Highlights from last of sunny May!

Hello there, I actually cannot believe June is coming up so soon, the past days have flown by with day turning into night into day again..

the other night I went to an art opening at the Konstmuseum, main museum in Gothenburg with Camilla Engman who is a fabulous illustrator and artist here(the one with the yellow sweater) met some very cool people including the other women in the photo.

The exhibition was for Vanessa Baird who lives and works in Oslo, Norway.

These are huge watercolors..I tried to buy a catalogue wanting to share this with my watercolor students but they did not have one available. A huge show maybe I will try to go back and take photos of the other work.

We went up to the director's office for a small gathering and met Vanessa and her family

one morning last week when I took my walk on my favorite street I saw this adorable little boy helping his father garden, so cute

I passed my friend Anna's cottage ( her family just moved there for the summer) and she had constructed this wonderful fabric teepee with her two young daughters..it made me want to work with fabric again...inspiring..she is a textile artist

Yesterday was one of the most magical mornings, got up very early and rode my bike to the botanical gardens then walked into the nature reserve..it was sunny and fresh and wonderful

the glittering light was filtering through the forest, the best medicine ever

love these flowers because of their name Peppermint stick

next time I go I will spend time in their herb garden, they have trees and flowers from all over the world planted, one of my favorite places

 I was playing around with some relief monotypes earlier this week, now using them in my work, the ladder was just sitting there so it became my handy drying rack

it hasn't been easy this time to get the flow going with all of the great activities around here but I have finally settled into a comfortable groove, ideas are flowing in all directions and I find my time here so far energizing and productive. 

"The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt  fabulous book, into it!

 you are in my heart and I love hearing from you

hej da !  bye for now

Home Sweet Sweden

the month of May

is abundant and lively in Gothenburg- school is still on and everything is blooming- so much going

on I will have to discipline myself to get some art made this time. Everything seems so familiar after having been here last year yet very different 

The evening I arrived was the once a month party here. It was

wonderful to connect with friends I had met last year and meet some new ones even if I had been up for a day! There are two

Haitians artists  here now who played the drums that night. One of them carves tires

into small figurative shapes also carves wood and his assistant takes grills like air filters off of cars and waters

them down, then drives the car and makes art out of them..fun to see their work!

my friend Cecilia and her son, Milou...he has grown so tall in the last year I didn't recognize him..he turned 13 and is now wearing the leather jacket that was Cecilia's when she was in her teens..  

Yesterday I must have walked miles and miles...doing errands, going for an exhilarating walk in the morning, walking downtown to get my Swedish Sim Card,  going to local theatre to see what is playing (turns out there is a 3 day indie film festival starting today) 

my favorite street where people have their summer bungalows and gardens...the lilacs were perfume in the air, flowers at their peak!! ahhhh so nice

On the way back from town I ran into these 11 year olds who were getting ready to go swimming at  one of their houses..they were great..I took a little video of them and they seemed to enjoy being interviewed..the one on the left had been to SF, the one on the right asked me if I spoke Bosnian (that would be a no) ha!

Yay, my purple yoga mat was here waiting for me in the closet! 

my materials are placed and waiting to be played with..

they made it here in terrific form

Tonight is a concert with some Haitian musicians now living in New York. I hope to take the tram there later on..

I am so happy to be back!

Please let me know what's up with you..love to hear

sending love from Sweden

Grateful goodbyes

Mike and I have been on the move for the past week or so, following are some highlights of our Scandinavian sojourn.

Stockholm was magical with its bridges and glistening waterways, sunshine greeted us each day as we walked across bridges from Sodermalm to Gamla Stan to Ostermalm and took a boat around the island of Djurgarden. One day as we walked back to our hotel we passed an intriguing place where we happened to look in on some people who lived on that particular street..as it turned out Kathleen and Victor lived on the ground floor in their beautiful home in this historic building. 

You can see their building in the top center of this photo with the round spired roof...we ended up making friends and when we came back through Stockholm were invited to a lively dinner with them in their unique apartment. She is from Nebraska but has lived in Europe since she was 18 and Victor is from Argentina and has lived in Sweden for years..fascinating life stories!!

After a few days in Stockholm we took a ferry to the beautiful island of Gotland where we were warmly welcomed at the Hotel Stelor by the owner Karin ..it felt like we had come home when we walked into the informal barn they had turned into a cozy candlelit restaurant. We loved our stay here in the country and could've definitely stayed longer.

They have a weekly community Sunday night dinner buffet that we so enjoyed, wonderful! I was able to get a special secret Gotlandic dessert recipe!

 Next morning we drove to the most southern part of the island and swam in the Baltic with all the vacationing Swedes and Germans..very nice!

Headed back to Stockholm and then came back to Gothenborg. The next day we took a ferry to the archipelago, Bränö island and walked to connecting Galtero island from there

In Galtero island there is a bridge where people swim and horses and lots of sheep graze

the next day we rode bikes to another ferry nearby  to see an exhibit at Roda Sten art center

our last stop was Copenhagen-a colorful and unique city for sure!

we loved this bronze door across the street from where we stayed at the Hotel Opera 

The first morning we took off on bikes which was a perfect way to get in the groove of Copenhagen, 35% of the population rides.

we rode through freetown Christiana, a large self governing hippie commune

famous for pusher street where one can buy hash and marijuana

so many vibrant houses, shacks and funky art, charming!

later took the train to the nearby town of Humlebaek to visit the Lousiana Museum of Art

I had heard from everyone how beautiful the setting was but experiencing it was another story..sitting high on a hill overlooking the Baltic surrounded by Calders and Moores a terrific cafe and even a private swimming area

The permanent collection was totally engaging 

George Grosz was known for his caricatural drawings in the 1920's 

 A highlight was artist and writer Yayoi Kusawa's piece. 

only two people can go in this room at a time to experience her wonderful environmental installation- water surrounds the small walkway we stood on- walls and ceilings are mirrored and lit with multi-colored blinking

 lights

The biggest surprise was the Yoko Ono retrospective! A chance to  see a ton of her drawings, videos, music, installations and other conceptual work along with some of John Lennons.

photo of Yoko in the 60's making a poster for one of her first shows in NYC

Yoko's concept for world peace make a wish tree..wishes go  to the "Imagine Peace Tower" in Reykjavik, Iceland

we took a relaxing boatride on the canals our last morning in Copenhagen, the water was smooth as glass and the brightly colored boats shimmered ..

We passed the national opera house in Denmark on the island of Holmen ..we couldnt get over the cantilevered roof

Our last night we met an engaging man who grew up in Denmark   who now lives in San Francisco, fascinating person

He suggested we see the Museum of Decorative Arts which was a short walk away after our boat ride.

It was worth it, the exhibition presented a selection of unique and non-traditional jewellery art from Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and Estonia titled "From the Coolest Corner"  ..fabulously displayed!! We also loved some of the pieces in the permanent collection of the history of Danish furniture design.

chair and ottoman made entirely of stacked newspaper, one behind it is cardboard

Two more days to enjoy a bit more of the archipelago and the city here as I pack up to fly HOME SWEET HOME

There is always so much more to share but I will leave you with the following quote I discovered in Gothenburg one day in between two stores.

  Another reminder to slow down and enjoy the moment. I look so forward to seeing you and hearing highlights of your past few months..

sending much love and light

Tidbits of this and that

Last week Helena and Cecilia invited Erdmute and I to their studio to show their work..Cecilia is a theatre director of 
post theatre production and Helena is a talented actress and also
a gymnast of sorts (used to be a circus performer)..she followed Cecilia's directions as she
became mesmerized with her balance beam and other props..they
finished the session by showing a documentary they made last year in Gothenburg that was called "Silent Walk". Helena slowly walked   through the wintry streets of the city with her face painted white wearing a tailored suit not talking to a soul, amazing reactions!

Helena getting on balance beam of sorts

I went to a family type flea market last weekend and when arriving saw a young lady standing there with a unicycle, she said she had always wanted to learn and bought it for $15.00. I told her about unicon and Jess she eagerly took my email

Johanna and her new uni and boyfriend

Last Thursday I went to Brännö island again, they have a weekly dance with live music in a special spot near the water. It was a chilly evening and my friend Malin and I huddled together while we watched couples skillfully dance the Lindy..I would love to learn that dance..Malin is taking classes, the music was jazzy and fun!

On Brännö island Lindy dancing

A few days ago an artist here, Lars had an opening at the Tradgardsforeningens Park...a place where there is 

a huge greenhouse full of mature plants (there is also a Patti Smith concert here tomorrow I may attend here) where artists from Hungary and Romania incorporated art pieces in with the plants..

afterwards I walked outside to the rose garden and was pleasantly surprised by a performance..it just so happened it was a dancer who is part of Konstepidemin who I had met a few weeks ago, her name is Bronja..she and some other performers were entertaining a group of kids and their parents

Bronja in the pond

loved their colorful wigs, Bronja's had a bird on top of it

Bronja looks so hot with her pink hair..

When the weather got nice the other day I had an inkling to do some papier maché, think its just part of summer for me- wanting to be outside, so there was flour in the cupboard and I had bought some fabric cheap at the flea market and had paper towels and newspaper and string- perfect- I went to work, the hours flew by!

I made four strange things.. everyone had been saving toilet paper rolls for me, didn't really plan to use them like this but..whatever- it was great fun!

Swedish beauty :)

That new moon at the beginning of the week totally energized me!Just when I thought I was winding down my art I decided to do a triptych with the 3 pieces of good paper I had left.. I put

them all up and have been working on them simultaneously..

this is a first for me..not sure I like it..but I am

making a huge effort to finish them in a few days..plus

I want to do a large watercolor before I go

this was taken after the first run, the 3 pieces look totally different now

studio mess, this ain't nothing compared to the rest of the room

I decided to clean my studio yesterday (also the moon is in virgo, couldn't help it!) because my wonderful model, Karolin is coming again this morning..this place was beginning to close in on me, stuff all over the floor, things stacked up on the tables..I know when it gets to this point it can be dangerous..and now it

feels so much better..

I have really taken an interest in incorporating printmaking into my work..especially monoprinting but I plan to do some woodcuts when I return..there is an artist here who is a pro printmaker, very inspiring!

experimenting!

In 4 days Mike will be here until we fly home together end of July. We have exciting plans-taking the train to Stockholm, the ferry to the island of Gotland and back here exploring and then we will head to Copenhagen and maybe a coastal village before heading home.

My lovely friend Kay sent me this quote and I thought I would share it with you "Traveling is one way of lengthening life"

Benjamin Franklin, a letter from Paris, 1767

Im off for my morning walk and meditation to one of my favorite spots 

I will post again after travels with my beloved husband,

coming up soon..love your updates..keep me in the loop!! miss you