almighty and Powerfull Rat Chief! (Original: A5), pencil, from my Diary/Sketch/Inspiration Book.

DreamEye Ragdoll

DreamEye Ragdoll (original: A4), gouache.

Renegade Bubblegum

I will try to post a fair bit of my work here, photos, scanned pictures and so on. Every journey starts with one step and here's mine ;)

Renegade Bubblegum (original: A4), gouache.

The Very First Post

What is art to me?

Art is joy and sorrow, and every emotion in between. It's the roof over my head and the air in my lungs. I can't be without it and sometimes I can't stand being one with it. It's difficult. It's the simplest thing in the world. This is my first blog and I hope it'll end up being mostly about art, my own and others. It should be.
/M
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"A sincere artist is not one who makes a faithful attempt to put on to canvas what is in front of him, but one who tries to create something which is, in itself, a living thing."
-William Dobell