time to think of Christmas!

Invitations are frequent these days, come as happy surprises, maybe as fruits of hard labour?

Invited as one of ten artists to be part of a different kind of exhibition: the city council's cultural department wish to add something else to the Christmas shopping "Art breaks". We are asked to create a personal, Christmas related shop window in the most busy shopping area. Interesting! I've accepted, of course, think there will be some garlands...

To get in the right Christmas creativity mood, watch this film from an exhibition last year at Leksand Art Museum by Swedish silversmith Karin Ferner, (a short car commercial comes first, be patient). When she is interviewed in Swedish and you don't understand a word, just look over her shoulder to see how great she handles tradition her own way.

Her work is sold at Svensk Slöjd in Stockholm and here is her website, jewellery inspired by Swedish folk art, chandeliers and more.


Karin Ferner's work, photo from her website

Victoria & Albert

A few more London pictures to share...

V&A in London was not a bad place to hang out a few weeks ago. Tranquil inner yard and nice restaurant to gather new strength for another hectic gallery tour.

I love the museum, always grand exhibitions to experience and the collections are enormous, both the historical and contemporary. If not in London they are available for us all here, medieval English pottery, Turkish tiles, Indian embroideries, Korean lacquer ware, Asian ikat, glass, furniture, fashion, one can get lost...

V&A artist in residence blog here, beautiful work by Susan Lawty and museum pictures. She initiated the World beach project and invites anybody who likes doing stone drawings and patterns to take part.

Other little beautiful things to play with here.

Today I've been to a conference all day, about Culture in Schools and how to develop art as a teaching tool. At first scary feeling being surrounded by 200 teachers and head masters, transformed me into small school girl. It passed, with the shared sense of art's importance for young and old, giving room for self expression and communication.

marianne hallberg

Mariann Hallberg, Samtal med Anna, photo: Thomas D Johansson


Marianne Hallberg, Vases, photo: Thomas D Johansson

Marianne Hallberg opened her show at blås&knåda in Stockholm this weekend. I wish I could have been there to give her my best wishes for huge success! More photos here. Marianne is a member of Sintra, artist run shop and gallery in Göteborg, where she also sells her table ware, traditional blue and white in the most personal and non traditional style.


Marianne Hallberg, photo from Sintra's webpage

Used some of this rainy afternoon to revamp the blog. Thank you so much, Jessica at How about Orange, who gave good advice on "how to do fancy things to your blog" and change the HTML-code (post Oct. 19). Most can be found at Tips for new bloggers. I'm not sure this is the way it should look, but it worked!

lotus flowers

Lotus flower arrangements, for sale outside temple in Phnom Penh a few years ago.

Photo from Sintra webpage

Marianne Hallberg, blue and white lotus flowers at Sintra, Göteborg.

Lotus mosaic and a wonderful world of mosaic creations at Make Mine Mosaic.

My show in Örebro is still here.

Full weekend program

Full weekend at Konstepidemin:
Per Petersson and Helen Dahlman keep their studios open Saturday and Sunday 12 - 16.


Original image for commission Writ in water, sand blasted glass facade
Photo from Per's webpage

Per is my nextdoor neighbor sculptor, skilled in so many materials and techniques. He is often the one who finds technical solutions for other artists, in his own work he combines material and computer skills with a poetical mind.


The bear and the girl, photo from Helen's webpage

Helen Dahlman tells embroidered stories, stitch by stitch, sometimes funny and sometimes scary. Always beautiful.

Brooch: “Black Star”, silver, steel. 2007, photo from Marc Monzó's webpage

Hnoss gallery opens exhibition, work of Spanish jewellery artist Marc Monzó Saturday 12-16


Photo from Konstepidemin webpage, my studio 1 cm outside image, to the right...

In the other galleries students from Valand School of Fine arts C:Art:Media program shows the result of a project led by Andrea Wollensak, Konstepidemin guest artist.


Photo from Lennart & Anna-Karin webpage

Sunday pavillion program, at 18.00: Music artists Lennart och Anna-Karin tell the story how their characters were born, as a failed attempt to bore people to death.

How many times did I write Konstepidemin now?

My friend Annie emailed this link, maybe gets us in wild and crazy Friday night mood. Enjoy your weekend!

blue house celebration

Hooray today for Eva and Kwon and the Blue house restaurant they've run for ten years. Konstepidemin needs somewhere for eating and meeting; Eva, Kwon and the staff creates a warm and friendly place with many regulars, artists and others.





The original 18th century building was moved here when the epidemic hospital was built in the1880s. At first, we had some trouble finding the right persons to run the restaurant after it was renovated, who could understand the Konstepidemin concept. Now this is where we hang out for lunch, get our "fika" and have occasional parties. Thank you, Blå huset-people!

It's also an important public entrance to Konstepidemin as a whole. The restaurant is used as exhibition space for Konstepidemin artists and will be location for the Christmas market we do every year. The adjoining room is used as a theatre, for lectures and other events. The more the merrier!

Something completely different, a Handy man, John K. Raustein, textile artist, Norway. Still on, my KHVC Gallery show

one world and Hundertwasser

I was invited to post photos at ONE world, a photo blog with lots of contributors from all over the world. It's a nice feeling, to be a co creator of a global caleidoscope of images. For some reason, not sure why, this picture popped up as my first contribution.

For a long time I had a crush for the Austrian artist and architect Hundertwasser (being a ceramist I think that must happen) after first seeing his Vienna buildings.

He was commissioned to rearrange this school building in Wittenberg, Martin Luther Schule in former east Germany. Hard to imagine the original, square box shaped building under all this roundness and colours. My crush has calmed down but it still makes me happy just to think it's possible to do something like this.

My ongoing exhibition at KHVC Gallery in Örebro here

colour collection

I have a nice collection of colours in a studio drawer. They are tests of coloured slips, it happens now and then that I open the drawer just to look at them for a while and feel content. A lot if effort, patience and carefulness was put into making them, now they are a treasure even if I don't use them so very often. Such possibilities lie there waiting. Seems tests I do nowadays never come the same size and shape.

This photo made me join flickr and the group Camilla started there a while ago: Organised collections now contains over 200 images, many kinds of collections and different approaches to organising things. Inspiring!

Photos from my show in KHVC Gallery, Örebro, on until November, here.


Good luck! Coomoo, new web shop run by six designers/craftspeople.
Release party in Malmö at Volym, Thursday 25th 18 - 21.30
The e-shop will also sell work by other designer/makers, send your suggestions.

PIF finale

The lucky (I hope) three PIF receivers of hand made things from here will beCamilla, Dana and Lylou. There will also be a "consolation prize" for number four, Jossan, don't want you to be empty handed.

Thank you Heather for leading me in to this experience, it changed my Monday mood for sure.
Now I'll start working on what to send to you, and that's also a nice feeling, a little like Christmas preparations :)

Here is something I started today in the studio, killing time while waiting for a piece to dry. This shape wanted to be made over and over, will end up as leaf shape for another garland.

PIF update and busy london

PIF update: It's so nice to see now, from my horizon, how the word is spread. Camilla and Dana responded to this morning's Pay-It-Forward invitation already, one more to go to make it nice trio, don't be shy!

A few more notes from London trip, before it's all forgotten. We had busybusy days: Hidden Art, organisation promoting design and craft, office close to the Geffrye museum. The museum shows historical domestic interiors as well as modern design, and has a nice cafe and garden.

Tube transport and London weather walk over the bridge to OXO Tower Wharf with all the designer studios/shops and a quick look at ongoing exhibitions.

After visiting Victoria & Albert, spending too much time in the museum shop and after visit at Flow Gallery, we thought we were in a big hurry to make it to Contemporary Applied Arts in time, fifteen minutes to closing!

It was our lucky day, they had an opening that night, Hue Line & Form. Instead of late, 15 minutes early, got a chance to meet curators, Brian Kennedy and Peter Ting, who put together the show in two parts for CAA, read more here. Excellent artists and crowded opening, we enjoyed.
My favourite work from the show: collaborative work by Malcolm Martin and Gaynor Dowling
CAA shows member's work and have an excellent little book shop, too.

London Eye, after all, we are tourists. I loved the ride!

Pay it forward

This will be fun!

Heather Smith Jones, whose blog I follow with great pleasure, posted an invitation, Pay It Forward:

"I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

I tried to follow the chain of PIF invitations backwards, but lost myself in reading the blogs instead. Better go back and post this first, to be part of the flow.

As written above, first three to leave a comment and post an invitation will receive a handmade gift, my guess is it will be made of clay.

Photo above is from an early morning motor cycle ride outside Battambang, Cambodia. It turned out a very special day, and the waterlilies may well stand as symbols for pay-it-forward generosity.

ballerinas and birds

Long gallery tour on Saturday. Most happy to see the show by Thomas Brolin, designer/painter/sculptor, at Göteborgs Konstförening. I pass his studio every day on my way to work, always trying to catch a glance inside. I'm so happy now, to have seen his lovely sculptures without that peeping feeling. On his website some of them can be seen, along with his other work an designs.

Photos from the show, above Three ballerinas, below Bird friend



Met, in the gallery doorway, three such talented ceramic colleagues, had a nice little chat with:
Jennifer Forsberg, Eljaröd, southern Sweden
Renata Francescon, Göteborg
Adrienne Riseley, back in Göteborg after a long stay i New Zealand.

paté de verre and painters

Back in normal studio life again, feels fine. Long lunch breaks with Konstepidemin colleagues, we have so much to talk about. Playing around with ideas, more and more crazy plans for art projects, lots of laugh. Feeds me for afternoon solo work session.

This weekend's open studios will be at artists Andreas Roth and Tina Jerkenstam, Saturday and Sunday 12-16.

Part of How do you want to live? Photo from Andreas web page

The picture above is on paper but Andreas also fills gallery walls from floor to ceiling with sentences, captivating maps of communication.

Work by two guests at Konstepidemin, visual artist Andrea Wollensak and sound artist Brett Terry can also be seen/heard. Listening sites; tracking stories, a satellite project in the ongoing Gothenburg International Art Biennial.

The work is reported at this website. Much of the truly poetic experience of the exhibition space is lost, not being able to see the beautiful photos, listen to the voices, read the words. Prefer being surrounded and with full senses. Computer screen is poor, but gives stranger's glimpses of Göteborg.


Daddy, photo Lars Åsling

Those who missed Lars Åsling's open studio last weekend get at second chance to see his work, exhibition at Olsson & Uddenberg gallery opens Saturday.

Lena Nilsson opened a show at Nääs Konsthantverk outside Göteborg, last week. She makes reliefs in the glass technique paté de verre, the most time consuming you can imagine. Result is well worth the effort.


Photo Kristin Rapp, KHVC

I wish you a joyful weekend!

what else I saw in London

Must return to London, wasn't finished before Örebro happened!
To supernice Notting Hill, partly very chic, also with scruffier streets to explore.

Flow Gallery at Needham Road has a wide permanent collection of contemporary craft besides the exhibitions. Until November the gallery shows it's very first handbag show. "THE BAG SHOW is dedicated to the über-accessory" and a collaboration with the Royal College of Art's Fashion and Textiles department.

There are other galleries in the area and Portobello road is in walking distance in case of weekend market. Delicious cafe, Tom's, at a small square end of Westbourne Grow. Cakes and atmosphere, excellent coffee.

But the best coffee I've had, I think ever, is at Monmouth Coffee Co not far from Covent Garden. Small, small place, small small seats, but big coffee experience! Find a map here.

pieces of mycelia puzzle

Mycelia is the final theme of the exhibition, hand built shapes of growth that doesn't directly imitate true nature. But maybe how it would have looked in different circumstances!



It started as an installation in 2000, panorama photo by Anders Jirås here. Since, I've added and rearranged into still lives under the same name, Mycelia (from the way mushrooms spread).

Kristin Rapp works at Galleri KHVC and creates the gallery web pages. Instead of looking at my show in bits and pieces at the blog, you can look here at what she put together. I like her photos that shows the gallery space well.

Kristin is a glass artist herself, see her web page!
She makes jazzy, sand blast glass commissions and sculptures.

Time to stop, soon the football game Sweden - North Ireland begins, and maybe Sweden will qualify for the European Championships next summer. It will be an exciting evening in the TV sofa!

found spots

It's a lot of "me" this last week, but I think I'm excused as solo shows doesn't happen every day. I love the opportunity to view the photos with fresh eyes, indulge myself.

Here are Wadköping pavements, related to my spots inside the gallery.

To make up for the ego trip, here's a blog by two witty Australian ladies, Handmade life

found stripes

Found exterior stripes in Wadköping corresponding well with my ceramic surfaces inside the gallery.

eternal flowers

"Immortelles of longing" is, like the bowls, a theme that I've followed for a while now. It seems to be endless, with only small variations in colour, proportions and expressions. As long as I feel there is still one more unmade, I'll keep on.

stripes and garlands

Yesterday, Marika asked if the striped pieces and walls was part of a coordination plan, but they are not. I'm quite happy, though, over the walls. They are white painted planks, with a rough character that fits my work.

More wall stripes and the three garlands from my show at KHVC Gallery:




Garland inspiration is a combination of at least two things (and this is just what I consciously think of, what lies behind is probably a long time chain of impressions and experiences that I'm not even aware of, from thousands of images and encounters).

Limited inspiration source is:
- Handcrafted floral garlands for celebration or grief (my grandmother had a flower shop and I love pick and arrange wild flowers).
- Curiosity to see what happens when I repeat the same little shape over and over, like making a 3 D mosaic.

Madeleine Boulesteix doesn't make garlands but wonderful chandeliers from recycled material, link found through Designers Block.

Latest issue of Swedish Hemslöjden magazine has the cover image of a lovely chandelier shape, by Gustaf Åhman, Järvsö.