Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Wallåkra revisited. Project Pottery.








I've been going through the thousands of pictures on my external hard drive in an attempt to clean up and organise my past photographic adventures and one little selection that caught my attention is this, taken in 2011 during our lunch break while at a seminar (not at all pottery-related) held in the conference room at this stoneware factory in the South of Sweden.

It turns out these pictures have already appeared on my blog before but they deserve another post because I so clearly remember the curiosity and the wonder I felt while sneaking around this fabulous workshop with my camera. How much I loved the little details. 
The tea-strainer on the notice board, the clay splatters on the windows, the broken mirror shard propped up on the taps above the sink, the pleasant natural hues, the creativity in the air ...

Now, 6 years later, I'm in the process of learning the art of hand building and wheel throwing and other clay-related things.
Today I sat at my little work station at school feeling so incredibly grateful for having discovered this craft.
One day maybe I'll have my own space, my own wheel, my own kiln, 
but for now others' spaces and pictures and finished pieces inspire me to keep exploring, keep testing, keep learning. 

Project #1 of my 21 months of Projects.



Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Gotland i mitt Hjärta




I just got back from a long weekend in my old hometown (one of quite a few by now) and felt like digging up some old pictures ... I've taken plenty over the years!

There's no place like Gotland ... Honestly.

I booked my flights at a time I felt particularly homesick and in hindsight I did really well choosing the weekend of the 1st advent as the time to go back.

Not only is Visby ready for Christmas with decorations all over the place and stars in all windows, but more importantly, during advent there's so much to do in town and all over the island that literally everybody is out and about.

I hung out with my some of my most favourite people and bumped into quite a few others throughout the weekend. 
There were Christmas markets, long and lazy breakfasts, morning swims and sauna sessions, 
There was lots of glögg & pepparkakor, saffransbullar, a very ambitious apartment crawl, meals at my favourite restaurants in great company as well as an impressive julbord-style dinner at my hosts' house (love you Jenny!) and quite a few walks down memory lane ...

My heart is full and I feel like I've topped up my Swedishness-stores (if that makes sense).
I brought home Swedish things to decorate with,
my fridge and kitchen cupboards now hold lots of Swedish ingredients,
tomorrow I'll be making Swedish meatballs for the kids (I've missed lingonsylt!!!) 
& I'm counting down to Lucia for a proper Lussekatt-baking session.

I find myself listening to Swedish radio again and seeing pictures of Gotland on Instagram doesn't hurt my heart quite as much anymore.

I was worried that my little visit would make me miss my old life but as one of my friends said ... "Gotland will always be here ... "

I'm so lucky to have a place to go back to that will always feel like home (as long as my friends stay put!), wherever my home is. 

xxx

Jag älskar er!