Featured Artist Malin Ӧstlund

Dreamlike images of beautiful women fill across the canvas in artist Malin Ӧstlund’s paintings, filled with soft color and infused with glowing light. To see more of her uplifting art, please visit her website.

 

 

I eat, sleep and breathe art. I’ve been a creative mind as long as I can remember, and I cannot imagine my life any other way. When I was a child, I made tons of drawings, always of girls and horses, and kept dreaming about being a professional artist. Now many years later, I can only conclude that dreams can come true, if you are ready to do the work.

 

 

I paint mainly with acrylic colors, but I’m always looking for new challenges and new techniques. I develop and learn new things all the time. It’s incredibly fun—sometimes I can be like a little kid on Christmas Eve when I find something new that inspires me.

 

 

Right now I’m looking into encaustic painting, which I think is quite amazing, but very difficult. Hopefully, I will be able to make some paintings that I will be satisfied with. I am planning an exhibition that will be about our closeness to nature. What would be a better fit than to create some paintings in beeswax?

 

 

My inspiration to create usually comes from nature, people’s inner strength and the beauty of life. Yoga and meditation, which I do daily, also inspires me, and I hope that it reflects in my artwork and that my paintings radiate harmony.

 

 

When I paint, I take a step into a more mindful world, where dreams can flourish and happiness always has a place.

 

 

The women who most often appear in my art have always been with me. I am often asked why I always paint them, and who they are. I have no clear answer to that. I start with myself when I paint, and then other women just appear in an obvious way to me. It’s like they are already there, just waiting to reveal themselves. I would like to describe them as strong, free and inspiring personalities.

 

 

When I begin a painting, I rarely know what the subject is going to be. I play with the colors on the white canvas until I find the right feeling and color combination. Then I build layer upon layer, until I get a feeling of whom or what it is that speaks to me.

 

 

As the painting evolves, I start thinking more traditionally about how to build a composition and create values on the canvas. The hardest part for me is letting go and deciding when the painting is done.

 

 

Since my first solo exhibition in 2010, I have participated in several juried, compilation and separate exhibitions. Today, I work full time in my studio in Skellefteå, Sweden, and I’m grateful for having clients all over Sweden and the world.

 

 

I sell my art through galleries and my own website, where I also have a shop for signed fine art prints.

 

Artist Malin Ӧstlund invites you to follow her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

 

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