Art: Latest painting

This painting is in acrylic, 80x80 cm.
Sorry for not too good resolution.

Most of my paintings are about  the woman, her light and dark sides. I must admit I find the dark sides much more interesting to deal with as there are lots of secrets and tabus here.

The left side of the painting represents the woman's past. The right represents the future. The dog represents the intuition, the dog is the spiritual guide. (As you can easily see, Lea is used here as a model because I can "place" her in any position I want).

The woman here is trapped in her past and refuses to look into the future. The past works as her jail. The woman  lacks courage to acknowledge her own power and get out of her self-destructive thoughts and actions. The shoes taken off symbolize the woman's denial of her own capacities  (sexually, socially, economically, artistically, etc). She has no face which also implies she may be seen upon as   an object.

Look at the dog: it is almost like it says: hurry up, come with me, I am leaving  if you don't wake up. I'm waiting maybe a minute more and then I'm gone.

But there also is a hope represented by the ancient ruin which is about to fall. We can see the first falling stones. One can find a parallel with "The Tower" card in Tarot. The card tells your present is about to collapse, and most people fear this card. But this is often a misinterpretation. In order to change one's life to the good, you often need to destroy the bad.

Contact me if you may be interested in purchasing this work, framed or unfraimed. I can provide high-resolution photo with all the details, as they are rather hard to see here.

The message

Our day began at the vet clinic X-raying Lea's chest. I got a lead coat and helped holding her head and paws as she had to lie down completely still.

My little girl was very well-behaved and we managed to X-ray her very quickly. One photo on each side, one laying on her back and one laying on her tummy. Four altogether.

Needless to say I dreaded the phone call from the vet all day. At times it was literally impossible to concentrate on work.

She called at one o'clock bringing the bad news: they found a pie-sized shadow in her lungs. Her last X-ray was in March and the chest was clear then.

We had a long talk about the chemo. It is the only option they offer Lea. Intraveniously every third week. The thing is that they cannot cure her, just prolong life for about 3-5 months. Tears, tears.

I am very lucky to have a very skilled veterinarian with a doctor degree in oncology who has been following my dog for two years, ever since she got her first small limp. I am very grateful the vet  is completely honest with me and informs well about what the options are and how the chemo works. It appears that the medicine kills not only the aggressive cancer cells but also cells of bone marrow and small intestines (as these cells also grow very quickly). The bone marrow and intestines recover but the dog will of course have symptoms and reduced life quality.

I asked for some time thinking about the option. But I am certain I am not going to say yes to the chemo. The money is absolutely no option, I have been paying big $$$ for Lea for the past two years on the operations that worked well. I would luckily pay again. But it has to give some meaning. With this treatment I simply cannot find any. Nobody can trick death. I don't know what's best: dying from cancer or from a stoke or a heart failure being too old.

I hope Lea would agree with me if she could talk, she hates being a patient. I know she would prefer running and playing as long as she can instead of lying down miserable and throwing up all day. I would wish the same if I were her.

This is what Lea wants :

In the afternoon we went to a beautiful walk. Running, swimming, playing.

 No leash, just good time!

And raw beef for dinner. Yes, dog life can be perfect, too :)

Midsummer weekend in Sweden

We had a wonderful Midsummer weekend in Sweden visiting my friend Angela and her family at their beautiful house near Malmo. According to the Swedish tradition the  Midsummer weekend  is celebrated in the countryside.

On the midsummer Friday everybody leaves town, the shops close 14:00 and after that time the towns look strangely deserted. We do not have the same tradition in Norway, so this weekend was very special to us.


Just arrived and very excited :)











After a wonderful meal  there was Kubb - a typically Swedish physical game with wooden sticks  (where we untrained Norwegians were doomed to loose). Actually, the more wine the easiest to hit the cube. I guess we just did not drink enough :)

Lea run like crazy all day chasing cats and playing ball. She has so much energy! 

After physical exercise - some mental exercise, too! Lots of fun and mental challenges.

Next morning the bravest of the two house cats showed up.

Lea just cannot figure out why they do not want to play with her. This is soooo egoistic of them, isn't it!

On Saturday we went to the old university town of Lund and visited the historic museum. 

We were amazed how beautiful and lush the old Lund looked. The town was originally Danish, this explains its continental look.

Lea, alert curious as always, at the museum cafe. Here with my friend Angela.

After this a wonderful meal at Angela's home, an evening run at the bird reserve and just good  relaxing evening. We played Kubb, hitting a bit better this time.  And Lea was having most enjoyable time.

Sunday began with a morning run. After breakfast we went to a guided walk at the 500 years old Torup castle listening to the dark secrets of the past. 

After a little lunch a 2 km walk in a wast castle forrest among magnificent old trees, dark swamps and light fields and meadows.

Unwillingly had we to say good-buy and drive 7 hours back to Oslo. 

We loved  being in Skåne. 

Thank you, Angela, my dear friend, for giving us this wonderful experience.

A beautiful day

Today is a beautiful summer day   - and we have a day off tomorrow!


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Still, my working day began with tears. Had to ask my boss for a couple of hours free on monday. Told about the cancer findings on my dog and so on. Went to my office and started crying.

It got better towards the end of the working day, had a specially meaningful session with one client. I work as a health professional, and very often when I help people, I feel I also help myself.


Got home in a very good mood and had a wonderful afternoon walk
with Lea in the neighbourhood. As usual, she rolled a lot on the loan
and eat lots  of grass. And looked soooo happy! :)
Crazy dog!

I am so grateful for each and every day she is with us!

Today I decided to start a blog. After a veterinarian called and told me bad news about my dog. Her cancer had spread into one of her lymph nodes.

It is not the first time I have to deal with this cancer news. Lea is a 10 years old mixed breed and already has been living with cancer mammae for 2 years. During this period she had to undergo a number of operations removing even the smallest limps from her mammal tissue.

So far we thought we had control, the body scans were good showing no spreading. But today the vet mentioned "chemo" for the first time and it really really scared me.

All I want is good life quality for my dog, she is so lovely and happy - all the time! She is big inspiration and source of happiness for me.

Here she is, photographed on the eve of her 10th birthday this year - april 20, 2013. My lovely lovely girl! :)

We decided to take a body scan next monday. Depending on what we find, there can be raised a question on chemo. I am trying not to think of this, this is like a very bad dream. The money is no option, I will pay whatever it takes, like I already did for these two years. It is just the responsibility for causing her pain I do not seem to be able to deal with. So far - we are  waiting what monday will bring.

So this is myself, the pet owner. 40 years old, engaged, and right now pretty anxious about what future will bring.

The shadow pretty much reflects my state of mind right now. It is my fiancee who took this picture in may 2013.

Honestly, I have no clear idea about what to blog. I will give it a go. Have lots of interests and stuff I do. Let this be simply a beginning.