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,

On my run this morning I met the old chap on his ancient tractor with his little hat on. He smiled at me as I ran past, "Bonjour!". The time it took for the sun to climb up over the hills, was the time it took me to have a run round the fields. Olives and peaches. The hills were the same colour as my trainers. Pink.

Ok, so I am still finding my way with this blog. So bear with me, if posts are flying around your ears (!) I am finding a pace and a content that works for me.

I spent the morning painting and it was soul-full. I needed that. Here are a few shots from the studio this morning.

List of great ideas!

Things I wanna do and get all excited thinking about doing!

1. A spontaneous video class where I share my techniques, thoughts and approach towards painting. And you get to see me paint!
2. A gathering (article) of 10 basic techniques and how-to's to have a fun, exciting painting day!
3. Interviews with artists who's work I love and admire, and share the interview with pictures on the blog!
4. Painting workshop "Painting My Journey" (more to come!)
5. Offer FREE desktop backgrounds and Facebook banners for people who sign up for my newsletter
6. Meditation sounds and songs for healing and creativity

I SAY: MORE OF WHAT YOU LOVE! RIGHT NOW!

This week I was given a wonderful challenge! To create one of 13 covers for my dear friend Frederik's debut album 'Please Smile'.
Frederik wanted to create a 'sea of emotions' and that all 13 covers should revolve around the ocean.


The process
My cover is based on one of the songs from Frederik's album. The song is about a relationship, about longings and missing someone in your life. It is a quiet song, with just guitar and a small choir.

I wanted the cover to be about this longing. A longing for another person, a relation, whether romantic or not. I incorporated the sea into the artwork by firstly working with blue, the color of the ocean, and also creating lines in the paint by using a peace of a sea-shell I have found on the beach near Argeles Sur Mer, a Mediterranean village in southern France.

The 'real' person I cut out in paper. This is Frederik, he who wrote the song, the familiar. The other 'person' is created in the computer. She or he, is the 'outline' (den optegnede skygge), a shadow, a luminous or fading figure, which is real, but not of the same substance as the paper cut figure.
You will notice that 'Frederik' has some part of his body cut out. This is his stomach and heart and a line/thread that goes to his throat. When we express ourselves we are vulnerable, and we give something of ourselves. This something often comes from our inner most precious self; our gut, our heart, our song.