meldrum art
Oh, it was so nice last Wednesday. The sun was shining and it was above freezing. Actually, it reached 12 degrees. Amazing!
I spent the day at my good friend’s summer house near Trosa. It lies south east of Stockholm. I painted two watercolour sketches, both of them I was pretty happy with. Later we had lunch in Trosa. A very enjoyable day. And to top it all off, I went to life drawing in the evening.
We travelled to Gothenburg to visit my son and his family. The trip from Stockholm takes three and half hours, which gave me lots of time to do a few watercolour studies.
I plan to paint a series of paintings of chosen islands in the archipelago. Right now, I’m inspired by the landscape of Svartlöga, an island in the outer archipelago.
I met some other sketching friends during the weekend. We spent a lovely afternoon at Greta’s café which had a good view of the square on Hötorget. It’s in central Stockholm. Every Sunday there is a flea market. Lots of old stuff to buy or not to buy.
The format I paint in is quite small, 18 x 13 cm. This allows me to finish a sketch quickly. It is a good thing, because the object or person I am trying to capture has a habit of moving or disappearing totally.
I had a fun evening during the weekend meeting up with an old friend. We went sketching at the Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities here in Stockholm. That’s the “Medelhavsmuseet” in Swedish.
I sketched the only bust in the place that didn’t have a broken nose. He wasn’t a very happy. He was a bit intimidating to be honest.
Later, we had a curry and a few beers. A great night.
Last Sunday, my sketching friends and I met up at Kulturhuset just off Sergels torg. It’s in the centre of Stockholm.
We were sitting in the large café on the 3rd floor. Some of us sat by the large windows looking down into the square. Plattan. The square gives you the urge to walk quickly through it. If you want, you can buy some drugs from the dealers in the shadows. You can also demonstrate against something that is unjust. There are no trees, no sign of nature anywhere, the wind bites.
The coffee, the carrot cake and the good company cheered me up a little. I was happy with the sketch too, it captured the moment.
Title: Plattan 17 x 13 cm.
Every autumn the canal on Djurgården here in Stockholm becomes spectacularly beautiful. I noticed that the left hand side of the composition was cool and the people were in the shade. The trees on the other side of the canal were flaming reds and yellows. I tried to capture it, the impression I feel when I visit each year. I’ll probably paint the scene a few more times until I feel satisfied. I think this is a good start though.
Djurgårdsbrunnskanalen 52 x 34 cm
I met up with my sketching friends and had coffee (fika) at Gretas café. Wet snow, grey sky and a bleak town square. It was nice to sit indoors and watch the world through glass windows. All seven of us sketched, it was lovely. ( 12 x 18 cm )
I spent a few hours on new year’s eve with my dear sketching friends. It was too cold to meet outside so we sketched in the Central Station. My little painting is 18 x 11 cm in size.
Finally, finally, I have managed to complete the editing of this video. It was originally filmed in October 2023 on the island of Utö in the Stockholm archipelago. There was plenty of wind, rain and frustration. 