Mac’s Problem
I used to be a writer, these days I prefer paint. But the thing is — the two have more in common than I imagine. For the maker it’s all about the process … “I began my diary exercises without a plan, aware that in literature you don’t start because you have something to write…
And Now for Something Completely Different
— or maybe not? The plants are temporarily out of the picture, but I’m still feasting on the extraordinary beauty of my totally unremarkable, ordinary life The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest. Thomas Moore
The small things in everyday life are no less sacred than the great issues of human existence …
”The artist Lari Pittman once told me that the decorative is a way of managing the great barbarity of the world, a means to keep the radical contingency and cruel unknowability of what is going to happen next at bay. This means that the decorative is a strategy against violence, and in that regard it’s…
The Anatomy of a Flower
Studying a flower – a peony – over a periode of several days. Different tools and techniques influence & determines the outcome. The more abstract the drawing gets, the better I like it. But at the same time, I notice it’s important to me that the drawing springs from direct observations. As if meaning is…
The worst thing a painter can do is flowers … part 2
Challenging my own prejudices … Tuesday morning I had the great pleasure to participate in the launch of Chloe Briggs’ new Patreon site (more info here). Our task was to draw/paint a big flower of our choice. The session was divided into shorter timed sections, where we were asked to look for different qualities in…
The worst thing a painter can do is flowers … part 1
For the past few years the Danish artist Tal R has made paintings and drawings of flowers in vases. Each work depicts a bunch of flowers picked by the artist from around his home in the Danish countryside, presented in a vase on a tabletop within a closely cropped interior space. See more here: https://vimeo.com/719780431…
Swimming, etc. …
This week, I must admit, has been mainly about family & about swimming . We are having an early holiday, and the temperature in the Mediterranean sea is on its way up … But I have also manage to put in a tiny bit of painting and sketching. I’m still not to excited by working…
A week of joyful play
I miss my studio, but I do also think it is very useful to only have a limited range of art-supplies around. I have to improvise a lot, but actually improvisation is at the heart of all art-making. If everything is sorted out before one starts, the work is dead. A work comes to life,…
sub rosa 