Don´t miss the giveaway – today!

I can´t believe I almost forgot to share that Amy from Mindful Shopper has been hosting a lauch-party of a blog banner and buttons I created for her. And it ends today!!! Truly hope most of you already saw it via FB. (If we are not connected there already, feel free to send me a friend request, love to see you there too!) Here it comes, but be quick, it ends in 15 hours from now, go, go, go!

Mindful shopper launch party

I love Amy´s blog and the idea that she only shares what she find at least has one of the 4 ingrediences that you also see in her banner: JOY – INSPIRATION – BEAUTY – COMFORT

I really think she is doing a marvellous job with her blog. During the process of creating the buttons I´ve come to know Amy as a joyful and sincere friend, and I am so, so proud to be featured with an interview as part of the  launch celebration on her beautyful blog. You find the Mindful Shopper blog and giveaway right here. 

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(Above: Lise Meijer cards on the desk in a new shop “Bark interiør”)

I have been travelling a bit lately, around in Denmark to find new shops and also galleries that is a good match for Lise Meijer products and art. A very new thing for me to do. Definately challenging. Also very rewarding. And, as so often before, I came to realise that what I think I can´t do only becomes possible when I dare to take the steps toward doing it anyway. Even if I sometimes do it a bit clumsy.

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I loved it when I found this wonderful new shop i a town, Give in Jutland. I honestly thought Give was too small to have any interior shops, and that I would have to find a cafeteria to kill time whilst my travelling companion was at a meeting. Turned out they had a lot of nice shops!

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The pink letters above reads “Spring”. Ah yes, spring is finally here, and the colors can be as juicy as they want, I love it!

Till soon, perhaps we´ll meet on facebook?


Calling all creative mothers!

Are you a mother? Are you also a creative soul?

And do you sometimes wonder how on earth other creative mothers manage their time and energy? How they find a good balance between motherhood and their own creative time? How they make the shift from mother to artist and so on?

I Do! And I guess that´s why I love Artfully Carin´s Arty Mama interview series. I loved reading the first one with Marcia Beckett. And I am so honored that I am up next! Today!

In the interview Carin asks me how I go about motherhood/ artist-life, time schedules, how I get ready for making art and much more. Curious? Head right over to Carin´s blog:

Arty Mama Interviews

May the road rise up to meet you! Blessed 2013…

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(“Sunshower”, original available)

“May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

And rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.”

(Old Irish blessing)

I love the simplicity and sincerity in the blessing above. Here, as I am gently getting aquainted with this brand new year 2013, these words that I originally know from a song keep sounding in my mind.

And also this:

“Remember, we are in this life-business together”

I know I am seeking to find a certain balance in 2013. To grow into a maturity where, whilst creating and pursuing and even going crazy wild with my own dreams, I all the time hold in my heart that I am part of a big tribe called Humans. We all are in this together. Interconnected in ways we may not even begin to comprehend the full scope of.

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(Above: my 2013 calendar)

I know that every single one of us have our own dreams. However deep they may be buried, they are there. I know they are. I know you have dreams too. I am sure of it. Even if we don´t feel or hear them right now, they are still there, waiting for us to pay attention. And I also have come to know that those dreams are compasses, they point us in powerful directions in life. They whisper how to pursue what we came here to accomplish. And when we listen, they speak with a growing confidence, adding so much joy and a sense of meaning to any life. My life, your life. Revealing the dreams we did not even know was there. All it takes to begin is listening.

May 2013 be a year where many, many people listen carefully, helping those dreams get a chance to be born into life!

May the road rise up to meet you…..

love and best wishes for your 2013!

Lise.

Did you know the secret: It´s not all about YOU!

(New work: “Moving balance”, mixed media on canvas, 50 x 60 cm)

I feel a bit overwhelmed these days. So many things are happening right at the same time: We are a few days away from moving into the house we have been building. Rune will start in a new job tomorrow. And I am busy learning how to adjust to my business slowly growing. Making prints in new sizes, sending out boxes with cards and posters to new shops. Figuring out how to pack. Balancing finances. And all the time trying to see to the well being of the children, of me and Rune, and also just of me. Tempting to blame everyone and everything else since this is clearly too much for one person to handle in one week!

In all this I know that my most important responsibility is to keep my own balance. Like a mother putting on her own oxygen mask before helping her child. It´s my responsibility to take care of me.

But that doesn´t mean it´s all about me! About me handling MY portion,  squeezing to get MY load done. It´s about all of us doing the very best we can with what we have got. Alone when we must and together when we can. To light our light  and to look for the light in people around us when we can´t feel our own.

In the big picture I am just a little brick in the puzzle. I am also the only person responsible for handling the balances in my life. And that´s important.  Many small balanced lifes can make a BIG difference! And that´s why we could sometimes do everyone including ourselves a service by taking a walk or making a bath, or calling in ill to just sit and stare and nap or whatever it takes to regain a sense of balance. We have to decide to do that, it won´t likely happen on it´s own. The nature of To-do-lists is that they never end!  Sometimes we serve the world best by doing whatever it takes to add a little balance to the day. That way we can be a better version of ourselves.

So, the secret I am learning is: this life is not about YOU, it´s about what you DO with what you´ve got whilst you are here. And I truly believe that keeping good balance is important in that picture. Even when it means dropping some balls on the way!

Helping hands

I know we are in this life-business together. I know we all need help from time to time, and each single one of us also have something we can offer to help others out.  And I know we can only be of true help when what we offer rings with our own integrity and mission in life.

These days I am recieving help that I couldn´t even have thought out and it humbles me completely. Believe me, I have tried to need help so desperately and not feel it came to me at all. I was probably repelling or not recognizing any help that could have come my way by being too full of needyness, rather than open to recieve with grace.

What I experience now is this: I have been so full of passion about this card-and-poster-project, and even though I knew I would not be able to do everything alone I jumped out and started it anyway, taking it one step at a time. And I have seen how help sometimes can come as from out of the blue when we are well, and doing our best with something we love. I am not saying I totally cracked the code of how this works, not at all, but I know for sure that it helps getting outselves into a place of well-being and passion rather than feeling like a victim.

I also know the help coming my way right now is not help given to me as a person, but to the essence of the products I created that are now eager to find their way into the world.

“Answering the stars” Original sold, signed print available here

One day some months ago, I wrote in my journal that I felt it was time to begin to sell cards and posters internationally. The day after, a visionary lady Janita from Holland offered from “out of the blue” to help me find shops in her country who would  sell my cards. She would do it out of pure support of the products. We only knew each other via facebook, and yet I knew instantly that it was genuine and that it would be ok to accept this most welcome help.

(Photo credit for the wonderful shot af Janita and the cards above: Paul Kelly)

She did an awesome job, here she is in a wonderful store in Groningen where they just ordered the second batch of cards, yay!

If you want, I would love to hear your storyes of needing help, and waiting for help, getting it, asking for it…..and maybe recieving it in surprising ways….?

Wool design, coffee, and a sweet match

I love how my latest exhibition in at “Emely and Elliot” in Næstved (Denmark) turned out. I really think the owners did a wonderful job at fitting the paintings into their delicious shop and café. They never had exhibitions before, here is how this one happened:

Above: bird-painting/ birdcage match!

I can thank Stinne Gorell who makes the most wonderful and cool design with pure wool for this sweet match.  She called me one day from shop where they are selling her design, saying she had found just the venue for me to exhibit and sell paintings. Also, she had already shown the owners images of the paintings and they were keen to see more. What a match, Stinne really has an eye for that!

So an exhibition was planned, and is now up. Some of these images, like the two above, was actually created inspired by the french vintage style that I love so much about this café. You see part of the café life outside too, wonderful little corner of Næstved is this.

Above: bigger paintings and goodies on the shelf

“Old friends” found a nice spot

For some reason this little exhibition makes me very happy. I think it is many things: The way it happened shows once again that no one can do it alone, we all need to give and recieve help. And that way we can all be more.

Happy also because I flair with beautyful surroundings and things, it matters to me big time. And this café is seriously a favourite place….they even serve soya latte!

And happy because I remember being a little discouraged the day Stinne called. That call that day was the small but important hint telling me to keep up the work and spirit….and some days I really need that. I guess we all do.

And that to me is the beauty: We can´t exactly plan how help and openings will come our way. But we can do our part of the work , and for the rest stay open for oppurtunities. And when they come, we can say thank you and go with them.

Thank you life.

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