I’m completely self taught, and I did not go to art school or take any art classes. I have learned to paint watercolor all on my own, by trial and error. It took time, and I wish I had had someone to show me the short cuts. But it has also given me a deep understanding of what I’m doing when holding the brush.

My background in illustration and fine art licensing has forced me out of my comfort zone each day, and has taught me how to create detailed and vibrant watercolor art that stands out.
And I have developed methods and frameworks to lean into, which can also help YOU in YOUR watercolor journey, and save you time, frustration and overwhelm.

The Beginning

I began painting watercolor and started my art business – in the art licensing and illustration market – at my kitchen table, while also raising two young children. Now my kids are grown and I have been painting professionally for over 20 years.

As a child I really enjoyed drawing and I also had a lot of coloring books. I grew up as an only child on a farm on the Swedish west coast, surrounded by fields and forests, and no other children around. I spent a lot of time alone with my pencils, crayons, books and paper. My inspiration was all around me: nature, flowers, our pets and farm animals, and all the wild creatures living in the fields and forest around the farm. I also had a vivid imagination and loved to fantasize about (and draw) Swedish folklore creatures like fairies, the forest tomte, the Skogsrå, and trolls.

Although I still drew once in a while as a teenager, the older I got the less time I spent on art. I went on studying natural science subjects, such as mathematics, chemistry and physics, and created drawings only once in a while.
In my early 20’s I tried watercolors. No fancy brands but better quality than the childhood school paints. But I did only maybe two or three paintings. There was not much time for art in my life during that time.

I met my future husband early, started working a “normal” job and in my mid-twenties we had our first daughter, and a couple of years later our second daughter arrived.

During my two maternity leaves I realized three things.
Number one was that I wanted to do more art, I longed to get back to a creative life.
Number two, and the most important, was that once my maternity leave was over I would not be able to spend as much time with my girls as I did at that point, when I was home every day.
And I really wanted to be able to do that.
But – and this is number three – I also knew that I had to work to help provide for our little family.

So I decided to try and combine those two things that my heart longed for – art and creativity while also staying at home with my girls – with a career.

Easier said than done…

But at that very same time I stumbled upon decent quality watercolor paints on sale in a store nearby, at half the usual price.
It was almost like a sign.
So I bought some paper and paints and started to paint.
Maybe, just maybe, I could get into the greeting card and Christmas card market. It was my big goal.
Every where I went I checked every store and little shop I could find for cards, to research both the look of the cards and what card companies that were out there.

And I painted, and painted, and painted.
I didn’t know what I was doing. It was like throwing spaghetti at the wall and see if anything would stick.
But I believed that if I was willing to do the work, anything was possible.
One step at a time.

That was a real turning point for me.

I came in contact with one of the largest card companies in Scandinavia and started working with them, licensing my art for Christmas cards, gift wrap, gift bags and lots of other products.
I started working with magazines, other companies and did art and illustration work for them in all kinds of industries – gift, paper, educational books.
I also started working with an American art licensing agent.

Today I license my artwork to several companies in the US, and my watercolor art has been made into puzzles, garden flags, rugs, paper products, cross stitch kits and much more.

Having a background in illustration and art licensing has allowed me to hone my watercolor painting skills in such a broad and amazing way, which I’m extremely grateful for. It has given me a wealth of knowledge about painting techniques, colors, material, and watercolor do’s and dont’s. And also knowledge about myself.

It has certainly helped me grow a thick skin – companies can be tough to work with, and rightly so.

Today my true passion is painting realistic animals, wildlife and nature inspired subjects in watercolor.
I get a lot of questions about how watercolor works and how to paint realistic watercolors. How to paint different kinds of fur, animal eyes, layering, details, techniques, which colors and paper to choose.

Maybe you, too, yearn to paint vibrant, detailed, life like animals, wildlife and nature in watercolor. But are completely overwhelmed trying to piece together all the info out there, on your own. And frustrated that you can’t get your paintings to look like you see them in your head.

I get it, because I’ve been there.
And you know what – you don’t have to figure it out on your own, like I did.

Because as we speak, I am building my online watercolor school, The Wildlife Studio – a community and online watercolor school where I’ll teach you everything I know, and where you can learn how to paint realistic animals (wildlife, pets, insects and more) with watercolors, in a supportive and encouraging environment, with like minded people on the same journey as you. And I’m going to show you all my tips, tricks and methods, step by step, with clear instructions and a clear path to follow.
No more frustration and overwhelm.
Let’s make your wildest art dreams a reality, and transform your watercolor art from ordinary to extraordinary, one brushstroke at a time.
Let’s paint better together.