Color Matters The white canvas, still untouched by the paintbrush, can be scary. But most often, I conquer my fears and attack the canvas with great anticipation and determination. It's a wonderful feeling, when the passion for the colors take over and it just flows. Looking back, I guess the fearlessness has helped me throughout my life. From being the only female sales rep at IBM Sweden, to making the move to the US. From serving as the president of the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce in San Francisco, to deciding to pursue a lifelong passion for art. From starting out painting small watercolors, to moving on to create big, bold canvases. From wondering if anyone would even like my art, to selling to collectors and institutions in the US, Sweden, Mexico, Norway, Switzerland, UK, Spain, Germany and China. I have always loved colors. I've been inspired by the summers in the Stockholm archipelago with the long sunsets with skies in red, orange and gold. The many shades of green and blue. The fields of yellow. The subtle, shifting earth tones of the beautiful 300-year old houses in my hometown. But my greatest inspiration comes from all the people who have connected with my paintings and have responded instinctively. Like the man who was driving down a San Francisco street, saw one of my paintings in a gallery window, stopped his car, went inside and bought the picture - just like that. Or people like Wei Wei, China's biggest pop star, who saw my latest exhibit in Stockholm and picked out a painting for her apartment in Beijing. I am also inspired by my many springtime hikes up in Marin Headlands, the bright green hills covered with purple flowers. Turning west and I see the clear blue Pacific, and turning east the darker blue San Francisco Bay. Marie-Louise Ullmark