Happy Holidays!
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label art. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 23
Wednesday, December 16
Wednesday, November 25
Wednesday, November 18
Wednesday, November 11
Wednesday, November 4
Waterlogue Wednesday
Autumn is in full swing here, but this lone wild rose blossom was still hanging on yesterday morning.
Wednesday, October 28
Wednesday, October 21
Wednesday, October 14
Wednesday, October 7
Waterlogue Wednesday
The leaves are turning and we are heading into autumn. In some mornings the fog over the water is magnificent.
Monday, September 28
Souvenirs
Last week my new employer sent a lot of us to training in Malta. Gorgeous place, very hot and dry, very yellow. The bedrock is yellow limestone, the buildings are yellow limestone blocks, the terrace walls are yellow limestone, the fields are yellow. It is so very different from the green of Scandinavia (all those trees we have) and so very beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen sea this blue.
The tourist shops had many items made from the stone, but I obtained an unworked piece of Malta yellow limestone. It represents what Malta is, and what it is made of. It's just a yellow chip of stone, but for me it is more beautiful than the carved stuff in stores.
On the same street as our hotel, there was this shop with porcelain figurines and blown glass stuff in their window. Since I was browsing the tourist traps to kill time without any intention to buy anyway, I went in. Turns out it was connected to a furniture/art store with a front to another street. So I got an idea to buy a painting of Malta, not just take photos. Sadly there were not many paintings of Maltese places, but I did find one I liked.
An oil painting of Valletta (no, I didn't get to visit this time). This reminds me so much of Old Town in Tallinn. The narrow street, the houses built of limestone, the way the light falls. So gorgeous... I fell in love and had to bring it home with me.
Wednesday, May 27
Playing with Waterlogue Again
Light on the glass, the brass, the wall, the fringe, and the flower. I love how this one turned out.
Friday, March 27
Playing
Today I read about an app that can turn photos into water colour paintings. Out of curiosity I tried it and I must say, I'm impressed. It does one thing, and one thing only, but it does it superbly.
It has a very simple interface, is very easy to use and if you feed it right kinds of photos, the results are stunning.
Remember the fog photo? No? No worries, here's the original.
And here is what Waterlogue made of it. Better than the original, isn't it?
Friday, October 10
Art Stuff
Ever since I put up both water paintings, I've known that having two of them is one too many — one statement piece per room is enough. Putting up my grandfather's painting made it abundantly clear that having three big paintings on three walls was just too much. It was time to take the extra painting down and put some other stuff up.
Last year I happened to visit Riksarkivet and purchased three reprints of old postcards. I loved them for their palette, the old style of drawing, and for the architecture. I'd planned to frame all three in the same frame, and here is the result.
Sadly the glass is not matte, and I couldn't find a better angle do diminish the reflection. The postcards look lovely in their green mount, but the white frame is blah. I haven't decided yet what to do about that.
This is an image I found online via BibliOdyssey of an illustration from a book Erucarum Ortus by Maria Sibylla Merian, prepared for publication mid-1670s, published 1717. The butterfly is Polygonia c-album, and they are pretty common in Estonia and Sweden.
Here they are hanging side by side, my embryonic art gallery wall.
This is an ink doodle I found on the floor next to a waste bin in my school's art class one day. I tried to find the author, but no one claimed it. I've held onto it because I had always intended to frame it and display it. It fits perfectly in that narrow wall in my hall and I am happy to have saved it from the bin all those decades ago.
I think it is gorgeous, smudges and all.
Friday, July 4
Vacation, Part I
The first two weeks of vacation have just flashed by. I had my family visit for a week and before that I was preparing for it. All the little things that had to be organised, bought, arranged, and so on. It has been very intense, all that walking! It must have an effect somewhere, not just sore feet, I hope. We visited a few places, shopped, chatted, had fun, and had generally a good time. I am already looking forward to their next visit.
Since my Mum and Dad moved out of their home of 35 years this spring, there are a few things that they are distributing amongst the children. Since they were coming over with a car, they bought over some things that are passed on to me. The trouble is that they didn't take any of the boxes of books with them that they were meant to, so I'm minus some space that I really counted on. Oh well, maybe next year?
One of the things they brought was this watercolour painting my grandpa did of their house. That is where I spent my summers as a kid, and this painting represents so many memories of my family. Grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncles, cousins, neighbours who we're also related to... Many, many happy memories.
The visit was so intense and packed with activities, that I've only just about recovered. It didn't help that I caught a cold right before they arrived, so I've been sleeping off both the cold and the fatigue. To get a little spinning practice before the Tour de Fleece, I've tackled the last of my Estonian pencil rovings. This time I decided to keep it simple, and make it as bulky singles. It is finished and drying and looks nice and fluffy. It's meant to become a simple garter stitch shawl to have at the office in the winter. Or home. Or a cowl. It's a nice gradient, so many possibilities!
Friday, January 10
Winter Vacation
This year I took three weeks of vacation over the holidays instead of the usual two. The long break has allowed me to reload and relax. On Monday I shall be going back to work and it feels like I'm ready to face the stress again.
I visited the family over Christmas and had a good time. They liked their gifts and I loved theirs to me. I count that as a success because they are all very hard to gift things to. I am not there, so I don't see if they might need something, or hear them say: 'Oh, I like this thing here'. Next year I'm taking the stress out of gifts and instituting a mandatory "letter to Santa" for everyone, regardless of age.
Even though I loved all the gifts I got, one gift stood out from the rest, because it was for the flat. My aunt gave me an ink drawing that is so perfect, I went and put it up immediately.
Black and white. Check. Cats. Check. I had a perfect spot for it. Check. I have other art I planned to put up there, but I was procrastinating framing it. I have plenty of empty wall space to fill, so all my art will eventually find their places.
During the vacation I've also been knitting and making an inventory of my yarns. I've come to the conclusion that I have way too much sock yarn and must knit some up. I have enough yarn for 25 pairs of socks. This includes weights from fingering to aran, but I counted only yarn that I am planning to knit socks with. 25 pairs! And that doesn't count the two pairs that I'm working on right now. Or the scraps that are probably enough for more than a couple pairs...
I better get knitting, don't I?
Monday, May 6
Unexpected Art
A neighbour is moving and he decided to get rid of two of his paintings. I happened to go down to the laundry as he was taking them out, and on a whim, he offered those two pieces to me. At first I was a bit hesitant, but after hearing that they'd just go to rubbish bin otherwise, and taking a look at them, I decided to take them off his hands.
I was thinking, that if I didn't like them, I could always try to sell them on Blocket later. Or put them up for an auction, but at least these two pieces of art won't end up in a rubbish heap right now. The artist may not be famous, but his subject, and colour is so totally my style, I could not let these paintings be destroyed.
The signature on the paintings is A. Andrew and the neighbour told me that he was a Danish artist. The paintings were originally bought in the 80s, and the artist is now dead. I tried to Google him in Danish, Swedish and English, but without success. I'd like to know more about him, so I'll keep on trying to find out more.
Guess, what? One looks awesome in the "living room" part of my room! I love the size of it, it is spot on for the wall next to the window. The one on the opposite wall is the exact same size canvas, but without a frame.
Doesn't it look incredible? This is just what this wall needed. The frame needs a bit of cleaning, and the canvas needs dusting. (To be honest, it's downright filthy. Which art collector doesn't take care of his art?!) I love it. The subject, the mood, the colours, the dynamic, everything. This one is definitely a keeper.
This one is chipped and has some unidentified substance splashed on it. Shame. It may not be as evocative as the other one, but that's no reason to not take care of it! This one doesn't feel quite right for this place. It feels like this wall should have more than one piece of art on it, not one big one. I may relocate this one, or re-home it. We'll see.