Large painting started

I have started a new project. The painting is 180 x 80 cm and the plywood is a very rough and cheap construction board. I am building up layers of paint, and I am also sanding and experimenting as I go along.

This is where I am at now. Now I will let the paint dry for a couple of days.
What do do next? No idea, that will come to me…

Finished in a double sense

The portraits of Erik and Sofi are finished. I painted the back of Erik’s painting red and Sofi’s blue. If they are hung with spotlights above, the shadow behind each painting has a touch of red and blue… a very subtle effect.

I also added two layers of varnish to give the paintings a bit of a classic touch. It has been a partly agonizing process to make these paintings, but now I am satisfied. The parents are also very happy, which is important for me, since their children mean a lot to them. Maybe that influenced my feeling of responsibility when I started working on them.

A friend came by today and immediately fell in love with these paintings. One reason he liked them so much was also the size – 20×16 cm. Anybody has room for such small paintings, was his comment. He also started thinking out loud and wondered about if smaller paintings necessarily should be less expensive than large works? That is the norm, but in many cases a small painting does not mean less work and the result may also be just as good. To me it makes sense and I think I will practise a different pricing in the future. I will also raise my prices for portraits, as I “fear” that I will have more requests for portraits – I don’t mind doing them, but I don’t want to do too many either. But it has been very much fun to work in a dialogue with the clients, letting them be part of the creative process.

Getting closer

Today I worked with renewed strength in the studio. This morning I saw a picture of the Cecilia Edefalk painting Baby (at the Bukowski site). The painting is huge, 230×432 cm. Something happened when I looked at a high resolution picture of the painting – I received energy and went to the studio with a strong desire to work, which I did…

What a struggle

I have been struggling. Yesterday I did not care to show my “progress”. Today I have continued the work. Patience is a virtue. I used to think I had/have patience. But while working in the studio, I start to doubt if I have much of it. If I had, I would not despair so much, I would simply trust in my ability and be confident that it will work out in the end.

I don’t know why I complain, this is the process I need to go through. Each time.

Tomorrow I will continue. I will spray paint the background and I will add another layer of paint – maybe a warmer tone?

Always a difficult beginning

I am starting up a commission to do two small portraits of two children. The paintings will be 20×16 cm each.

Always when starting on something new there is a tremendous feeling of helplessness, a feeling that I have lost it all. I always keep telling myself to be patient, to have faith, but it hardly helps – the feeling is there. Sometimes the feeling of failure remains throughout the entire process and then after a long time I may see the value of my work. In any case, it is impossible to give up and not try one more time. The process of struggle has to be there, it has to be difficult…

Anyways, this is the subtle beginning.

Robert Terry at Lars Bohman Gallery

It seems like the huge article in Helsingborgs Dagblad on Villa Holsby has created some interest. I have had a lot of visitors on this blog. The article and 24 nice pictures can be viewed on this link: http://hd.se/bostad/2010/11/01/villa-holsby-i-ny-tappning/

I can’t show what I am working on right now. It is a portrait for someone who is turning 50 and it is supposed to be a surprise.

So I will share a few photos taken with my telephone a few weeks ago when I visited Lars Bohman Gallery in Stockholm. When we entered the gallery I thought “oh, a photo exhibition” but I was mighty surprised when I saw that the “pictures” where painted with very much paint. The artist was Robert Terry, an American. He had also done a series of paintings of Abraham Lincoln which were pretty cool. Check these pictures.

You can also visit the site:
http://www.larsbohmangallery.com/exhibitions/robert-terry

Robert Terry at Lars Bohman Gallery

It seems like the huge article in Helsingborgs Dagblad on Villa Holsby has created some interest. I have had a lot of visitors on this blog. The article and 24 nice pictures can be viewed on this link: http://hd.se/bostad/2010/11/01/villa-holsby-i-ny-tappning/

I can’t show what I am working on right now. It is a portrait for someone who is turning 50 and it is supposed to be a surprise.

So I will share a few photos taken with my telephone a few weeks ago when I visited Lars Bohman Gallery in Stockholm. When we entered the gallery I thought “oh, a photo exhibition” but I was mighty surprised when I saw that the “pictures” where painted with very much paint. The artist was Robert Terry, an American. He had also done a series of paintings of Abraham Lincoln which were pretty cool. Check these pictures.

You can also visit the site:
http://www.larsbohmangallery.com/exhibitions/robert-terry

What is on his mind?

OK, check this out. A very thin layer of spraypaint (silver and red) on glass. The glass covers about 3/4 of the painting. The piece changes depending on the light and where you stand.

I guess the photo of Gandhi, which I have used, is very well known. He has a funny look. I wonder what he is looking at and what he is thinking? I may call the work “Maybe She is Irresistible?” The work is 91×91 cm including the oak frame. It can be seen at Kafé Zolo in Höganäs.

What is on his mind?

OK, check this out. A very thin layer of spraypaint (silver and red) on glass. The glass covers about 3/4 of the painting. The piece changes depending on the light and where you stand.

I guess the photo of Gandhi, which I have used, is very well known. He has a funny look. I wonder what he is looking at and what he is thinking? I may call the work “Maybe She is Irresistible?” The work is 91×91 cm including the oak frame. It can be seen at Kafé Zolo in Höganäs.

Mahatma Gandhi

I have spent the day working on my Gandhi painting. I have mixed feelings about painting famous people with an icon status such as Gandhi’s, because so many people have opinions on how they look/looked, etc. It is too easy to become preoccupied with the person instead of letting your imagination work. I doubt this painting will trigger thoughts, questions, imagination, maybe even stories in people’s minds. They will look at this painting and say “oh, look – it is Gandhi”. They will study it for a while, find something to criticize, and then turn around and forget what they saw. It has probably been a wasted day. But it was good excercise, though. I enjoyed the work.

I think something else is needed. I probably have to make the painting uncomfortable…

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