Life outdoors

The little girl has got a new knitted vest. I got the pattern from Gry on fintfôr. Yesterday a little friend had her birthday party and we were invited on a boattrip to celebrate.

No time to stay inside now. Have to go out and dig in the ground.

Odd selection

A more or less odd selection of pictures. Second picture is a painting by artist Franz Kline. The last two don't really belong in the selection, do they? Or maybe if it's seen like some  - well, journey. First the rock, and then gradually... it opens up, doesn't it..?

Watercolour on the verge of nothing

A couple of small watercolour-drawings made recently. Almost nothing, but still something. I like red watercolour. I like the red colour of barns, it even has its own name in Norwegian "låverød". And I like the uneven structure on old wooden panel. Plus I like being able to hear the sound of the ocean right outside my door.

A walk

Outhouses, barns, sheds

What is it about them that I find so fascinating? These are just some recent photos, I have lots and lots of others. 

studio and outside

Prints and drawings

Some prints and drawings. Finally taken up the Japanese woodblock printing technique that I learnt in Berlin a year ago. The first photo is a print, and the third. Japanese woodblock printing is fascinating, I certainly will do more of this.

Japanese woodblock

Japanese woodblock prints by Kiyoshi Saito (1907-1997). I like these. They remind me a little of a book from my childhood, The snowy day by Ezra Pound Keats (see below). I have taken up Japanese woodblock-printing. It demands a lot of preparation, but it's fun.

Agnes Martin and Richard Tuttle

If you live near the coast, like I do, and you like to go for a walk, you can either go into the woods or you can go out by the sea.

In the woods you will walk on a narrow path, see the footprints of animals on the snow, admire the beauty of dry, wrinkly flowers against the sparkling white ground - in short: all the small, humble signs of life so easily passed by. By the sea you can gaze at the horizon, the vastness of the ocean, the small ripples forever repeating themselves on the water, the sameness all over and the feeling of awe by it. It struck me today, when I chose to walk in the woods, that this choice relates to Richard Tuttle (artist, living), while the sea-choice relates to Agnes Martin (artist, dead). It was quite obvious when I began to think about it.

See for yourself:

Richard Tuttle: Section IV, Extension E (17,8x13,7x11,4 cm)

Agnes Martin

Martin and Tuttle were close friends since the mid 1960s, and even though their work is very different, not only regarding scale  (ex: Agnes Martin's paintings were typically huge; 180x180 cm, Tuttle's work is small), it's as if they are two sides of the same coin. Like going for a walk when you live by the coast.

Some glimpses from the new neighborhood. Today; beautiful weather, walk in the woods. Tested my up until recently unused macro-lens. I also practiced using the manual settings instead of the auto. My favorite image is that of the empty nutshell, I like it's questioning/ terrified expression. Last image; the habitat of our six-year old.

Anorakk

A present from Gry. It fits well, and looks cool! I hope her head doesn't grow much bigger, though:) 

Thinking about life, death, art and

... TIME, obviously. Note the central position of the wrist-watch. Not to forget SPACE. (I'm in my workspace, as a matter of fact). 


Recently I have offered my hand-drawn pictures as gifts to friends at various occasions. (Nicely framed too.) It has taken some effort to overcome the feeling of embarrassment associated with this act. I am not an apt drawer. I'm a doodler. So how can I be so shameless as to push my doodles on to people like this? I have no real answer. Shamelessness and narcissism, has it come to this with me too? For the time being, I see it as playing. I'm playing when I'm drawing, playing like a child plays, almost mindless, without a definite aim or ambition, but totally immersed in the act and totally serious. It is as simple and difficult as that. So even though my drawn gifts are not accomplished, not skillfully executed, more based on intuition than on concept, I suppose I must feel they are good enough to be given away. I am shameless, in deed.   

This is serious business....

Goodbye Oslo II

In the series Goodbye Oslo, part II:

From above: My former workplace in the city, Oslo seen from Sinsenkrysset, our bathroom view, Tveten gård old farm buildings.