meldrum art
I had my first exhibition at “Galleri T” back in April 2016. It was a great success, and it was an important step in my development. A lot of my friends bought paintings. I learned later that selling watercolours is more of a challenge when people you know have bought their fill.
Galleri T is situated in the Old Town in Stockholm, quite close to the Royal Palace.
Click the thumbnail below is you would like to see a larger image.
I spent a number of years sailing in the Mediterranean. I was a guest on my father in law’s sailing boat. It was a privilege to spend two weeks just cruising. Delicious meals in small harbour towns. Slowly making our way from one point on the map to another. Nice, very nice.
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I am very happy and honoured to feature in this mini catalogue titled ‘Unseen to be seen’. It is an exhibition of watercolours only 8 x 5 cm in size. This is the brainchild of Rajat Subhra Bandopadhyay.
He contacted me 4 years ago and asked if I would like to participate in the mini exhibition with watercolour masters from around the world. I was quite shocked and later flattered that he would consider me to be a master.
Unfortunately, this was 2020. Covid came and ruined the party. The project was put on ice and that was that.
But out of the blue, Rajat contacted me a few weeks back. I was truly delighted that he managed to publish the catalogue after all this time. I wish him the best of luck with this and any other project he has in the pipeline.
We sail a lot during the summer. The closer you are to Stockholm the more houses there are. For us it’s a warning, it means we need to keep sailing east for a few hours until we are in the outer archipelago.
I am delighted that I am actually painting in the studio during the winter months. My mental-health suffers badly at this time, especially these last few years. The situation has improved though. It’s not perfect, but I am able to function again thanks to professional help. It’s fantastic to be regularly painting again
I painted this watercolour from a photo I’d taken during the summer. It’s a bit of a cheat, the couple were never there. I think that’s called creative licence. I really do prefer to paint outdoors, to be in nature. It’s -8 celsius outside here in Stockholm, and it’s snowing. The studio feels pretty good right now.
36 x 26 cm
Click the image below if you would like to see the full sized watercolour.
I like this motiv a lot. It was fun to paint. I am experimenting with Daniel Smith high granulation colours. I think this has the feeling or the mood I want to attain with my paintings. It’s not often I am happy with my work but I like this one. 😃
Scandinavian coastal pine 26 x 36 cm
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The story behind this painting is that it just wasn’t working out.
So I ripped the picture in half horizontally and saved the top half, the sky along with the tops of the trees. There used to be houses along a shoreline on the bottom half. It was this that sucked and had to go.
I was left with some clouds and tree tops. What to do? Well, I used a flying duck to try and save the watercolour. It was the first time I ever painted a duck. I need to practice a bit more.
That’s the story behind this painting. ☺
I took the reference photo for this watercolour 18 years ago. I wish I could remember where in the archipelago it was, but I can’t. It’s a pity, because I’d like to visit that place again to paint plein air. It’s hard to imagine now, but I did not paint watercolours back then.
To my Swedish friends, does anyone know where it might be?
Many famous Swedish artists have visited this island in the Stockholm archipelago. It was the beginning of the 20th century, Bruno Liljefors owned the island and Anders Zorn often visited to go hunting together. I suspect they did a few paintings too.
The view from Bullerön: 51×33 cm