rewarding myself

Yesterday I bought myself this big watercolour set. I've had my eyes on it for some time now and had promised myself to get it as a reward if my exhibit went ok. I sold most of my watercolour/acrylics - so the reward makes sense. I had actually not been very fond of watercolours other then for sketches when on journeys - until I started teaching it last autumn. I had - of course - to give it a chance again. I made some small portraits I didn't mind (as I'm not into lanscapes and such) and reminded myself that I really appreciate Lars Lerin (I don't find a website - maybe he has none?).

BUT: the turning point came when I saw Joachim Carlsson's exhibit "Rak Regnbåge"at Galleri Thomassen in April. Big, mixed media, playful.

Just a month later I started making my own mixed media watercolours. Thanks Joachim!

Halloween

Thought this wolf would be fitting for Halloween - it's one of the sketches of the animals for the enamels I keep referring to (yes - they showed the good taste and went just for the animals!) . Check this out for Halloween.

tree art

I've finished my idea for the preschool - the deadline is 1st of November... so I have some time to double check things. My suggestion is a tree for every department; a two dimensional tree made in painted plywood. The idea is that it covers a whole wall from floor to ceiling. The tree is naked - so to say - and is supposed to "be dressed" by the children and their teachers. It might be covered with drawings and photos, animals and leaves, letters and numbers etc. And then of course a tree has many symbolic meanings - I 've written a page about it in my explanation. Let's hope I'll get this one!

My suggestion is practical and pedagogical, but tree art can also be more poetic (my opinion).

Commissioned art and animals

Today I've spend all day in front of the computer working on two different suggestions for public art:
- one is the enamels for the eleven entrances I'm working on since summer
- the other is for the Open Call for a preschool.

I keep coming up with other ideas ... kind of like spin offs, like the mirrored deer above. A blue watercolour has become solid red and voilà: Xmas. But I should work with the sketches for the enamels - I'm meeting my "clients" Thursday morning to show how I'm advancing. I want to make the animals from the Aesir Cult only, but they would like to have some Goods as well. Which I think risks becoming kitschy - and suddenly all of my efforts of making Oden (the main Good) is sooo kitschy ... Help - let's hope that's not what they want. There are a lot of kitschy things on internet when it comes to animals - check this link out for example.

And then there's the idea for the preschool. I'm working on a tree the children could interact with. But more about that later. Got to work some more!

modeling clay

Bunny family with carrots. I've been playing with my son's modeling clay (and with him of course); and got so into it - that I'll have to get some for my studio! At the moment I'm trying to come up with some good ideas for art for a kindergarten (preschool). It's an open call so I'll be competing with quite a lot of other artists.

sketching manga

Two Manga girls I'm sketching for my Friday class. I'm basing the drawing on a H&M ad to show my students how you can work from photos of real people (that is if models are real?). Japanese Art when we make money not art writes about it.

Review of my exhibit

Today you can read the review of my exhibit in Borås Tidning. (It is in Swedish - of course.) The review is a very good one; so I'm happy.

Workshop

Last week Eric and I were having this workshop for approximately 50 it-consultants. The workshop took place in the former old theater "Storan" and we had to be very careful with the delicate interior.
...So - this is what I dreamed the night before: Every centimeter of the old floor was covered with my grandmother's precious Persian carpets. The consultants were very non-collaborative and most refused to participate. They just hanged around - blasé - drinking wine and spilling on the carpet. The few - around six people - who actually painted spilled paint on the Persian carpets and walked around in it rubbing it in...

But of course my dream didn't come true. After a little hesitated start the consultants painted like pros. The photo's above are from that night.

Coffee and art

Last week Camilla Engman had three nice photos of different "fika" (that is coffee) on her blog. On Saturday I had a cup of Java (or at least something with caffeine) in Borås in a very non-trendy place: the Salvation Army's Café. I've been there every time I go to that town (which is like three times). Anyway - I thought of Camilla's nice photos - and decided this was one to share as well (above). It's very different. They don't know what caffè latte is, there is no French pastry or biscotti. The guy behind the counter got problems adding all the numbers handling a big order (not mine) - and said "let's say 100 crowns (10 euros) - that's a good deal for you"

Coffee as art.

Vernissage!

For you who can't come and see my exhibit: some photos. The gallery is very nice; divided into different rooms and with a lot of space. My paintings can breath.

For those of you who came: Thank you!

Exhibit tomorrow

Yesterday I hanged my exhibit. It opens tomorrow, but now it's "out of my hands" which is a relief. I'm very tired. Thank you so much Morgan for lending me your car (it was packed to the ceiling) to drive my art to Borås!

For those of you who can't come and see my at "live" I've finally updated my painting section.

Manga

On friday I'll give my first class in how to draw Manga and cartoons. This painting (cropped - and mine of course) is Manga inspired. Looking for asian art (Japanese and Chinese in particular) I came across we make money not art. I've visited that site/blog before. Always as interesting and entertaining. I do the opposite thuogh - make art not money!

framing

In less then a week I'm hanging my exhibit in Borås.

paperworks

I'm really lagging behind with my paperwork - I have this drawer where I just put everything right now. Just like I promised myself never to do again ... The photo shows lovely little paper creatures made by my better half. He made them for our son in the weekend.
Robert J. Lang makes painstaking ingenious origami. Must require a lot of patience and thought.

seeing Eric Magassa's exhibit

Sparkling wine and colourful paintings. Today I went to the opening of Eric Magassa's exhibit at Art Venue Gallery. Eric and I have this project together - livepainting - offering live painting as workshop and performance. In about two weeks we'll lead a workshop with 50-60 people.

Everything is happening at once for me now.
"ketchup effect"?

changed my mind

It's much better like this, isn't it?

big painting

So - it's now or never. Nay, not that serious but almost - I have to finish this painting this week if I want it in my upcoming exhibit. Oil on canvas needs time to dry...

And some good news: I sold the diptych I have in the group exhibit at the Basement in Västerås. Maybe the wind is turning?

Sprakared's Enamel Factory

On a narrow dust road, just outside the little village Kinnahult, lies a classical Swedish red wooden house with white corners. This is not any little house, but Sprakared's Enamel Factory. I drove there today to pick up the enamel plates I had ordered - black ones and white ones. They look very nice the way they are, but I hope they'll look even better after I've made my art on them!

We fought well ... but who won?

Two days of printing with the steamroller (that turned out to be another kind of "roller") are over. The wind and the non-collaborative papers were making it a bit difficult, but the second day we mastered the art and printed well. That day, Sunday, more people came to support us. It was fun and creative - now I just want to have my own steamroller to print with!

Thank you all for coming. We appreciated it even though we might have seemed a bit distant out of concentration .

Special Thanks to Visa Norros, Antti Veltheim - and of course my team buddy Mats Nielsen!

(Photos by Hector Mora and Ann Löwenstein.)

not advancing much

So - I've been trying to finish some paintings for my exhibit (in one month) but it's not really working. I don't get the "AHA, that's what's missing". Maybe I have too much other things on my mind (?): training hard and eating right (pasta) for the steamroller printing challenge - and preparing my watercolour classes for next week.

Best of The Basement

More things (then the steamroller printing) are happening on Saturday - I'm in a group exhibit at The Basement. The exhibit features: Björkbacka, Bandolin, Pettersson, Haukeland, Aldsjö, Nygren, Espling, Jarosz Laszlo, Hedberg, Fliesberg, Gaellman, Wahlberg, Nylander, Diagram.

I really like what Alexandra Jarosz Laszlo is doing. (Not saying the others are not good, of course)

when: 8-30 of september
where: The Basement, Västerås

Printing at the biennal

(which means in swedish "we need you at Röda Sten" "Sweden against Finland in steamroller printing. Starting at 11:00 the 8th of sept")

Me and Mats Nielsen are challenging the finnish Printing Masters Visa Norros and Antti Veltheim in steamroller printing at the Göteborg International Biennal for Contemporary Art 2007. We'll be outside Röda Sten - come and see us win!

New prints on my website

New screen print "Spiderman"

I've started reworking my website - first out is my graphic section. Now there are more prints to be seen then before and divided into two sections: screen and copper.

Enamels for the entrances

Good News. They want me to go on with my ideas for the entrances. I'll work on the version in enamel - maybe in a indiogo blue tone instead of black. I ordered more enamel plates and enamel screen colours today.

back to business

a mother with two children at the beach, île Rousse, Corsica.

after a fantastic week of sun, bathing and just being lazy I'm back in Gothenburg. It's sunny here now as well - I wear my new summerdress sitting in the closet (it's true!) in front of the computer. I'm fixing the last details on my presentation of my suggestion for 11 entrances. I'll present it tonight.

SUN - and going on vacation

finally it's summer... the sun is shining and it's warm outside.

The photo shows a job I did earlier this summer - and now it finaly looks like this in real life here in Gothenburg. Next week I'm going on vacation (île Rousse) and I'll try not to bring much work with me.

ideas for entrances

This week I'm working on some ideas for art pieces in eleven entrances (in the same building). I chose the theme "animals from the Aesir Cult" as the streets in this nighbourhood are named after the Goods from the Viking's old religion. I'm working on sketches in different styles and I consider different materials. Could be applied on glas in exterior lamps, on enamel - or as siluettes in metall?

new screen prints

Finished my screen printing session - the one I was sketching for in May turned out like this. All together eight new editions plus three versions I'll work a little extra on in watercolour. I'm not adding them all to my website yet as I have to rework the site's stucture first. Hopefully there will be time to do that in august!

screen printing

Working in the printing studio. This week it's been screen, next week it will be copper graphics. I'm advancing better then planned - might be the constant raining that gives me extra willpower. Last summer when I was printing I could see people having picknick and sunbathing ...

working in the studio

Detail from a big watercolour/acrylic.

Summer doesn't mean vacations. Not for me. I always make my best works when there is no one else in my studio (which I share) or in the printing studio (KKV). I'll soon have a lot of new material for my site. And for my solo show in October.

Live Painting

I'm now launching the project (and service) LIVE PAINTING together with Eric Magassa. We offer Live Paitning as Workshop or as Performance to companies etc. Check the link! (The site is in swedish - we are so far just aiming for the swedish market ;))

Superhero

This is a new watercolur/print/cutout in my "paper doll"-serie. I have to fix my website to find space to show these - they just don't fit under the headlines I have at present!