maria kristofersson

Maria Kristofersson shows her work at Sintra (an artist run craft gallery and shop, Maria one of the artists behind). More photos here.

Week started well, hope yours too!
Love seat
HDK new web site, dive in

this weeks harvest

This week's studio harvest was 16 little clouds, 2 different plaster moulds for making lotus fruit shapes and 2 for making chrysanthemum shapes.

When sketching, I played around with different Chinese auspicious symbols for the mosaics. Thought that would be something good to meet either on your way out or on your way home. And they are just nice to look at even if you don't know a thing of their original meaning.

More symbols and their meaning
More clouds

Have a joyful weekwnd!

konstepidemin extra Saturday

Hanna Järlehed ceramics

Show openings tomorrow at Konstepidemin:

Hanna Järlehed Hyving makes a new kind of materia out of clay, amazing surfaces and glazes, photos above. It will be beautiful, I've sneak peaked.

Karin Seufert, at hnoss, jewellery artist from Berlin, Germany.

Joanna Helander, photography, in Blå Huset. This photo was on my wall for a long time.

More reasons to visit Konstepidemin tomorrow: Johan Zetterquist makes a sound performance, Torbjörn Steijner and Catrin Serck-Hanssen have open studios.

Camilla unveiled her next year's Göteborg film festival poster today. So good.

autumn light

I enjoy studio work!

I enjoy doing only one thing at the time. I enjoy picking up a morning coffee in the restaurant before work. I enjoy making plans for the whole day and then be in the uninterrupted process. I enjoy having such nice neighbours around to have lunch with. I enjoy listening to the radio while working. And I enjoy the sun light we had today, so bright and warm.

Nick Ashby bird paintings, via Feffakookan
Newly found blog Arth and Nitya (heard so much about children's books today, here a real children's story).

here it will be

Here is where the mosaics will be put, inside four entrances in these buildings. They are right next to the docks where the replica ship Götheborg was built.

Not used to having studio time. Confused, go and sit by the computer from habit only, have to remind myself a new kind of day is here. Bye!

More water:
Julia Baier Public bath and Sento, japanese bath culture
via Pingmag

doing old dishes

It's a very special feeling to clean 250 year old Chinese porcellain pieces. I'll show you close ups later of the fresh blue and white drawings. Looked at every little piece, but my hands were too wet to take photos today. There was also mother of pearl pieces and shells, and other little things from the bottom of the sea. Mind blowing.

Finally back in studio mood, not a day too early. It's been months since I could do some real studio work, I'll catch up now. Feels so very good. I'll work on the mosaic pieces I showed a year ago, in one of my first posts, here.

Today, water links:
Rebecca Stern World unseen
Sam 3s water kiss

studio tours, Carina Fihn

Carina Fihn studio, book packages with titles like "The Reality", "Silence", "The Fear"

Wow, what an intense week behind and what a sunny weekend ahead.

Thursday we had an open day (SeRum, the name a pun, can't translate, all about us staying in a former hospital) at Konstepidemin, for people who are interested in making use of artists or their work within their professional field. It turned out great!!

A mix of almost 70 people from institutions and companies came, curious and eager to experience, open to take part in talks and workshops. I think it was as inspiring for the artists, who met the interest and got new kinds of questions about their work. I'm so glad it went well!

My own studio was not open, still a mess inbetween projects and impossible to understand for a visitor. But next week things will happen!

I had hoped to take lots of photos from the open studios, but got so busy organizing small necessary things and changes, I couldn't.
Carina Fihn's studio is all for now.
Eva Lindblad is guest of the month at Carina's website, what a great idea!

Life in other studios: Interview with Smosch - Sandra Juto here, at Stephanie's blog. Look into studios and artists's work spaces here at Seth’s The Pulse

Have a weekend full of sun and rest well!

50 000

Today this little blog passed 50 000 visits, really unbelievable. I try to imagine who you are and where you are and what your lives are like and all that you do. Happy to be a part of the big, big web!

The flower met me outside the studio. Not planted by me, just a very nice surprise.

I've collected material for the commission I'll start working on next week. 10 kilos of broken china from the sunken ship Götheborg. Material for mosaic wall pieces. You'll see more...

China ware of unexpected beauty here, at Le Divan Fumoir Bohémien. Don't know French, can't tell you the story from another sunken ship of the East Indian Company era. There is a pdf to download, do so.

middle summer; cloud gate

The sculptures in Millenium Park, Chicago, is the only art experience I managed while in USA this summer. Ambitions were higher for trips and visits here and there but this is all I got. Almost enough, I'm a big fan of the British sculptor Anish Kapoor. Cloud Gate, or "the bean" had a great impact on all us small people moving in and around it. All in yellow t-shirts are my friends.
Read here about The bean
Early works of Anish Kapoor here

The water leak at my office job will be fixed this week, there will be a big hole in the street outside. Floor is opened, a noisy fan will dry the place out before they can lay a new.

Lucky I have other places to be, organizing an open day at Konstepidemin this Thursday. Almost 70 visitors from institutions and companies will be guided around different studios. Our hope is they will make use of the artists in the future, buying their work or their skills.

other's shows; anna sjons nilsson

Photos from Gallery KHVC website: Anna Sjons Nilsson

Anna Sjons Nilsson, textile artist, uses humour when being seroius. Truly inspiring. Show at Galleri KHVC in Örebro, photos here
More photos here

Two Swedish shows in London (four of the artists are neighbours at Konstepidemin!)
First Flow gallery "Just Swedish":
Eva Hild
Anders Ljungberg
Per Brandstedt
Karin Östberg, neighbour
Tore Svensson, neighbour
Mia Olsson
Elisabeth Henriksson

And a Nordic jewellery show at Electrum Gallery; the Swedish artists:
Pia Aleborg
Sara Borgegård
Mona Wallström, neighbour
Anna Unsgaard, neighbour

This will be last busy office week, next, I tell you, studio is calling...

Middle summer; big city

I'm still looking in the rear view mirror. Photos from this summer's BIG trip, big buildings in a big city. Chicago sight seeing, third time around for me. Many of the older sky scrapers are covered with ceramic tiles, I like that.

More Chicago architecture here
Building by building here
My favourite, Hancock building, here

Unforeseen event yesterday: major water leak at the office. Lots of time and energy wasted. Good thing: no need for weekly cleaning, there will be a new floor.

Eva Hild shows her amazing hand built ceramic shapes in Umeå, Galleri Andersson/Sandström
Opening tomorrow: Elsa Agelii shows her own textile work and embroideries made in collaboration with desert women in Rajastan, India (where water is precious) at Nääs konsthantverk tomorrow.

Wish you a sunny weekend!

vintage knitting

Birgitta Forslund, knit wear designer and friend, released her book "Stickat och virkat - vintage på svenska" this week. Fabulous photos, funny and smart. And knit descriptions for every piece. The book is a collaboration with photographer Åsa Dahlgren, stylist Gudrun Bonér och makeup artist Lydia Gerlam.

Birgitta has knitted for as long as I've known her, I'm proud she has materialized her dreams. Wish the book will inspire many others (and hope soon available in English too).

extra summer; last swim

I think that was the last swim for the summer, at least without a sauna before going in. That was last weekend, this will be rainy and windy.

But there are other pleasures:
Tea's up opens at CAA in London tonight, Paul Scott shows blue and white (of course!). 12 different artist approaches, like Cathy Miles wire sculptures or Suzanne Wall's spoons.
Web pages Cathy Miles, Paul Scott

This week swoshed by, still swamped with office work and no clay in sight really yet. Hope you are happy with your week and wish you a weekend full of fun.

art by the young for the young

Tuesday evening the De Ungas (the young?) show and performance at the children's clinic at Östra sjukhuset was presented. De Ungas is a wonderful one month summer job event at Konstepidemin, with 30 seventeen year olds. It is inspired by the so much larger scale Gallery 37 in Chicago. I was guest teaching an amazing summer many years ago, and since then wanted us at Konstepidemin to do something similar. And now we do.

This summer is the third version. The kids being treated at the hospital were invited to suggest ideas for our young to develop into some kind of art work. Artists from Konstepidemin guides the process that aims for a final presentation of some kind. This year it was a music performance and a CD, a wall piece and many chairs, each with a story behind.

To follow this work is pure joy. Everybody grows so much from creating work that makes a difference for someone else. Thank you, all you young, being brave to put yourself into this and to trust the process of making art.

De Ungas summer blog, in Swedish only but with lots of photos.
More explanation, in Swedish at Konstepidemin, click De Ungas.
Gallery 37, Chicago, art work and more with youngsters. In Chicago it has developed into After School Matters.
Gallery 37 followers in other places, UK and I think other cities in the States.

extra summer; last south

Ystad, south Sweden, from last sunny weekend. Henning Mankell land.

Internet connection was gone yesterday and today, I was totally handicapped. Just a few years back we were all handicapped without even knowing.

Here are elegant pigs and more,
and elegant birds by Guy Michael Davis
I will definately think twice before I write the word "nice" again, after reading this (thanks to Heather).

Hope your week started well with only good connections.

extra summer; country life

Meet some charming new friends from last weekend at Österlen. They seem happy to be there, too.

Lynda Draper creates other animals.
More of the good things in life at Smitten Kitchen, via Asphalt and air