My poor blog is rusty. I have been in Stockholm, visiting galleries, etc. My new art catalogue works fine.

Finally I was back in the studio today. I experienced moments of excitement and joy and happiness for being able to paint again. I have been avoiding my new project for a few days, it is always scary to start working at the easel when I have been away for a while. Anyways, this is the start of my latest undertaking.

Why am I painting Gandhi? Well, my friend Rashmi suggested I paint some famous people. I was hesitant, but decided to at least give it a try.

One reason why my blog has not been updated very much is because the café has taken a lot of time, but now it is open and my ambitious wife is working like crazy to make all guests happy. Victoria is a great help and is learning to make great coffee. And it turns out to be a great gallery for my art. Pontus Ikander also has a painting on the wall.

The floor is done. And a lot of stuff is coming close to completion. Tomorrow the new dishwasher is going to arrive. Too tired to write much tonight, just two pictures…

The floor is done. And a lot of stuff is coming close to completion. Tomorrow the new dishwasher is going to arrive. Too tired to write much tonight, just two pictures…

O’boy, I am focused right now. Can’t go to sleep at night because I am thinking about how to fix this and how to do that. My boss is pushing me hard, he he.

But she also works hard.

We found that the floor was water damaged and we had to remove it. That was unexpected and created a lot of extra work. Luckily we have NordSkiffer around the corner, with our friends Björn and Tulsa! Björn suggested a grey slate with a touch of green in it. Two kinds of the same slate – one is polished, the other not. That made it possible to make this checkerboard pattern.

A lot of work now, but it is going to look fantastic. Another great thing is that both Andrea and Victoria have learned a lot. Victoria asked me yesterday “daddy, how come you know how to do so many things?” Well, now I can ask her “Victoria, how come you know how to lay a slate floor?”

Victoria has done a fantastic job, works long days and is happy and pleased with the result of her work. That is how it should be!

Tomorrow we will do the grouting and on Monday we will be able to move the fridges/freezers and some furniture back in their places. We will also have to build the dishwashing module, which will be located where Victoria is happily pounding the slate tiles in place. Maybe we will be done by Wednesday…

I am sorry, have been very busy. Unfortunately not painting, but making a 48 page book, 300×220 mm format, in high quality print. Hopefully I will have the books delivered within two weeks from now. The name of the book is Facing Plywood and the book will not look like this – this is something else…

We have also been very busy with other matters. Andrea bought a café yesterday! It is located in Höganäs, it is tiny, and it is cozy. Today we will start repainting the walls and do a lot of other stuff. It is probably going to take about a week of intensive work to get ready for re-opening.

I think I am done…? Maybe I should have stopped weeks ago? Hard to say. I know for sure there is no way back. Painting has for me become a learning process about having courage to fail. One good think about my art is that if you decide to cut it up and burn the pieces in a fireplace, you will stay warm for a little while.

If you stand close to the painting it becomes almost abstract. Two by two meters is relatively large, so it is almost possible to join the guys on the rocks. The painting is based on a polaroid photo Lucas took of his friends, the Viken Boys.

I think I am done…? Maybe I should have stopped weeks ago? Hard to say. I know for sure there is no way back. Painting has for me become a learning process about having courage to fail. One good think about my art is that if you decide to cut it up and burn the pieces in a fireplace, you will stay warm for a little while.

If you stand close to the painting it becomes almost abstract. Two by two meters is relatively large, so it is almost possible to join the guys on the rocks. The painting is based on a polaroid photo Lucas took of his friends, the Viken Boys.

I went to Art Copenhagen Saturday. 75 galleries from Denmark and Sweden, Finland Norway, Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands were showing too much art. After a few hours of looking at a lot of art of various quality, you feel like your head is going to explode. How do you pick out anything special in such a great selection? After a while some artists and some works remain in your mind. I always enjoy Michael Kvium, saw some nice works by Astrid Sylwan, saw a piece for sale by Olafur Eliason, priced at EUR 150.000 – probably a good investment for the brave?

Sunday I had to rest from art, so I spent some hours reading a new biography about Leo Castelli, ha ha. But it takes a while until the biography gets to his gallery career, as the book starts with his ancestors way back in the eighteenth century. Ambitious…

Today I have been back in the studio, pushing my painting a step further. I sanded the rocks at the bottom of the picture some more to make the wood grain come out more. Painted the sides black (cannot be seen in these photos) and then covered the green square with black, wiped a lot of paint off, then used the taping knife again to scrape off more paint.

Something is missing. Maybe I will come up with something tomorrow?

Home again! And back at work in the studio. I have made some additions to the large painting – I applied a thin layer of green. Then I used a spackling knife to scrape off as much paint as I could. I also sanded off a lot of the dried paint on the bottom rocks.

Now I am thinking about what to call the painting – how about this:
How do you define success?

Andrea and I have been away for a while, are still gone. We have been in Washington D.C., where we saw a lot of art, and walked the city in the heat. Nice city!

Then we drove down to Roanoke, Virginia, where Andrea’s parents live. Did a few projects around the house for them and spent time with her family.

After a week there we drove further south to Lake Lanier north of Atlanta, where my brother Ralph lives with his family. Here we are enjoying warm and humid days right on the lake. I have built a frame for a painting he bought from me recently. The painting is on canvas, 130 x 80 cm, and it was painted several years ago.