Belated Glad Midsommar

Happy Summer Solstice everyone! Swedes have midsummer celebration which is around the same time of year but everyone does something special. Many people leave the city and go to the country..last year I went to one of the islands, it was a nice day even though it rained later but this year it was colder and my neighbor had a nice gathering outside. 

love the simplicity of this sign- of course on my favorite street

     a typical set-up before the guests arrive in someone's garden   

The tradition is to have herring and also strawberries (because they are in season here then)

During the meal Laurie, the one in the stripes had people read Swedish poems and sing traditional songs then raise a shot glass of

schnapps and say "Skål" -cheers

Some children were playing in the garden area and since guests wanted entertainment I brought her djembe drum outside and played a little (not the master that Mike is but I can pound out a few slaps) one of the little girls was so entranced with it we brought out another drum and the two of us played, it was a lot of fun! I kept encouraging people to dance but it didn't happen..oh well!

Every year there is an artist's dinner and it happened last week, fun time!

Yesterday I finished my last piece, what a great feeling..I have been putting all my work in a drawer this whole time and told  Mike I was going to get it all out and put it up. He suggested sharing with others so I decided to have a little opening Friday early evening..my neighbor is also having a birthday party so it will be a lively night

wish you could come- Mike will be here! 

guess what? this blog post is getting outdated..

it has been non stop since Mike arrived a few days ago..

so wonderful having him here, he helped me transform my studio into a gallery setting

had my opening last night, great! here are a few photos

I made my darling daughter Allison's version of zucchini babaganoush- a first..it was a hit!

today Mike and I took a bus to Böras to see the Textile Museum   

the big highlight was Iris Van Herpen, a Dutch 30 year old fashion designer's collection...we were blown away, here are a few photos..

we watched a video of several of her runway shows, her clothes are obviously not meant for comfort!

this is part of her smoke series

all metal - the impetus for this series was broken umbrellas

she is so very talented!

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so one more day here, I am going to take Mike to see the Konstmuseum's watercolor show here and then we have to pack up, leaving early Monday morning for Stockholm for a few days, then Helsinki, then Copenhagen on to Istanbul and then home..

will try to blog from other places if I can

I miss you all and am sending so much

thank you for your emails, keep them coming, I will have my laptop

Swim, art, food and spa

Last week we had one of the warmest days since I have been here,
it was about 80 degrees (27 celsius)at home you will laugh-

I decided I better take it while it was here - decided I was
going to go for a swim somewhere maybe out to the islands but that
meant a longer trip, boat there etc. so the woman who runs the
gallery here Ula told me that there was a beach close by only
about 10-15 minutes by bike...
I got my towel, put my suit on and jumped on my bike, got on the
bike trail and after 10-15 minutes I was not where she told me to
go, the island of Amundön. I kept pedaling and pedaling on my bike that has no speeds and after about 50 minutes at last I started to see signs and knew
I was close..finally I locked my bike up and walked down the path
for another 10 minutes...so much for a 10-15 minute ride :)

She had told me there was a family beach, a semi-nude beach and a totally nude beach..I saw the first beach which turned out to be the family one and the water looked ultra inviting, I dropped my towel and cut-offs and plunged into

the beautiful, crystal clear water..ahhh the ride was totally worth it, sure felt it the next day though!

There is a master printmaker here, Lars who is not easy to find around. I ran into him a few days ago and he told me he was teaching a printmaking class and I could stop by for a visit, so I did

Lars is the one turning the beautiful, old Swedish press that must weigh a million pounds..it was fun to see what they were doing..the man on the right was printing using( he called it cardboard) but I think it was more like mat board with a ton of shellac on it. He showed me his three favorite tools he uses.

I asked him if it was a self-portrait and he said everything he does is..and then

one of the women had seen this technique in a show in Finland where you use pastels and print them as in the image above, be fun to try this sometime

 I finished my 8th piece this week and decided I needed to celebrate- so I rode my bike to the wonderful health club here, Hagabadet

It felt so good to do laps even if I went in a circle for 40 minutes

then I sat in the sauna for a little bit

and read and relaxed on the chaises before dipping in another pool

it was just what I needed, of course I took myself out to dinner on the way home to my favorite vegetarian restaurant..sometimes we just need to kick our heels up and go!

My favorite street where I walk with the cottages decorated one of its trees with these fabulous yarn flowers, they matched the mums below them..is that cool or what? they must be hand made

I have been enjoying the spelt seeded bread each morning from my favorite bakery..they will be closing soon for the summer

I love these girls! They make it look so easy, work so hard and are so nice

here's my breakfast this morning with the yummy toast, granola, , yogurt, blueberries, bananas and my cappuccino (my portable milk frothed is working like a champ,love it) I sprinkled a bit of nutmeg on top and my foam kind of collapsed - only thing missing is my lit candle and blessing - a ritual before taking the first bite

I took this one day as I passed a school playground..this little girl struck me with her poise and serious expression. She gave me the okay to take her photo

well, that's it for now, Mike will be here in about 10 days, nice!

love hearing from you, sending love and light (and I mean light!it really never gets too dark but you get used to it) go to bed around 11 and get up around 6

byeeeeeeee  Hej då

  

Random sharing in June

it's a very quiet, beautiful sunny Sunday morning. My dreams have
been ultra vivid the past weeks, something about Sweden's longitude
and latitude and my life but I will need to do some major dream tending soon or when I return to receive all the profound messages..

A few days ago I took the tram out to Angered (pronounced anger-red)
an old Swedish community at the cultural centre in Blå Stället. Mah Rana, a jewellery artist from London was here exhibiting and doing a photo session with people and their jewellery. She has been working on this "Meanings and Attachment" series since 2001, a very sweet woman. I wanted to support her art and what she is doing. The project reflects the artist's interest in human relations and in jewellery as a carrier of memories and stories. She takes your photo with the piece of jewellery then records the story behind it

I wore a necklace that has charms I have 
collected from places where I have
lived- plus a special hand made silver Buddha that Mike gave each member of our family many years ago-  
I still need to find one I like from
Sweden..maybe this year

 Mah showing me the photos she took of me
for her online presentation..

you can be a part of it if you submit your story and photo online by clicking the link below-just follow the directions

http://meaningsandattachments.tumblr.com

DO IT!!




On the way home on the tram I saw some nice contour graffiti drawing, made me think of  Jess with his wonderful character drawings 

I got nostalgic one day, I don't often see Irish Setters but it took me way back to our Stanley days, he was such a great dog, up there in dog heaven with Checkie!

The other day I was walking through Slottssgkogen Park and came upon a great photography exhibit showing about 50 local riders in the park year round..how cool is that? Below is my favorite with the snow

Also happened to see this sign as I was walking past this café, had to take a photo - say what you mean and mean what you say!

 Started doing this a few days after I got here...put a line up and clothes pinned about 25 pieces of 4 x 7" paper for a daily journal project- I am doing them more like every other day but it's fun to see something on the wall and record life at the same time

Lastly I will leave you with a few photos of what has become my all time magical, extraordinary  walk and meditation spot in the early mornings, nature reserve..it rained hard on and off a few days ago-  the morning after my breath was filled with clean ultra fresh air 

following the births of these baby ducklings, so enjoyed watching the little ones follow the mother in the water

and the art continues to evolve day by day, I celebrated completing 5 pieces the other day - whatever I get done after this will be just fine, below a piece in progress 

I love this quote by Gabriel Garcìa Márquez, Colombian novelist who passed away earlier this year

"It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams"

I love hearing from you and am sending much love and light for a fabulous June

a few of you have mentioned that you wrote me a long comment and tried to post on this blog but lost it...please save it before posting just in case and if there is any glitch please send to my email

xoxo