I have just come back from a haircut the local hairdresser's. My hairdresser said, when being asked about how she celebrates Christmas, that she doesn't celebrate Christmas. For her it is too overwhelming with too many expectations. She said she'd rather go skiing in Austria, than celebrate Christmas.

I think a lot of us feel overwhelmed at Christmas. The amount of things that we need to process; things need to be done and need to be taken care of. What to buy, get, bring, take! What to wear, what to eat, where to go and whom with?!
I think things would be a lot easier if we would stop measuring ourselves by the standard and start measuring ourselves by our own Truth. Is this really how I want Christmas to be!? If we don't listen, Christmas can be a whirlwind, that leaves us longing for a peaceful holiday when it is finally over!

That's why I like solstice so much. Solstice is upon us now. This year the actual solstice, the longest night and the shortest day falls in Europe on the night between Sunday 21st and Monday 22nd.

I am celebrating it tonight with friends. Even just saying that out loud makes me joyful, happy, free. This is my first year you see, being a facilitator; a keeper of solstice council. I feel honoured and grateful.

At solstice there are no must do's or don't's. All you have to do is show up. Show up for yourself. And the Universe. (And that is pretty strong and enough!). With your presence you say "I am here".
It's like showing up for a meeting in class, in school, at work - anywhere. You show up. You tell your story. You listen to the others. You decide what to do from now on and what didn't work this year! This is exactly what solstice is all about! Showing up, and telling your story.

Sometimes we can't show up. For many reasons we forget or put it last. Especially if we feel a lack of energy and feel overwhelmed. Sometimes we feel we don't have the power to show up.

A few years back I was on a shamanic workshop in Ireland, called Peace and Power. And I was ill the whole time I was there! Between classes and when we were not eating, I was asleep. The whole of the 6 days. I never met anyone or connected with anyone outside the circle. But I showed up for every class. I listened. I did the work. I came home and it was a very powerful experience for me, with some very deep teachings about peace and power in my life. I wouldn't have missed it for the world and it helped me see things clearer.




When we ask for help the Universe, the Spirits are there to help us. When we ask for guidance, when we chose to let go -- the Spirits are there, witnessing and seeing us. Always. Even when there are no one else around, Spirit sees us, Spirit walks with us through our life, witnessing our journey, our story.

There are times when I feel disconnected from Spirit, I feel alone. I feel like I am not doing what I should be doing, I am not telling my truth. But Spirit is there behind the veil anyway. They have not abandoned us, they are still listening. When I stand up, speak up, show up, I see that the Spirits were there all the time. Guiding me, though I wasn't listening and paying attention.

And so showing up for Winter Solstice -- at this the darkest of times -- is so brave and honest and true for me. Showing that I am here! I am listening, I am available and open; it's sooo valuable. So valuable.

And all we have to do is show up.

So when we feel stressful and too busy around Christmas, and try to fit in the box and do what we think everybody else wants us to do, it is time to PAUSE. Stop! And show up for yourself. Show up for your truth. Connect with a deeper truth, a more valuable truth, A PERSONAL TRUTH. The frame that we stretch ourselves around can be too big, wrong size or just uncomfortable. Let's throw that frame away, and see what we really need this Christmas! 

What is ONE thing that YOU can change RIGHT NOW, that will give you a little more space, a little more peace, and more of YOU this holiday season? 

Remember, this is the HOLY days season. So what IS holy? Is it gifts or presents, food or family - and what ever it is; HOW can I treat it as sacred and holy? How can I allow sacredness into my Christmas and make it MY Christmas and my kind of holy?

For me, sacred and holy means visiting the most beautiful and cozy Christmas market I know - with the one I love! It's celebrating my mother's absolute wonderful and heartfelt cooked food. It's about seeing my family - listening to their stories, and really being present! All these things are holy for me. Because being present and showing up for life IS holy. Is sacred. Life is sacred - just as it is. And listening, paying attention, participating.
But it is also about napping. Making sure I get enough rest. To calm myself down by listening to the darkness in my sleep, wrapping myself with her warm winter cloak of Darkness, that will allow me to sink even deeper into the mystery and the mystery of my own heartbeat, my own truth.

And YES! There are a number of things that I am saying NO to this Christmas. NO because it isn't giving me peace, joy and caring for the sacred.
Some of these things are very close to my heart; family, friends that I cannot see all though I would looove to (if only the Christmas season lasted 100 days!). Places I would love to see - if! - I had the money, the time, the presence! When the calendar is too booked, the heart is easily overwhelmed and struggles to take in all the planning and arranging. And so it is better for me to have good things AND time to really enjoy them.

Who I am - is who I am - and it is Beautiful! I do not need to be more than who I am. Say more than what I can. I don't have to allow myself to become angry, stressful, empty and powerless over Christmas. I can change the world. By changing my own backyard.
So again I will ask you; What is ONE thing that YOU can change RIGHT NOW, that will give you a little more space, a little more peace, and more of YOU this holiday season? And if you don't know: Pray! And if you don't know how to pray: show up for yourself!

All you have to do, is show up.

I wish you a merry, merry Christmas. And a beautiful, caring and loving 2015.

May your power shine through as the brightest, clearest light through-out the whole of 2015. May Peace be within you and outside you. May your journey be full of hopes, dreams, adventures and beautiful starry skies and wonderful caring beings.

May love shine on your path.

With Love and surrender, 

Lone

Yes! Let's be creative!

Making an illustration is in many ways similar to going on a shamanic journey; I have an idea about where I'm going but what happens when I draw, only time will tell. Magic unfolds; characters appear, they want to be in the picture. I am excited because I don't know what happens next! What will appear suddenly in a minute!? I laugh! A cat! Hah! It is so funny and whimsical.

With this years' Christmas card I wanted to show a certain madness of cozy "hygge" time. The scene is set in a cozy cottage with the two main figures going beserk over creating christmas decorations! Magic happens when we just let go and let ourselves be creative. I find that the winter and especially Christmas time is perfect for that.

A Scandinavian childhood

I have friends who live in south and in north of Sweden and when I made the scenery for outside the window, I thought about these warm homes and the view from their windows. I like round carpets like the one under the table. I also had a round carpet under the Christmas tree. I recall this tradition from my Christmases in Denmark.
I know the feeling I want to create with my card. It comes from childhood books and illustrations of Nordic landscapes and indoor life. I think people from all over Scandinavia recognize this feeling. That part of me is familiar, where I grew up and had my Christmases as a child. It is this familiarity that I try to explain in this year's Christmas artwork. The windows are familiar, the chairs, the people. That's what I want to give with my art: a familiar cozy welcome-ness.

How did I make the illustration? 

First I draw what's in the centre of the picture where all the action happens from. In this case it was a round table. Everything else is added on from there.
I have 2 main sketches of the scene; one in my head and one on paper, and together they create the final image. But I don't know everything. I often ask the picture itself what it wants to do next when I am stuck.
It takes two full days to create a detailed illustration such as this one. I don't worry too much about being correct in my lines, but I want the viewer to be able to understand what is happening in the picture even though it's busy.
I like to draw things that are a little impossible. That gets the imagination going. When you draw you can make up solutions that wouldn't work in reality. And it makes it even more fun!


I hope you enjoy the cards! I wish you a joyous wonder-full Christmas!

With love,

Just when I had decided to slow down and have a bit of a rest, my webshop gives me a pretty sweet offer for my friends, family & fans of my art! FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING on products in my shop (art prints, cups, pillows and more!) AND 5 DOLLARS (30 kroner) off every item in the shop! From NOW till NOVEMBER 9th! That means if you order before November 9th, you get the shipping for free no matter where you live AND every product you buy has a 30 kroner (5 USD / €4) discount! Every product! Pret-ty sweeeet!

All you have to do to get the free shipping and discounts is follow this link! Remember free shipping ends on November 9th 2014. So take your time to chose the best for you, your family and friends for Christmas or winter pressies :-D
* Free shipping is not included on my framed art prints or canvases. But there is free shipping on my art prints.


Let me show you some of my personal favourites right now. These are all available in the webshop and with FREE shipping!

Tak for alle de dejlige besøg på Svenstrup Gods! Det varmer! Der er stadig enkelte pakker med julekort tilbage i webshoppen :) Jeg sender fra dag til dag.

Had a great time at the Christmas market at Svenstrup Gods! Thanks everyone who came and visited me - felt really good :) I still have a few of my lovely christmas cards left, in the webshop. I ship from day to day :)

Pretty soon the idea of a girl riding a huge polar bear came to me. It was sort of one of these moments where I just saw it for my inner eye, and I knew they wanted to be born. 
Next day in the studio I made the drawing.

I wanted the image to be fresh and clean, wintery but also adventurous. It wasn't until afterwards that it came to me, that this was a princess, Princess Leah, who is riding the Polar Bear. They're on some mission of course. I'm not quite sure where there are going, but I know they're making way in icy weather.








I wanted to create a christmas feel to my website. I made a simple design with some trees. I used the image of Leah and the Polar Bear and as the welcome christmas greeting on my website. 

I found that creating christmas cards and entering that whole process is very much about celebration and paying tribute to something. I realize what I create will be spreading to other people, other homes and so I found it (as I always do) important to be true to myself and my own stories of celebration. Under my bucket of water it says "Hyldest" on a piece of paper. That means celebration, honoring, tribute.

After creating the very detailed christmas tree celebration scene, I wanted to make something a bit quicker and more loose. I have bears flowing around in me at the moment, and very soon a big polar bear stepped forward, in the company of a little girl. I used different medias for this one, oil crayon, watercolor and tucsh.

This card has a funny story, and actually this often happens during the creation of a picture: In my head, the story is about a girl and a polar bear keeping her safe. But then, something happens, a deeper levels occurs, something I hadn't predicted, and the image changes. Suddenly the picture is about the girl and Bear being in alliance; are they protecting each other? Do they know something we don't? Is it suddenly about climate change and the threat polar bears face in the arctics? Are they more than just cuddly faces - are they here to tell us their truth?

I create shooting stars by scraping off the surface of the paper with a thin calligraphy pen.

I use my special 'Made in Denmark' knife to slide the paper off the block. It's kinda like a ritual that says: the drawing is finished.

Ah! With all this luxury christmas celebration wonder, surely christmas can't be long now :D 

Thank you for following :)

     

I have dedicated this week to creating this years' christmas cards. And then I got so carried away, that I decided to share a little on 'how-to' as well. Because it's just so much fun ;) This year I wanted to make a very traditional christmas card, that celebrate tradition. Being slightly pagan, I wanted my story to about the tree, and the people who come together for christmas. So I put the pine-tree in the center of my image.

First I draw with pencil the whole scene one by one. The characters, all looking at the tree.

Then I start choosing colors and filling out the outlines with color. Here I have used a smart little helper called drawing gum. It protects the paper from color and afterwords you can just rub it off. Easy.  

Every character has got their own outfit and own colors. I think the grandmother is a bit traditional with a lovely pearl necklace dressed in classic grey. This is how I remember my own grandmother for christmas.

I am not really sure who is attending the celebration. Whether it's wife and husband or sister and brother, mother-in-law or grandmother, and if the elderly man is in fact the grandfather or the great-grandfather. It's up to you to feel who is present!
I use a hairdryer to speed up the process. Another little helper in Santa's workshop ;)I wanted the tree to look blue-green because I always find so many colors in the christmas tree and compared to other trees outside, I find the christmas tree to have a special blue nuance. And so I mixed a nice green that I added both blue and yellow to throughout the painting of the christmas tree, to make it shine in different hues.Here I have used my little helper the gum again, to make sure there was space to fill in the decoration of the tree. And then there is nothing else to do but to decorate the tree!After I finished the picture, I wanted the scene to have a glow, that the christmas tree should shine and radiate with its beautiful presence. And so I mixed a nice transparent yellow to lay on top of what I had already created, to create a nice cozy indoor feeling.Grandmother and son (perhaps ;) with rays of light on their faces.Finally the picture is finished. I added a few shadows and shades here and there to make a nice light in the living room.