Saturday, October 24, 2009

Day 2 (Saturday)

initial sketch for the boat (after Rembrandt's painting of a storm)



Painting and reflecting...
It's not like I'm doing any high art here... 15 year ago I would never had imagined me painting a mural in a staircase. No way! I would rather have worked like a cleaning lady at night. But reality changes you...

But of course I wasn't happy when one of the guest at the hotel praised my painting and compared it with those of a painter who has made many murals here in Gothenburg. (I don't want to mention any names) Those paintings are kitsch and not even working when it comes to proportions and perspective. But on the other hand. This mural I'm painting right now is on the border to kitsch...and the placement is of course not helping. I'm trying to see it as functional art and buying myself time in my studio. (I won't show the painting to the art council!)

I've been listening to Artist Talks from Tate at my ipod while painting.

6 comments:

aimee said...

it looks great to me. i hope you'll show us the final mural from a distance when you finish!

Veja cecilia said...

jag tycker den lilla båten bär på en hel uppsjö av uttryck. den är helt enkelt jättefin!

Anairam said...

Wow, I think this mural looks great - and it must be quite stunning in that corner of the staircase! Why are you so critical of it? And why do you think it borders on kitsch? I would love to know why the topic of the painting was chosen for that particular spot - did you post about if previously?

ste-pha-nie said...

Mural art is underrated. It's fun to do too - I used to do murals with my boyfriend (now husband) and I miss those long afternoons, evenings. We had so much fun.

Alexandra Hedberg said...

Stephanie - It is not that I mean that murals always are crappy. I just meant there are a lot of murals that are not good...

And with this mural I feel a bit frustrated - I'm not really allowed to do what I would have liked to do. It has to please most people. But you could instead consider it an illustration maybe?

nathalie et cetera said...

Oh la la c'est beau ! I guess commissioned work always has it's loads of frustrations. I am rarely completely happy with my work. Too much restrictions from the clients...