Hello, hello! 
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I hope you are all well. We are getting close to december, the temperatures fall here and I wear as many clothes as I haven't in the last 3 years. After two tropical christmas without winter, I am looking forward to the full European christmas experience. The last years were steamy hot and I had little connection to the whole christmas thing. But this year is different! It's the first Sunday in Advent and I am already in christmas mood :) Since days, I am making crafts and christmas decorations and christmas cards and to be honest, I even listened to x-mas carols, which was normally strictly reserved to the last 2 weeks before christmas.

​All, because I will participate at 2 different Christmas Markets in Utrecht. Whoop Whoop. 
They are both special events with lots of handmade gifts, christmas decoration and of course delicious food and drinks.
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You are all very much invited to join me and spread the word so that your friends also have a chance to come along and get the best, handmade presents for this year! 

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See you in Utrecht!
​xxx, Lisa

Do you know the feeling, when you made something but in the end it just didn't work out as you wanted? 
You start with good intentions, a great idea and you really go for it. Maybe, it looks good for a short time, maybe for a few weeks. You are happy with your decisions, but after a while that changes. 

I found this older artwork of mine from 2 years ago. I looked at it closely: it was colourful and I still liked some parts of it, but I didn't LOVE it anymore. I missed the depth in the background, some mystery, some spontaneity - things I have learned in the last years to integrate in my paintings. 
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I've learned that it is important to let go in order to create space for something new, something even better. 

So what I did: I ruined it! 
I covered a lot of the painting with interesting marks. I only kept my favorite flowers. A nice technique for this step is to put a layer with more transparent paint on top of the painting. You can use paint with a lot of water, or liquid translucent paint so that you can still look through the top layer, but you change the colours. 

But what happened when I did this bold move? My painting went straight to the 'ugly teenager phase'  (as I describe it in The Art of layering ). It really felt like it's gotten even worse. I thought: I lost it! 
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But then I found out, that I could still see through most of the top layers, that it looks different than just painting on a blank canvas, that it looks more interesting.

I decided to go for it, to make more bold moves. To work with the things that are working fine. To simplify some areas, to add more contrast, to make it work! 

And this is the result: still colourful with a positive vibe, but so much more interesting than in the beginning.
​Now I love it. 

This is like in real life: sometimes we have to let go of the things, like the old favorite shirts that are not that charming anymore, the old friends, the projects that doesn't work out as we hoped for. Something we liked but it doesn't fit anymore.
To let go creates the freedom to add something new and spicy to your life. Creating space for something we really love.
Let us not be afraid of ruin it and losing it. Our experiences will still shine trough.

Sending you lots of love,

​Lisa