At the invitation of The ROCK artist residency, I traveled to Norway last August to focus on drawing for a month. I had no preconceived plan but rather wanted to be surprised and inspired by nature and the new environment I would find there. I am an inquisitive draughtsman and like to work from intuition and spontaneity.
After a "short stop" in Oslo with a visit to the Munch Museum, I traveled by bus to Eker Gård. This bus trip of about four hours, besides own transportation, is the only way to get to the residency. It is a beautiful green varied route.
Eker Gård is originally a farm and is located in the municipality of Skammestein. Today it is a cultural place for art, workshops and exhibitions a short distance from the town of Beitostølen.
I was the first foreign guest artist at The ROCK residency. So it was also a bit of figuring out for hostess Anni Onsager, tuning in to the needs of the artist. We did have contact in advance about transportation, drawing supplies or other needs.
At the location, I had my own small, well-equipped cabin at my disposal and could use the car to go out. A car is a requirement to see the area, though. Public bus transportation is also available, but not as frequent as we are used to here.
Furthermore, at Eker Gård I had access to a large studio in the barn. Here I could work daily at any time. I also used this space during my stay to show work to visitors to Eker Gård. This was a great feature during my stay, to take interested visitors into my drawing world. It even led to the sale of a drawing.
During my residency, Eker Gård was officially opened as a cultural place by the mayor of Skammestein. This recognition was festively celebrated over a weekend with invited guests. For this special occasion I created a drawing installation together with Anni, based on movement, a nod to my "winddrawings. This installation was on continuous display in the barn along with Anni's existing Ibsen exhibition.
Made two winddrawings in the birches, as a test. There are few trees here on the property I noticed
During my residency, no other artists were present at Eker Gård. However, a painting workshop did take place in the space next to my studio. With Anni, I had regular coffee moments and we shared our life experiences about life, the art profession and Norwegian culture.
What struck me, so quiet and just hearing water flowing
From Eker Gård it is about a seven kilometer drive to Beitostølen the mountain village beyond, with winter and summer sports activities, which borders'National park Jotunheimen. This area I explored while hiking and drawing. Closer to home within walking distance, I discovered the forests of Skammestein.
The route was varied, wet trails, wooden planks, past some cabins, through willows and over fallen logs
When you work outside as I often do, you depend on the weather. It was an unusual, very wet August month I was told. As a result, the weather helped determine how I spent my day. My days actually filled themselves, it was improvisation and flexibility. One moment still working inside at my table in the hut or in the barn, the next moment I went out to spend a few hours drawing outside.
It is cloudy and I have packed my backpack with some drawing stuff, lunch and rain gear. I don't have hiking poles with me; it's not really climbing today
Anni took me the first few times, dropped me off and showed me around the hiking trails in the area around Beitostølen. We also spent an afternoon together picking "cloudberries" (cranberry) in the mountains (Norwegian delicacy) and she showed me the summer pastures and farms of the farmers from the valleys. On my hikes, I made observations of the landscape.
I make some "scratch drawings" of the trails with oil pastels along the way. The longer I work, the faster the strength of the drawing diminishes. While walking and stopping I fill pages in my sketchbook
The variety and diversity of nature and landscapes gave me plenty of inspiration to work with. The rugged dense forests, the vast empty mountain plateau, the stony rocks and water continued to challenge me daily. Mapping this landscape eventually produced a multitude of drawings and notes.
The coincidence of the uneven surface of the stones feel like an extra layer, adding something extra to the writing of the drawing, a combo of color-pattern-texture.
Upon return, try to compose landscapes.
When I work outdoors I choose manageable paper sizes, something easy to take with me in all weathers. I have worked mostly with charcoal, watercolor, oil pastel, fineliner, tape, ink and pencil. My favorite papers are molskine paper and fabriano paper.
Charcoal used what I found there
I look back on a fantastic inspiring time in Norway. Despite the bad summer, I thoroughly enjoyed the colors, the peace and vast expanse. I got to experience unspoiled nature up close for a while. Special thanks to Anni Onsager of Eker Gård for giving me this opportunity. For more information about The ROCK artist residence at Eker Gård, see the website: The Rock | Eker Gård - artist in residence.
During the months after returning home, I created four large color installations (4×1.30m) in my studio. The colors, vastness and silence of the Norwegian landscape were still asking to be depicted. That's how it felt. I was not yet finished with my Eker Gård experience.
Not knowing how, I just started with gouache on paper and mixing colors that referred to the Norwegian landscape. Here I also used the color swatches and color studies from my residency time. I gradually gained more insight into color theory and the use of gouache. Finally, the large format with "the pixels" of colors brought me to the stillness I experienced in Norway.
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