theosophic works: hilma af klint

youth - #3, group IV, 1907

adulthood - #6, group IV, 1907

adulthood - #7, group IV, 1907

adulthood - #8, group IV, 1907

there are ten works in this series, these were just my favorites. they represent the phases of life, from infancy to old age. they are enormous and dominant works. they were painted on paper using hand-mixed tempera paints. they had been rolled for years in an attic (luckily dry), since hilma af klint's will specified that the works could not be shown for 20 years after her death. she believed she was painting the connection between the physical and inner worlds we inhabit. she believed the pictures came to her from a higher consciousness, which conveyed its message through her. she created a whole symbolic language with which to convey these messages. it has yet to be fully decoded, despite her leaving behind extensive journals, documentation and notes. scholars are only beginning to give her work the attention it so richly deserves.

the swan, #16, group IX/SUW, 1915

the swan, #17, group IX/SUW, 1915

the swan, #17, group IX/SUW, 1915

in af klint's symbolic language, blue represents the feminine and yellow the masculine. i find that quite appealing and feel it underlines how today's pink for girls and blue for boys is a more modern construct and just that, a construct, not something inherent in the colors themselves. although the works try to convey a spiritual message from another plane of consciousness, they are very rigorous and quite scientific in their discipline. every color and line is laden with meaning.

alter work #1, group X, 1915

there are three large paintings in this series and i'm not sure why i didn't photograph the other two, as they were marvelous in the whole they presented, the three of them hanging together. it makes me want to go back, tho' there isn't much time, as the exhibition closes june 6.

i find these abstract works to be thought provoking and evocative. despite the crowds and that we were in a bit of a hurry that day, i found they triggered something deep in my solar plexis, something indefinable and which i can't yet put words to. perhaps she really did capture something of a higher consciousness and tho' i don't consciously understand what it's saying in so many words, it felt like they were actually communicating to my soul.

you can read more about hilma af klint here.

#38 & spring has arrived!

#38 - spring nest gift packaging

the atelierBB plates are all wrapped up in springlike garb and ready to take to the wedding party today. the sun is shining, they promise up to 18 degrees (C) and it's a completely glorious day to celebrate a wedding. i realized that brigitte's logo, which has two Bs, back to back, is perfect for the couple as well, since both their last names start with B. it just feels so great when you know you've found the perfect present. i love it.

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one more quick thing to share. the wonderful little merfish that margie of resurrection fern created for me, using my own stones from møn's klint, arrived yesterday (and yes, they were ordered and paid for BEFORE austerity april began). i had to photograph them together with some of their now more "naked" brethren:

aren't they fantastic? i'm going to take them to møn's klint next week and pose them for pictures on their beach of origin. i know, i'm a little obsessed, but it's better than eyeballs, eh?

anyhoo, we're off to riding lessons. more tomorrow...

møn's klint was fabulous

despite the fact that it was already 3 p.m. by the time we got there and that sunset feel was in the air,

we braved the 479 stairs down to the beach below at møn's klint.

there were natural wonders on the beach, 

things like fish eggs

photogenic flotsam and jetsam

fossil squid tentacles

and we had to take home some of the beautiful driftwood as souvenirs

(we made husband carry it)

there had been more winter landslides

so there were mounds of chalk changing the shoreline

and many new chalk rocks creating a gorgeous contrast with the dark stones.

the stones sang their music as the waves rolled in over them.

heavenly.

the cliffs are magnificent, even in the twilight

and then, because it was getting quite dark,

we made our way up the other staircase (574 stairs) and home

but not before we had a beautiful burger to tide us over for the trip...

5 places i love - #4 møns klint

down on the little island of møn, just south of sjælland, the island we live on, there is a fantastic phenomenon of nature called møns klint. it's huge, chalk cliffs and no matter what time of year, it's a wonderful place to go (if you're dressed properly for it). every once in awhile, a big bunch of it falls into the sea and that's a bit dangerous, but they're pretty good at knowing when the danger is high and they close the stairways then. because yes, there are stairways--two of them to get down to the beach. we counted 574 steps on one of them, but lost count on the other one.

 

these shots are from last february when we went. i haven't been there yet this summer, but looking at these shots gave me a hankering for it that i will no doubt have to satisfy in the near future.

there was a big landslide nearly 2 years ago, you can still see how milky chalky the water is in this shot.

when we reached the bottom of these stairs, our legs were like jello and we had to sit down for awhile before we could begin our walk on the beach.

here's sabin, poignantly resting on a beautiful piece of driftwood.

she's wearing her snowsuit.

you can go any time, as long as you're dressed properly for it.

when we're there, we search for these lovelies on the rocky shore.

they're fossils of small squid.

they're a beautiful amber color.

they say you can find amber too, but sadly i never have.

the other thing we search for is rocks with holes in them.

or with indentations that you can put a candle in.

and then we schlep them up the gazillion stairs.

but the last time, we seemed to find a lot of stone penises.

aren't they funny?

wouldn't it be cool to...

wouldn't it be cool...

...to create an art scavenger hunt (or maybe a lego scavenger hunt!).

...to have a folding bicycle.

...to revive theosophy. (or maybe i should just reread bulgakov while gazing up occasionally at a kandinsky in order to synthesize my logical and mystical knowledge.)

...to go to this exhibition of the works of hilma of klint at louisiana. (i was inspired by this article (for which you'll need to read danish).) (i'm linking to it mostly so i can find it again.)

...to look for moments of happiness every day and blog about it for 100 days like judith, james, isaac and rebecca? (well, to be fair, i haven't seen any posts written by rebecca, but she is only 9 months old, so i suppose that's fair enough.)

...to find mr. burns and complete my simpsons minifigures collection?

...if a bearded drag queen won the eurovision song contest? (oh wait, that happened.)

...to host a pecha kucha evening?

...get a good nights' sleep unmarred by dreams of horses retaining water, or falls from a 4 meter tall structure while sitting on a pallet or cats demanding to come in or out the bedroom window (that last bit isn't so much a dream as reality).

and on that note, i'll leave you to think of all the things you think would be cool...

a danish vineyard

i've said before that i'm actually quite ok with global warming because it seems to have a good effect on denmark. both winters and summers have gotten warmer in the decade i've been here and that seems like a good thing. of course, we can talk again when the sea levels rise and the innocent creek that's today a 100 meters from our house is lapping at our foundation...but in the meantime, i'll enjoy.

yesterday, after our visit to møn's klint, i visited a good friend who grew up on møn. her parents still live there on a large farm and she was home for the easter holiday. on the farm, they have a vineyard, with a number of kinds of grapes from the alsace and other regions similar in climate. they grow both reds and whites. rondo and regent grapes are the reds that they grow. one of the whites was related to riesling (but i neglected to note the name of it).

the grapes were not yet showing any sign of budding out, but irene's dad wasn't worried. he said they'd be budding in the next couple of weeks and that was fine. he said it was more important that there wasn't too much rain at the end of june/beginning of july when they flower and set their grapes, because they are self-pollinating and if the rain washes that away, the crop is not as large as it should be. and even more important was a sunny, warm september, when the grapes are ripening.

i asked if they could feel the effects of global warming on their project, but he actually said no. even without global warming, møn has more days of sunshine than anywhere else in denmark. and it's also frost free for 250 days of the year. the rest of denmark has, on average, 180 frost-free days. i definitely learned something there. i knew i loved møn, but didn't realize it was because the climate was so much milder.

irene's dad has gone together with 13 other guys and formed a collective to do this winemaking project. they've bought all of the necessary equipment and have it in an old butchering room on a nearby gods (very large manor-house type farm). a few of them raise the grapes and others do their part in the various stages...sorting the grapes, squashing them (not sure that's the technical term), then the entire process surrounding letting the wines age and eventually blending them. irene's dad said with a bit of a twinkle in his eye that the collective isn't very democratic--those who contribute the most and know the most make the decisions and the others just have to live with it.

they've got big stainless steel vats which were full of reds that would be ready to blend in a few months.

they're really mostly having fun and learning as they go along. they're making very drinkable table reds, port and even sparkling wines in the spirit of champagne. the club gets together and eats a big meal once a year in knight's hall of the otherwise mostly unused little castle nearby and tries out the fruits of their labors. i'd love to be a fly on the wall for one of those evenings.

the picture from yesterday was a close-up of the wax cork in this little oak barrel of port:

we tasted a bit of port that had only been aging for 6 months. it was still pretty grape-juice-agtig. but the deep, rich port color was already there and it will no doubt be wonderful in another 6-10 years.

looking at the oak barrels, i had visions of them branching out eventually into whiskies finished in port casks, along the lines of the good ones from glenmorangie in scotland. i'll have to suggest that next time i visit. it seems like just the thing for this particular gentlemen's club.

paint snails while the sun shines

i could only find 3, otherwise i would have painted more. later, i spotted another one, but had already put away the paints. i don't think these snails showed signs of having been among the ones we painted before, tho' i think the one i spotted later might have been erik. awesome how the vinbjerg snails live for years and years. my snail designs today were inspired by the fantastic hilma af klint exhibition we saw on saturday at louisana museum of modern art. more about that later, as now i've got to go put lotion on my sunburn and get to bed.

trendspotting

seen over the past week:

crisis? what crisis?

(window of a shoe shop)

you have to love a shop called 1000 chairs (molly, i mean  you)

and i'm especially intrigued by the little murakami-esque horns on the shelf in the back

lamps are colorful at the moment

i think people want to bring something cheery into their homes

in the face of all the gloom & doom

this was the le klint shop

this colorful chandelier was in jackpot clothing.

love the mix of old and new.

there's a definite retro thing going on

check out those hairdryers.

this from the window of illum, the posh dept. store

also from the window of illum

what strikes me is that it's all new

but it looks really vintage

esprit is keeping it traditional

and more horns and furry skins at pilgrim

in the copenhagen airport

LOVE the empty black frames against the black wall.

what trends have you spotted of late?