Where do you live?

I live in Sweden's idyllic Bohuslän. It's Sweden's westernmost province and known as Old Norway.

Bohuslän is a gem on the west coast of Sweden. It stretches along the west coast of Sweden from Gothenburg to the Norwegian border. Bohuslän is a seaside paradise celebrated for its seafood delicacies, cultural heritage and numerous outdoor activities.

Bohuslän is located on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the west, and the county of Østfold, in Norway, to the north.

Bohuslän boasts an extensive archipelago studded with over 8,000 islands and skerries. The coastline is famed for its smooth rock formation and picturesque fishing villages dotted with red boathouses. But there are also forests, meadows, wetlands and lush nature reserves to discover, including Kosterhavet National Park’s marine nature reserve – the first of its kind and one of the hidden gems of Sweden.

To me, it's simply - heaven.

What is your connection to Sweden?

My father is Swedish, I spent many years of my childhood here. I have happy childhood memories playing in nature, painting, baking, celebrating Midsummer, and singing Santa Lucia and Lusse Lelle at school. I grew up by the sea outside Gothenburg where I lived in Näset and Särö. I love Sweden's west coast culture, the seafood, and the diverse natural landscape from Halland to Bohuslän. Many of my family today and in past generations have lived by the coast. My Mother is from Northumberland, England. With Northumberland's rich Viking history, my Mum shares the same love as I do for Scandinavian culture and Old Norway.

Do you speak Swedish?

I speak Swedish very well but I'm not 100% fluent. Since I moved to England at the age of 10, my Swedish suffered. For the most part, I speak Swedish with the locals and through in some English words if I don't know how to say it in Swedish.

The challenging part about where I live is the strong Bohuslän dialect because it has been influenced by Norweigen. From 1658 to 1814, Bohuslän was part of Norway, and this period left lasting linguistic traces in the local dialect. Fascinating!

Why did you decide to move to a small island in the North Sea?

Since my parents divorced in 2001, I have spent 4 weeks every summer on the island of Smögen visiting my Dad. I spent my summers swimming, fishing, grilling, playing the guitar with my Dad, biking around with my cousins, admiring the magical sunsets, and starry night skies. I have not lived in Sweden since I was 10 years old, but the love and connection remained strong in my heart throughout my adult years. And now I'm here to stay. This is home and always will be.

Summering in Smögen was what I looked forward to the most each school year. I really looked forward to running across the rocks barefoot and feeling the wind in my hair. In the nature here I felt free. With all the external expectations and the stress of my parent's divorce, being in nature on the island of Smögen was where I felt I could finally breathe.

Four months after moving to Sweden in 2024, I bought a house! Smögen has become very built up over the years. I craved even more nature and quiet, especially during the Summer since Smögen is a very popular summer destination. But because Smögen is a big source of inspiration for my art, I wanted to stay close to my roots. So I bought an old 19th century farmhouse ten minutes from the island. It was built in 1860 and runs on well water and is not connected to the local water supply. I am surrounded by sea minerals in the air, and my dream is turn this place into a little self sufficient homestead and a healing retreat for people to stay. I have a little cottage that is available to rent on AirBnB.

Now I have the best of both worlds! Farm and Sea! I feel so blessed.

In some strange way, I feel like my ancestors are welcoming me home again.

When did you decide to pursue entrepreneurship as an artist?

In 2023, I felt burnt out. I had recently left my steady city job in London. With my paychecks I bought my first professional camera and decided I wanted to pursue my childhood passions: photography, filmmaking and painting. I had found my medium but I lacked inspiration. What was my muse? I was at a creative stand-still. I felt like I was forcing inspiration, which every artist knows doesn't work. As soon as I returned home to the island in the North Sea, the inspiration flowed in as effortless and continuous as the sea waves. This showed me how important location is for my art. I learned that as an artist, I need to have an emotional connection to the things that inspire my art. It wasn't enough to think about the place, I had to be there. I had to live it and capture it right there in the present moment. Through this interactive process, my senses came alive and every day I feel inspired to artistically capture the soul of this place as an expression of gratitude.

How did you know this is what you wanted to do?

I think it's as simple as asking yourself what you enjoyed doing as a child. As we grow up, our instinct and intuition is drummed out of us. As artists we are sensitive and feel the world around us very deeply. That is why I believe coming home to ourselves can be simply opening ourselves up to past loves.

I believe this to be a form of inner child healing. It helped me get me back to my creative spirit. I remember one summer when I was 14 years old, I knew I wanted to be a local artist and live on the island. But shortly after expressing this dream aloud, came a lot of doubt and pressures to perform in society. This mindset got in the way of my artist by the sea dream. I spent years living in cities and working professional jobs that weren't aligned with my soul purpose. As a result I suffered a great deal of autoimmune symptoms. But ever since I recommitted to my island artist dream, my symptoms magically disappeared. I have never felt more at peace and filled with purpose and energy.

What is your heritage?

Swedish and English. My Dad is from Gothenburg, Sweden and my Mum is from the Northeast of England. My Mum is of Scottish and Irish descent. I finding the blending of cultures beautiful and it shapes my art. As I mentioned, there was a large Scandinavian influence in the Northeast of England after the Viking era, so now I embrace my Nordic family history and culture to gain a sense of belonging and identity. I express this, as well as my gratitude for this healing coastal nature in my artwork.

What does creation mean to you?

Right now, healing powers! Expressing myself is helping me grow into my authentic self. To me authenticity is building a life aligned with my true self: my true talents, my true essence, my true state of being, my worthiness.

My online presence allows me to be creative through expressing voice, and my love for this area. Being creative is my path to authenticity, so this blog and my YouTube channel means everything to me. It helps me be, me! Then I also want to express the magic I feel in this part of the world, and the lifestyle that comes with rural living on the Swedish west coast. Hopefully with time, this blog will bring me an income so I can continue doing what I love, in the place that I love. Where I feel most at home and at peace with myself.

What is your vision for 2025?

I'm passionate about building an artist brand rooted in authenticity, inspiration, and the power of creative expression—helping others connect with deeper aspects of themselves, and for artists to feel safe and inspired in the creative process. Reconnecting with nature where my ancestors walked before me, and reconnecting with my childhood roots has shown me the path forward in life.

So much about art is emotion, so to feel grounded and emotionally safe within ourselves is an important foundation for an artist. 2024 was truly a journey of learning to ground within myself. To come home to myself. With nature's help, I find my footing again.

I truly feel in my heart that my experience last year helped me lay the foundation for my future artwork. I'm really looking forward to this new chapter in life.

I would greatly appreciate it if you could subscribe and support my journey this year on YouTube. Thank you to all those who are watching and helping me make my vision come to life through creativity and healing by the North Sea. Where Kattegat meets Skagerrak. See you there?

Why do you prefer blogging over Instagram?

With blogging I feel I have a little safe space on the internet where I can express myself, free from comparing myself to others on social media. Of course, I need to be present there to market my content and artwork, but it’s not my “digital home base.” I wanted my blog to be a diary of this phase of my life.

Many people don't realise that Instagram and Facebook could shut down, and then all the media dies with it! I doubt those platforms are going anywhere, but it still feels good to know that I own my online content by having my own self-hosted space. Also it frees me up from comparison and allows me to create from my soul.

I also find the blogs are like a breath of fresh air these days. Everything feels like a traffic jam on Instagram and TikTok. It’s so congested and over-stimulating that I get what I call “inspiration fatigue.” And in a strange way, I feel like I lose my authentic voice there because imposter syndrome kicks in. So my blog is like a little slice of heaven, for me. And hopefully, for others too.

And lastly, I wanted to share my story of growing into my authenticity. I think the world needs more stories to help readers find who they are, and inspire them to be their true selves in the world. A lot of people in today’s modern world don’t know who they are. Writing today is still as important as it was thousands of years ago. So I hope my words inspire people to reconnect to their authentic selves through following their everyday joys in life. I truly believe that when you do more of what you love, who you are is revealed to you. So I hope my art and words inspire many around the world to embrace their creativity and authenticity.