Recent reading of other people's blog posts on topics as varied as winter bathing*, Christmas decorations and Art reminded me that I haven't posted about a purchase I made back in December, as a sort of Christmas present from me to myself. I have an old friend (well, my age, but we've known each other a long time) who is a water-colour artist. She paints mostly coastal and maritime views from the Swedish west coast where she lives, the province of Bohuslän (north of Gothenburg, for those of you who know where that is). I follow her on FB and in a post there I saw and fell in love with two little framed and signed prints made from her originals (each 25x25 cm, frame included). So I contacted her, and she wrapped them up well together in one parcel and posted them to me. I put them up on my wall the same day I collected the parcel from the post office - no point in waiting until Christmas! ;)
Just to give you an idea of the size, they are two little ones next to the window. As they are small, I've hung them so that I can stand close to look at them. And the chair is a swivel chair so I can easily turn around and enjoy them from there as well.
*(PS. If anyone is wondering why winter bathing would make me think of these pictures, the answer is that she who painted them is one of those people who love to take a dip in the sea even in winter. Brrr!)
Strangely enough there is an event here in NZ every year where people swim into the ocean in mid Winter, I can't imagine it myself.
ReplyDeleteNeither can I, Amy!
Deletebob loves to swim in icy water, not me though. they are beutiful and that is the perfect spot for them. she is very talented. will you do a post of close up on the shelf thingy that is holding the other paintings? i really like that a lot. never seen any like these..love your swivel chair, that is on my list, but it is after fence repair, plumber repair, and the others i can't remember but chair is number 6 in priority... i want one like yours but they are really expensinve
ReplyDeleteSandra, google 'picture shelf' or 'picture ledge' and you will find similar ones at both Ikea and Amazon (for example). I found mine in some local shop, in connection with moving to this flat, and thought that was a good idea as one can easily change pictures around if one wants to. The chair I've had 14 years and used daily, it has served me well and still pretty much looks like new.
DeleteThey are beautiful! And they are paintings? That amazes me, because I enlarged them and they look just like photographs! I can see why you bought them.
ReplyDeleteGinny, they are prints, but the originals are water colour. She does paint in a rather photo-realistic style.
DeleteI can see why you liked them so much you bought them for yourself - your friend the painter seems to be into reflections as much as you are :-)
ReplyDeleteAre the original paintings the same size, or have they been made smaller for the prints?
Your living room looks so nice, very inviting and comfortable.
Thanks Meike. Lena has a great eye for both water reflections and other details (which also shows in photos she shares on FB). I think the original paintings are larger, and also rectangular rather than square. (I'm not sure how much larger as I haven't seen the originals in real life.)
DeleteI really like the pictures too but particularly the bottom one - light and trees is hard not to enjoy. Reflections are very much 'you' in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteGraham, I too fell for the bottom one with the girl walking towards the light - and then decided that the other one would be a good "match", as on the one hand they share a theme (people walking) but on the other hand they also contrast with each other. Bare rocks and sea views, wooden houses and boathouses, boats and buoys etc are more common in Lena's art than trees. Most of her paintings also don't include people, so in that respect both of these are a bit different from her most typical work - but to me at the same time very much "her". I'm very happy with my choice.
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