Friday 29 February 2008

wooden houses





"Leap day" a new word for me. Like a bonus day; after fulfilled deadline at office job I skipped. Took a walk in the bright sun, took a rest.
More kolam next week, more developed Swedish here:
Kurbits walldrawing sticker, by Hanna Werning

Berit Jonsvik presents her new website (another inspiring neighbor at Konstepidemin). She works in different materials and techniques, small and big scale, always sensitive, always making experiments. I like her small sculptures very much, Fabula and Future islands and Under the black cloud.

Wish you a nice weekend, peace and fun!

Thursday 28 February 2008

sverker's horses







Sverker Eklunds girls maybe you saw before here, but not his big, gentle horses. Show at Göteborgs Konstförening (until March 9). Sverker is one of my nice studio neighbors.

Wooden horses, can't get more Swedish than this.
Making of the traditional wooden horse
Collection of older horses
Elin Tidbäck's horses at Cosas

Tomorrow I hope to visit the studio, if everything works well. Couldn't be there as much as I wanted this week, office job calling. Some of the precious continuity it lost but I hope to repair it next week. Wasn't this week shorter than usual?

Wednesday 27 February 2008

a piece of france





India yesterday, Europe today. I'm just sitting here, small world :)

One more French café, Le Pain Francais, opened at Engelbrektsgatan, but the original at Husargatan is still the best, where you can watch the bakers work while having a fika. Also best because it's located next block to both office and studio...

Can't show so much from the studio this week, have a deadline at office job.

Thank you for nice response to kolam post. Especially from Ms Masala Chai, Indian art and design (Be kind rewind her second blog for everything else) who knows how they are done See her Vandana Jain post yesterday, corporate mandalas.

Virginia Fleck plastic mandalas
via
Style files

Tuesday 26 February 2008

my pretty kolam floor







My pretty floor is a fake kolam (15 dots)... Instead of challenging both patience and vanity by making the pattern like Indian women, who put their pretty work out to be destroyed by walking feet, I painted it. When I look at it now, I see I should fill in a few lost lines.

Kolams, a South Indian tradition, are symmetrical ornaments made by rural women, to decorate and sometimes celebrate. It's done at dawn, after sweeping the ground in front of the house and sprinkling a little water to keep the red dust in place.

I found Kolam Book number 1-10 at the market in Madurai, some ten years ago. Just looking at the books makes me happy. They connect to childhood memories of monogram letter books, to copy from for embroideries. I did learn how to write from them.

The everyday kolam is made with white powder (used to be rice powder) held in one hand and skillfully portioned. Dots first as guides for the eyes. They tell the hand where to gracefully dance in the air to release powder, so quick and light moves, and draw the line.

The basic pattern is a mathematical construction of beauty, one single line with no beginning and no end. Let's start with the easiest. Trick is to always count the dots in the grid; one two three:



Are you ready for some more complicated? These need 4 lines with 4 dots each, and show variations. Either the dots are connected with the lines or the lines run between them.



Think what great tool this is for rural Indian girls to practice math!
Need to scan some slides before I post more.
Only one link today, you need the time to practice.

Karin Östberg, ceramic artist and Konstepidemin neighbor, started a studio blog. Her work is like 3D kolams.

Monday 25 February 2008

ikea goes fashion













Went to one of the IKEA stores in Göteborg for a fashion show this weekend. In only two days students from Tillskärarakademin fashion/theatre costume school created these lovely, funny, pretty dresses of this season's IKEA fabrics. The show was great! It's not possible to leave IKEA empty handed, I bought new frying pans.

In pink sweater: Victoria Alarik, dancer/choreographer and the woman behind their moves. She works with the very innovative promotion organisation Skådebanan, that develops art projects in connection to working life.

Issey Miyake show from 1999, my favourite the installation "Jump".
Photos by Chris Anthony here, click Past shows. Chris Anthony is twice in the list.
Via Art Moco

Off to first office and later studio work, wish you all a creative Monday!
Promise to show how to make the pattern Camilla posted, later this week.

Friday 22 February 2008

blossom





Wish I could show you the storm outside, it's powerful! Happy to be inside. Spotted one more sure sign of spring, it's really here now.

Camilla posted photos from my place yesterday. Promise to show how the floor is decorated soon (can't live up to the mystic beauty of the video, but was inspired!)

Karin Eriksson, ceramic artist, posts photos from Stockholm Furniture Fair, where she was one of the designers in Designboom Mart.

Sneak peeks of their collaboration. Looks great! and fun.

Maybe we can learn something from this:
David Parrish
"Helping creative people make their businesses and organisations even more successful
by bringing together creative people (the T-Shirts) with smart business thinking (the Suits)"
Blog

Or maybe just relax.

Thursday 21 February 2008

japanese packaging design



The other day, had vegetarian sushi for lunch.

This week has good rythm, relaxed flow in studio work. Don't have anything new to show you yet but feel content. Grateful. Thinking of how to show my work at Lerverk in April. And what to show. And what is missing.

Ping Mag, online design magazine based in Tokyo
Japanese packaging design imitating nature
Japanese gift packaging design
PingMake -interviews with Japanese makers

Wednesday 20 February 2008

animal day 2





Erik Langert, neighbor at Konstepidemin has a playful and innovative approach to whatever is at hand in his studio. At the same time he is very precise with details and materials; in set designs for theatres, exhibition designs for museums, playgrounds and other public spaces.

Click My animal park, it's his totally unique zoo. It toured a long time now, maybe it is still out there?

Rachel Denny knits animals, trophies ans more.

Tuesday 19 February 2008

animal day




Yvonne Bävman, south Swedish wool sculptor, felted animals full of character.
Photos from Yvonne's website. She also makes felting classes and workshops, in her studio and occasionally elsewhere, in Sweden and USA.

Yvonne was one of the KHVC exhibitors at Stockholm Furniture Fair last week.

Tim Flach, animal photos and more

Ya Ya Chou:
gummi bear rug
gummi bear chandelier
via Art Moco

Monday 18 February 2008

sure signs of spring











Alexandra shows how she worked with an enamel commission last week, final result here, scroll the posts to see from start.

Flora Nova, Warwick Orme flower photography
via Pia Jane Bijkerk

Happy new week!

Saturday 16 February 2008

before and after





Glaze firing makes a difference.

I was awarded again! the You make my day award, by Rebecca, This chicken. Thank you so much! I will link to five blogs for different reasons:

Per Agélii really makes my everyday, being such a fun and helpful neighbor at Konstepidemin. He is slowly creating a football team of granite sculptures (with the symbolic qualities of different positions) and post them at Lagbygge. Now there are four.

Elsa Agelii (yes, they are related), textile artist who blogged from her embroidery project outside Jaisalmer, India, is back with a blog in English this time. That made my day.
Water in desert. Go welcome her!

Lylou made my day when she kindly mentioned me in an interview. Happy handbagging! as Lylou would say, shop here.

Blogs I've recently found, a celebration of all that can be found out there:
Wrong distance
Nature Morph
Asphalt and air

That's actually six. Now I'll go tell them they are awarded. And in my opinion, so are you!

Thursday 14 February 2008

happy valentine!



Bottom photo Platina

Things we do for love (scroll down for English) 24 jewellery artists show at Platina, Stockholm

Wednesday 13 February 2008

new danish ceramics





The Röhss museum shows two big group craft exhibitions now. One shows work by nine Danish ceramic artists, average 42 years old, 77,7 % non smoker and 55% female. 100% lucky and 22% homosexual (the other I hope to visit soon).

Gitte Jungersen is my favourite if I pick only one, but they are all interesting.
Morten Løbner Espersen, professor at the ceramic program at HDK
Bente Skjøttgaard
Steen Ipsen
Flemming Tvede Hansen
Lone Skov Madsen
Mikael Geertsen
Anne Tophøj
Turi Heisselberg Pedersen. Couldn't find links for all of them, such a pity.

Guldagergård, lovely place and fabulous international ceramic center; a place to grow self confidence as a ceramic artist. Interesting workshops, 25-29.3 Paul Scott, print processes in ceramics and glass.

Cally had a nice post yesterday, about Nek Chand's Rock Garden, dream to go there too...

Tuesday 12 February 2008

krama scarves





What a nice surprise today! Had lunch with Anders Jirås, photographer friend who moved to Pnom Penh, Cambodia some months ago. He is on a short visit in Göteborg and brought me presents, look!

Cambodian kramas, the most useful cotton scarves you can think of.
My potter colleague on the photo wears it right, photo from a few years ago.

Anders photos from Phnom Penh, besides the beautiful dancers look at:
Amazing Panorama of the Brayuvangs Pagoda
Kite festival

Kramas with a song:

Monday 11 February 2008

little stories







Amalia Kenamets shows work in progress Re:ligion, at Blå Huset Konstepidemin.

"What's inside" art for a cause, 100 artists creating meaningful and inspiring boxes, Mary Lou Zeek Gallery
Little stories by William Skrips

Spent the most lazy weekend, so nice but now I'd better focus the energy.
May creativity flow in all artists' studios this week!

Saturday 9 February 2008

coulour needed





Spring is in the air, but a gloomy Friday needed some colour.

Rosemarie Fiore, innovative approach to methods
Firework Drawings

via Dear Ada

Color lovers
Pink and blue project, scary

Kris Color stripes

Hope your weekend is bright and sunny!

Thursday 7 February 2008

new and old tile stoves






Photo top, middle Claes G. Svantesson, bottom Per Björn

Annika Svensson shows her tile stoves at Stockholm Furniture Fair. She creates both sculpted one-of-a-kind stoves and pieces like these, where the tiles are made in molds. Pretty and warmhearted, every little detail thought of. And functional.

Annika Svensson stoves
Slide show, how she makes them
Annika's ceramics

Tile stoves originally came to Sweden from mid Europe and Germany.
Here and here, and here
I love the stove type that is still common, that is like a huge warm body in the kitchen of country houses, with room to curl up and dry wet socks on.

We don't have them. Here the stoves were improved to be more efficient (because of the colder climate, or there would be no forests left in Sweden). The major ceramic manufacturers had a variety of both plain and simple as well as richly decorated stoves. The most exclusive stoves for mansions and castles came from Marieberg, so elegant and rare.

Keep warm!

Wednesday 6 February 2008

furniture fair




Chandelier, Jonas Rooth (photo Jonas Rooth) and
ceramic wall hooks, Lena Willhammar (photo Tom Willhammar)

Usually I don't mention my office job at the Swedish craft organisation KHVC, not to confuse things. Here I just want to be me and only represent myself. But the KHVC exhibition at Stockholm Furniture Fair is too good not to share. The fair opened today, my office colleagues in Stockholm are prepared.

Ten KHVC members show their work, photos above from two of them:
Lena Willhammar, simply useful
Jonas Rooth, free blown glass chandeliers and more
Links to all of them here

Tomorrow I'll make a tile stove special...

Monday 4 February 2008

how much smashed china?




Photos: Last summer when the ship Götheborg returns from a trip to China (the original Götheborg sunk when almost home, 1745) and photoshop mosaic.

A special mathematical problem was solved this week.
Thank you Josefine Holmqvist!

We both have commissions in new residential quarters in the former wharf area here in Göteborg, mosaic work based on china porcellain from the East India trade (read more here). Josefine already got a box of smashed china ware and could calculate how many grams a square decimeter of china mosaic are (60g in case you also need the information).

Now I know 10 kilos of broken China from the sunken ship Götheborg is needed for my job, the commissioner will hopefully find it. Will only use original china, not fake it. If they can't find enough I rather use tiles of matching colours, without any pattern.

Josefine (Fina) shows work at Formargruppen, an artist run gallery and shop in Malmö, right now.

Elspeth Diederix, photography
via Wrong distance