Tall!

Posted on September 27, 2012 by hestercoxprintmaker

It’s been a good couple of days for a few reasons. The first being that we must have had at least 15 minutes of sunshine today 😉 I’m so grateful that for my first days in Borås we had lovely weather and I was able to get out and sketch a lot. I’ve been out drawing since but it has been a damp experience and I invariably get a wet backside from all the beautiful but very soggy moss. The smaller paths are now little rivers.

Yesterday I got up very early to go and visit a 700 year old pine tree with Lennart. It was quite a long way away (thus the early start) but the forest nearby made the trip doubly worthwhile.

After spending some time getting to know the lovely old tree, we then crossed the busy road and had a walk in an ancient forest full of 300 year old pines and 200 year old spruce trees. The forest was dripping with water and we were wading through some deep puddles but it was eerily quiet and still despite the sea of traffic noise from the road behind us and the lichens hanging from the trees were amazing.

On returning to Ålgården, we had some lunch and then I tried to do some artwork. Unfortunately, the studios are really busy at the moment due to the impending open studios exhibition and I find the constant coming and going distracting. I talked to Christina about it today and she feels the same. She’s preparing for an exhibition and trying to make some new work but has been frustrated that she can’t get absorbed into what she is doing. I combatted the feeling today by holing up in my bedroom and working on a drypoint at the desk listening to the radio. It was lovely and I got a lot done. I often go to the studio in the evenings and work late as it is so peaceful. The residency has been really interesting for many reasons and one is that it has given me insights into what conditions I need for working and about the nature of creativity. I’ve found my way of dealing with times when I feel restless and frustrated. Getting out for a walk or run in the forest brings everything back into focus and I come back feeling full of creative energy and ideas. I then need peace and solitude to work out designs but once they are done, I can enjoy making plates and printing in company. When I look back to college days, I spent my most productive times at home between 8pm & 2am and got far less done in the studio between 9am and 6pm and nowadays in England I am always alone so I don’t really have the same dilemma. However, the downside of working alone all the time is that you don’t have the creative input of other people, you aren’t able to bounce ideas about or be inspired by other artists’ work and it can get quite lonely in the winter. At home I am quite fortunate in that I have good friends to ring or visit, many of whom are artists too, and the internet has been a real asset for all of us that that work alone but need a bit of contact now and again! I do wish there was somewhere like Ålgården in North Yorkshire, it would be really fantastic!

For my last week or so here, I intend to make the most of the facilities and print but I also want to soak up as much of the creative spirit here as I can, exchange thoughts and ideas with the other artists whenever possible and really get the atmosphere of the forests under my skin. I hope I can then draw on it all when I am back at home.

The drypoint that I’ve just printed is inspired by one of the old pine trees in the forest. It is made using drypoint plastic and a single drypoint tool. The first print was too pale. This one still needs some adjustments but the beauty of drypoint is that you don’t need to seal the plates and you can proof it and then make changes if you need to.

The word for this kind of tree (it’s a Scot Pine) in Swedish is Tall! How brilliant is that?

As a footnote, I had my first Swedish ‘conversation’ today. I went for a run and stopped to watch a pair of goldcrests. I was stood peering intently up a pine tree when two men came past with their dogs. They said hello and something indecipherable to me and I said ‘Hej…fagel…kungfagel’ to which they both said ‘ahh’ nodded and one made a gesture with his thumb and forefinger to indicate something very small. I was so pleased that I quickly said ‘Hej da’ and ran away before they said anything else that I couldn’t understand. 🙂 So, I now need to see a dormouse or a bear because I know the words for those!

Björk

Posted on September 25, 2012 by hestercoxprintmaker

Well, I’m really pleased that I wrote about my up and down weekend. The response here and on my facebook page has shown that so many artists (and also non-artists) empathised and it has created some worthwhile discussion. Thanks for all the support too. I think it is really important to share the difficult times as well as the good. I also think that it can sometimes be the times when everything seems to be going wrong or hard that actually end up being the most useful and are often turning points.

Anyway, yesterday I stayed all day in the studio and carefully constructed a simple collagraph plate that I hoped would capture more of the atmosphere of the birch forests here.

I worked on it until lunchtime and then had a break to eat with Björn and Kristina before helping take down the Artists in Residency Exhibition from the gallery. Afterwards, Björn made carrot and apple juice for us. Apparently carrots have been unbelievably expensive all year due to the weather making it difficult to grow them. Now they are really cheap so he bought a huge bag for juicing. It was delicious and, after all the coffee that I’ve been drinking, it felt very refreshing and healthy! After he, Christina and Kristina went home I went back to the studio and worked until midnight! The studio was buzzing with activity from the women’s Monday night printmaking group but because I don’t understand any Swedish, I was in a world of my own and the chatter was like background music. I sealed the plate with shellac before I went to bed.

This morning I got up early to go for a run and I put a final coat of shellac on my plate before I went. The forest was misty and very atmospheric and I met a group of woodsmen who stopped to talk to me (in perfect English of course!). I got back to the studio and set to proofing the collagraph.

The sepia is a bit heavy for the subject and I’d always envisaged it in colour so I carefully printed a further three prints using the ‘a la poupee’ method. This print has lost a little of its subtlety in the photographing but I’m quite happy with it in ‘the flesh’.

I’ve got a lot of other ideas and I still have a plate to print that I made over the weekend so things are definitely feeling better.

Two more nice things happened today. The first was that Lennart bought me a box of organic vegetables and bread for my lunch and I was able to make us a winter stew from carrots, leeks, parsnips & swedes with potato patties on the side. The second was that Tim and Diane Wayne from The Alverton Gallery http://www.thealvertongallery.co.uk/ in Penzance called in to see me! My mum lives in Penzance and, as a result, Tim and Diane kindly agreed to stock my prints (it is so hard to get into galleries in Cornwall because there are so many Cornish artists and many galleries only stock work by local artists). I only see Tim and Diane maybe once a year but they just happened to be on holiday in Sweden and they are both printmakers themselves so they couldn’t resist a visit to Ålgården. It was lovely to see them and I was pleased to be able to show them around and introduce them to the Swedish artists here.

Oh yes, and as for the title of today’s post, it is Swedish for silver birch! I also found out that Björn is Swedish for bear. 🙂

Up and Down and Up Again!

Posted on September 23, 2012 by hestercoxprintmaker

I haven’t posted here for a few days for a couple reasons. One being that I’ve been quite busy but the other is that I’ve been on a bit of a mental rollercoaster! After a lovely day out with Lennart on Thursday, I came into the studio on Friday morning feeling tired but determined to create that elusive masterpiece that I had convinced myself I had to make 🙂 Unfortunately I also had a rather large backlog of emails to answer, exhibitions details to sort out and general admin for my printmaking back home that I couldn’t put off any longer without risk of losing some valuable opportunities (seven exhibitions coming up in autumn!). That put me in a bad frame of mind. I decided the best thing to do would be to spend the morning getting on top of all of that. This I did, but in the process I became aware of how I’ll be returning into the thick of things. Then I thought I really must get on with some of the slowly germinating seeds of inspiration that I’ve been having here. The thing about being an artist is that you can’t do that. You can’t just pluck a great print from thin air. As the day disappeared, and I was asked a couple times by artists in the studio if I was actually going to do something other than stare at a piece of cardboard, I realised that when I’m trying to draw blood from a stone, I find it even harder when there are people watching so I gave up and went for a run!

The good thing about running is that it can be very meditative and that, combined with the peace of the forest, put me in a more positive mood. I determined that tomorrow would be another day and went to bed!

On Saturday there was a life drawing class in the gallery and I was looking forward to it but had woken with a migraine in the night so I was a bit groggy from medication. However, it was a really good thing to do. It was very difficult. The poses were short, mostly two or three minutes, with a seven, eight and a ten minute pose thrown in. I’m such a slow worker! I was just beginning to loosen up and really gain an understanding of how to tackle the quick sketches and the two hour session was over! Mind you, it really stood me in good stead for later in the day. I also met some great people including an artist who is 98 and arrived by taxi using a scheme which I believe is called ‘Fair Share’ and provides free transport for elderly people presumably because they have done their fair share for society and are due some returns. It strikes me as an excellent idea. She and her friend were not only very talented artists but really interested in discussing my prints and the other work on show in the gallery and they have recommended some exhibitions for me to visit.

After the class, Lennart arrived to take me to the opening of his friend Gunnar Bergh’s exhibition at Flamenska.

My head was still pounding and I felt a little antisocial but Gunnar’s paintings are best described as gentle and full of expression so it was a lovely environment. Once we returned to Ålgården, I was determined to get up into the forest and try and rediscover the feel of being there. I’d been staring so long at all of my photographs that I felt divorced from the atmosphere that you can only feel when you are actually in a place. The six mile hike was very wet but it was so peaceful there and I even managed to do one sketch in a rare break from the rain. I also stopped to listen to the birds and was totally amazed to see the tree that I was stood next to come to life. There were countless small birds flitting about in it. Blue tits, great tits and the best of all, a goldcrest! It came right up to me and put its head on one side looking. I tried not to breath in case I scared it away.

It was a bit of a slow plod back home and despite the lovely time in the woods, I found myself feeling despondent and having a crisis of confidence in what I am doing here. I felt that everything I did was not very good and that I was almost half way through my residency and what had I achieved? Yes…I know! I can laugh about it today. The problem is that migraines can actually effect your whole well-being including your emotions and depression is often a side effect of an attack. I’ve battled with them for years and am happy to say that they are less frequent and less severe than they were due to my healthier and happier lifestyle but when I get them…I sometimes lose all sense of reality.

So, Sunday I woke in the night feeling really sick and ill and had to reach for more tablets. Fortunately the morning brought a reprieve and by lunchtime I was feeling perkier. I had lunch with Christina and Lennart and the always cheery Kristina popped in and out. I spent a few hours holed up in my room sketching a ideas and then I headed out for a long run (slow and steady and with my camera) and explored some new territory.

I made it to Fjällsjön lake first.

It was very wet underfoot and many of the paths were small streams. The forest is full of fungi and there were little wooden houses dotted about in some areas. Very Hansel and Gretel! I got to another swimming lake, Kyperedssjön, which looks lovely except the water is soooo black. It’s a bit spooky! Besides which, I was already cold and wet and there was nobody about so I chickened out of jumping in.

The run was just what I needed to put everything back into perspective and to shake off the last remnants of my migraine. I got back feeling refreshed and positive again. I’m actually sat in the studio surrounded by the detritus of plate making 🙂 I talked to Lennart about creativity today and we discussed how you can’t force things, you have to let them unfold and reveal themselves to you naturally and you don’t know when or where that will be, you just have to have faith that it will happen! He told me that I must be gentle with myself. I wish I could remember precisely how he said it but it made a lot of sense. I’ve remembered why I’m here and what it is all about. I have a sketchbook full of drawings, monoprints and even a fully formed collagraph. There is a wealth of inspiration there and the seeds of a lot of imagery. I’m going to relax and enjoy myself again. After all, I’ve got over two weeks left!

Out and About

Posted on September 20, 2012 by hestercoxprintmaker

Today I have felt utterly spoilt in that I was taken out for the day by artist, Lennart Sundqvist. He spotted that I liked birds and offered to show me a place which is famous for its migrant species. Along the way we stopped to visit his home in his own forest, to see his garden and to meet his cats. A very peaceful and inspiring place. I mentioned that I had really enjoyed the Jan Töve’s exhibition at the Abecita Konst Museum and it turned out that he was a good friend of his and lived in the area. We called in to see him but he was just going out and asked if we would drop by later.

On our way to the bird reserve, Lennart took me to a beautiful old railway station where they still have a traditional restaurant offering a smörgåsbord. Thursday’s menu was heavy on the meat but I was still able to taste many different salads and potato dishes. Sweet pancakes were on offer too but we had places to go and people to see so we stuck to the coffee and biscuits.

Our next stop was the ancient burial site at Ekornavallen. People have been gathering there to bury their dead since the bronze age.

There is a traditional old farm nearby and many of the modern timber houses have the same structure and shape.

We were just getting into the car when a flight of birds flew over. They were quite beautiful and I assumed that they were geese. It is only now, on closer inspection, that I have realised that they are a flock of the famous cranes that we tried but failed to see when we finally got to the lake!

The lake is called Hornborgasjön and the cranes arrive in their tens of thousands each spring to breed. Hundreds of people come to watch them ‘dance’ at the lake. It was a beautiful place but rather windy and cold and many of the birds were far out on the lake today. We did use a telescope and binoculars and were able to watch some of the geese and ducks though.

After returning to the car, Lennart asked if I’d like to visit his friend Inga and see the beautiful garden that she has made. It was quite an amazing place that she and her husband created from scratch and featured many specimen trees and plants, wonderful rockeries using the local stone and water features . Whilst we were looking around, a vast assortment of small birds were coming and going and a brown squirrel chattered noisily at us.

Our last port of call was to Jan and this time he was ready for us with a warm welcome and biscuits! He and his wife made us feel totally at home and besides showing me his home, studio and some of his photographs, they also showed me which mushrooms are safe to pick and eat, their gorgeous dog and they took us down to the stables to meet their daughter and her horse. Jan was well known as a wildlife and nature photographer for many years and now he is taking time to explore further his ideas on nature, humankind and society and the interactions between them. Do follow the link and take a look http://www.jantove.com/ For me, some of his photographs have the same beauty and simplicity that you find in the best haiku poetry.

So, a complete rest today and a big thank you to Lennart for his kindness and conversation. Tomorrow I will be back in the studio and no doubt up in the forest at some point!

First Collagraph at Ålgården

Posted on September 19, 2012 by hestercoxprintmaker

It’s been a good couple of days in the studio here at Ålgården. Yesterday I printed my test plates. I’m not mightily impressed with acrylic gloss varnish and will be sticking to button polish although some of the problems could have been due to too much pressure on the electric press. It is quite hard to tell if you have it right due to the fact that you don’t wind the bed through by hand so can’t feel when the plate is going under the rollers. Anyway, the tests proved that acrylic heavy modelling medium is best for holding texture. The car filler was great too but I am reluctant to use that due to the chemicals in it and it smells awful. It would feel wrong making a print of a beautiful forest using toxic materials! I then made a small printing plate based on one of my drawings of the birch forest. I used gesso, heavy modelling paste, pva and cutting. One of the artists, Björn Eriksson, gave me some shellac to seal the plate with and I applied two coats to it. I then spent the rest of the afternoon doing small watercolours of individual birch leaves in my sketchbook. I love the patterns that appear on them as they decay.

This morning I inked and wiped the collagraph plate and proofed it. The first print was too dark but gave me a good guide for subsequent prints. Here is the plate inked and partially wiped:

This is the monochrome version using sepia ink.

I then printed a version using yellow and black ink.

It will need a bit of tweeking and I’ve spotted an area that I have forgotten to finish cutting but I’m happy with it as a starting point.

I then spent the afternoon at the Abecita Konst Museum http://www.abecitakonst.se/. It is a fabulous gallery set on three floors of the Abecita corset factory! It houses a collection of photographs and contemporary prints as well as a small exhibition on Abecita corsets and the Nordic Textile Award exhibition. I particularly liked ‘Silent Landscape’ the exhibition of photographs by Jan Töve. There were some great prints too (including by David Hockney, Robert Rauschenburg, Julian Opie, Andy Warhol, Louise Borgeois & Richard Hamilton) and it was lovely to see a very large collagraph by Jim Dine, ‘Red Robe’. Entry to the museum entitles you to free coffee and they have very inexpensive cakes, it would have been rude not to partake!

Yesterday evening I discovered a great new forest trail on my run. You have to climb a steep hill on a tiny path and then you can follow a pine needle strewn track along the ridge. I decided to head back up there this evening and took my camera. I quite like this birch trunk catching the evening sun.

The highlight of the run was a fleeting glimpse of a roe deer as it leapt across the path in front of me. I spent some time collecting birch leaves and did a few monotypes using them in the studio this evening. I definitely feel like I am making the most of my time here!

In the Studio

Posted on September 17, 2012 by hestercoxprintmaker

After my late night monotype session, I was going to have a lie-in but I got woken up by the dustmen so I went for an early run in the rain and discovered a great new little trail winding up a very steep part of the reserve to a viewing point. This morning the pine forest was swathed in mist and it looked wonderful. This set me up nicely for a day in the studio. I’m feeling far more at home there now and had another bash at my big monotype of a pine forest. I’m still not happy with the results but here it is:

I then had a good rummage around to see what materials there are for making collagraph plates. It doesn’t help that a lot of the pots have Swedish labels and my phrase book is proving worse than useless for life as a printmaker in Sweden! I resorted to shaking, sniffing and poking with a brush 🙂 I selected a few things that looked promising and decided to make some test plates. I found some filler for car repairs and I’ve heard people say that’s really good so I’m giving that a go although it smells awful and will probably need to be used outside if I am to preserve my braincells! I also found some acrylic mediums and I sealed all the plates using gloss acrylic varnish. I usually use shellac in the form of button polish but if the varnish works, it could prove useful for teaching purposes.

Then I decided to use some of the gesso that I’ve brought with me and make a small collagraph plate of a birch forest. I’m still working on it and hope to finish it tomorrow. On Sunday, one of the visitors to the gallery was a woman called Alison who comes from Manchester but has been living here for twenty years. When she found out I was in residence she asked if I’d like to meet her for a coffee so she could show me around a bit. We met today and she took me to her lovely summer house on the lake. She’d bought some traditional ginger spiced biscuits and cinnamon pastries to have with our coffee, I warmed to her instantly! She is interested in birds and told me that there are ospreys at the lake and capercaillie in the woods. She also has roe deer sleeping in her garden at night. Yesterday, Christina told me that elk live in the area and that last autumn one came into town and was in her mum’s garden! I’d love to see one. Alison has very kindly lent me a decent Swedish/English dictionary so I can now look up words like glue, plaster, varnish etc.

back to the subject of birds, there was a fieldfare pecking at the apples in the garden this morning.

Exploration and exhibitions

Posted on September 16, 2012 by hestercoxprintmaker

This weekend I spent most of Saturday out running in the forests and to the lake. The purpose (besides for enjoyment) was to explore the area better and I made a pact with myself to run up every tiny trail that I found to find out where it went and to check out good places for drawing. The result was a short period of being completely lost! However, 16miles later and I managed to find my way home 🙂 I saw lots of jays, nuthatches, a woodpecker and a squirrel amongst other things. I also found a beautiful hazel coppice which I’ve done some little drawn monotypes of. I was pretty tired for most of the rest of the day but managed to do a couple sketches before bed.

Today I went and had a proper look at the Resident Artists Exhibition in the gallery. It is an amazing space.

The prints are hung unframed and attached to the wall using magnets so they are undamaged but able to be viewed close up. This is such a great idea because often with glazed works you can’t see some of the velvety dark tones and texture that you find in many prints and with this method the viewer can also see the weight and character of the paper.

A lady looking around the exhibition asked me to explain the prints of the Japanese printmaker, Tomiyuki Sakuta.

I explained that the prints above are portraits of the artists that he met whilst on his residency here. She then asked me what goes through his head…couldn’t answer that one. She said she liked my bird prints because she understood them and liked birds. Fair enough.

This afternoon Christina and I went into town to catch the last day of an exhibition at Flaménska Galleriet showing the work of ceramicist, Ulrika Wallin, & painter/printmaker Yvonne Karlsson. http://www.flamenska.se/ Another lovely space and I met Tommy who I have had email contact with regarding my residency here.

It’s been a grey and dank day and both Christina and I felt like we were full of ideas but unable to get them out. I did manage to complete a drawing that I hope to use a as a base for a collagraph. I’ve decided to start with a couple small collagraphs to try out the materials and techniques before I start on a large scale piece. However, I was determined to have a go at making a pine forest reduction monotype as a companion piece to my birch forest so I went into the studio this evening and set to work. It was actually a lot harder than I anticipated and I forgot to eat before I went in so I ended up feeling hungry and tired but having to battle on before the ink started to dry out.

The last part of the process was to add the dark knots to the main trees and I did this by painting them in with printing ink. Unfortunately, I put a bit too much ink on the brush and the pressure on the electric press was a bit heavier than the other press so the dots got splodged. The resulting print was not a great success but nevermind, I’ve learnt plenty of things whilst doing it (one being to have my tea before I start work!).

First Day (well, night!) in the Studio

Posted on September 14, 2012 by hestercoxprintmaker

It was raining really hard when I woke up this morning. Bearing in mind that water and sketchbooks don’t go well together, I decided to ditch my plans for another day in the forest and made myself a nice workspace in my room where I spent the day drawing and monoprinting.

I’ve been itching to do some reduction monotypes and so I had a chat with Ana about what materials I could use and she told me where to find some old litho plates in the intaglio studio and said to help myself. I’m not used to working with anyone else around and felt a bit shy so I went in this evening when everyone had gone home. I like working at night, there is a lovely sense of peacefulness. It took a bit of searching around to locate everything that I needed but the studio is really well equipped and beautifully laid out with lots of space to work so it was a pleasure to get started. I soon realised that the artists here do things a bit differently from me but I improvised and managed to get set up ok. I used my own water soluble relief ink and rolled a fine layer onto the litho plate before working into it with cotton buds and rags. I spent about two hours creating the image by taking ink away to make the light areas and I think the birch forest was a particularly suitable subject for this method.

Then it was time to use the medium sized press (which is still a lot bigger than mine!).

I really wasn’t sure whether the print would come out or not because I didn’t dare adjust the pressure on the press as printmakers are very particular about these kind of things 🙂 However, it was set up perfectly for the thickness of the litho plate and the print came out with all the detail intact.

Now that I’ve managed to find my way round the studio and make my first print, I feel happier about being in there when the other artists are printing too. I’m feeling excited about the possibilities and am already wondering if I could make a huge collagraph to print on the big electric press 🙂

Posted on September 13, 2012 by hestercoxprintmaker

I had another great day in the Ryda åsar reserve. I explored a trail that I hadn’t been on yesterday and it went through some beautiful birch woods (where I did a small watercolour sketch) and then through some glorious pine forest with hundreds and hundreds of different fungi.

They were all shapes and sizes and some looked edible but I thought I’d better not risk it. Christina’s advice of sticking to the yellow ones hasn’t helped that much as there are many different types of yellow mushroom! There are also purple ones, red ones, brown ones, white ones, spotted ones, stinky phallic ones and some massive bracket fungi.

Bilberries grow everywhere on the higher ground and I found the Swedish speciality, lingonberries (which I did try).

After a few more sketches and my picnic in the sunshine, I followed the trail to the road and took a tiny track down to Öresjö lake. It looks like a great place to go swimming but I decided to save that for another day and headed back along the woodland trails to home.

I’m beginning to get ideas of a few things that I’d like to try out in the studio but I want to spend some more time outside drawing and exploring first. It is so rare that I have the luxury of working in the field. Far too often deadlines encroach, admin gets in the way or I work to complete specific projects or print ideas and having this time to just draw and gather visual information is brilliant. Just what I was hoping for. Here’s a random sample of a few of my sketches and monoprints. They certainly aren’t masterpieces but they are getting me thinking and looking. The simple act of stopping and drawing something makes you really look properly and I find it quite meditative. It stills my mind and opens it up ready for new ideas.

I thought that I must have covered a lot of miles today so I went back and ran the route this evening using my Garmin and it turns out that it was only about 6 miles but I’ve now done twice that which will explain why I’m feeling ready for bed!

The Forest and the City

Posted on September 12, 2012 by hestercoxprintmaker

I’m currently feeling totally shattered! I was up and out promptly this morning to spend time in the beautiful Rya åsar (the forest nature reserve next to Ålgården). There are countless trails of all kinds. Wide hard tracks for cycling, smaller paths for walking and some lovely little tracks for wilder exploring. There is even a trail with streetlights along it for runners! In a glade of birch trees I found a lovely pond with an island on it and I love the pine forests with huge boulders and knolls covered in moss. I managed to do a few simple monotypes using my bit of perspex, roller and a tube of water soluble ink. Its a great way of sketching and getting some interesting textural effects and somehow seems less daunting than drawing in the conventional way although I did do a graphite sketch too.

The forest is so tranquil. Even though you can hear the cars on the highway as a sea of distant noise, the stillness of the woods with the gentle chirrups and tweets of the finches make it very restful. The forest floor is covered in toadstools and fungi and the leaves are beginning to turn so autumn is definitely on the way. Weather allowing, I intend to spend the day up there tomorrow and try to make some more prints and sketches. I’ll post a few on here if there are any that I’m happy with.

After eventually finding my way back to Ålgården (might take a compass & map tomorrow!) I was just in time for a lovely lunch prepared by Björn and shared by five of us. That was a nice surprise. I’m planning on cooking for everyone soon and am now wishing that I was more adept at creating culinary delights. Fuelled up and feeling confident, I braved heading into town and finding my way around the city. I have come to the conclusion that the Swedes have cracked making a busy town centre people friendly. All the way into town were subways and paths with separate sections for walkers and cyclists that kept everyone safe from the traffic. They also have numerous parks which are each themed for different activities, public ice rinks, swimming baths (outdoors and in), swimming lakes, playgrounds (including ones designed for autistic children) and lamplit running tracks (even in the parts of the forest!). The photo below marks a walkway but it has given me an idea for my bookmaking course at home. The theme is ‘worn surfaces’.

I’m very fortunate to catch the end of the Borås sculpture biennale and the city has some really interesting artworks to visit. I particularly liked ‘Kyss’ by Eva Markland:

I’ve seen a few different birds today including a nutchatch, some finches that I have yet to identify, a wren and a flock of fieldfares enjoying a feast of rowan berries in the city centre!

Anyway, after wandering up and down many streets and having a quick stop for tea and cake at the Kulturhuset, I managed to locate an art shop to buy some materials and headed back home.

Hester Cox: Printmaker

Thoughts from Hester's printmaking studio and beyond.

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