The summer guest house is almost completed, my show is over… Ready to create again!

Today I picked up my paintings from Tapper Popermajer Gallery in Teckomatorp.

Yesterday we basically completed the summer guest house / shed. Only a few things remain to be done. Inside the house Victoria and I are building a fairly complicated stand with two large storage drawers to be made under the bed. The bench outside is for summer night campfires and sunset contemplation. It has been very nice to do this project with my kids (Freddie is almost my kid too) and now I am ready to go back into the studio again!

Cardinal Red door, black and white

Slowly but surely the building project is moving forward. The wood panelling has had two coats of black. The door has now had a first coat of dark red – Cardinal Red or Caput Mortuum. The inside of the windows have received another coat of white.

I am in love with Ottosson’s linseed oil paints!

I have been using Ottosson’s artist oil colors for several years, but I have never really tried to paint windows, doors, etc. with linseed oil paints before. I have been like the majority, using all kinds of more or less chemically manipulated paints, some really good brands and often with very good results, but…
I had the impression that linseed oil paints were messy to work with, that they dry slowly, etc. Ok, you will get paint on your hands and elsewhere, but since it is linseed oil paint it is easy to clean your hands, etc. with soap. And there are many great instruction videos on the Ottosson website which show you how to use their paints in quite a few different applications. One thing is repeated in all videos: don’t dip the paint brush too deep into the paint. I can subscribe to that; if you follow their instructions the result will be great!

The building project is almost complete and I have spend most of the day painting giving the wood panelling a second coat of black paint. For this I have used another fantastic old Swedish product: Falu Rödfärg (black).I painted the window sills black, with Ottosson’s linseed oil paint. A great experience! I used a small flat Escoda paint brush, dipped it about two or three millimeters into the paint each time. That normally gave me 30 to 40 cm of stroke length each time. The paint flowed beautifully from the brush and it was very easy to do some precision painting without spilling paint. You don’t need to clean the brushes after painting, especially if you need to paint soon again – just stick the brush in some raw linseed oil and it keeps really well. I sometimes stick the brush in water, which works for shorter periods of time, like from today till tomorrow. Then when you are done, wipe off as much paint as possible on old rags, some old wood pieces or cardboard, and then wash the brushes with soap. Ottosson’s make a nice linseed oil soap too. Try it!

More pictures of the tiny house project

A few more pictures of the small house we are building. First a photo of my great helpers Freddie and Lucas.The “new” windows are from the 19:th century! The size of the house is based on the length of a kayak, since the idea is to store at least one in here during the winter.

No activity in the studio, but still painting with linseed oil

I have not done anything in the studio for a week or so. My son and his friend are helping me build a small shed / guest house. I bought three old windows, probably over one hundred years old, which were in pretty bad shape. I had to renovate them and in the process I painted them with one first coat of Ottosson’s linseed oil paint. An amazing product, which takes some getting used to painting with (don’t dip the paint brush too deep into the paint). A lot of patience trying work but with great satisfaction.The builders at work. Fifteen square meters. More pictures soon.

Save, wait, create

I have saved a piece of wood for years. Now it finally came to use. Painted an image of Picasso on it, a very intense eye. Size 92 x 93 x 302 mm. Somebody had liked a similar piece I made last year, which inspired me to do this one. I have to wait for it to dry and let the paint settle in to the wood grain before I decide if I am done.

Pictures from my exhibition

I had another full day Friday, together with the gallery owner Hans Tapper, hanging my paintings in his gallery Tapper-Popermajer. It worked out well and both Hans and the visitors were very positive. I was totally exhausted afterwards. Why? Maybe it is just the effort of focusing and giving, sort of exposing yourself. Kind of personal stuff… maybe… Pictures from the gallery below.