As a student in university, I took a history class about ancient Greece, and I became so deeply fascinated by Greek theatre. I had always dreamt of visiting Athens, and to get to see the places I had learnt about. I made that dream a reality last week on a family trip to Athens with my parents and children.

Last Saturday, I was honoured to open a very special art exhibition. It was the first solo exhibition by artist Art by MC, María Céline Qvistad-Elvik. The artworks were a testament to a wonderful journey, of wellbeing, creative expression through a combination of figurative abstraction. The room was filled with friends, family, artists, and many passersby; many walked out of the exhibition as collectors, including myself.

What I found so deeply inspiring is the dedication and love to art making that María Céline has demonstrated during the year that she has prepared for the art show. She is a very gentle soul, a marvelous friend and also has been living with a chronic illness for decades. As it is the story for too many, she is also mothering in a villageless world. Mothering a child who was there to celebrate her mother, to be inspired herself looking up to her mother and learning from her about resilience, love and care for oneself.

This past Tuesday, I attended the private viewing at The Green & Stone, in Chelsea in London. It was for the exhibition by Ecuadorean born artist Diana Mercado, it was A Tale of the Andes a captivating exhibition of mixed media paintings, retelling a story of the last days of the Inca Empire. But it was more than that, it was the story of a wonderful, and courageous artist who has been carving a path within art, while creating a legacy of her family and her home country.

This past weekend I spent a couple of days in Berlin. It was my first time exploring the city, immersing in it, and enjoying the sights in a family outing.

We have all lived through many turbulent times over the centuries, the difference now is how much more information is available about these events.

Seeing the amazing exhibition at the Royal Academy yesterday, inspired me deeply as I reflect today about my art practice. Tarsila do Amaral’s work was the one I connected with the most. I remember seeing Abaporu for the first time and the painting stayed with me, together with the name of the artist.

I walked into the Victoria Miro Gallery in Islington, London. Feeling drawn to the work of Celia, I can’t explain how it happened but from the very first time I got to know her work a few years ago, I have felt a kinship to Celia.

My sweet atelier. The place where I dream of my artworks, where I explore ideas for projects, where I meet fellow artists and friends. Also a place where my children come to be with me. A place where I claim as my own, but where I also invite them to be a part of my world, the world that I make for myself outside my role as a mother.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to be here in France, especially in Provence. Not only because of the history in relation to artists. But also because nature reminds us to live more in touch with nature, and also within oneself. Seeing Provence on the verge of spring, is magical. The air is crisp and cold, with bouts of sunshine, and flowers and leaves start peeking out, waking up from the winter sleep.

Have we forgotten to look?

A day in Paris bringing me back to mindfully Just Be!

Stories of the “Woman Experience” in art … or the lack of it

Today I am reflecting about my ancestry. Last year I discovered so much about myself. Including about the percentage of my genes which are connected to my indigenous heritage. This is something that I am only now starting to actively think about, and which I am looking to explore and learn more over this year and going forward. The challenge in part is that I am not sure where I will begin yet.

Nothing prepares for death…

A celebration of life through paintings.

RIP my sweet grandfather

Wishing that 2025

Questions…

For society and the art world as a whole.

Actively supporting women artists in my life came very early on and naturally as I set up my own practice. This week, I had the pleasure of joining two incredible women in London and Windsor for two unique art exhibitions.

As I started my art career, I was lucky to join an amazing group that was led by Beth Welch in 2020. This was back in 2019, I knew I wanted to be a visual artist, and had been sketching regularly without knowing how to take the leap.  I had 3 kids, my last one only a few months old.  At that time I felt the only way to be an artist was through formal education.  

I organised myself on a whim and left to see this spectacular exhibition at the Thyssen Museum in Madrid. I was lucky to have great insight from a fellow art friend who had attended the exhibition Ellen Holleman. And the exhibition was what I had been longing to see in a museum, (one not dedicated solely to women artists). I have purposely decided to add close ups of many of the images in the exhibition to share the intimate moments I experienced while. navigating the museum. It also will help you get a sense for the grandeur of these paintings.