Category: Art

Favorite Photos: July 2023

2nd August 2023
PhotographyWildlife
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  1. Favorite Photos: January 2023
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  3. Favorite Photos: March 2023
  4. Favorite Photos: April 2023
  5. Favorite Photos: May 2023
  6. Favorite Photos: June 2023
  7. Favorite Photos: July 2023
  8. Favorite Photos: August 2023
  9. Paris Is Always A Good Idea
  10. Favorite Photos: October 2023
  11. Favorite Photos: November 2023
  12. Favorite Photos: December 2023
  13. Favorite Photos: January 2024
  14. Favorite Photos: February 2024
  15. Favorite Photos: March 2024
  16. Favorite Photos: April 2024
  17. Favorite Photos: May 2024
  18. Favorite Photos: June 2024
  19. Favorite Photos: July 2024
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  21. Favorite Photos: September 2024
  22. Favorite Photos: October 2024
  23. Favorite Photos: November 2024 Scheduled for 1st December 2024
Close-up of a pink dahlia

This is my favorite photo at the moment. I’ve finally bought a Lensbaby Velvet 85 lens, and I’m in love! This is the very first photo I’ve taken with it. It was meant as a test shot, and I didn’t have any expectations, Lensbabies using manual focus only thus a bit challenging, especially at large apertures – but look how gorgeous that Dahlia came out! Love, love, love it! I took a lot of photos yesterday but didn’t process them yet so, this one will have to do for now. Now I do have some expectations for the new photos, ha, ha!

Still life with a pink dahlia in a pink vase and two antique books

I’ve started experimenting with still-life photos and textures, which I quite like. I used my macro lens at f/2.8 for this photo and a couple of textures from 2 Lil’ Owls Studio. (Denise Love runs the studio, and her textures are gorgeous).

Close-up of a Dark Green Fritillary butterfly (Argynnis aglaja)

It’s butterfly and dragonfly season, and I’ve taken loads of photos. I didn’t have time to process any of them, save for this one, and that very quickly, mostly to test the new textures from 2 Lil’ Owls Studio. This is a dark green fritillary butterfly (Argynnis aglaja).

Portrait of a Kangaroo Island kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus) standing in a green field

Yep, I’m still processing Australia photos. I came home with 20 thousand photos. Even after brutal culling, I still have plenty of keepers to process. I found this funny Kangaroo Island kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus) at Stokes Bay, Kangaroo Island (South Australia). I always dreamt of photographing one on the beach, but no luck. Yet.

Two Eurasian lynxes (Lynx lynx) laying together

Northern lynxes (Lynx lynx lynx) rest after playing hard for half an hour or so. I photographed them and many other animals and birds at the Nordic Wilderness Center in Järvsö, some 300km north of Stockholm.

Did you know that these mini tigers can purr just like domestic cats? How cute?

Bonus: the stunning shades of blue and green of the sea on Kangaroo Island. The colors are so vibrant and captivating, it’s hard to believe they’re even real! These photos only start to capture the beauty and majesty of the ocean. I hope they can make you feel like you’re right there, soaking it all in.

I hope you enjoyed these photos, there are more to come next month.

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Success Is Counted Sweetest

1st August 2023
Poetry
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  1. Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
  2. From Blossoms
  3. Wild Geese
  4. The Peace of Wild Things
  5. My Gift to You
  6. Departing Spring
  7. The Skylark
  8. What a Strange Thing!
  9. Although The Wind …
  10. The Old Pond
  11. Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
  12. Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
  13. Youth and Age
  14. A Postcard From the Volcano
  15. The Kraken
  16. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
  17. There Is a Solitude of Space
  18. Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  19. Mad Song
  20. Answer July
  21. Success Is Counted Sweetest
  22. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
  23. The Bluebird
  24. A Vision of the End
  25. The Crying of Water
  26. A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
  27. Winter
  28. The Dark Cavalier
  29. There is no Life or Death
  30. Sheep in Winter
  31. To a Snowflake
  32. Sextain
  33. A Crocodile
  34. Sea Fever
  35. The Giant Cactus of Arizona
  36. The Coming of Night
  37. Going to the Picnic
  38. Moon Tonight
  39. A Southern Night
  40. Greenness
  41. Twilight
  42. On the Wing
  43. In Summer
  44. Before Parting
  45. Sonnet
  46. The Red Wheelbarrow
  47. Acceptance
  48. At The Pool
  49. Incurable
  50. Bluebird and Cardinal
  51. [Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
  52. The River
  53. Vas Doloris
  54. Squirrel
  55. Ghosts
  56. The Spirit of Poetry
  57. Nightfall in the Tropics Scheduled for 10th December 2024
  58. Journey of the Magi Scheduled for 23rd December 2024
  59. The City Lights Scheduled for 7th January 2025
Abstract photo of a field with the sea in the background

Success is counted sweetest

By those who ne’er succeed.

To comprehend a nectar

Requires sorest need.



Not one of all the purple Host

Who took the Flag today

Can tell the definition

So clear of victory



As he defeated – dying –

On whose forbidden ear

The distant strains of triumph

Burst agonized and clear!

Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) was one of the most original American poets. She is considered one of the most important American poets of the 19th century, along with Walt Whitman.

To read more poems, click here.

KI Glossy Black-Cockatoo Photo Published!

27th July 2023
PhotographyWildlife
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Pair of Glossy Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus)

My Kangaroo Island Glossy Black-Cockatoo photo has now been published in the Journey Beyond Magazine in Australia! Here’s the article if you’d like to read more about these magnificent birds and Kangaroo Island wildlife.

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Answer July

4th July 2023
Poetry
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  1. Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
  2. From Blossoms
  3. Wild Geese
  4. The Peace of Wild Things
  5. My Gift to You
  6. Departing Spring
  7. The Skylark
  8. What a Strange Thing!
  9. Although The Wind …
  10. The Old Pond
  11. Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
  12. Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
  13. Youth and Age
  14. A Postcard From the Volcano
  15. The Kraken
  16. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
  17. There Is a Solitude of Space
  18. Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  19. Mad Song
  20. Answer July
  21. Success Is Counted Sweetest
  22. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
  23. The Bluebird
  24. A Vision of the End
  25. The Crying of Water
  26. A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
  27. Winter
  28. The Dark Cavalier
  29. There is no Life or Death
  30. Sheep in Winter
  31. To a Snowflake
  32. Sextain
  33. A Crocodile
  34. Sea Fever
  35. The Giant Cactus of Arizona
  36. The Coming of Night
  37. Going to the Picnic
  38. Moon Tonight
  39. A Southern Night
  40. Greenness
  41. Twilight
  42. On the Wing
  43. In Summer
  44. Before Parting
  45. Sonnet
  46. The Red Wheelbarrow
  47. Acceptance
  48. At The Pool
  49. Incurable
  50. Bluebird and Cardinal
  51. [Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
  52. The River
  53. Vas Doloris
  54. Squirrel
  55. Ghosts
  56. The Spirit of Poetry
  57. Nightfall in the Tropics Scheduled for 10th December 2024
  58. Journey of the Magi Scheduled for 23rd December 2024
  59. The City Lights Scheduled for 7th January 2025
Bumblebee

Answer July— 
Where is the Bee— 
Where is the Blush— 
Where is the Hay? 

Ah, said July— 
Where is the Seed— 
Where is the Bud— 
Where is the May— 
Answer Thee—Me— 

Nay—said the May— 
Show me the Snow— 
Show me the Bells— 
Show me the Jay! 

Quibbled the Jay— 
Where be the Maize— 
Where be the Haze— 
Where be the Bur? 
Here—said the Year—

Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) was one of the most original American poets. She is considered one of the most important American poets of the 19th century, along with Walt Whitman.

To read more poems, click here.

Favorite Photos: June 2023

2nd July 2023
PhotographyWildlife
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  1. Favorite Photos: January 2023
  2. Favorite Photos: February 2023
  3. Favorite Photos: March 2023
  4. Favorite Photos: April 2023
  5. Favorite Photos: May 2023
  6. Favorite Photos: June 2023
  7. Favorite Photos: July 2023
  8. Favorite Photos: August 2023
  9. Paris Is Always A Good Idea
  10. Favorite Photos: October 2023
  11. Favorite Photos: November 2023
  12. Favorite Photos: December 2023
  13. Favorite Photos: January 2024
  14. Favorite Photos: February 2024
  15. Favorite Photos: March 2024
  16. Favorite Photos: April 2024
  17. Favorite Photos: May 2024
  18. Favorite Photos: June 2024
  19. Favorite Photos: July 2024
  20. Favorite Photos: August 2024
  21. Favorite Photos: September 2024
  22. Favorite Photos: October 2024
  23. Favorite Photos: November 2024 Scheduled for 1st December 2024
Red squirrel holding a strawberry


I’d seen some cute photos of squirrels and strawberries on Instagram, and I decided to give it a try. Said and done. I picked up the most beautiful strawberries I could find at our little market, set up my hide, and waited. For a long time. I had almost given up when this cute red squirrel finally showed up and approached, oh, so cautiously, the strawberries. Quite suspicious of the whole thing, I can tell you.

She picked one up, sniffed it carefully, and then threw it away. Not interested, apparently. I barely had time to take a photo. Then she selected a large walnut instead and ran away with the treasure.

Experiment over, and I’m happy with the outcome. One photo but quite pretty, isn’t it? It’s enough for me.

A goldfinch standing on a branch

A goldfinch posing so nicely in my garden. I’ve been trying to get a decent photo of a goldfinch for quite some time now and wasn’t pleased with the earlier results. Nailed it this time, finally!

Close-up of ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis)

A close-up of ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis) taken at Millesgården. I’ve added a texture from Flypaper for more background interest; the background was a bit flat for my taste. The texture I used is Vetheuil from their Impressionist Painterly Pack. (I’m so impressed I could identify the texture; I had actually renamed the texture layer for future reference, I always intend to but very often forget it ha, ha!).

Close-up of a blue forget-me-not flower

Forget-me-not from my garden. I used a texture for the background again, but I’m not sure which one; I obviously didn’t rename the texture layer in this case. I think it’s from Flypaper as well, their textures are some of my favorites.

A portrait of a pair of Kangaroo Island Glossy Black-Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus)

I didn’t process this photo of the Kangaroo Island Glossy Black-Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus) in June, actually, but I’ve included it anyway. It’s the one that will be published in the next issue of the Journey Beyond Magazine in Australia. So, super favorite at the moment!

I hope you enjoyed these photos, there are more to come next month.

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Kangaroo Island Glossy Black-Cockatoo

29th June 2023
PhotographyWildlife
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Pair of Glossy Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus

I’m so happy to share that my photo of this Glossy Black-Cockatoo couple will be published in the next issue of the Journey Beyond Magazine in Australia. 

This is a special moment for me, not only because it’s my first photo to be published in Australia (a dream come true!) but also because it was taken at Ecopia Retreat on Kangaroo Island (South Australia), a place very dear to me.

The Kangaroo Island subspecies of the Glossy Black-Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus) is listed as endangered, with a population of about 450 birds before the devastating bushfires of 2019/2020. 75% of their habitat in the western part of Kangaroo Island was impacted by the bushfires. They feed exclusively on Drooping She-oak seeds and only on particular trees in the forest, making their survival even more challenging. 

Yael and Rob, the Ecopia Retreat owners, have created a haven for these rare birds around Ecopia, planting She-oak trees and putting up bird boxes to help them survive. I was thrilled and awed to be able to find them and see them going about their business in the wild.

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Mad Song

6th June 2023
Poetry
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  1. Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
  2. From Blossoms
  3. Wild Geese
  4. The Peace of Wild Things
  5. My Gift to You
  6. Departing Spring
  7. The Skylark
  8. What a Strange Thing!
  9. Although The Wind …
  10. The Old Pond
  11. Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
  12. Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
  13. Youth and Age
  14. A Postcard From the Volcano
  15. The Kraken
  16. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
  17. There Is a Solitude of Space
  18. Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  19. Mad Song
  20. Answer July
  21. Success Is Counted Sweetest
  22. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
  23. The Bluebird
  24. A Vision of the End
  25. The Crying of Water
  26. A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
  27. Winter
  28. The Dark Cavalier
  29. There is no Life or Death
  30. Sheep in Winter
  31. To a Snowflake
  32. Sextain
  33. A Crocodile
  34. Sea Fever
  35. The Giant Cactus of Arizona
  36. The Coming of Night
  37. Going to the Picnic
  38. Moon Tonight
  39. A Southern Night
  40. Greenness
  41. Twilight
  42. On the Wing
  43. In Summer
  44. Before Parting
  45. Sonnet
  46. The Red Wheelbarrow
  47. Acceptance
  48. At The Pool
  49. Incurable
  50. Bluebird and Cardinal
  51. [Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
  52. The River
  53. Vas Doloris
  54. Squirrel
  55. Ghosts
  56. The Spirit of Poetry
  57. Nightfall in the Tropics Scheduled for 10th December 2024
  58. Journey of the Magi Scheduled for 23rd December 2024
  59. The City Lights Scheduled for 7th January 2025
Dark stormy clouds

The wild winds weep, 

         And the night is a-cold; 

Come hither, Sleep, 

         And my griefs infold: 

But lo! the morning peeps 

         Over the eastern steeps, 

And the rustling birds of dawn 

The earth do scorn. 

Lo! to the vault 

         Of paved heaven, 

With sorrow fraught 

         My notes are driven: 

They strike the ear of night, 

         Make weep the eyes of day; 

They make mad the roaring winds, 

         And with tempests play. 

Like a fiend in a cloud 

         With howling woe, 

After night I do croud, 

         And with night will go; 

I turn my back to the east, 

From whence comforts have increas’d; 

For light doth seize my brain 

With frantic pain.

William Blake (1757–1827) English engraver, artist, and poet. He is now considered one of the most original of the Romantic poets, but in his lifetime he was largely neglected.

To read more poems, click here.

Favorite Photos: May 2023

5th June 2023
Photography
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  1. Favorite Photos: January 2023
  2. Favorite Photos: February 2023
  3. Favorite Photos: March 2023
  4. Favorite Photos: April 2023
  5. Favorite Photos: May 2023
  6. Favorite Photos: June 2023
  7. Favorite Photos: July 2023
  8. Favorite Photos: August 2023
  9. Paris Is Always A Good Idea
  10. Favorite Photos: October 2023
  11. Favorite Photos: November 2023
  12. Favorite Photos: December 2023
  13. Favorite Photos: January 2024
  14. Favorite Photos: February 2024
  15. Favorite Photos: March 2024
  16. Favorite Photos: April 2024
  17. Favorite Photos: May 2024
  18. Favorite Photos: June 2024
  19. Favorite Photos: July 2024
  20. Favorite Photos: August 2024
  21. Favorite Photos: September 2024
  22. Favorite Photos: October 2024
  23. Favorite Photos: November 2024 Scheduled for 1st December 2024
Violet lilac in a vase

Spring has finally made it to Sweden! The gardening season is in full swing, and I’m mostly outdoors nowadays, taking photos or gardening. I’m almost wishing for bad weather to catch up on culling and editing photos ha, ha! Sitting indoors in front of a computer is so hard when the sun is shining, and the garden is vibrating with wildlife and flowers!

This being said, I’ve started playing around with still life and textures, and it’s a lot of fun. In addition, it makes being indoors a bit more bearable.

Close up of white lilac

This photo was taken in my garden with my iPhone and edited in Affinity Photo, to which I added a few overlays. Not bad for a first try, is it?

Close-up of forget-me-not flowers

Forget-me-not from my garden. If you’d like to photograph flowers, having a garden is practical, no matter its size! My first garden was tiny, yet I had enough flowers to take a variety of shots from early spring to winter.

Close-up of cherry tree blossom

This is the only photo I have yet to take in my garden. Sadly, I don’t have a cherry tree. Yet. Until then, I visit Kungsträdgården in Stockholm every spring and marvel at the wonders of nature.

Close-up of wood anemone

Wood anemone photographed on my window sill to which I added an overlay. The bokeh is real, created by some gold Christmas decorations hit by sunlight coming from the side.

I hope you enjoyed these photos, there are more to come next month.

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The Man of Faith Steps In and Does Something

18th May 2023
ArtPaintingQuotes
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Close up of a sunflower

“I tell you, if one wants to be active, one mustn’t be afraid to do something wrong sometimes, not afraid to lapse into some mistakes. To be good — many people think that they’ll achieve it by doing no harm — and that’s a lie, and you said yourself in the past that it was a lie. That leads to stagnation, to mediocrity…

You don’t know how paralyzing it is, that stare from a blank canvas that says to the painter, “You can’t do anything.” The canvas has an idiotic stare, and mesmerizes some painters so that they turn into idiots themselves. Many painters are afraid of the blank canvas, but the blank canvas is afraid of the truly passionate painter who dares — and who has once broken the spell of “You can’t.”

Life itself likewise always turns towards one an infinitely meaningless, discouraging, dispiriting blank side on which there is nothing, any more than on a blank canvas. But however meaningless and vain, however dead life appears, the man of faith, of energy, of warmth, and who knows something, doesn’t let himself be fobbed off like that. He steps in and does something...”

The Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1853 – 1890) on taking action, from Ever Yours: The Essential Letters

To read more quotes, click here.

Because I Could Not Stop for Death

16th May 2023
Poetry
0 Comment
  1. Things to Do in the Belly of the Whale
  2. From Blossoms
  3. Wild Geese
  4. The Peace of Wild Things
  5. My Gift to You
  6. Departing Spring
  7. The Skylark
  8. What a Strange Thing!
  9. Although The Wind …
  10. The Old Pond
  11. Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand
  12. Hast thou 2 loaves of bread …
  13. Youth and Age
  14. A Postcard From the Volcano
  15. The Kraken
  16. He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
  17. There Is a Solitude of Space
  18. Because I Could Not Stop for Death
  19. Mad Song
  20. Answer July
  21. Success Is Counted Sweetest
  22. Hope Is the Thing with Feathers
  23. The Bluebird
  24. A Vision of the End
  25. The Crying of Water
  26. A Rose Has Thorns As Well As Honey
  27. Winter
  28. The Dark Cavalier
  29. There is no Life or Death
  30. Sheep in Winter
  31. To a Snowflake
  32. Sextain
  33. A Crocodile
  34. Sea Fever
  35. The Giant Cactus of Arizona
  36. The Coming of Night
  37. Going to the Picnic
  38. Moon Tonight
  39. A Southern Night
  40. Greenness
  41. Twilight
  42. On the Wing
  43. In Summer
  44. Before Parting
  45. Sonnet
  46. The Red Wheelbarrow
  47. Acceptance
  48. At The Pool
  49. Incurable
  50. Bluebird and Cardinal
  51. [Say What You Will, And Scratch My Heart To Find]
  52. The River
  53. Vas Doloris
  54. Squirrel
  55. Ghosts
  56. The Spirit of Poetry
  57. Nightfall in the Tropics Scheduled for 10th December 2024
  58. Journey of the Magi Scheduled for 23rd December 2024
  59. The City Lights Scheduled for 7th January 2025
Lake with water lilies

Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—  
And Immortality.

We slowly drove—He knew no haste
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For His Civility—

We passed the School, where Children strove
At Recess—in the Ring—
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—
We passed the Setting Sun—

Or rather—He passed us—
The Dews drew quivering and chill—
For only Gossamer, my Gown—
My Tippet—only Tulle—

We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground—
The Roof was scarcely visible—
The Cornice—in the Ground—

Since then—’tis Centuries—and yet
Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the Horses’ Heads 
Were toward Eternity—

Emily Dickinson (1830 – 1886) was one of the most original American poets. She is considered one of the most important American poets of the 19th century, along with Walt Whitman.

To read more poems, click here.