Mats Brate Studio Journal

Places, People, Stories

2012-03-11T12:06:00.002+01:00

Drawing for PPS. Meanwhile Petter is finishing and editing the script. Were on schedule with one new page finished every day.

Moebius

2012-03-10T18:40:00.004+01:00

Moebius, Gean Girard, dead at 73. A fantastic artist and storyteller.

Done!

2012-01-20T08:58:00.000+01:00

Stars look beautiful in the frost.

Yesterday I had a meeting with representatives from the daycare center and Kalmar municipality for a final inspection of my work. Everybody was pleased. One of the guys from the municipality has his daughter at the daycare center and he told me the kids are always playing with and around the stars. It's been over a year's work with the stars and it's nice to see it finished. I'm glad that my clients are satisfied with the result.

Almost there.

2012-01-20T08:51:00.001+01:00

Only one more to fasten to the wall.

Mounting the small stars to the wall. Really cold outside so I have to work with gloves. Anyway it's almost done!

Casting

2012-01-16T10:25:00.001+01:00

Adding pigment to the resin, here I'm using Viridian.

After mixing, I pour the resin in to the mould...

...and wait for 6 - 12 hours for the resin to cure.

Started to cast the small stars in epoxy. I want at least 21 stars for the wall.

Smallstars.

2012-01-10T17:25:00.000+01:00

I'm sculpting small stars from foam and making forms of plaster and an inner form of silicon. Unfortunaly the silicone don't seem to cure as it should. I'll give it another day, if it hasn't cured by tomorrow morning I'll start all over again :).

I've made two stars out of wood.

These are the moulds I will use to cast the epoxy resin in.

Bonneville.

2012-01-04T17:45:00.001+01:00

I've started working on Småstjärnorna. Easy to get lost in sketching though. Dream project, a Boneville Streamliner Tricycle. I have even got ball point pens to be able to sketch off-line.

Warmup

2012-01-02T18:31:00.000+01:00

Still warming up.

Talk on Tintin.

2011-12-20T11:24:00.001+01:00

A pic from my lecture on Tintin at Ädelfors folkhögskola, november 30.
Photo: Marcus Benzien Lindmark.

Talks.

2011-12-12T08:38:00.005+01:00

The talk on Tintin at Ädelfors went well, afterwards I had an interersting conversation with a couple of guys from the journalist course at the school.

Last week I was invited to do another talk at the Reality Club at Kalmar Konstmuseum. This was last wednesday. I think i went pretty well and I got a lot of encouraging comments from the audience afterwards.

This week and the next I will get a couple of days in the studio but I still have some teaching at the University to do before Christmas.

Tintin and I?

2011-11-29T21:09:00.004+01:00

I'm preparing for a lecture on Tintin and issues of racism. I will also talk about how Hergé's work has influenced my art. Tomorrow at Ädelfors folkhögskola in Vetlanda.

Elucidating Inka / Doge

2011-11-27T17:13:00.003+01:00

The Wowboy - A fearless combination

2011-11-18T04:35:00.015+01:00

Today I'm having my friend Petter crashing here on the blog, posting the first draft for a potential graphic novel project:

A pale, thick haired, scandinavian viking suddenly wakes up in a foreign environment. Even if some things do resemble what his blue eyes are familiar with, many things are different. There's a sun rising in the morning, staying up in the sky all day, eventually descending when evening comes. However this sun seems to stay up longer, and the heavy clouds he's used to seldom appear here, but when they do they tend to leave a ton of winter. Usually it melts into summer the day after. Yes, the sky is mostly blue during daytime, and the stars at night helps him navigate between different beds. He's not perfectly sure where exactly he is, what's behind the enormous mountains in the west and how far away the nearest shore is in this desert-like country.

One thing that amuses him is the great range of different mead he can find here. There are also an infinite variety of breakfast cereals, but unfortunately no filmjölk (cultured milk). He finds the coffee a bit too transparent, but notices that he generally gets more coffee for his coins. So perhaps it evens up. Cups marked "S" seem to be equal to those marked "XXL" back in Scandinavia. However he cannot decide if that's entirely a good thing.

Initially people seem to be staring or at least looking closely at him when he walks down the windy streets. He values shoes that are comfortable for walking and jackets that can take a lot of wind and darkness, and even if the Cowboys also seem to dress to stand the weather, they still appear more stylish. Not the apparent ergonomic scandinavian look.

There are also things he needs to learn about social interaction. He has no trouble understanding "Howdy", but greetings like "What's up?" initially makes him dizzy. He soon realizes that the question doesn't ask for the long version of what he is up to as the cowboys seem to reply with another "What's up?" or "Hey". But he also notices that alarmingly many replies with a "Not much". It's confusing for a viking.

However, he likes what he experiences and what he sees, and most of all he enjoys the company of the cowboys he hangs out with. It's a sweet adventure by the foot of the mountains. Little by little he adjusts to wild west life, his stiff ergonomic viking manners blending together with refreshingly light hearted cowboy ways of living. Donuts suddenly combine with porridge, a shell jacket gets some fur, a cowboy hat grows horns and the coffee turns dark and thick. "Wow, that's awesome", says someone, almost every day. "Wow" replies our Wowboy with a gentle nod.

–

“Hi, can I crash on your blog?”
Blog surfing by Petter Hanberger
This is the story of my Boulder experience, and it’s a tiny experiment in collaborative communication, or guest blogging if you like. I’m hoping to find a new blog to crash each week, and contribute with a post that’s relevant for the specific host. If you know someone who’s blogging on animals or outdoor adventures, please let me know.

Stay tuned.

/PH

Previous episodes:
9/11/2011: INVOLUNTARY OFFLINE MODE,
hosted by Watch, Think, Make/Siri Johansson

@pepperhamburger
www.petterhanberger.se

Starman.

2011-11-14T07:09:00.002+01:00

Another photo from the opening. Gunnar took this picture of Oscar balancing on the star.

Thank you all!

2011-11-13T18:16:00.015+01:00

A lot of people participated in this project and I would like to thank you all for your involvement.

Jan Tegnemo at Mönsterås Metall who made the aluminium casting possible.

Bengt Selander and the guys at Nybro Rör och Mekaniska who fabricated all the stainless steel hardware.

Gunnar Englund at Fantasilaoratoriet who constructed and sculptetd the wood star.

Tobias at Kalmar Bläster och Lack who painted the green star.

Hans-Göran Martinsson at Kalmar Municipality for great collaboration with all the details.

The guys from Hansa Bygg for the foundations and help on site.

Anders Lönn who gave me some good advice on concrete casting and materials.

Jonas Forsberg who helped with the installation.

And finally Lars Gustavsson, designer, fabricator and inventor, who helped me in so many ways. General support, discussing ideas, helping me with the installation, concrete casting, transports and many other things. Many thanks Lars.

Opening.

2011-11-13T17:57:00.007+01:00

Finally, the day for the opening! There was an open house at the daycare center and quite a lot of people showed up. The weather was almost as foggy as last Friday. The grass was in better shape than a week ago and I am pleased with how the whole sculpture look. The kids are still enjoying it, climbing it and playing hide and seek.

Photo: Elin Stenberg

Finish line!

2011-11-04T11:16:00.005+01:00

Today was another foggy day and the day of final inspection of the stars. Everything went well and my clients were very satisfied with the piece. The official opening of the daycare center will be next Saturday, more from the opening later.

Last star.

2011-11-03T15:13:00.006+01:00

With some help from Barks' movers and Lars I finally got the concrete star in place. After scrubbing and washing away loose pigments on the surface we left it for the kids to jump on. Tomorrow, the final inspection with representatives from the school and Kalmar municipality will take place. Left to do is adding material to the small mound to get the grass surface level with the stars.

Out of the mould.

2011-11-02T08:31:00.004+01:00

I managed to lift the concrete star from the mould without any problems. For now it is resting, upside down in the old powerstation in Pukeberg, waiting for some movers to transport it to Rinkabyholm early thursday morning. My deadline is friday 10:00 AM so I can still make it.

Copy II

2011-11-01T10:04:00.008+01:00

This is a drawing I have been working on for some time. I have made a homage to Caravaggio, another favourite painter, using the composition and figures from his painting Supper at Emmaus from 1601.

I changed the perspective a bit because the point of view is higher in my drawing than it is in caravaggios painting.

Abraham Bloemaert did the same thing in 1622...

...and Rembrant in 1648.

Maybe Caravaggio had seen the Titzian painting from 1535.

Copy

2011-10-31T17:27:00.024+01:00

When I was working on my lecture on Tintin in February, rereading all the albums, I noticed something familiar when I saw the frame with the Inka from Prisoners of the Sun. I checked and yes, the likeness with Bellinis Doge of Venice was obvious.

We start with the frame with the Inca.

Take away the colours to see the lineart clearly.

Superimpose it over the Bellini painting, I have dimmed the colours a bit for clarity, and you can clearly see the likeness. Notice how the profile, cheek bones, eyes, mouth and even the dimples match. I don't think this is a coincidence, rather an intelligent loan by Hergé.

Here are the two side by side. Bellini is one of my favourite painters, this painting especially. I definitely saw Hergés version first so I wonder if that has something to do with me appreciating the Doge painting.

In my opinion this doesn't deteriorate Hergés work in any way. I see it as a homage to Bellini and as T.S. Eliot said: 'Bad writers imitate, good writers steal'.

On Site.

2011-10-24T18:24:00.005+02:00

Finally I was able to install three of the stars. With a lot of lifting power from Lars, Jonas and two guys from Hansa Bygg, we got them in place. The kids at the day care center went crazy when they finally got to climb the stars, when i left after securing the stars to the foundations there were two to three kids on every star.

Jonas and Lars look pleased and they should be, actually it took four guys lifting to get the stars in place. Thank you guys for the help!

600

2011-10-23T16:02:00.004+02:00

Ahter the 600 grit paper, I'm satisfied with the finish, at least for now. There definately will be a lot of wear from the kids klimbing and playing with the stars. Hopefully the stars will age to a beautiful patina.

100

2011-10-13T13:35:00.002+02:00

I'm using a lot of paper, now 100 grit.

Concrete casting.

2011-10-12T17:48:00.007+02:00

As you may notice the concrete im using in the upper photo is black. We pigmented that batch with Íron Oxide pigment. The black layer is about 20 mm, next is about 40 mm of unpigmented gray concrete. The outer surface will, when it has cured, be treated with a mixture of lineseed oil, bees wax and black pigment.

Lars helped me with the casting, a long days hard work. The concrete layer is about 60 mm thick and besides the reinforcement bars reinforced with polypropylen and glass fibers. The weight is about 250 kg. In about two weeks we will see the result.

Done.

2011-10-10T09:39:00.002+02:00

The reinforcement bars are done, bent and bound.

Reinforcement bars.

2011-10-09T17:23:00.006+02:00

Making templates for guides.

Cutting, bending and shaping stainless reinforcement bars.

Mould improvements.

2011-10-08T20:59:00.007+02:00

I used some two by fours to reinforce the frame around the mould. Lars G came by and we discussed the casting on tuesday.

The bottom of the mould now sits about 5 mm from the floor. So when I start casting it will rest on the floor.

I also had an opportunity to use my new sander where I had spillt some resin into the mould.

3 stars.

2011-10-07T17:56:00.008+02:00

I drove to Gunnar at Fantasilaboratoriet to pick up the wood star. After som heavy lifting we finally got it on the trailer. Gunnar has done an excellent work, sculpting the star, I'm really pleased with the outcome.

Now I've got three stars in my yard, I think it looks pretty nice.

Sanding

2011-10-05T16:14:00.003+02:00

Now all traces from the sandcasting is gone. I am still sanding with 40 grit paper to get an even surface.

Scott McCloud

2011-10-02T11:46:00.007+02:00

I just ordered another copy of Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. This way we will have one copy each to refer to in the ongoing work with Places People Stories.

I read UC for the first time several years ago and I think it is an excellent work discussing not just comics an how to understand them but also referring to creating graphic art in general, including fine art painting. Check out for example McClouds' theory on abstraction in the Big Triangle. Outstanding!

New Project

2011-09-27T16:23:00.008+02:00

Working on a new project. Places People Stories is a ongoing project aimed to result in a conference publication in comic book form for the conference with the same name. This conference investigates the relations between people and places, focusing on the role of stories in constructing meaning and affecting human emotions. The project is a collaboration between Petter Hanberger and I as a team and Linnaeus University, Kalmar. We have set out to produce an indepedent original work that is relevant to the main aims for the conference.

We can't work in the studio because its cluttered up with moulds and fiberglass for the concrete cast.

You realise this is pretty serious work: ).

The other side.

2011-09-26T10:23:00.005+02:00

Laminated some fiberglass reinforcement on the other side this morning. After finishing work with the sander the mould should be ready to use.

Epoxi.

2011-09-24T14:31:00.002+02:00

Glued the plywood to the mould using home made glue made of epoxi resin and filler. Then I laminated with fiberglass for strength. After curing I will finish the other side tomorrow.

Reinforcement.

2011-09-24T09:03:00.005+02:00

Working on some reinforcements on the mould. After consulting Göran I decided to make a quite deep frame out of plywood all around the mould. This way I will be able to fix the mould while I am working with the concrete.

Finish work.

2011-09-23T14:35:00.005+02:00

Finally the mould is cleaned from the remains of the model. Used my new Festool Geared eccentric sander ROTEX RO 125 for the first time. A really sweet tool. Note improvised connection between sander and dust extractor.

Concrete.

2011-09-22T14:56:00.008+02:00

Henrik from Hansa Bygg, responsible for the foundations for the stars, in action at Rinkabyholmsskolan.

And this is the result. He will dismantle the molds tomorrow and refill with soil.

Cover.

2011-09-22T14:49:00.006+02:00

This is great! Jean-Marie Distaso from France covered my painting "Wood Chase". Check out his work at: Tableaux a l'eau.

Stuck.

2011-09-20T09:35:00.003+02:00

Due to not enough wax on the plug I have to scrape out the paint that got stuck in the mould. I'm half way there.

Grinding.

2011-09-11T19:10:00.003+02:00

Still a lot of grinding to do.

Grinding.

2011-09-10T11:31:00.003+02:00

I have starded to grind the suface smooth. I start with 40 grit paper and plan to finish sanding with 800 grit paper. I'm looking for a smooth matte silver surface.

Mould

2011-09-10T11:27:00.003+02:00

Removing the foam core from the now cured mould was difficult.

Green.

2011-09-07T12:42:00.007+02:00

The green star is done. After an exciting journey from KB Lack where Tobias had sprayed it green, I got it home and could unload it in my yard. The colour was mixed from a sample I made earlier. The paint is a two component polyurethane primer and the finish paint is two component industrial paint.

New commision.

2011-09-03T14:06:00.014+02:00

I have been asked to do another work for the day care center. These are a couple of photoshop collages from the site. This is a place where some of the smallest kids play so the stars are placed low so they can reach them. The title of this work is Småstjärnorna, Small Stars.

One idea is to make the stars stretch around a corner...

...or maybe group them between the two windows?

I will cast the small stars in resin coloured with dye. It's also possible to use a powder of aluminium and bronze to get a metal like surface.

Detail of the fastening. This is actually the 1:10 model for the star in the previous post.

Epoxi.

2011-09-01T14:40:00.009+02:00

Before.

After.

I spent about 13 hours making a mould for the cement star to be cast in. The materials are fiberglass and epoxi resin. Now the mould have to cure for about a week before we can use it.

Home.

2011-09-01T14:34:00.010+02:00

The aluminum star is home. I haven't decided on what surface I prefer. Polished or a matte silver shine, similar to the gas tank on my SR in the background. The other one is painted today at KB Lack.

I have to start with grinding down the marks from the sand casting.

Done.

2011-08-29T11:58:00.004+02:00

The star made of wood is finished. Gunnar filled the too large gaps with thin pieces of wood. He tested the resin but it was not hard enough. Here is a picture of the star just finished with lineseed oil and pigment.

Twostar.

2011-08-22T20:30:00.003+02:00

Finally I could pick up star number two at the foundry. The guys at NR&M start working on the mounts right away and should have them finished by the end of the week.

Brown.

2011-08-18T13:48:00.007+02:00

The wood star is now Linseed oil-treated. I's a treatment called Bitus Linax™ developed by Bergs Timber. In the process some of the parts was slightly deformed so Gunnar has to do some adjustments before delivery. He will also fill the gaps with pitch, a resin used by boatbuilders.

Good news!

2011-08-18T13:38:00.002+02:00

I will be able to pick up star nr.2 at the foundry this monday.

Sanding

2011-08-17T12:11:00.005+02:00

I have shaped the fourth star from foam and now I'm sanding the filler for a smooth surface. This one will be placed on the ground for the kids to use as a bench.

Next week NR&M will start to work on the mounts for the aluminium stars.

Aluminium.

2011-07-11T21:02:00.002+02:00

Today I drove up to the foundry to get the first finished aluminium star. The second one is still there waiting to get the finishing touch. That is grinding the weld and surface. Here Bengt from Nybro Rör & Mek is unloading the star from my trailer.

Outside, Juniper Hill

2011-07-07T12:43:00.003+02:00

The fourth star is taking shape. This one will be cast in concrete. Next thing to do is sanding. When the surface is smooth I will start to build the mould.

Almost there.

2011-06-28T14:24:00.006+02:00

A happy star.

Gunnar is almost done. Here is a photo of how the mounting, fabricated of stainless steel by Nybro Rör och Mekaniska, is cut in to the wood. You can also see three of the five threaded rods holding the construction together.

Wood news

2011-06-17T08:31:00.013+02:00

The two aluminiun stars are now welded together. I hope to be able to get them from the foundry next week.

Meanwhile Gunnar is making progress with the wood star.

Gunnar is using a pointing machine to transfer measurements from my 1:1 model to the wood.

Photos: Gunnar Englund.

Woodwork

2011-05-29T10:12:00.013+02:00

I received these photos from Gunnar at Fantasilaboratoriet who is working on the wood star. I think his solution of the construction looks great. I'm excited to see his progress with the work.

Hanåsa Sågverk delivered the wood for the star.

Lumber.

The construction.

This will be the profile.

Photos: Gunnar Englund.

History

2011-05-29T08:56:00.020+02:00

So what's been going on exept for working on the stars? I have spent a lot of time at Ölands Folkhögskola working with my students the two last weeks of their year at Basår Design. I have also been teaching at Linnaeus University. This week I had the privilege to be one of the teacher opponents for the bachelor students final examination at the Design Programme. They all presented really intreseting projects. Good luck to all of you!

There was an opportunity to see some great art at Wanås skulptural park two weeks ago. Here I am climbing one of Yoko Onos ladders in her ladder piece at the opening May 15. Photo: Elin Stenberg

And here's ms Ono. Photo: Wanås Konst, Sweden

News

2011-05-29T08:35:00.011+02:00

About three weeks ago I was able to deliver the two models to the foundry. This after I got the stainless steel inserts for the fountation ready. The will be cast in to the aluminium. The inserts were fabricated by Nybro Rör och Mekaniska. A small mechanical workshop located in Nybro, about 20 km from my studio. Many thanks to Bengt Selander and the other guys at the shop.

These are the people making it happen at the foundry, Mönsterås Metal l. We decided to cast the smaller star in a slghtly harder quality of aluminium. I plan to polish it and the harder surface will make it easyer to polish. The thickness of the goods will be roughly 20 mm.

I got a call from Jan this week telling me they have casted both stars. They are now delivered to another shop were the halves will be welded together.

Cutting

2011-04-27T22:19:00.006+02:00

With both models sawn in two, I cut off a bit of the two lower points of each star. For the plates for bolting the stars to the foundation.

With a litte help...

2011-04-26T20:28:00.008+02:00

Started to saw the green star in two. It will be cast in two halves and then welded together. After half an hour I realised i wasn't going to manage to saw through. But Lars G saved my day and came by to help me solve the problem. Many thanks Lars!

Busy

2011-04-26T07:27:00.006+02:00

The first model is deliveried to Gunnar. He will pick up the wood for it and start working on it this week. Almost finished the second and third 1:1 model. For the silver star and the green star. I'm heading up to the foundry with both models on thursday.

The pink material is almost to soft to work with.

Cherry Blossom

2011-04-07T16:36:00.007+02:00

I went to Hanemålaskolan to plan for the documentation of my Cherry Blossoms in the schools library. Just like the stars, these paintings are inspired by japanese origami.

Sound today: The Felice Brothers – The Felice Brothers

Getting there.

2011-04-04T16:21:00.005+02:00

Some progress today.

Todays soundtrack: Porcupine Tree – The Incident

Carving

2011-04-03T16:36:00.006+02:00

Started working on model number two. This is for the wood star. I hope to have it finished this week so Gunnar can start sculpting in wood.

Outside, Rinkabyholm

2011-03-31T07:21:00.006+02:00

I spent monday in Stockholm to discuss the possibility of fabricating one of the stars in aluminium sheet. After talking to sheet metal wizards Stellan Egeland and Lars-Gunnar Olsson I'm still not sure if I should have them casted or fabricated.

I also had a chance to visit my friends at Gro Form who were participating at Nordic Gardens, Scandinavia's leading garden show, this weekend.

Tuesday I showed my progress with the project to the people from the day care center and Kalmar municipality. I made a mockup so we could discuss the composition. This is important not only from an artistic point of wiev byt also for safety reasons.

Outside

2011-03-23T18:29:00.006+01:00

One of the stars outside for the first time. Driving up to the foundry in Mönsterås tomorrow, to discuss casting, material thickness and price.

Getting in shape

2011-03-22T18:30:00.004+01:00

Started sanding to get a smooth surface.

Tonight's soundtrack Status Quo – Quo

Chubby

2011-03-20T19:30:00.003+01:00

First star almost done. Tonight's soundtrack: Roxy Music – Stranded

Chipping

2011-03-18T10:08:00.006+01:00

Started sculpting star shapes. This is for the silver star. I'm thinking of having it cast in aluminium so I will probably have to make one more for the foundry. Note the small silver star. My 1:10 model.This is good practice.

Outlines

2011-03-15T18:36:00.005+01:00

LG helped me to cut out the shape of the stars on the bandsaw. New ideas about composition, perhaps for my next project.

Photo: Lars Gustavsson

Outlines

2011-03-04T20:35:00.006+01:00

Now the pink stuff is glued into blocks and waiting for the stars to be cut out on the bandsaw.

Pink

2011-02-25T17:14:00.004+01:00

Started to sand down the surface of the XPS board. This for the adeshive to bond properly.

Pink, it's like red but not quite.

XPS

2011-02-22T12:20:00.006+01:00

I had a meeting today with the friendly people at Rinkabyholmsskolan and Kalmar municipality about Stjärnorna.

I had to get material to make the fullzise models so I visited my lokal building supplier for some extruded polystyrene foam. About 2,5 cubic meters.

Stjärnorna

2011-02-21T22:55:00.005+01:00

Swedish title for the Lucky Stars will be "Stjärnorna", simply "the Stars" in swedish. I think it sounds nice.

An here's another collage the las before I start to post pictures from the actual work with the Stars.

Lucky!

2011-02-18T20:26:00.009+01:00

I got the commision for the sculpture at Rinkabyholm School and Daycare center! Looking forward to a busy spring. This is my 1:10 scale model of the Lucky Stars.

Stars

2011-02-15T23:00:00.004+01:00

Another collage with my stars.

Fun Stuff

2011-02-12T17:24:00.006+01:00

I've been working on some graphics for my bike.

People's Choice

2011-02-08T13:20:00.006+01:00

I won the People's Choice Awards for my participation in Här II, the exhibiton currently showing at Kalmar Konstmuseum.

I would like to thank all of you who voted for me. It feels really great to have your support!

The frame above is of course from Dogs and part of the show. And yes, it's Robert Crumb in the foreground. A small tribute to a great artist.

Congrats to Conny Karlsson who won the Critics Choice Award.

Tintin And I?

2011-02-08T13:11:00.004+01:00

Photo: Sara Jonasson, KalmarPosten

Last wednesday a was invited to Kalmar Konstmuseum, Kalmar Museum of Art, to talk on Tintin and his creator Hergé. I was also asked to talk on the issues of racism in the Tintin books that has been widely discussed the last years.

I think it went pretty well, and I hope the audience enjoyed it.

Lucky Stars

2011-02-07T23:14:00.005+01:00

Here's a first look at my Lucky Stars. This photo, of course is a photoshop collage.

News

2011-02-07T21:00:00.009+01:00

Today I finished a project I have been working on for a while. It's a group of sculptures for a new built daycare center in Rinkabyholm, a village about 10 km from here.

I haven't actually made the sculptures, just a model and drawings for them. But tonight I am finished and ready for the presentation tomorrow morning. I'll post some pictures soon.

As you can see I've had a lot of coffee the last couple of days. My studio is a mess.

Installation pics

2010-11-28T11:01:00.006+01:00

The installation at Kalmar Konstmuseum was finished just hours before opening. Both Malin and I are very pleased with the result.

I'll post som pictures from the opening soon.

Luckies

2010-11-13T07:20:00.010+01:00

A couple of drawings done. This one is featuring the all new look for the Werewolf.

Milk

2010-11-12T08:51:00.001+01:00

Edits

2010-11-12T06:57:00.003+01:00

It's an endless process of editing. Hope to print out monday. I've had some problems finding a suitable paper. Found some Schollenhammer in my drawing cabinet so I will try those.

Upcomimg Exhibition

2010-11-05T13:59:00.007+01:00

I'm back in the studio working on drawings for an exhibition. The show is "(H)är II" at Kalmar Konstmuseum. Nov 27 2010 - Feb 27 2011.

It's curated by Malin Nilsson, Kim Einarsson och Anna Norberg.

Malin and I have chosen ten frames from Dogs. These are pretty loose pencils so I'm trying to tighten up.

Other participating artists are Ingela Johansson, Nina Svensson and Conny Karlsson.

Ai Weiwei at Tate Modern

2010-11-04T09:21:00.004+01:00

I spent last week in London and I was looking forward to see Ai Weiwei's installation of Sunflower Seeds in the turbine hall. Unfortunately, due to health issues, the public was not allowed to walk on the installation. So what happens?

People are kneeling along the edges of the installation. Using the seeds to create messages, pictures and patterns. Beautiful!

Cherry Blossom, Done

2010-09-17T18:55:00.009+02:00

Today I could finally, with help from trusted friend Sten B, install the Cherry Paintings at Hanemålaskolan, Nybro.

And this two weeks ahead of deadline. The paintings have actually been finished for over a month. Except canvas nr. 5. I repainted the background on that one just two days ago. I was never really happy with it but now it looks as it should.

Sten in action. I actually had started to fasten it to the wall before we noticed our mistake.

As you can see the library is not finished yet.

Watercolor

2010-08-04T08:00:00.001+02:00

I just recieved this beautiful painting, NYC Roof Tops, by watercolor artist Siv Spurgeon. Siv is a relative of mine and she and her husband Gene visited me at Juniper Hill earlier this summer.

You can see more of Sivs work at http://www.sivspurgeon.com/

Close to finish?

2010-07-25T17:45:00.001+02:00

White

2010-07-19T22:35:00.003+02:00

Cherry Blossom

2010-07-18T20:49:00.003+02:00

The flowers are taking shape. Gray comes in a lot of different shades, definitely my favourite colour.

New Project

2010-06-11T17:18:00.007+02:00

I've been working on this for quite a while now. Only now I actually started painting. Thanks

S. T. for the great shots from my studio today.

Frazetta tribute and others

2010-05-16T10:31:00.007+02:00

A frame from Dogs. One of the first pages penciled some years ago. Mårten is copying from Bridgemas Life Drawing (haven't we all?). He has a book with Frazettas Death Dealer, the painting from the previous post, just to his left on the table. It's not easy to see but there is a copy of Herge's Tintin in Tibet leaning in the bookshelf. Of course the Robert Crumb reference is more obvious.

Frazetta

2010-05-15T16:25:00.012+02:00

On the 10th of May Frank Frazetta passed away aged 82. A great storyteller and artist.

I first saw Frazettas work in a "how to" airbrush book around 1978. Frazetta was a big influence for me in my early twenties. When I went to my first art school I soon realised that Frazettas art wasn't "real" art. But I'm over that now, 25 years later. Oops, getting a bit personal here.

Wood Chase

2010-05-06T20:30:00.016+02:00

Working on a study for a another Hot Rod painting. Thanks Jan-Ove at http://www.earlyford.no/ for use of the photo of the kool Mercury. The A is my own, somewhat photoshopped.

More inspiration from 19th cetury swedish artists, this time Prins Eugen. The wood 1892.

Work in progress.

2010-05-02T15:03:00.008+02:00

Making progress with Gas. I would call this the layout. Hope to finish in a couple of weeks.

I made a new sky, inspired by Nordic Summer Evening 1899-1900, by swedish artist Richard Bergh.

Color

2010-04-29T18:24:00.005+02:00

I started to "paint" my drawing for "Gas" using photos, photoshop brushes and structures from photos. I turned out that my perspective wasn't wery well done so I had to make a new composition. It may seem a little rough but I think it will work just fine when I start painting.

By the way, I have made a lot of progress on my portrait of KW.

Portfolio

2010-04-14T10:07:00.003+02:00

Been working on a portfolio to show the people from The National Public Art Council. Joanna came to my studio to take new photos of my paintings. Thanks for all your help!

Updates on portrait and A-Bombs soon.

A-Bones

2010-03-26T11:25:00.005+01:00

Better road action. Still the '29 in the foreground has to get a bigger engine, someting with a blower I think.