New painting- ‘Lost in the moment'

When I started this painting, I didn’t have any idea how it will turn out but I had a goal. I wanted this painting to bring a lot of joy to it’s future home.

It’s actually the first time I’m working on a large canvas like this. It measures 80x120cm.

I totally lost myself in the process of creating it. It felt like it took me to a very beautiful garden.

I hope it evokes something beautiful in you. If you have any questions about the painting, do not hesitate to contact me.

Behind the scenes of creating “Enchanted garden”

I thought I’ll share a little bit more about my recent painting “Enchanted garden”.
Painting on large canvas had been on my mind for a while and I’m so excited to see how these paintings will turn out.

My previous series Bloom and shine ( you can read about it here) was inspired by the flower bouquet that I received for birthday and I felt that I want to express more flowers in my work.

Since it’s still cold here in Estonia, I won’t be able to get inspiration from my garden so this time I have been inspired by the flowers I’ve seen online.

Mostly I have been inspired by different colors of roses.

I must admit, painting abstract flowers on large canvas is so much different experience.

How to understand abstract art

I still remember the first time I saw abstract paintings in the museum. I believe I was 10-13 years old.
Art teacher had given us an assignment to visit art museum, view the paintings and write about them.

It was so much easier to write about the traditional art.

When it came to writing about abstract paintings, it was different. It’s like it was a different language. A language that I didn’t understand at the time.

I felt quite confused. I had so many questions. Why did they use all these colors? What were they trying to say? How am I supposed to figure out what it all means? After all it seemed to be something that breaks all the rules that people are taught about good art.

Years passed by.

I discovered many different art styles and ended up with abstract.

Throughout the years , I’ve started to understand it.

It’s like a bird song, You don’t understand it but it is beautiful. It makes you feel something.

The thing is, abstract art requires you to have an open mind.

Abstract art breaks all the rules. There is a lot of freedom that comes with it. One of the reasons why I love it so much is that I don’t have to worry about it being realistic and matching the reference photo.

One of the beautiful thing about abstract art is that we can bring our own meaning to it based on our experiences and memories.

Abstract art is an expression of something ( experience, place or emotion) through the perspective of an artist.

As an result it will evoke a feeling or thoughts in the viewer.

Abstract art lets the viewer decide what it’s about.

Inspiration

I get asked a lot about what inspires my work.

I’ve always been a huge lover of nature. When I was a little child I spent a lot of time in the woods with my friends, exploring, climbing the trees, playing and admiring the beauty of all the plants and flowers. It was so much fun.

Fast forward 20 something years later I often times use all these amazing memories as an inspiration for my abstract paintings.
I’m really grateful that I get to live near the forest and river. Summers are filled with a lot of birds singing and amazing aromas from flowers. All these things play a huge part in my creative process. They inspire me and often times get me in the right mood to paint.

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“In every walk in with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”

— John Muir

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I love gardening. It’s in my blood. It makes me happy and helped me a lot when I had depression. It gives me a connection to nature and just embrace it. I get to plant and take care of beautiful flowers and plants. These gorgeous flowers have inspired my abstract paintings.

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I love spending time at the beach. There’s something very calming about watching the waves come in and out. When I’m at the beach, I feel like time stops. I always leave the beach feeling inspired and fulfilled. You might have seen some of the paintings that were inspired by sea. They had beautiful blues in it.

My work is also inspired by music. It has always been a huge part of my life. I love to sing and play the piano. I often times get inspired when I sing or play something. I love to listen to happy and uplifting music when I paint. I have noticed that violin music does miracles for me. Especially Lindsey Stirling’s music. She has some really good songs. I sometimes take emotions from songs and transfer them into my paintings.

Besides music I get inspired by dreams. I have vivid dreams and often times these are very magical and I use them in my abstract paintings.

I believe inspiration is everywhere around us. We just have to be present and find it.

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The process

My process actually starts before painting.

First of all, I need to get myself in the right mindset/ mood.

How do I do that?

There are several ways. I meditate. I've learned that If I quiet my mind from all the noise and mental chatter, creative inspiration and ideas come more easily. If I don't meditate, I listen to music, sing or play the piano. You might have noticed from my stories that most of the time I'm listening to music. I've read that listening to happy music promotes more divergent thinking which is a key element of creativity. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Once I'm in the flow, the rest of the world sort of fades away. My only thought is to get the ideas on the canvas. I get so immersed in my work that sometimes I forget to eat.

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I start by selecting colors for my color palette. When I work on series then I use a selection of the same colors in each piece so that the paintings would look unified. With my paper pieces, I feel like I have more freedom to experiment with new color combinations. Probably because if it were to happen that I ruin the painting, its easier to change it. I think the thought of ruining a huge canvas just scares me. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I use different brushes and a palette knife to make my abstract pieces. I make details with small brushes. The palette knife is for adding texture.

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I love to take time to just sit in front of the painting and try to contemplate the direction I want to go with. Sometimes the knowing comes quickly, sometimes it takes a little bit longer, which is totally fine. In this case, I put the painting away and come back to it a few days later. Each painting is unique and takes a different amount of time to finish. I keep working on it until I get the gut feeling that it’s finished. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

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Why abstract art

You might be wondering why abstract art.

My love story with abstract art began in 2018. I had previously tried all kinds of other different mediums. I drew people, I painted landscapes, underwater sceneries with dolphins, sunset seascapes, lions and tigers. At some point I felt that I need to try something completely different where there aren’t so many rules.

I had seen so many beautiful abstract paintings online and always wondered what it would be like to paint abstract. It took me many months to convince myself to take this huge leap of faith. I’m so glad that I made that decision.

At first it was very difficult to transfer from painting realism to painting abstract because as a person I need the feeling that I have control over things in my life and if I don’t, it causes a lot of stress and worry. I realized that I needed to let go of control. I just needed to start and trust that what needs to be born on the canvas, will. Giving up control and surrendering was actually very freeing experience for me.

When it comes to painting abstract, there is so much more freedom.. With traditional art I was always worried if I got details right and eventually I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did in the beginning. I figured that if that doesn’t bring me joy anymore then what’s the point?

Abstract art lets me express myself so much easier and communicate with a feeling. Since my paintings are inspired by nature, I try to represent the world around us through my work.

With abstract art I don’t need reference photos. I have total freedom. There are no rules. I like to use different shapes, lines, colors and texture in my work.

I love that people get to interpret my work in their own way, I always love to hear what people see in my work and how it makes them feel.

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How I became an artist

One of the main thing people ask me is how I became an artist.

It all started when I was a little child. I used to draw and paint a lot. I was very passionate about different subjects and I spent my days creating and playing.

Since I was so passionate about art, my mom signed me up to some art classes. These art classes were the highlights of each week. I always looked forward to attending them. The teacher had always planned some exciting new projects for us to do.

As I grew older, I didn’t draw and paint as much as I did before. I was very busy with my schoolwork and I spent most of my free time with my friends. I wasn’t an A student so I had to take a private teacher to pass the exams.

After I graduated high school I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life or who I wanted to become. Most of my classmates had everything figured out by then and had picked out an university. I decided to take some time off. I took a job as a waitress in a small cafe and worked there for about a year. After that I worked in the Sport shop. I loved the job but I wanted more. During this time it got pretty clear to me that I want to study something and get a good job.

I did my research and checked out all the universities. Finally I decided to study business and marketing.

First year everything was great and I was very happy with my choice. There were many interesting subjects and I felt like marketing was something I will be passionate about for the rest of my life.

By the end of the second year the stress had taken the toll on me. There were a lot of assignments that I had to do and I also had to find a position at the company to do my practice. The pressure was too much. I didn’t want to disappoint my parents and my health was starting to give me signs to take a break.

I remember it so clearly like it was yesterday. I was sitting in a big auditorium with my classmates. The teacher was talking and suddenly I felt sick in my stomach. My heart started to race and the only thought I had was: I have to get out of this auditorium. I ran to the bathroom. I thought I had a stomach flu.

When the same thing happened to me the second time I started to think there was something very wrong with me. I went to see the doctor and they told me that I have an anxiety.

I saw many different psychiatrists and psychologists. I was prescribed antidepressants and fell into depression.

I had to take an academic vacation from the university.

Suddenly I had so much free time. Time to think about life and everything.

One day I came across a horse drawing on Facebook and I was immediately intrigued. I decided to try and draw a horse.

It might now have been as good as I expected, but for a good moment I managed to get my mind off from my anxious thoughts and I felt like I was onto something. I felt so inspired and started to draw and paint daily.

I soon went to the art supply store and bought many canvases, paints and pencils. I explored many mediums and different subjects. I felt like there was joy and excitement in my life again.

At one point I realized that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Back then this seemed like an unrealistic idea but I had this feeling that I would figure it out.

Fast forward 9 years later I’m painting abstract and I’m so grateful that I decided to take a risk and dive into the unknown.

It’s been a beautiful journey of exploration. Exploration of art and exploration of myself.

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