Like on the prairie

"One Year - One Island" - weeks 14 & 15

Hi everybody!
Last week my report was about ”Artistic freedom”, which I would like to take less of for this project, because I want people to be able to recognize the exact places where I have painted, and that is why a tree that literally stands in the way of a better composition is just part of that. But I would like to make clear that I generally consider artistic freedom to be an important asset and that it is of course part of a painter's job to weigh up whether to leave out or add something to the origin insperation or motif in order to achieve a good result. :)

As I am laying behind in time I want to put two painting sessions in this post.

In the last two weeks the weather has been rather mixed and it was difficult to choose a sunny day. In Hulterstad I had discovered a small farm that stood a little off the beaten track on the southwestern edge of the town. And as I placed myself next to the mill (which is right on the main road), I got the impression - in a section - that the three buildings are standing all alone in the Alvara. There was also the small limestone wall that ran parallel to the horizon and a few birch trees that stood against this wall, bent by the usual southwest wind. Somehow I immediately thought of the American prairie with a small house in the middle of nowhere.

As I sketched, the sky became darker and more threatening - perhaps not quite as threatening as I painted it in my watercolor (ah, there it is again, artistic freedom! :) However, I only changed something that is constantly changing anyway, namely the sky). But the sun, warming my left shoulder while drawing, shone in stark contrast to the dark clouds on the dry grass that stretched up to the small wall. That's what I wanted to capture! I am sure that residents of Hulterstad can confirm that such a combination - dark horizon and Alvara illuminated by the sun - is often seen. Compared to the grassy bushes in front of the house in Mellby from last week, I am happy with the grassy steppe in this picture. Much looser painted.

On February 1st - a week ago today - I drove to Triberga. In my anticipation, I sometimes look at the satellite images on Google Maps the evening before. It is also a journey of discovery to places I do not yet know. My weekly trips mainly take place along the two main roads of the island: either on the 136, which runs the entire length of the island from Byxelkrok in the north to Ottenby in the south, or the eastern country road between Ottenby and Föra, where it joins the 136. The vast majority of villages are located along these two main veins of Öland. Many of them are row villages, where all the houses are on both sides of just this one road. Sometimes the villages are so close together that you hardly notice that you have gone from one village to the other. Since I have rounded the southern tip, I no longer drive all the way to my destination on the 136, but instead use the diagonal through the forest from Köpingsvik to Störlinge – but only in the morning. On the way home, when it starts to get dark, I avoid long stretches through forest because of the wildlife crossing. Of course, a deer can jump in front of your car anywhere, but if there are fields to the left and right of the road, you may be able to spot them beforehand and take your foot off the gas. And so it turns out that I drive back through an endless series of villages, the sequence of which I know better and better. As I sit there in the car (I currently drive about 2 hours one way) I ask myself: "Which place is next?" "What is south of Runsten?" Oh yes... I forgot Loperstad. But next time I'll know better. That makes me happy. After all, I have been living here on Öland for almost 17 years and it is time to get it know better.

CLICK on the image - Credit: bga.se and legind.dk

Last saturday, when I arrived in Triberga, I parked next to the "Atelier R". The R stands for Rita Michaelsson. She is a photographer and I know her from various business meetings. Unfortunately, she had not answered my call, otherwise I would have liked to visit her and see her exhibition. I had my bike with me and cycled along a gravel path over several cattle grates to the eastern coast.

(OMG! Good thing I'm not vain -haha. I think I really should buy a different hat.)

Unfortunately, the stone slabs that I had seen on the satellite images on Google were hardly visible. Either they were covered in thick layers of algae or they were covered by water. But I spotted a small red house that stood all alone on a headland. I made myself comfortable: I put my little green stool in the sand so that it couldn't fall over, and on it my pencil case, my paint box, my brushes and my thermosbottle. Next to it I sat down on my three-legged folding stool. With the sun at my back and the sound of the waves, it was a wonderful day.

About two hours after I had started, a family arrived on their bikes, followed by a couple of grandparents in their car. They sat down on blankets about 100 meters away from me, probably having a picnic, and soon the three children were wandering through the seaweed mountains, fishing with sticks and balancing on the stones. All I could hear was laughter and happiness and I was glad to see that these children were obviously used to finding their own adventures in nature. You don't see that very often anymore.

(AND look at this very light and smooth sky. Finally I got it!)

At about 3.30 p.m. I finished work and packed up. On the way back I took a few more pictures with long shadows in the sunset. Then I fastened my bike and set off back north: Alby - Southern Kvinneby - Slagerstad - Stenås ("Oh yes, I could probably land here next week") - Brunneby - Northern Kvinneby - "what came next? ... Oh yes, then came Sandby. Sandby with the cruel Sandby Borg!" - …

Thanks for reading. (I promise, you will get the cruel story when I will paint in Sandby.)
Now I'm back up to date with my reports - because TOMORROW I'm going to Stenåsa, or wherever I'm going to paint this time. I'll report on that next week!

I wish you a wonderful week!

Angelika