If you are interested in any of these, please write to me in the comment section, or visit my art page on Facebook😊👏🏽
-M
Fresh art prints
Category: DIY
Something old
Bought a new diary, in hopes of finding time to write again; haven’t written anything in over a year. Initiated first page with this poem 😊🙏🏼💎
I will keep you safe and warm 2.0 / Art for sale
The prints are made from a painting I did back in 2021 when I first became a mother. Afterwards, I slightly edited it digitally, and thought it looked wonderful as printed art cards 😊 I have 3 cards available currently.
Never tire
I simply never tire of seeing the auroras, no matter how often they appear. Here above our house 🌌 My phone camera didn’t do them justice of course.. Also, did a small aurora painting in December that I gave away on my Christmas Giveaway on my art page. 🩵
Hjemmeundervisning?
Alle foreldre vil jo det beste for sine barn. I det siste har vi tenkt mer og mer på å hjemmeundervise våre. Enn så lenge er de jo begge under 5 år, så vi har ennå litt tid på å ta avgjørelsen, men det er per nå hva som føles mest rett. Personlig kjenner jeg ennå på ettereffektene av 13 års skolegang (10 år grunnskole og 3 år videregående) og den skolevegringen som fargela alle de årene. Jeg er altså 33 år, men tenker fortsatt på det. Men ingenting er jo svart/hvitt; man kan for eksempel velge å hjemmeundervise de første årene, og så begynne på skolen ved et senere tidspunkt, for eksempel rundt tiårsalderen.
Er det noen av dere som leser dette innlegget som har noen erfaringer å dele på dette området?😊
So simple
Being a parent means receiving a unique invitation back to the present moment by these small individuals who only asks for you to be yourself around them, to be fully in the moment and to see them for who they are. It’s so simple that even a child can understand it.
Oh, and I just have to show this gift our oldest made for his dad/my husband for his 35th birthday in October. It was a white statue that I bought, and then he decorated it with paint and gold flakes ✨️🎁
Photo series: Everyday life
og verden frotterer seg med nyvasket solskinn.
Livets ansikt er aldri det samme
selv om vi ser på det i all evighet.” – Kolbein Falkeid
#home #kitchen #midnightsun
Xx Monica Amrita Mani
Yogi on display
What is #YogisOnDisplay?
“Unlike in cultures long established in the dharma, spiritual practice is not visible in the everyday life of Western society. While many Westerners practice some form of spiritual practice, the actual practice is often kept private. This is a great pity. Not only does it speak volumes about the level of spiritual maturity of the West, but it also means that many people never encounter dharma in the first place. If spirituality is not publically displayed, the fact that there is an alternative to existential confusion and suffering does not reach the masses.
In an attempt to counter this, Amrita Baba has initiated the Yogis on Display project. The idea behind Yogis on Display is to encourage spiritual practitioners of the West to become living examples for others. Instead of hiding away in our modern city caves, we need to bring meditation, mantra singing, yoga practice, and so on, directly to where it matters; straight to the middle of the hamster wheel. Displaying the solution to existential confusion and suffering is a hands-on, time-tested way of practicing care and compassion for all beings.
To spread the message of Yogis on Display the hashtag #yogisondisplay has been created. Practitioners who chose to take part are encouraged to take a picture of themselves and share it on social media using this hashtag. This way more people can learn about the initiative and become inspired to light the torch of dharma in our public spheres.” (AmritaMandala.com)
Tantra with shamanistic roots
Shamanism and animism has permeated most if not all of the nomadic and semi-nomadic cultures in this part of the world. The shamans have traditionally been both women and men, though the word ‘shaman’ is masculine form. The feminine word for a female shaman is ‘udugan’ in Tungusic language. In Northern Sámi a shaman is known as a Noaide.
(Acrylic on mixed media paper, A4)
Here is some pictures I used for inspiration for my painting.
I can also highly recommend these practices on youtube by a Uralic Tantric yoga teacher Amrita Baba; where he teaches tantric practices with ancient shamanic masters. Here is part 1 of 4, and the other parts linked below video.
Part 2: https://youtu.be/vS-7P3B7N2Q?si=14fzDmiSptsM0a_q
Two wings of the same bird
I often think about how the two genders are put up against each other in todays’ society, and we forget how to cooperate. We forget that men and women are dependant on each others’ strengths and that we complement each others’ weaknesses. We tend to focus on “who has it worse and who does what is most important”, instead of focusing on “what can we accomplish together, and how can we best raise the next generation, and be there for one another in life’s traumas, challenges and victories”. We hear absurd statements like “what is a woman”, and “do we need men”. The feminine and the masculine are two wings of the same bird, we need both to soar. The feminine power represents creation and wisdom, while the masculine represents stability and action. The whole Universe – and thus you and me – are made of these, and we should not forget that.
(Acrylic and oil pastel drawing/painting size A4, on mixed media paper)
– Monica
Why be an artist?
I am tempted to just answer my own question with “why not?”, but that is not satisfactory at all. Especially since there is a very good answer that comes to mind, although it is a cheesy one;
My soul needs it. It is who I am, and art helps bring out my authenticity. I feel ill when I have long periods of low motivation and inspiration, and thus don’t paint.
As probably many other children who loved art, growing up meant finding out how fragile art making can be. How vulnerable you make yourself. How other things in life seems to creep in and take over your time, to the point where there is not much time left for art making. All children are born with an innate sense of wanting to create and learn, and it can take a long time to find back to that once you have entered the hectic adult world of chores and time schedules. What a shame. But also, what a journey.
Like in all good stories, the main character loses herself at one point or many, and falls into some sort of despair and discontentment. She wants to find herself again and strives to get rid of the layers of inauthenticity she has adopted during adolescence and adulthood. Deep down, she knows herself, but too much junk has accumulated, and she feels frozen and trapped.
“Energy that is in motion, stays in motion”. In other words; just start something, and the momentuum will keep going by itself. The more we create, the more we want to create. Do 2 mintues of art making, and before you know it, time ceases and you enter the timeless realm of creativity, where it doesn’t matter how long you do it, all that matters is that you enjoy it and you feel yourself being in a flow state.
You may ask; why paint? Does the world really need another painting of a mediocre rose or the aurora borealis? The answer is No, it doesn’t. But the world needs your interpretation of a rose or the aurora borealis. Your superpower is and will always be that there is only one of you. When someone buys your artwork, takes it home and put it on their wall, they are bringing a piece of your soul home. They want that unique thing you made out of nothing to remind them of what they perhaps have forgotten themselves. Or, they wish to have a feeling or memory your artwork inhabits in their home through their eyes. This is a huge compliment for any artist.
You may also ask; but how do I find my own style? You don’t! It finds you. And you can’t get rid of it, even if you wanted to. Unique personal style is something that happens on its own. Don’t worry about it, it will reveal itself, if you just keep making stuff.
It’s hard being an artist. It can be lonely, it can be difficult to get into the desired state for creating, it can be challenging to make a studio/workspace, it can be close to impossible to find motivation some days and it can be a job in itself to make something out of thin air. But then again, it can also be the most rewarding soul nourishing work.
Xx, Monica
Baby seal painting
I haven’t painted in many months, due to moving, and a bit loss of inspiration and drive. Well, now that we have a new place to live, and a lot more space, I am happy to say that I feel the inspiration coming back, and excited to make a small ateliér in one of our rooms 😊 I have been struggling a lot with neurological problems due to living in a place with (undetected) mold for a very long time. The brainfog is sometimes overbearing making it hard to do most things but hopefully it will heal in time with treatment, and painting will both be part of the healing and a motivation in itself 💙🧡 Here is a baby seal I made today 😄🦭
My creative energy
“Your healing journey will, of course, include a consideration and use of all the best tools modern medicine can offer you, as well as the best tools holistic healing can offer you. From a deeper perspective, illness is caused by unfulfilled longing. The deeper the illness, the deeper the longing. It is a message that somehow, somewhere, you have forgotten who you are and what your purpose is. You have forgotten and disconnected from the purpose of your creative energy from your core. Your illness is the symptom: The disease represents your unfulfilled longing. So above all else, use your illness to set yourself free to do what you have always wanted to do, to be who you have always wanted to be, to manifest and express who you already are from your deepest, broadest, and highest reality. If indeed you have discovered yourself to be ill, prepare yourself for change, expect your deepest longing to surface and to be brought to fruition. Prepare yourself to finally stop running and turn and face the tiger within you, whatever that means to you in a very personal way. I suggest the best place to start to find the meaning of your illness is to ask yourself: “What is it that I have longed for and not yet succeeded in creating in my life?”’ (From Barbara Brennan’s book Emerging Light)
More special?
“People wearing their national dresses symbolise unity. A research conducted on this subject showed that youngsters wearing traditional clothes, irrespective of western pressure, had fewer behavioural and emotional problems. The reason being that they are in touch with their ancestral culture, religion and traditions and thus not confused about their identity or who they are.” Makes sense to me; feeling like you belong and have a community is very important. Nowadays, I think many of us feel a part of many different groups, because we live in a globalised world, and clothing can be changed, thus changing your identity. Maybe that makes our traditional and national dresses even more special? ❤
Here is the link to the study for anyone interested. It also sheds a light on the dangers of not allowing indigenous peoples to use and wear their own clothings, as we have seen happen all over the world.
Both Sámis and Khantys are Uralic peoples.
I will keep you safe and warm
Acrylic on mixed media paper, A4
❤💙
New painting: In Cod we trust
When the Sun goes down in the Arctic, we need to get our vitamins from the fish oil. It is essential during the Polar night 🐟🌬
Acrylic on mixed media paper, A4. Illustration made for a Nenets writer friend of mine. Copyright Monica Olivia Art 🎨🙏🏻
How to relax
For the past 11 years or so, I have been teaching myself how to relax and be calm.
I have always been quite a worried person, so I feel I had to learn this in order to simply have a better life with more control. I still sometimes forget how to, but each time I remember, I do the following:
An easy quick way to instantly relax the mind and muscles, causing bloodflow to spread more evenly in the body, is to do three things simultanously: relax the jaw and eyes completely, breathe deeply into belly for at least 8 breaths and move the inner gaze/attention to the feet or ground below. Get a sense of the Earth. Notice the effect.
Another way, if you have the oppotunity, is to lay down flat, do the same with jaw and eyes, and to focus on the in and out breaths in the belly. Take deep slow breaths. Imagine them as waves ebbing on the shore.
And lastly, going into nature of course has a calming effect too, even just for 10 minutes. If you cannot go outside, perhaps painting or drawing nature is an idea.
Hope this helps! I truly believe knowing how to relax and calm our selves is an important skill. Getting carried away by the storm can be both painful and result in regrets.
Påskestemning
God påske 🐣
Traditional Sámi bracelet
Was so lucky to receive this traditional Sámi bracelet from my partner’s mum as a gift “for giving her the greatest gift” (our son, her grandson) 🖤
It is made from black leather, reindeer antler button and decoration, and the braids are traditional tinwire used in duodji/daidda. It is made by @tinntraadfruen on instagram if you want to see her work 💫
What was a gift you received that had a nice meaning behind it?
The Copper Coloured Mountain: Pure land
The copper coloured mountain is also known as Zangdok Palri; Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava’s non-physical pure land.
Be more of an amateur!
“An amateur (literally means ‘lover [of something]’) is generally considered a person who persues a particular activity or field of study independently from their source of income/does not persue it professionally or with an eye to gain.” 🎨
#amare #amateur #amour ❤
Be more of an amateur this year ✨
2020 in paintings
“Art is for everyone” 💜🧡💛💚🎨
DIY: Juletrehjerter
Kjøpte noen kjempesøte små trehjerter på Flying Tiger for en ukes tid siden. De er vel egentlig for å bruke som gavelapper, men de funker også tydeligvis bra til å male på 😁🙌🏻🎨🎄❄
Seasonal art
Wishing all a lovely end of autumn 🍂🍁
Framed in sunlight
Svart ramme, 30 x 40 cm 🌔
New format
Fargerike vegger
Liker å pynte stua med egne maleri 💙🧡💛💜 #myart
Snow and flowers
Midnight moon
Akryl, 24 x 32 cm, mixed media papir 🌖
Farga brukt: blå, hvit, lilla, rosa, rød, gul 🎨
Complementary colours
Did you know there is a reason why orange+blue and yellow+purple work together so well? 🧡💙💛💜 They are considered complementary colours! “Complementary colours are pairs of colours which, when combined or mixed, cancel each other out by producing a grayscale colour like white or black. When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast for those two colors. Complementary colours may also be called ‘opposite colours’.”
Something else
Finished piece
60 x 50 cm, acrylic on canvas with matte varnish 💙 No title yet 🙂
In progress
Høstsol på maleri
☀️🍁🍂🌊
From photograph to painting
Painting from my photograph 🍂🍁🌅
Spent so much time in this place by the ocean 🌊 Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18 cm
Autumn
Resharing this one for autumn purposes 😊🧡🍂
20 x 40 cm, acrylic 🍁
Not for sale 🙏🏼
How is autumn where you live?
Tiny 10 minute painting
Very small and cute painting framed in a 10 x 15 cm frame. This little painting took me ten minutes to make, I wanted to make it without thinking too much; just go with the brushstrokes 🌬🧡🍂
To innramma verk
Hibernation
“During the fall, if a polar bear is pregnant, she digs a den into a snow drift. She then climbs into the hole and stays there to give birth and care for her cubs for the first few months of their life. She and her cubs will not emerge from the den until the spring. Male bears and non-pregnant females continue to roam and feed throughout the winter.”
One of the absolute top animals on my list I wish to see in my lifetime.. Guess I need to head up to Svalbard for that!
Stone castle in the sky
Happy to be back to painting since rearranging the flat. It’s been a mess for months, but now it’s starting to look and feel much better and I got my work/painting/crafts station back!🙌🏻🎨🌼
Små vindu
Tenker at maleri er små vindu til andre verdener 🎨
Begge disse maleriene var gaver 🎁
Summer vibes
Summer has finally arrived in the Arctic, kind of. Still some snow around, but also green and some flowers!🌿🌻 Didn’t realise how much I missed some warm weather, although I absolutely love winter.
Fjellbekk
Male våren og sommeren mens vi vente på den..🙂🌱🌻🦋
Four seasons
Mandag
Experimenting with a different style
Some pictures from the painting process ☝🏻
Onsdag
World penguin day
So cute. Widowed penguins in Melbourne.
Some cool penguin facts for world penguin day:
– There are currently 17-26 types of penguins, depending on definition (I read many conflicting definitions). Emperor, adélie and macaroni penguins being my favourites 😁
– Male penguins searches their habitat for the perfect stone to present their chosen female. They mate for life and they both take care of their offspring.
– Penguins are defined as birds although they cannot fly. Their wings are made for swimming. They are great in water, but a bit awkward on land.
– Penguin feathers are shorter and stiffer than most bird feathers, which makes penguins more streamlined in the water and traps more air to keep them warm.
Flowers in valley
50 cm Ø, acrylic on round canvas. Colours used: pink, blue, gold, white, purple.
Latest art project finished
As soon as I go up in canvas size my paintings turn out very different than my small ones. But this time it didn’t, so I think I have found my ‘limit’.
Pink & orange
Grønt og blått
Northern sky
“The sight filled the northern sky; the immensity of it was scarcely conceivable. As if from Heaven itself, great curtains of delicate light hung and trembled. Pale green and rose-pink, and as transparent as the most fragile fabric, and at the bottom edge a profound and fiery crimson like the fires of Hell, they swung and shimmered loosely with more grace than the most skillful dancer.” 🌌
Rainbow night
My little late night creativity painting.. Couldn’t sleep last night so I thought why not just spend my time wisely 😄 A bit unusual colour choices for me, but I like how it turned out. Was unsure if I choose the right colour for the mountains but I can always change that later if the mood strikes me..🌈🎨
This painting is 65 x 45. Acrylic painting.
Pink peaks
Lekt litt med andre farger enn blått for en gangs skyld. Brukte kun rosa, hvit og bittelitt gult i dette maleriet.
Heart shaped landscape
Acrylics on canvas, colours used; pink, white, yellow and black.
Outdoor exhibition
Noen bilder fra en utendørsutstilling jeg hadde på Klimakunstfestivalen i begynnelsen av juni i Tromsø.
Pastel sky
“Januar”
Et av mine nyeste maleri; akryl på lerret, 45 x 55 cm. Inspirert av det kalde arktiske landskapet i januar 😊💙
Enkelt pannebånd
En enkel d.i.y som jeg ladge for masse år siden; sydde et lite hårtørkle/pannebånd ut av et sjal med fint fargerikt blomstermønster. På midten av båndet er det et lite tøystykke som klemmer det sammen og gir sånn fin fasong. Enkel dobbelknute i nakken ✌ Nå som jeg begynner å få hår igjen (holdt det på 7 mm en god stund), så er det gøy å leke med litt farger, frisyrer og diverse hårpynt. Også må jeg innrømme at min naturlige hårfarge ikke er så verst, er nok ferdig med å farge det.
Å i Lofoten
“Å i Lofoten”, 45 x 55 cm 🌊
Syns paletten jeg brukte nesten også ble et lite kunstverk 😄🎨
Sewing: handmade sámi silk shawl
Handmade traditional form fitted sámi silk shawl for my Sea Sámi kofte made with Asian brocade fabric traditionally used in buddhism. Lotus and vajra pattern in yellow and gold 😊 Turned out so nice, very happy with the result, it’s glowing in the sunlight 🙌 My kofte (gákti) is green, which will look amazing with the yellow 💛
Fugledilla
To nye maleri, begge med dyremotiv.
Pingvin er helt klart favorittdyret og har tenkt lenge på å male det. Første foesøk på å male en keiserpingvin som mater sin lille pingvinbaby! Fornøyd 😊🐧 (Akrylmaling, 12 x 17 cm)
Bildet øverst var noe helt uti fra min egen fantasi, ble litt drømmeaktig, syns jeg. Liker veldig godt kombinasjonen grønn og rosa. Akryl på A4 linpapir.
Ask The Mountains 