photos from the opening (children's book exhibition)

cutting of the ribbon to inaugurate the exhibition

me reading (photo Angelica Olsson)

Reading my own book (photo Angelica Olsson)

children's books exhibit!

Saturday 16 March at 11:00 Bokskåpet Värmlandsgatan 20 / Tredje Långgatan 29, Göteborg Welcome!

(Me and my fellow students at the HDK course "Illustrated Children's Books" will exhibit spreads from our books and dummies. The exhibit will last until March 29)

spring and screen printing

This week we've had an amazing light and you can smell spring - even though it's still a bit cold. I'm teaching screen printing all week at a course in how to make art for public spaces/how to get public commissions at KKV. 

you still have a week left to apply for my summer course at HDK in big format screen printing >>

bye bye old studio

Time for new adventures for both of us.

Exhibition coming up: children's books

my son wanted to take part when I was taking photos of my paper cuts for my book  "Allra Bästaste vänner". I've been working far too much lately so he's been pissed off: "you love working first, then me"

In two weeks (counting from Saturday) I will participate in an exhibition of children's books at Bokskåpet. I'm exhibiting together with my talented fellow students from HDK (that excellent course I followed last semester). Not only will we exhibit spreads from our books, some of us will also read from our books.

Here you can read all about it and see an image compilation (click on "Bildspel visa" in the upper right corner)

moving to my new studio

new studio

.... versus old studio The moving is fairly easy - I'm moving to a new studio in the same building on the same floor. I've been having my studio here for 3,5 years, worked here for 6 separate exhibitions - and it was simply getting too small. ... but the big question is; will my new studio still seem big after all my stuff gets in there?

Time to apply for my summer course in screen printing at HDK!

Summer will be here faster than you might think ... - You can already now apply for the course in screen printing big format that I will teach at HDK during June and August! The course is in collaboration with KKV (artists' collective workshops) where the actual printing will take place.  How to apply >> blog for the course (where you can see what we did the other years) >>

simplified

On demand I've simplified my suggestion for that art piece in the stairs of a school (photo montage above). Let's hope they'll go for this one. And yes, this girl is still working every day! I've been so busy I've not even been active on Instagram ... Tomorrow I'm starting a new creative school project - a wall painting project again. And next week - yes yes yes!!! - I'll start moving into my new studio!

some photos from my exhibition + review

Yesterday there was a review of my exhibition in Borås Tidning. A review that I'm very happy about! ... and just some minor things that weren't really correct - or misunderstandings; I might not have been as clear about things as I thought (?) (what you might wonder? The ex-Beatle Paul MacCartNEy hasn't had any influence on my art - I mentioned though that an art critique had compared how I treated a subject to Paul MacCarthy... And the only one I've consciously glanced at while painting is Bacon. Saville/Freud are good painters though. And - yes, I've put money aside to be able to put together this exhibition as I've worked for it for two years - being an investment that can't pay off until exhibited - but I wouldn't say I've used my savings ... haven't had any savings the last 10 years making a living as an artist. This said - probably just me who cared or noticed. The important thing after all is that I felt this journalist understood my paintings!)

Welcome to my opening tomorrow!

Yesterday we finished hanging my exhibition. Welcome to the opening tomorrow 12:00-16:00 Galleri Jeanette Ölund Österlånggatan 16 Borås If you can not come to the opening, don't worry; you have until the 2nd of March!

how busy should you appear to be?

almost done today with the model for my suggestion for a public art piece for a school (presentation on Friday)

I almost didn't get asked to sketch for this commission as the art consultant thought, when reading my blog in December, that I probably was too busy  ... (She didn't know about my super powers)

transport box

We made three - for the signs

process photos

Sometimes - especially when you need to take breaks to wait for something like paint to dry - you can not help to notice the beauty in the process.

so much more ...

... than just mounting the paintings ; fix with cables, wall montage, plexiglass back side,build transport boxes, paint the covers white, fix extensions and extra florescent light tubes ...

closer and closer

my exhibition is moving closer and closer. I've scheduled 3 days this week and one day next week to finish those last things in my studio. And then in between I try to enter another room in my mind and work on my sketch for the public commission. But I must admit I feel a bit absent minded. Today I couldn't count properly 12 items - I got it to 11 even when recounting! ...  I've updated my website! (Had a *** of a time to get my transparent paintings look ok with the white shiny background you get on the screen). Not all the new work is there yet, but it will have to do for now.

sketching, sketching

... I've been working on this for many days, but sometimes it feels like I'm just moving papers around or cutting them into pieces. This is a tricky one as you won't be able to see the whole art piece from any place. It will be more like you see fragments - so I try to make interesting fragments that you can read as a whole while walking the stairs, coming from a corridor etc. And having some surprises. I enjoy this challenge!

...like having Leonardo da Vinci as your dad

white balanced photo

in reality the colour tones appears differently because of the light conditions

I'm right now working on a suggestion for a public commission; an art piece to be in the stairs of a school (for students age 6-16). Yesterday I went to the school to check how some colours appear on the actual location,  to make some real life size tests (no, the art piece is not going to be in brown paper ...) and to double check some measurements.  I got some helpers (age around 7-8)  who turned up every break to assist me - and ask questions. Today I realized that some of the measurements were really weird ... but it doesn't matter; as one boy totally made my day: - Wow - you are an ARTIST! Having you as mum is like having Leonardo da Vinci as your dad! WOW! That is so cool! Do you also construct and invent things? here I was so tempted to totally lie, but said:  - I can also build some things, yes - You are very lucky to not be living in France because there girls are not allowed to be artists at all! At least not 2 years ago. ????  - I didn't know that, I said this also made me smile: Famous paintings improved by Cats .... I'm so cool ....

soon moving to a bigger studio

In the end of February I'm moving to a bigger studio - almost twice the size of what I have now! The studio is being constructed right now and I've also asked for having a special storage built. I will use one of the walls just for storage, but in order not to "loose" a wall I've asked to have sliding doors (actually sliding walls) at 1 meter's distance from the wall and behind that I will hide everything that might distract me. (I don't know if I managed to explain that properly ...anyway it's the wall on the right in the top photo) I'm super excited about my new studio and lay at night dreaming how great it will be with that storage and how nice my new studio will be ...

children's book - check!

we all made small folded fanzines as business cards - and gifts Yesterday I presented my children's book for my class mates and several publishing houses. I got excellent feedback, but as I had expected I was also told it is not an easy story (too dangerous). Both Friday and Thursday were nothing but presentations (all together 16). Everyone had made so great books and it was such a pleasure to see the final results! I would be surprised if not several will end up being published... This has been the best course I have ever taken and I have learned so much. It's been several years since I studied at university level and now I really think I should take some more independent courses (though I can't expect them to be as great as this one!) But right now I have to clean my mind and concentrate on writing a short text for my up-comig exhibition.

exhibition countdown; one month left

Right now I'm finishing those last things - and taking photos of new smaller works

sketches

for the storyboard for my children's book

Happy New Year!

(my great grandmother in 1904. I've written about her before here)

working, working ...

(my children's book)

fishes

sinking

Merry Christmas!

work in progress; children's book

I actually decided to go for another script than originally intended (that other project needs more time, and will be saved for later) - and made it easier for myself that way. Hard is not always best

(if anyone wonders; I didn't get any heavenly revelation for my public commission the other day ... but it might still come)

three parallel creative projects

I thought I would now just concentrate on two things - my children's book and my upcoming exhibition - but NO. I've now been asked to sketch for a public commission - which I'm very happy about  - YES! With deadline in the end of January (ooops!) It will be a true challenge for me to concentrate on three parallel creative projects. I'm trying to imagine that I'm entering specific rooms for each project and then closing out the other two. I feel I need three months to finish all of them, but have just like one and a half (and I can't skip Christmas) - so I have to be super effective and plan the time really well ... and pray for help from above with an instant superb idea for that public commission when I visit the premises on Tuesday. So until all is done this blog will just be images of work in progress without much text...

continuing: process leading to light signs

So - I had decided I should try to recreate that wrapping, framing, golden effect - but in a more solid way. After some thoughts I decided glass should be the material - I had the knowledge (i e some knowledge) and the access to kilns at the Artists' Collective Workshops.

First I ran a test with small pieces of glass that I already had - and I managed to get perfect curves (how the kiln is programmed to achieve the result you are after). YES! Ok, a little bubble, but that was ok. And the wrinkles I tried to achieve got a little bit too obvious. But - just a test!

Spray painted in gold - got very excited about how it looked. So nice and shiny!

tried it with a photo of Heidi Klum

... and then I tried it out with some cut out faces I already had.

I was very happy about it!

... and then it was time for a one month Christmas break in Colombia ... and another month of administration and course preparation. ..and ... but in March this year I continued the tests

... to be continued ...

retake; process leading to light signs

So here we go again - back to my account of the long process that started more than a year ago (read first part of the process and second part):

November 2011  As I mentioned before I decided to keep the transparent plastic as a mask - instead of a paper one originally intended - as static electricity kept it in place.

When I spray painted I then got this unexpected effect - the plastic curled and created like a frame!

I liked this a lot; it became more iconic, but at the same time kind of trashy

fake, plastic, baroque

I had to take the plastic away though. (In this room and with that light it was still ok, but not as good as with the plastic on)

-

Back in the studio - boring. boring boring boring - Maybe I should try to recreate that wrapping, that plastic golden frame, following the shapes? Maybe I should go for more instead of less? I had started to paint watercolour on canvas to get away from the frame and the "picture on the wall"-feeling - but maybe the solution should be not to have the frame as a necessity, but to use it as a central part of the art piece - to make a statement with it? To use it to support what I was trying to say with the painting? - But how could I recreate it in a lasting way? (this was still november 2012)

I'm still around ...

November blogging was all time low for me - only comparable to vacation month July - but I can assure you I haven't been on vacation ... It's been Pecha Kucha presentation, cultural entrepreneur seminar, completing my art book, two screen printing workshops (long weekends), guest teaching screen printing a week in Lidköping, writing children's book scripts and sketching characters,  attending lectures and workshops in children's books - and working on my art... Probably something more I've done too, that I can't remember right now.  But December should "only" be dedicated to illustrating my children's book (script ready!) and working with my art/preparing for my upcoming exhibition (opening February 9) at Galleri Jeanette Ölund in Borås. So book that date and spread the word - it will be my best exhibition ever and I want the opening to be super crowded!