Tag Archives: Art work

Street art of Funchal, Madeira

The history of the painted doors and murals in Funchal, the capital of Madeira, is an intriguing reflection of the island’s rich cultural heritage and the mix of different influences over the centuries.

You find many of the doors and murals along the narrow, cobbled streets of Zona Velha (the old town). One of the most distinctive features is the artistic and decorative style, a reflection of both European traditions and local craftsmanship. Many doors feature wooden panels carved with motifs inspired by Madeira’s natural environment – palm leaves, vines, and flowers.

In the late 20th century, a vibrant street art project was born here, when local artists and residents decided to transform the old, weathered doors of the houses into canvases. Today, these painted doors tell a different kind of story: one of modern creativity, community, and resilience. The project, known as the Arte Portas Abertas (Open Doors Art), has become a symbol of Funchal’s identity. Artists use the doors to express everything from abstract designs to scenes of daily life, and even political or social commentary. The area has become an open-air gallery, that open not just to homes, but to the stories of Madeira itself.

[See also Hiking on Madeira]

 

The Christmas Card

Wikipedia: “A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the weeks preceding Christmas Day by many people (including some non-Christians) in Western society and in Asia. The traditional greeting reads “Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year“. 
The first commercially available card was commissioned by Sir Henry Cole and designed by John Callcott Horsley in London 1843. 

Heard that after 180 years of history, this year (2023) might be the last year people send Christmas cards by “snail mail”, since the postage is going to be very expensive in 2024, due to the decrease in letter correspondence and increase in costs.

Back in the 1980’s I designed and printed Christmas post cards and sent to family, friends and customers. Made by airbrush on paper (except one that is with ink) 

In 2011 I started designing digital season greeting cards, playing with Adobe Photoshop:

And Happy New Year cards:

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! 

Art tour in Malmö

An art tour organized by Malmö town started at Bagers place during easter 12.00 and 14.00.

konstrunadakarta

Konstrunda Malmö katalog

[malmo.se/konstrundan]
[List over public art in Malmö]

  1. Non Violance, 1992, Bagers plats,
    Carl Frederik Reuterswärd
  2. Harbour master house, 1835, Bager plats
    Unknown architect
  3. The gate to the continent, 1975, Bagers plats,
    Sven Carlsson
  4. Bagers bridge, 2012, Suellshamnen
    Esbjörn Nordlund
  5. Fishing lady, 1949, Bastion Älvsborg
    Clarens Blum (1897-1984)
  6. Frans Suell, 1915, Norra Vallgatan 70
    Edvard Trulson (1881-1969)
  7. Madonna, 1525/1967
    Replica, the original is at Malmö Museums
  8. Karl X Gustaf, 1896, Stortorget
    John Börjesson (1835-1910)
  9. Square well, 1964, Stortorget
    Stig Blomberg (1901-1970)
  10. The Optimist orchestra, 1985, Södergatan
    Sture Kelfve (1905-1983)
  11. Clock tower, 1970, Kompanigränd
    Sture Kelfve (1905-1983)
  12. Four leaf clover, 1997, Sant Petri kyrka
    Tom Gruen
  13. Memorial for reverent Claus Mortensen, 1967, Sant Petri kyrka
    Thure Thörn (1918-2005)
  14. Picassos sleeping partner, 1983, Bruksgatan
    Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd
  15. Elsewhere, 2010, Citytunneln
    Tanja Ruiz
  16. Spectral Self Container, 2013, Anna Lindhs plats
    Matti Kallionen

See Photo album on Picasa

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Images – Project 2014

The 2014 project is to work with images in different medias:

  • photography
  • sort, scan and digitizing old and new photos
  • play and learn more Photoshop
  • take up drawing and painting again…

Follow:

Demon Builder
Street art – London by Nathan Bowen

Hyper Realistic Art

When I used to paint I used acrylic paint and brush or water color and pencils. I use photos as reference and like to be as realistic as possible and sometimes exaggerate details.

On Moderskeppets blogg I just red about Bert Monroy who take it to the extreme using Photoshop and Illustrator to make Hyper Realistic Art. Bert also share his knowledge on Revision 3.com.

His latest project is a “painting” of Times Square, NYC.

Acrylic

Finally the collection of my acrylic paintings is on line.

Most of the paintings are made from photos from our round the world trip 1989-1990. A few are made as orders. For instance a friend or customer showed me an image and asked if I could paint that on canvas or hardboard.

The genre could be called realism. I thought it was called magic realism but I learned that that genre refers to realistic paintings with one or more magic details in the picture.

After a few years in the basement collecting dust, some of them has been moved up to a wall in the living room.

Acrylic paintings on the wall

Airbrush

Back in the 80’s,  I had a little graphic design studio the Swedish town Falkenberg. The studio,  called Noggin*, had a silk printing set where I printed T-shirts and sweatshirts. There was also a large drafts table where I did print designs, airbrush paintings and paste up layout.

For a couple of years I created a Christmas card that I sent to customers and friends. In -87 I made some postcards that Vibe and I brought with us (togehter with a ski box full of sweatshirts) to the Three Vallées in France, where we spent a skiseason. We sold the sweatshirts and postcards at the After Ski pubs – good times. 🙂

On the original size painting of this post card, the tools are in scale 1:1…
Drawing tools
See the airbrush paintings ::>

See Airbrushing videos on Youtube.

*Noggin means head and Noggin the Nog was the name of a British children’s character – a Viking. I got Noggin as nickname from some English friends I had back in the 80’s.

Watercolor

These paintings is made by watercolor and pencil, inspired by photos taken during a round the world trip 1989-19991.

thaichildren
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.

Chiang Mai, Thailand
Hill tribes are ethnic minorities in northern and western Thailand. Each hilltribe has it’s own language, habits and spiritual believes. The Tribal Research Institute in Chiang Mai estimate of the total hill tribe population to be around 550,000. Meo are Thailand’s second largest hill tribe and live on mountain peaks or plateaus and are especially numerous in Chiang Mai Province.
Thai girl
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.

Chiang Mai, Thailand
is home to seven principal hill tribe minorities, people of separate ethnic origin who follow independent lifestyles, to a large degree unaffected by the 20th century. This Meo girl still wears the colorful finery of her tribal costume, as do most hill tribe women, but advances of mainstream society are no longer totally absent. Various government welfare programs are operated, including education for for hill tribe children.
Thai woman
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.

Chiang Mai, Thailand
Hill tribe women in their traditional dresses, continue to present a picture of enduring customs and lifestyles. The men, however, have today mostly abandoned the attire traditional to their tribe, and dress like any other Thai farmer. Nevertheless, a visit to a hill tribe village still affords a glimpse into a unique world.
thaibaby
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.

Chiang Mai, Thailand
Thailand is often called “The land of smiles”, but really means “The land of the free”. The country offers a distinct culture with a rich and various inheritance, and have an amazing amount of beautiful scenery. In spite of this it’s the Thai people, that with great ability manage to mix a respect for the past with a joy in the present, that makes the country so exciting.”You can give them your Love, but not your thoughts; For they have their own thoughts.”
Singapore Chinatown
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.

Singapore’s Chinatown
the air is vibrating of activity and scents, like a kaleidoscope for the eyes and a staccato symphony for the ears. This is the place to open up all your senses, because hidden back in the side streets there are a lot to see and easy to miss.
Singapore Raffles
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.

Singapore
means Lion City, was once a small quiet fishing village until Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 decided that here was the harbor he needed. Under British government it became an important harbor and military base. In 1959 they got self ruling. Around 2,5 million people are living on 616 km2. It is a green “garden city” where it’s not allowed to through litter on the streets – not even a cigarette. Smoking is prohibited in all public buildings. Big cars pay more tax than small ones. As a tourist you get two weeks visa for shopping…
Arrowtown
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.

Arrowtown, New Zeeland
On New Zealand’s south island, 20 km. from Queenstown, one of the most popular vacation areas in the country, is the historic and picturesque settlement of Arrowtown. Many original gold rush buildings remain and it’s still possible to find gold in the river. The golden autumn tones Arrowtown’s trees is favorite material with photographers. However, this painting is painted with winter colors.
bali
Watercolor on paper
40 x 28 cm.

Bali
often called “Land of the Many Temples”, one of Indonesia’s 13.700 islands, was a Dutch colony between 1640 to 1949.To the Balinese, the island is the whole world. It satisfies all physical and spiritual needs. The whole life revolve around their religion – Hinduism.Every village must have at least three temples, Pura Desa – for official meetings, Pura Puseh – to honor the village founder and Pura Dalem – the temple for the dead, the spirits in the after-life. There are temples for farm-spirits, lakes and mountains. Every rice field has a small Subak temple and every house has a family-temple. The painting shows Candi Kuning a temple by the Lake Budugul.
Penang
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.

Penang road, Penang, Malaysia
We had the most delicious Roti. It’s a kind of pancakes, filled with egg, vegetables or meat, served with a dahl dip. Murtabak is a thin bread with the same kind of fillings. Have a nice meal…
Bondi Beach
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.

Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia
On Australia’s most famous beach, Bondi Beach, only 10 min. from downtown Sydney,  you can find a copy of the Little Mermaid, made of fiberglass. Pack your esky, wax the surfboard, remember the skateboard, cover yourself with sun lotion, factor 50, and take a seat in the fine, squeaky and very white sand and enjoy the crowd. Fairdinkum!
Bali woman
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.

Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
The life of a Balinese, from birth to death, revolves around religion. In the morning they sacrifice to the spirits of Bali – on high shelves for the good and on the ground for the bad.
Fiji
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.

Leluvia, Fiji
Around 100 of the 300 sunny islands that create the Fiji islands, are inhabited. One of many social traditions and an important part of Fijian entertainment is Cava drinking. Cava is a root that is crushed and soaked in a special way. When you drink you clap once when The Cava King offers you the mbilo – a coconut bowl. Take it in both hands, say mbula just before the bowl reach your lips. Clap three times after your drink.
Hollywood
Watercolor on paper.
28 x 40 cm.

Hollywood, Los Angeles, USA
The “Golden Arches Restaurant” claims they served billions. The first restaurant opened in 1940. These days there are about 31 000 in 121 countries. The McDonald’s Golden Arches logo was created by a Jim Schindler in 1962.
manhattan
Watercolor on paper.

Manhattan, New York City, USA
The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center was destroyed September 11, 2001 when, two hijacked planes were flown into the towers, leading to their collapse and the loss of nearly 3,000 lives. It’s a day that deeply marked modern history and is remembered worldwide.

Trecking
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.

Trecking – Painting was an order made after a photo from customer.
MC
Watercolor on paper.
40 x 28 cm.
Motorbike – an order painted from a photo customer brought.

Acrylic

These acryllic paintings were painted in the end 90’s and made from photos taken on our round the world tour 1989-1991.

The genre could be called Realism where I “copy” a photo on to the canvas/board and then paint as is and sometimes exaggerate the colours. The advantage with acrylic compared to oil – it doesn’t smell, it can be diluted with water (clean the brushes in water), it dries quickly and it is water resistant when dry. If you think it dries too quickly there are paste, gel and other media to mix in the colour to make it dry slower.

Baywatch
Acrylic on hardboard.
80 x 55 cm.
South Bay, Los Angeles, California, is a group of beach-cities like “The home of the Beach Boys” – Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Redondo Beach. They are connected with Venice and Santa Monica Beach in the north by “The Beach Walk”, an approx. 30 km. long strip of concrete along the beach. On this piece of surf and beach, you find a mix of surfers, beach volley players, sun bathers and of course Life guards from Bay Watch…”-The idea of America as the land of opportunity is more visible in California than anywhere. California is still the state where anything seems possible, where people bring dreams they aren’t allowed to have anyplace else.”

Miami Beach
Acrylic on canvas
63 x 60 cm.
Miami Beach, Florida, USA, is kilometer after kilometer of golden sand lined with gleaming and not-so-gleaming hotels. Most of them buildt in Art Deco and painted in various pastel shades. Miami Beach has the largest Art Deco district in the country.The inhabitants are a fascinating mixture of people. Among others a large population of senior citizens with pink or purple hair and a matching poodle…”These Americans, they refuse to move anywhere;if they can make a machine to do things for them, they make it. Drive-in banks, Drive-in movies, Drive-in restaurants and Drive-in posts etc.”

hardrock
Acrylic on canvas
63 x 60 cm.

Chiang Mai Thailand, 700 km. northeast of Bangkok, is Thailand’s second largest city with over 160.000 inhabitants and more than 300 temples. Chiang Mai, that means the new city, was built from scratch in 1296.It has all cultural advantages as Bangkok, but only a few of it’s drawbacks like traffic jams and air pollution- and here is Hard Rock Café…

Disney World
Acrylic on canvas
65 x 55 cm.
Orlando, Florida, USA. The king of amusement parks, Disney World, a sparkling maze of kiddie-rides, Disney film sets and Disney characters. Disney World is divaded into three parts, Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center and Disney MGM Studios.Magic Kingdom consists of six lands with fun, fantasy and entertainment:
Experience America around the turn-of-the-century at “Main Street, USA”. Celebrate Mickey’s birthday at “Mickey’s Birthdayland”. Ride Space Mountain Roller-Coaster at “Tomorrowland”. Visit Cinderella’s castle at “Fantasyland”. Look at Hall of Presidents and Tom Sawer Island at “Liberty Square/Frontierland”. Go on a junglecruise at “Adventureland”.Forget the reality and pretend you are five years old, maybe six…”-The future is in the hands of those who can give tomorrow’s generation valid reasons to live and hope.”

seaquarium800
Acrylic on hardboard
80 x 65 cm.

Miami,Florida, USA. The annimal shows at the Miami Seaquarium, Florida, USA, parade the abilities of both marine mammals and their trainers. It’s not every day that you get to see five-ton killer whales breach high above the water. If you don’t like to be drenched, sit more than 10 rows back…
route1-800
Acrylic on hardboard
80 x 65 cm.

Califorina, USA. Route 1 – or The Pacific Coast Highway, starts among the surfer beaches south of Los Angeles and sweeps grandly along the California coast. Never straying more then a few km. from the sea.Across rolling hills, through cow pastures and fruit orchards, and past hip urban centers, the Pacific Coast Highway ends in the magnificent redwood groves near Garberville, more than 350 km. north of San Francisco.It begun in 1920, required $ 10 million and over 17 years for completion.

Flamingo x-ing
Acrylic on canvas
43 x 30 cm.
Key West, Florida, USA. The tropical paradise, Key West, “The end of the road”, only 145. km from Cuba, is the southernmost point in the continental USA.Pastel clapboard houses, hibiscus and bougainvillea plants, year-round tropical climate and gin-clear waters attracted Tennesse Williams and Ernest Hemingway along with all the tourists.The natives call themselves for “conchs”. Non-natives who’ve lived here for several years are “freshwater conchs”. Tourists are all called “foreigners”. Conchs call the Gumbo Limbo tree “tourist trees” – they turn red and peel in the sun!
The town’s tombstones have epitaphs like:
“I told you I was sick.”
Or this one, evidently written by the angry widow:”At least I know where he’s sleeping tonight…”

sunflower
Acrylic on on hardboard

Sunflower
This was a gift to some friends.
Made from a photo of a fantastic field of sunflowers in southern France.
Tour de France
Acrylic on hardboard

Tour de France
This was an order where I got a picture from a news paper.
Michael Jordan
Acrylic on hardboard
100 x 80 cm

Michael Jordan
This was an order where I got a picture from a sports magazine.
Mickey Mouse
Acrylic on canvas
1 x 1 m.
Mickey Mouse