Things that have recently (and not so recently) found their way to the studio …
1) Homemade wooden Finnish doll.
She sits on my desk just next to the computer; she seems to be taking a sideways glance at whatever is on the screen! She has such character, so simple and yet so absolutely right. It feels good to have her here in the studio.
2) Wooden tube with screw lid.
This is an amazing object! The label has a Swedish address on it and lists the contents as “RAC-55 (Liquid Veneer cleaning sanitary compound liquid in glass). There are also the words “Sample, no commercial value” stamped over the label. The screw lid still works perfectly well. Amazing to think that this wooden tube was sent from America to Sweden with a glass bottle inside it. Maybe one day I will send it back.
3) Wire hooks
I really like the simplicity of these old hooks. I wonder how the machine that made them looks – they are too identical to be handmade.
4) Peanut Bird
This is the first peanut bird that I have found since moving here. During my extended visits I found quite a few that are now packed away in various boxes. I think I have about eight in total. Although they are mass-produced each one is unique.
5) Audio cassette of the Picture of Dorian Gray
Is this irony? Maybe not but it made me smile to see this particular audio tape amongst the “help yourself” pile old tapes, magazines and books at the school library. I picked up a couple of others too; Jekyll & Hyde and Frankenstein, strangely all stories of creation and transformation. I also took a couple of Swedish feminist cultural magazines and was delighted that I understood quite a lot of an article about Mary Kelly.
I am waiting to hear about the possibility of buying glitter in Stockholm and to get advice on a good glue. In the meantime the idea of having to visit Flint’s in Camberwell (wonderful “theatrical chandlers”) is at the back of my mind while I am making plans for my time in London.
The ticket price for Frieze is rather alarming. I wonder if it is an attempt to reduce the number of visitors, as it does seem to have become a bit of a tourist attraction in recent years. I am looking forward to it more this year as traveling to London certainly makes it more of an occasion. Next year I would like to visit Art Copenhagen after hearing about it from an artist who was there this year.
On the Saturday afternoon that I am in London some of the old Crystal Palace Artists group is going to get together. It will be really great to catch up with them. The group was a big part of my life for many years and I certainly appreciate the support and encouragement I got from the artists that I met through it. Last week I started to have some very vague ideas about a show of ‘outer London’ artists here in Stockholm ….
