under the magnolia

Another enchanted spring day. After many days indoor with tax report and administration - or at my part-time job (gallery) - I finally managed to spend some time outdoor working under the magnolia. I'm trying to come up with a second suggestion for the commission for the hotel. Just to have something to show if he rejects my suggestion with the soldiers.

I'm not very concentrated though . At this time of the year - when nature is changing at such a speed that you might miss out on things if you blink - I always manage to have too many things to solve. This commission is not the only one I'm working on. Parallel to this one I have two other ones to solve - one waiting for a board to take a decision, the other one waiting for me to start sketching on it.

And we'll move again next week.

circus

Every spring the circus comes to town. I saw it last year.
But something new this year is Circus Violet

wood anemones

I was home from school having a fever. I was eight years old. The door rang. It was my best friend. She hold both hands behind her back. She smiled and showed me one of her hands; a bouquet of wild anemones for me. Then she showed me her other hand. It was cupped and full of just the flower heads of the wild anemones.

????

Two boys in my class had picked me flowers too - for her to bring to me. I felt this little motion in my chest. Robert had picked me flowers.

toy land

Have you seen the Jesus Sculpture they build of lego in a church in Sweden?

not today either

... was there any time for drawing or anything creative (can't be creative with bookkeeping ...or rather don't want to take that risk). I've had a quick look in a book I found about "Manga Masters" though. Could see their working spaces and read their lists of materials.

So far I've had no response when it comes to my Manga workshops. Is this to be yet another thing leading nowhere?

drawing ...

... has not been part of today's fun activities. No: just numbers and calculations (bookkeeping and closure). And now it's time for more administration (invoices to write etc). This is not the way to live as an artist - I dream of the day when I can pay someone else to do these things for me!

and the location

The wall is kind of small and in the stairs (click to see the photo montage bigger). My idea with the soldiers is to continue the motion upwards as there is always a risk of "stopping the flow" with a painting in such a location. This will also make the soldiers less aggressive as they, on the first encounter, are going the same direction as the spectator . I want to paint them in a shifting blue (see last post), not like in this photo.

But right now I'll have to take a break from this work - I just can't postpone finishing my bookeeping and closure for 2008 any longer.

screenprinting for ideas

Variations on the same theme for the mural (click the photos to see bigger). I like the soldiers on their own best. Just a shape and blueish, but still enough. Though I have a suspicion the client wants something more than that.

the sisters

"see no evil" and "hear no evil"

hide and seek

I actually took two full days off during easter. It was sunny and lazy.

Tomorrow I'm off to Formakademin in Lidköping to guest teach (screenprinting) for three days. I'm right now preparing all the stuff I can work with those days at night (like the mural I mentioned in yesterday's post) - as I will not be distracted by family matters.

first sketches

I'm working on my first sketches for a mural. It's for a hotel by the water. The area has a history of military importance. So: I'm thinking 18th century soldiers, the sea and trees - like a stage ... with different layers in the scenery. (A bit like this mural I made in 2006.) I painted the different layers separately so after scanning I can continue testing my ideas in photoshop. I don't feel super excited about the idea right now, but you have to start somewhere, don't you?

[it has to be fairly subtle and connected to the area ... so no female superheroes or references to branding.]

Happy Easter!

If you feel like participating in a project: the how not to cookbook
Participate with a lesson learned the hard way (like coming home a bit tipsy at night and starting to boil pasta ... and just lying down for a rest while waiting - to wake up to a kitchen on fire!). This book project is by Aleksandra Mir - In 1995 I participated in her project Life is Sweet in Sweden.

Happy Easter!

= 1 screenprint

the drawing "say no evil" became a screenprint last week (click to see bigger) printed on papers 25 x 20 cm. And so became her sisters "see no evil" and "hear no evil".

1+1+1

[...been to the dentist ... can not talk ... wisdoms tooth...]

my weekend at KKV

KKV (artists' collective workshops) consists of several different departments - like the bronze casting where I took these the photos. I'm always so tempted by the casting courses, but I resist for now as I have too many projects going on anyway ...

This weekend there was no bronze casting course at KKV, but my screenprinting course. I had overestimated my students' computer skills, I was too generous with papers but had not enough tape. And they used sooo much yellow and white screenprinting colour, but almost no magenta. But otherwise there were no surprises and I think I had made the right preparations. And they seemed very pleased with the course! But the next one I'll give at KKV in a month will be even better (more tape!!)

Two things that were very different from teaching at other levels:

• they did not question my authority in the field (other kind of students - except toddlers - always start out with a very sceptical attitude)
• they were not at all curious about me as a person (...or they had already googled me?)

sun and screenprinting

I'm up from the basement for now, but I promise I'll go and dig up some other stuff later. Having spent so much time in the dark (basement) I was almost blinded by the spring sun today. I've been screenprinting at KKV all day. I think I got some influences from the finds in the basement - there is definitely something 50's over the colours I chose today.

Tomorrow night and all Saturday and Sunday I'll be giving a screenprinting workshop for fellow artists at KKV. I have the experience of teaching wild toddlers, reluctant or focused teenagers, happy amateurs and devoted art students - but never other artists . I wonder if it will be different?

found in the basement 4

Divisorex
not as sensational as yesterday's device, but it still has that little extra.

What you see is what you get. I bought an apple today that looked just like on the picture - to try Divisorex out. How could I ever make apple pie without it? I haven't tested it on pears yet. It says it can slice both.