10.29.06
Workshop and craft fair
This weekend I’ve teached a class on “Artists´ Books” at Samsø´s Library. A group of very enthusiastic women had shown up and got a proper introduction to the whole concept of altered books + various ideas for making ones own BOOKS from the ground. It all went in a nice, inspired and helpful atmosphere; most of the ladies seemed to be skilled craftsmen and picked up ideas and instructions very easily. Finally we agreed on a “follow-up-session” – in the middle of January – to see how far everyone has got and to set up a small exhibition at the library to expose the results of the efforts. Unfortunately I can’t show you any photos now as I managed to arrive to Samsø with a camera with no memory card…
Today I went to a local craft fair marked, just to see “what’s up” at the moment. I both saw a lot of uninterresting and a lot of nice stuff; my favourites were these modern chandeliers and these knitted and felted skirts, scarfs and bags.
And now I´ll spend the rest of the day in my studio and mind my own business: working on 10 little quadratic collages (20×20 cm) for a collaborative exhibition at Gallery Art Expo next weekend.
10.26.06
Autumn inspiration!
We’re home again now, struggling to find our usual daily-life-rhythm after some intensive and exiting holydays in London. This wonderful city, so full of energy, colours, people, art, dirt, traffic, theatres, music, gossip, bookstores and cafés!
I can say for sure, we’re totally impressed, inspired – and exhausted. We’ve brought home a lot of experiences and also some great “London-stuff”.
Emile bought herself two pairs of boots and some fancy clothes while Anna Sofie spent all her money in the book- and music shops. And my resources´re simply “gone with the wind”. London is an expensive city and even though you try to be reasonable, it’s so easy to get tempted. You find nice little restaurants and cafes, interesting musicals, tours and views all over – and of course the stores are full of art supplies and books you’d like to take home!
I hardly dare to check my bank account…
10.15.06
Walk and work
Today’s walk was along the nearby Beder-Fløjstrup-ledge. It’s October when it’s best: Sun’s shining warm and gently. Okay, the trees are still quite green but they are beginning to turn into their autumn colours.
The rest of the day I spend in my studio. It’s wonderful to finally have some consecutive days for artwork.
And the girls? E is visiting some of her friends. A has gone underground somewhere in the house together with a cup of tea and a heavy book – haven’t noticed her for hours…
10.14.06
Autumn holiday!
10 days of freedom ahead where kids can sleep till they wake up by themselves, everybody can relax and follow his or her own rhythm, and I can finally catch up on all “loose ends” in my studio.
Outside the sun is shining. The leaf is turning golden and brown, it´s a beautiful sight. And we have time now to enjoy some long strolls – and breathe in the autumn air. I love October!
Travel cards, transfer tickets and tickets for Madame Tussauds ordered via internet arrived by mail this morning. Oh, what a wonderful world!
Our plan for this holiday is very straight: five days at home to recover after a busy period and then 5 days in London to get new expressions and input.
What are you going to do these days?
10.11.06
“Open Studio” – ups and downs
For “Open Studio” this year I’d decided to expose some Artists´ Books (The Books of X-piir) and some of the collages I’m creating for December’s exhibition in Vilnius. I arranged a rather informal exhibition in the living room: a bunch of books at the table – and 5 rows of collages on the floor while my studio looked more or less as usual… (well, a little more clean and tidy maybe…)
And what happened? I don’t know the exact positions of planets this weekend – but something certainly was going on! First I – accidentally of course – smashed my lovely, big, ceramic mermaid-bow while vacuuming the carpet in the living room before “Open Studios”. A slight push to the sofa to get hold of all the dust and fluff, had forgotten I’d placed a very heavy stand with posters leaning to the backside and….BAAAAANG: the bowl lay in bits and pieces on the floor!
Second event: my PC totally collapsed, damn it! Not only do I have to buy another – I also have to re-organize photos, documents, programmes, access codes etc. Luckily a friend of mine managed to transferred most of the stuff from the broken hard disk to a DVD, but still all mails, mail addresses etc. have disappeared. I’ve never made a proper back up, so I’ll have to reconstruct things; not exactly the kind of work I´ve been looking for, it’s necessary though. I’ve bought a new (used) PC, it’s definitely not the fastest PC I’ve seen but that’s the option right now. The rest of my budget is for the upcoming London-trip!
Finally I was informed that a grant I’ve been applying for to support my Vilnius-project was rejected. Well, Saturday was not my day…but of course it’s difficult to always stay in the fair wind…
10.06.06
To Copenhagen
Sent Emilie & her cello – accompanied by Grandma – by train to Copenhagen this afternoon. The cello-group from Århus´ Muskskole has got a very favourable appointment with the Danish State Radio (DR) via producer and composer Lars Søgård. Lars has created Cello Cabana, Cello Capella and Cello Swingtime especially for this group of young cellists – and this weekend they’re going to Copenhagen to record the music in a professional sound studio. Tomorrow evening they’re also going to give a mini-concert in the foyer of the concert hall as a sort of warm-up/welcome when the audience is arriving to hear the real star/professional cellist Matt Haimowitz.
Meanwhile I stay at home, preparing for tomorrows Open Studio, cleaning and fixing things a little, God knows it’s about time…
10.05.06
Granny´s squares
Borrowed a very inspiring book Hækl – på den fede måde at the library last week and immediately started to crochet some Granny Squares. Don’t know yet what I want to make out of the squares, the main point is to rediscover how funny it is to crochet and to have the opportunity to try out some ideas and patterns. I haven´touched my crochet hook for years…
10.01.06
A demand for two Sundays a week…
Where does the time go? It´s more than a week since I’ve posted anything… so let me try to catch up on my recent creative endeavours.
First of all I’m working with my collages for the Vilnius exhibition. They take a lot of time and I wish I could be more focused and efficient – but starting my new teaching job has taken a great amount of energy (still does), so it hasn’t been possible to “do” more. That’s the reason I find weekends so precious – they are my sacred time, my much-needed-time for dealing with creativity. I’m getting almost desperate if anything gets in my way when it’s weekend. Of course I’m also working in my studio during the week, usually a couple of hours a day, but I really wish, I had more time!
The opening of the collage exhibition has been moved, it´s now scheduled to be on the 5. December, the same day as the Artists` Books exhibition. This is in my favour: actually it would have been impossible for me to go to Lithuania twice. The only disadvantage is that it’s getting more difficult now to persuade my colleagues to join me; most people are so very busy and occupied in December, but we’ll see…
Next weekend you can come and see for yourself what I´m doing. I´m going to participate in a big project called “Open Studios”, where 148 professional artists from Århus´ County open their doors to the public Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday. All interested are invited: art clubs, firms, institutions and private persons. Hope to see a lot of people here at my place – for a cup of coffee and a great discussion about art…
You can find lists and maps over all artists here at www.kunstiostjylland.dk
!9.- 22. October I send my art-money to a local art fair for charity arranged by Rotary. After the art fair the art-money are exhibied in Gallery Jarsbo in Århus till 15. November.
Finally I’m planning an Artists Books workshop at Samsø in the last weekend in October. I had a small exhibition at the local library some months ago and was asked to make a class. Tomorrow I’m going to write a letter of introduction to the participants, so they can start to think of the materials and ideas they want to bring along.
You probably understand why I’d like to have Mondays transformed into Sundays. Two Sundays a week! Not a bad idea…
