Using the Inner Eye

Struggling along the icy streets in town today, it occurred to me that I almost feel I don’t believe in summer any more.

Please tell me I’m wrong…?

“… blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”.
John 21:29

The Christmas Bunny

Advent Calendar / 8 December

What? You never heard of the Christmas Bunny? Well, to me it makes as much sense  as an Easter Bunny bringing Easter eggs!

Actually, the bunny sculpture stands in our town park all-year-round, but the snow gives him an extra interesting face expression. The Winter Wonderland surrounding him also enhances the associations with Alice in Wonderland (which inspired the artist).*

Here is proof that the Christmas Hare actually exists:

I saw him through my window one night last week. He was digging through the snow to get at the grass underneath, poor thing.

Then another one popped up in the gadget at the bottom of my blog page. Apparently there were Christmas Bunnies as early as back in the 16th century:

Snowy footnotes:
* The name of the the sculpture in the first picture is Mate Hunting,
and the artist Marianne Lindberg De Geer (born 1946).
*  Thankyou to Picnik (now accessible directly from Picasa) for the Christmassy frames and the Santa hat.
* Apologies to Albrecht Dürer (1421-1528) and Random Classic Art.

 

Here, There, Somewhere…

Sorry, I’ve had rather a busy week with all sorts of this and that, “flying about” and not able to spend as much time as usual in Blogland. Hoping to to catch up soon…

These birds and nests are found in a staircase at the service center where my dad lives now.

A Twisted Situation

The “twisted situation” referred to in the post title is the result of our election yesterday.

As mentioned in a previous post A Game Not Over: For the last four years, Sweden has had a right-wing coalition government, led by the conservative Moderates and supported by the Liberals, the Christian Democrats, and the Center Party (which claims to be a green party, but there is an ‘even greener’ one among the opponents). Before this election, the other three parties in the parliament formed a left-wing coalition – or, as they prefer to call it, a Red-Green cooperation - led by the Social Democrats and supported by the Left Party and the Green Party.

Sort of back-stage, there have also been a few small parties hitherto too small to be included in the Riksdag/parliament. The biggest among those is the Sweden Democrats, which by all seven established parties is regarded as racist and xenophobic (‘fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign’).

What happened in the election yesterday was not only that the Sweden Democrats have now “entered the stage” (with 5,7% of the votes – the threshold is 4%); they will most likely also end up in a balance position in the parliament, since neither of the two opposing coalitions got proper majority of their own.

The result is still not final, but the conservative Moderates have been increasing their percentage while the Social Democrats have gone back, so that these two parties now each has about 30% of the votes. The rest of the parties all end up between 5,6 and 7,2%. The preliminary result is that the right-wing Alliance will have 172 seats in the parliament, the Red-Greens 157, and the “outsider” the Sweden Democrats 20 seats.

This means that the right-wing “blue” Alliance is still larger than the left-wing “red-green” opposition, but if the Sweden Democrats as well as the Red-Green coalition vote against them in the parliament, they won’t get their propositions through.

All parties on both sides have stated clearly that they do not under any circumstances intend to cooperate with the Sweden Democrats. But how to go from that promise to Reality… That is the tricky bit. Because the Green Party has also stated firmly that whatever the outcome of the election, they do not intend to switch sides afterwards and join the “blue” coalition.

There are still a number of votes not counted. We won’t have the final result until Wednesday. Media keep repeating now that just possibly the remaining votes might turn the balance to an actual majority for the “blue” alliance; but it does not seem very likely.

The same kind of situation with the Sweden Democrats applies to several municipal and city councils all over the country.

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The photos are of a sculpture called Tornado. I have shown it before, I think. These pictures I took yesterday as I passed it on my way to give my vote. Looking for an illustration for my post today, it suddenly took on new dimensions of symbolism… The whirlwind, and the mix of colours… blue, red, green – and white, for the still “unwritten page” (what effect the new party will have)…

Change

Have you gone through any changes over the summer?
This bloke has.

 5 September, 2010

 
1 June, 2010

Compare the post Of Many Faces (5 June, 2010)

Revisiting this sculpture again three months after the first set of photos was a powerful reminder not only of the passing of time but also of the fact that while some changes come automatically, others require quite a lot of hard and determined work.

Time For A Change

Maybe it was all the talk of resurrection and renewal lately that made me finally take the leap and explore the new Blogger templates. 

Here’s a tip if you haven’t already thought of it: I have a hidden, secret “testblog” that no one can see but me. Its only purpose is for me to be able to play about with layout without any risk of messing the real blog up until I feel that I have at least an inkling of what I’m doing.

In spite of that, I haven’t really been playing much with layout. Since I started this blog 1½ years ago, I have only made one change of basic template, and the other big change was when I figured out how to add my own header picture. And I have been rather happy with that.

However. The world around us keeps changing, and sometimes we get hit by a need to make a bit of an effort to keep on top of things…

Because of the blog name, I wanted to keep to the sea and island kind of colour scheme. I also prefer to keep backgrounds simple, not taking too much attention from the actual content of the blog. But I found this wooden background picture that I really like... I find it restful to the eye, and I hope that my readers will like it too.

If any of you have trouble loading the blog or anything like that after the changes, please let me know.

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The wooden clock-sculpture with the cat on top is of course another masterpiece by Uno Axelsson. (For more of of his animal sculptures, look in my Blog Archive for July.) There was a sign on the wall telling exactly how old that tree trunk was (I think it was oak?) and where it had grown, before it came into Uno’s hands. I have forgotten the details now.

That cat on the top might have something to do with a Swedish saying that I’m afraid probably makes even less sense in English than in Swedish. Even the origin of the Swedish word is unknown: klockarkatt, which would mean “cat belonging to a bell-ringer”. (We use one and the same word in Swedish for bell, clock and watch.) The saying goes “to be in love like a bell-ringer’s cat”, and refers to being a bit crazy and obsessed with the object of your affection. It seems there is also a German word Klosterkatze (“abbey cat”) which might possibly be connected to the Swedish one. If anyone knows more about it, please share.

Anyway… It seems to me that the cat on the top of that clock is keeping close watch on something…

Uno’s Animals: It’s a Wild Life

 

 

Uno often went out into the woods and just sat there observing things; and animals would come up to him and let him get close to them.

His attitude to his own art was that he just “released” the animal shapes that were already there in the pieces of wood he found. He would study the piece of wood and see what was “hidden” in it.

Uno’s Animals: Birds

Uno was 53 years old when he started making wooden sculptures. Altogether he made about 250 of them, big and small. He never sold any of his them. He gave some away, but most of them he kept in a private museum in a barn on his farm. As rumour or his work spread, he got more and more visitors. A few years after he died, the family offered the local folklore society to take over the collection, and a new museum was built next to the village hall. Some of the sculptures have also been exhibited in Stockholm and other cities in Sweden, and even overseas in Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Uno’s Animals: More Farm Animals

Impossible not to smile at that laugh!


The cow except for the horns was carved out of one huge piece of oak, which is a very heavy kind of wood. After he had finished the shape of it, he hollowed out the inside to make the sculpture somewhat lighter.


What came first – the chicken or the egg?


Hedgehogs.

Scroll down for more posts of Uno's wooden sculptures. There was also a post yesterday at my other blog DawnTreader's Picture Book, which includes photos of the museum building.

Uno’s Animals: Pigs

Uno Axelsson had artistic ambitions already at an early age, but it was when he began to work with forestry that he found his niche. From 1975, when he began his career as a wood sculptor, until 2002 when he passed away, he created approximately 250 sculptures.

His work was always preceded by careful studies of the object to be recreated in wood. One can only be amazed at Uno’s ability to see a living creature captured inside a lifeless piece of wood and to release it in such unbelievable and striking detail.

~From the English brochure~

This sculpture of a sow and her piglets (in more or less natural size, I think) was carved out of one single piece of wood. This one took the artist 4 months to make, according to the guide at the museum.

A piglet who missed out on lunch (according to the sign)

When Uno first started doing artistic woodwork (which was not until at the age of 53, I think the guide said!) he made bowls, following the natural shape of odd-looking pieces of wood; then he began to carve animal heads on the edges of bowls; and from there went on to do bigger sculptures.

The eyes on his sculptures are not glass but painted with water colours and then lacquered to be made shiny and life-like.

More of Uno’s animals will follow.

Quotation of the Week (29/2010)

The page of life that was spread out before me seemed dull and commonplace, only because I had not fathomed its deeper import.
~Nathanael Hawthorne~

Wooden sculpture by Uno Axelsson

Come to me , all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
~Matthew 11:28~

Most of Uno Axelsson’s wooden sculptures are of animals, but this one is entitled “My Hands”, and includes the Bible quote from Matthew 11.

See more of his sculptures in yesterday’s post, and there will be even more to come.

Hi!

Last week while my brother was here for a few days, among all the other things we had to do, we also took a little time to visit a museum exhibiting the works of a local artist, Uno Axelsson (now deceased), who made the most fantastic wooden sculptures. I will be showing more of them in posts to come.

Uno’s art often started as nodules, obstinately growing against the grain. Large knots and gnarly trunks that for some reason did not stretch straight for the sun, are typical of pieces that inspired Uno’s fantasy. Such natural mistakes were the platform on which Uno created unique artistic treasures to wonder and delight.
~ From the English brochure ~

Over the weekend I’ve been very tired, so have been withdrawing into my shell and taking things very slow…

 
To give you an idea of the size of the snail…
(It is made all in one piece.)

Yin Yang Sculpture

1914-1976

 

[In Taoism] Yin and Yang are the primordial feminine and masculine energies, symbolic of all polarities of mind, which produce our experience of the world. The categories of Yin and Yang are inter-related and mutually-arising: you can’t have one without the other! The classic example of Yang is the sunny side of a mountain; and Yin, the shady side. Within every human body – men and women alike – there exists both Yin and Yang energy.

From About.com

Never-Ending Stories

A few weeks ago, I reported that our Town council had decided to give away (and yet keep) the [in]famous sculpture Cloned Frogs on Gala Dress, as a wedding gift to our Crown Princess Victoria and her husband-and-Prince-to-be Daniel. (The wedding takes place this Saturday.)

This story seems to just go on and on... Today the newpaper reports that the artist (you know who) decided to make a miniature, and donate that to our Town, in order for the Town to actually pass that one on to the royal couple.

Actually, for a miniature it's rather big. The Town representative who is supposed to take it to Stockholm and give it away was a little taken aback when it arrived. He seems to have been thinking he would be able to just put it in a bag...

Picture scanned from the newspaper.

What the paper does not comment on is the fact (to me rather obvious!) that this "mini" is not at all an exact copy of the bigger statue.  Take a minute to compare:

Do you see what I mean? Look at the waistlines. The new one seems to be made to "grow" in... 

I hope for the royal family's sake that they will be able to find some obscure nook of the castle to put this in, where they don't actually have to look at it every day. I would also really like to know (or on second thought - perhaps I wouldn't!) how the minds of our local politicians work. As for the artist, well... I still suspect that he is his own biggest fan, and loving all the publicity.

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We have another sculpture in town that has been here for a few years now: Bodhi. I think on the whole he is rather popular. He has however also become a popular target for student pranks. Because he is not really easy to get to - standing in the river as he is - I guess it has become somewhat of a challenge...

Last year, someone put a wreath of flowers on his head:

This year, he was decorated with a graduation hat:

Photo from the newspaper

Last year, that wreath remained on his head for weeks. But this year - with sculpture festival and all going on - he was not allowed to keep the hat... I only saw the hat in the paper, so I borrowed their photo.

Guess Who?

  

 

If you have been following my previous posts from the sculpture festival, you should be able to guess the artist behind these smaller… er… works of art, I suppose… ;) that I found exhibited in an art gallery. *

Well. Not all of them small…

Try putting that giraffe in a park and pretend it’s not meant as a toy…!

 Fans of the artist

 Click to enlarge

* If you have not been following, you will find some additional information here.

 

Portrait

 

Hani by Anne-Karin Furunes

Another piece of art which is included in the Sculpture Festival.

Anne-Karin Furunes is a Norwegian artist known for using perforation technique. Her works are based on photographs, but consist of a perforated black or white canvas (or sheet of metal). Most frequently the image is an extreme close-up of a face. As one approaches the image, it begins to fade and ultimately disappear.

This picture has been up on that wall for a while – perhaps a year? I never heard anyone comment on it. To me it is kind of thought provoking that the place they have chosen for it is on the back wall of our public swimming hall.

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In my childhood, we had some immigrants in my school and neighbourhood, but they all came from other European countries. Most of them from Finland, but also some from Eastern and Southern Europe. There were some language difficulties, but they did not look or dress different. I can only remember one case where religion became an issue. During my first few school years in the 60s we went to school also on Saturdays. Then one day we got a Jewish boy to the class, who could not attend school on Saturdays because that for him was the Sabbath. I don’t remember how they solved it. Extra homework I suppose…

Our society has become a bit more international since then. Women wearing headdresses of Muslim kind for example is no longer an uncommon sight in our streets. It is still an issue in some jobs though, whether employees should be allowed to wear veils or turbans.

A few years ago when I had to go to the emergency room at the hospital, one of the doctors that took care of me was wearing a veil like the one in the picture. I think that was the first time I saw any medical staff wearing it. I have to say in that particular situation it did not matter to me what anyone looked like, only if they could help!

Language can be a real problem though. We get a lot of foreign doctors. I’m sure most of them are excellent at their job, and we should be grateful that they want to come and work here (or else we should find ourselves –even more- short of doctors). Nonetheless, it is problematic when doctor and patient can’t understand what the other is saying. My last experience of that was my visit to the eye clinic recently. There was this doctor with a foreign accent, and he kept asking me something over and over which I just completely failed to understand because of his pronunciation. I think we both felt equally stupid. Luckily there was another doctor who was there on some kind of internship – she stepped in and acted as “interpreter”…

I have no idea where I’m going with all this – nowhere at all really. Looking at the portrait just sent my thoughts out on a ramble…

Probably means it’s a good piece of artwork!