Lake Cabin Sepia Toned - Picture Stories

Introducing Picture Stories

The journey of honing the gift of painting

A little introduction

Hi, I’m Susan and I’d like to share a little with you about my painting. I started painting in Jr. high and High school and tested several different methods.

For over 10 years, my sister-in-law, her daughter, and I attended a three-day summer painting class at my former workplace, Gullbrannagården.

Before then I had dabbled in oil painting after taking a class for a term in a study circle. After testing acrylics, I soon found that I enjoyed them better as they are water-soluble and easy to clean without strong chemicals. Also, you can make it look like oil with more paint and less water, or like watercolors by using more water.

It is a flexible medium that dries quickly, allowing you to work faster and layer colors without risking bleeding or mixing. If you need the paint to dry slower you can add a Gel Medium (matte or glossy). The gel lengthens the drying time of the paint as well as making the texture more liquid and thinning the paint.

Video Introduction

In the video below I talk freely about a particular attempt at painting with acrylic paint. I have written in more detail, the thoughts I speak of, in the text below.

A parenthesis: Although I am American I have done most of my painting in Sweden. I have learned the painting terms in Swedish and have difficulties finding the right words in English. The word ‘canvas’ escapes me often for example among other words. I leave my language mistakes just for the fun of it. It might give someone a laugh who can understand the difficulties of being bilingual.

Read about Lake Cabin in Black and White

The painting I want to share with you, I painted during a course in 2014. The original is from a Gant advertisement. I’ve used several of their photos to learn to paint because they often have landscapes or seascapes with a building or other interesting objects. However, I have not learned to paint people as well as I would wish so I paint them out when possible.

Why paint in black and white?

After taking a three-day course every summer for 10 years, I have learned that I love color and normally use it a lot when I paint. I have made a personal book of my paintings to share with my family since they live in the States and can’t easily come to my house to see them. As you can see by the cover of my book, I do use a lot of color. This particular book version is in Swedish as I gave it to my parents-in-law. In 2014 my teacher challenged me to paint something not as colorful, preferably black and white or sepia.

I found a photo in black and white in a Gant magazine and thought that it would be a great one to use. Yes, the photo was in black and white or rather a sepia tone, but did I paint it black and white? No, I put color in it, in the trees, and a little color in the water and wood as well. That’s the way my brain works and the way I am. I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing.

Another Challenge

My teacher suggested I try a new method for me, in this painting. He said that you don’t always have to paint out to the edge of the canvas or frame of your painting. You can leave a white space around it, like a cloud, and then the painting seems to float in the middle of the canvas.

Detail of a wooden frame and white space around the painting

(I always forget the word canvas in English. It’s called pannå in Swedish)

Accepting the challenge, I tried to paint only in the center of the canvas and leave the outer edge white. I didn’t succeed in making the painting even so that it looked like it floated. It was stiff and too close to the edge at some points and too far away at others. It looked lopsided and awkward, simply terrible.

When not satisfied, frame it.

I decided I would need to frame the painting, hopefully giving it more balance. But how can you frame a painting that you are not satisfied with to hide a mistake? I’ve been trying to make frames out of wood. I am far from professional at it, but I think it’s fun.

With this painting in 2014, I was able to rescue the painting and solve the problem of building a frame by painting one instead. I made darker lines in pencil to enhance the angles and to make the illusion of a shadow.

It might look like an actual frame at a distance, according to some, but it is only painted.

Color your life then frame it

When it comes to colors, I was rather satisfied with how I made the water look. There is no blue in it, it’s brown, gray, and black. The way the shadows fell from the building and the docks made the water shift in color. I was satisfied that I was able to make it look like water even without giving it away by using blue.

Sometimes in life, we are not satisfied with the way things are.

We think 'the framework of my life is not working out'. I don’t have the right job or the right body or partner, friends, or church.

There are so many things around us that we can be disappointed with. We ask ourselves 'What am I supposed to do?' How am I supposed to change this for the better? Leaving my job would open me up to financial insecurity. Leaving my partner would hurt too much. I want to work things out and get on solid ground in our relationship. Changing churches won't help. As they say, if you find the perfect church, as soon as you join it won't be perfect anymore. So, what can I do?

Sometimes things aren't black and white

We must learn that sometimes, black and white isn’t always the method that works. Sometimes there is gray in life. Sometimes there is color. The more color we allow into our lives, the more hope and joy we will have to rely on. Color comes from the Lord and the wonderful gifts that He gives us, friends and the people around us, church and actually being able to gather in worship. During the pandemic, I think we learned to appreciate gifts like gathering at church and spending time with others.

We realize that we should be more grateful for these wonderful gifts that we have been taking for granted.

The partner we have, and that there was a time, and hopefully still is or will be a time again, that we are in love.

Different Kinds of Love

In love might be the wrong thing to call it. I’ve been married for 31 years (at the time I wrote this. We are now at 35 years in 2025) and the fresh, exciting feeling of being in love might have disappeared a bit. There is a deeper love, a love based on supporting and understanding each other.

A knowledge of always having the other person there when we need them.

The kind of love that grows deep roots and the love we have from the Lord Jesus Christ can give color to the black and white in our lives. It can help to be a framework for our lives so that we don’t feel like we are floating in insecurity.

So, remember when you are missing a frame, you can always paint it in there. I pray that the color in your life will always bring you joy.

Sharing Picture Stories

I plan on sharing my paintings and a little story of each here on my website. I hope that somehow, I can inspire you to use the gifts God has given you to spread joy and the knowledge of our Lord, giving others a desire to seek a deeper personal relationship with Him.

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