summer (of)course

Lately I've been doing a little bit of everything except blogging very much. Hectic times with all the childrens activities finishing off. Schools out!

Mattias and I have been busy planning our summer courses at Sigtuna Kulturgård. Mine will be a three-day workshop in bookbinding and Mattias' is three days of drawing in- and outside in Sigtuna. We're hoping on good weather and many participants!


Lär dig binda böcker med hjälp av enkla tekniker!

Under 3 dagar går vi igenom olika metoder som kan användas för att binda egna skiss-/anteckningsböcker, fotoalbum eller gästböcker. Användbart även till att göra fina gåvobrev eller inbjudnings- och gratulationskort.
Material och fika ingår. De flesta verktyg finns att låna, men vissa saker kan vara bra att ha – lista på detta får ni innan kursen startar.

Lärare: Cecilia Levy; grafisk formgivare och handbokbindare
Plats: Sigtuna Kulturgård, Stora Nygatan 1 (bredvid Stadshotellet)
Tid: torsdag–lördag, 23–25 juli, kl. 9.30–16.00
Kursavgift: 1800 kr, varav 400 kr i anmälningsavgift som inte betalas tillbaka vid återbud
Anmälan: till Cecilia Levy på tel. 0706-54 39 65, eller via mail: anmälan bokbinderiworkshop, samt genom inbetalning av anmälningsavgiften 400 kr senast 2 juli till BG 5687-6741. Resterande 1400 kr ska vara inbetalt senast 7 dagar före kursstart.

The shorter English version: learn how to bind books with simple binding techniques. During 3 days you'll learn different methods, useful for binding sketch-/notebooks, photoalbums, guestbooks. Useful also for making nice invitationcards etc.
If you want to participate, let me know by sending an e-mail: anmälan bokbinderiworkshop.
Material is included in the price as well as fika (coffee!) and there are tools you can borrow from me.

Sigtuna is an old medeival town, close to the capital of Stockholm and to Arlanda airport. There's lots to see and there are plenty of B&B's, hostels and hotels in and around the town. For more information you can check out the Tourist centre here.

I did it!

I ran - for the first time in my life but not the last - the worlds biggest half-marathon, in Gothenburg; Göteborgsvarvet. 21 km (13 miles). It was great, and I'm really proud. Mattias ran for the fifth time. We are playing with the idea of running Stockholm Marathon, maybe not next year, but... :)



Last weeks spring party at Sigtuna Kulturgård.
Inger brought her Muurikka, a huge frying pan for outdoors use and made us all a beutiful, delicious paella, which we ate in the garden overlooking Mälaren.

art show - last chance

Me and my 5 studiomates are currently showing some of our work at
Galleri Sigtuna Kulturgård.
The show is prolonged until 31st of May, open Saturdays and Sundays, 12-4 pm.

Here are some photos from the opening!





My three fine liner drawings bo, monokel and kapsel (see them closer here if you want)


Leaf series Min familj, lead pencil on board prepared with putty


Coffee constellations, fine liner, coffee on book pages


thanks for coming by!

greetings from the past

This is Mattias birthday card to me - sweet hubby. I seem to carry a heavy load though. Yesterday I took one of those quizzes on Facebook just for fun (what else?!) and I turned out being - a Tiger! Well what do you know...


My mom sent me the postcard. She claims I am in the picture, in the red bathrobe, which she had sewn for me. But all the kids looked the same then. And we couldn't identify the mothers sitting down. So it probably isn't me - although I did have one of those swan bathing toys.


I have made more coffee-constellations. Here are three new ones. More to follow.

in season

Spring changed it's mind today and turned back to winter. Icy wind, rain, red nose. And today happens to be my birthday... But I'm counting on sun and warmth again on Saturday when we open up Sigtuna Kulturgård and our show!

good times hard times

I've been away for a while now, Istanbul feels very distant. I always find it difficult to start blogging again, when I haven't updated in a long time...

Good times: these past weeks I've been busy with an exhibition I'm having with my studiomates. I've been working on some leaf drawings, coffee-constellations and on finishing my "cells". We're a group of 6 persons, and the rooms aren't that big, so I won't be able to show it all, I'll have to chose what fits best with the rest.

Hard times: my father is really ill and he's in my thoughts daily. It's tough and frustrating, wanting to do something, knowing you can't stop time.
I think a lot about time. Mostly I wish there were more hours to the day so I could do all the things I want/need to do. I could draw my "cells" for hours - if only I had more time. It's like meditation. Being absolutely focused on drawing each circle. At the same time I let anything that comes into my head, pass through. Relaxation for the mind.

sights and sounds

More photos from my visit to Istanbul. I took loads of them - as one tends to do on trips - and it's been hard to choose. But I just had to share the two below with you: on the Galata-bridge a bridegroom stood holding his bride close, while being photographed in the midst of fishermen and the bustling traffic on the sidewalk. He then suddenly picked up his bride and briskly walked away! And hopefully lived happily ever after.






Food for the ears as well.

Hope the easter bunny came to visit you! I ate too much easter candy as usual...

eye candy

Ah yes, we did it all; Hagia Sophia, Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Top Kapi Palace - all breathtakingly beautiful and I strained my neck from looking up at all those amazing ceilings.

We saw whirling Dervishes, an excellent exhibition at the Istanbul Modern museum and almost got lost at the Grand Bazaar. The only thing I didn't do was take a bath in a hammam. I had really looked forward to it, but my tight budget couldn't allow it.


Turkish IKEA.




Love the white ones especially.

forms of Istanbul

Finally! I've been to both Istanbul and Gothenburg since I last posted, and photos have been piling up. Here's the first bunch – but there's more to come!

going and coming

Tomorrow I'm going to Istanbul, Turkey! I'll be back Friday - hopefully with photos and some Turkish Delight. Take care everyone and have a nice week!

constellations

Doodling on book pages.
I started out randomly filling in some "o's", then drew lines in between, many lines. They came to look like star charts. I then tried coloring with tea and coffee. Coffee was definately better, and I love the effect!



Ice constellations. It's melting fast now, today was the first day of spring!

concentration

Bringing Rosa, Olivia and a friend to the studio one day during the spring break. Wonderful to see them in action, painting and drawing.


Rosa

Olivia

Olivias self portrait.


My corner of the studio, self portraits on the wall at the moment.

white dogs

Small black ball.
Made this a while ago, makes me long for summer, it looks nice and warm.



Two of Astas pals; Sigge and Nova (Westie and Jack Russell).
Spring is still far away... maybe we can make a snow dog this weekend!

Hope you have a nice weekend too!

strange lands

This was Tuesday.



And this was Wednesday.


Who treaded here? Probably the creature that makes Asta bark furiously (we humans hear nothing).

talking about Turkey

Dinner at Marias, with the rest of my studio mates that I'm going to Turkey with!
We're leaving in ten days, to spend almost 5 days in Istanbul - needless to say, we're thrilled. None of us has been there before, so we had all googled for information. We only found the usual touristy stuff, so; if anyone out there has anything to recommend - all contributions are gratefully received!
The day after we watched Crossing the bridge, a film about the different music scenes in Istanbul, to get into the right mood. I love traditional music played by the Romani people.


This is my contribution to The Pom-Pom Project. My heavy, luscious pompom will be sent to Bournemouth, UK, to participate in a public installation in the Bournemouth Gardens with heaps of others.
But it's hard to part with it, I've become quite attached to it...

And here it only snows, snows and snows...