There are moments when a brushstroke is more than paint on paper.
It is a declaration.
A choice to not stand motionless by the side of the road.
To not desire with reserve.
To not spare ourselves – now or ever.
Mario Benedetti’s poem Do Not Spare Yourself echoes like a quiet roar through the soul. It is a passionate call to fully live – to resist the seductive lull of comfort, stillness, and detachment. A reminder that life asks us to show up, again and again, even when it’s inconvenient, uncomfortable, or unknown.
In the recent art exhibition “Potential of the In-Between,” this idea found color and shape.
Watercolor – so often seen as soft – became radical when transformed in the digital world. Each translucent layer revealed not just beauty, but courage: stories of hope, personal cartographies, pastel worlds, edgewalkers, sentinels, and the sacred spaces between.
The in-between became the stage for possibility. Each painting seemed to whisper:
“You are still becoming. Don’t stop now.”
Women, Diser, and Future Ancestors
On International Women’s Day, we turned our attention to the women who came before us – and those we are becoming. We honored the Diser, the ancestral, mythic protectors of Nordic tradition, who wove unseen threads between past and future. They were guardians of destiny, but also keepers of memory, of strength, of potential.
We reflected on our own guiding lights – our Guiding Stars – the women who shaped us, challenged us, inspired us. These weren’t just names in history books, but also the foremothers in our own families, those whose presence continues to echo through our choices and courage.
We recalled women like Fredrika Bremer, whose advocacy for women’s education opened doors long kept closed. Selma Lagerlöf, the Nobel Laureate who proved storytelling could break boundaries. Hilma af Klint, whose visionary art remained unseen for decades but now lights the path for future creatives. Alva Myrdal, whose diplomatic work helped redefine peace. Astrid Lindgren, who championed not only children’s rights but the right to wonder. None of these women spared themselves. They moved beyond what was expected. They painted outside the lines of their time and, in doing so, created new futures for all of us.
In their presence, we asked ourselves the quiet but essential question:
“What kind of ancestor do I want to be?”
Water as a Metaphor: Flow, Memory, and Mirror
On International Water Day, we shifted our attention to another presence – water – the very element we are mostly made of. Water moves through us and around us. It flows, adapts, remembers. We paused to consider its quiet teachings. What happens in us when we still ourselves like a mirror-lake? What can we learn from water’s softness – the kind that cuts through stone?
We reflected on how 71% of our planet is water, yet only a fraction is drinkable. How our bodies, too, are made of water – flowing rivers in human form. How water, always seeking balance, becomes a metaphor for transformation, both physical and emotional.
In our reflections, we asked: Can I live more like water – soft, strong, seeking flow? What becomes visible in me when I pause in stillness? Water doesn’t rush to conclusions. It takes the shape of what it enters. It lives in the space between solid and vapor. And it reminds us that transformation lives in the in-between – between old and new, certainty and possibility.
Tomorrow Begins in the In-Between
As the exhibition reached its crescendo, we stepped into perhaps the most mysterious of all spaces: the future. Not as a far-off destination, but as something quietly forming within our present. In a world filled with disruption and acceleration, it’s tempting to retreat into comfort. To look away. But the future doesn’t wait. It emerges with every thought, every gesture, every decision.
We explored the ideas from Tomorrowmind – not as a trend, but as a mindset. We spoke of prospection, our ability to imagine futures before they arrive. Of resilience, and the way we grow through challenge, not despite it. Of innovation, not as invention for its own sake, but as a dance with the unknown. We recognized the strength we draw from each other, our social connections – the web of support that holds us up. And we anchored it all in meaning – the deeper “why” that connects our actions to something greater than ourselves.
None of these capacities thrive in isolation. They grow in the space between us. In reflection. In art. In shared breath. In choosing presence over protection. And it is in this space – this in-between – that we begin to co-create what’s next.
The Final Brushstroke (Is Never the Last)
The physical exhibition closes – but its story is far from over. It continues in the homes where paintings now hang, in the quiet moments stirred by reflection, and in the brushstrokes we have yet to make.
As Leonardo da Vinci once said, “Art is never finished, only abandoned.” The same is true of life. Of leadership. Of becoming. There is always another stroke to add, another edge to soften, another light to let in.
So thank you.
To every one of you who paused. Who entered the in-between. Who stood at the water’s edge and met your reflection with open eyes. Who didn’t spare yourselves.
If your curiosity lingers, enter the Potential of the In-Between Viewing Room — and let the artworks continue the quiet conversation within you.
Next Stops: Virtual. Barcelona. Danderyd. Maybe Tylösand & Stockholm?
The journey continues. Not just geographically, but inwardly – digitally and physically, in new spaces and new hearts. Because each time we choose imagination over apathy, reflection over retreat, presence over perfection, we blend past and future.
One brushstroke at a time. And if you’re ready to not spare yourself…
Step Into the Story — Discover Where Novisali’s Art is Currently and Soon on Display
Related earlier blogposts
About Novisali
Novisali, (alias Liselotte Engstam), is besides her roles as professional board member and advisor, a multi-media artist, with a curious, explorative mind and an ambition to learn and extend art experiences to current and new audiences using both traditional and new digital mediums. More information and exhibitions can be found via Novisali.com
This blog post was is also shared at the blog of www.liselotteengstam.com, with the artist name Novisali.