Hi Amanda! How has the fall season started for you and what exciting projects to you have going on?

Hi Artist Arena! The fall has started really well and I have plenty of fun projects, exhibitions and collaborations to come. I’m really looking forward to the fall! I’m also going to move my painting studio from the gallery in Gothenburg to a facility out in Askim. It will be nice to have some more space for me to paint. The gallery will going forward be a showroom for mine and Susanne Lilja’s art.

We’ve seen that you are doing a very colorful exhibition at the Gallery Gothia Towers in Gothenburg, together with Susanne Lilja. Can you tell us a bit more about that?

Yes, exactly! Between the 7th or September and the 3rd of October, one can see Susanne Lilja’s and my art at the Gallery Gothia Towers. The exhibition is titles ”Gothenburg 400 years” and is an homage to our city that is turning 400 years, this year.

We’ve soon gotten out on the other side of a global pandemic. How would you say that the pandemic year has effected you? Both in terms of your creativity but also in terms of restrictions and possibilities when it comes to exhibitions?

It will be such a nice feeling when this pandemic is over, because I am so tired of it by now… I have, as many others been heavily effected. The biggest challenge for me was probably to not be able to have any exhibitions scheduled and wanting to do more than possible when the pandemic hit. To now have an exhibition scheduled in the near future gives me extra motivation to create. Where before, being restricted from setting up those goals and milestones could sometimes hinder my creativity.

However, I can also draw the conclusion that the pandemic has had a positive impact as well. I’ve gained perspective on things in a different way than before. When it comes to my art sales I believe it may have hasd a positive impact during the pandemic when more people have been more at home and have had the time to re-arrange their interior. On top of that, many in my clientele have had an extra buffert on their travel account that they in this case could invest in other things and other areas.

You use quite extraordinary amounts of paint in most of your works – which we love to see! How did you find this unique way of working?

I have during many years experimented back and forth with various techniques and materials and eventually this technique grow into maturity. I am not afraid when I create but really dare to challenge the process and dare to create in a different way. There is no right or wrong. Then I also love structure in the paintings, as it certainly adds another dimension to the artwork.

Which is your favorite size of painting to work on?

The larger the better! I love to create artworks that are around 3 meters. Now, with that, it can be hard to reach every corner, but that becomes a challenge in itself. Which is fun!

Which is the prefered size of artworks, from your clientele?

I would say 100x150cm. Many of my clients get a painting to have in landscape view, above their couch. And then that size of work is perfect in most living rooms.

We wish you all the best in the coming projects you have coming for you, this fall. Before we finish this talk, what advice do you have for the person that have just gotten started with their artistry. To keep developing their technique but also when it comes to reaching new collectors?

Thank you so much! Sometimes I have painting nights in my galleri, and there it not too seldom happens that people have been a bit dissatisfied with the outcome in comparison with what they had imagined. This can happen to me sometimes too, of course. A piece of advice is to not see this as a failure. Instead, continue to create and dare to test out new motives and new techniques. Don’t be afraid to let the painting evolve, see it as a part of the creative process. A painting that was supposed to become a god perhaps turned out to be a beautiful lion. And that is perhaps better than what the dog could have ever been. Let anything happen and appreciate every part of your artistry. Try and trust the process and your own instinct!