Creatures of Habitat: Carl and Karin Larsson

Gahhh… after this afternoon’s post, I wanted to put something more inspiring up tonight before I went to bed. You must know the work of Carl Larsson? If not, please take some time to look through the beautiful watercolours he painted which capture his gentle family life (8 children? I am not sure if I really mean ‘gentle’) and incredible home.

I was reading through the Larsson family website this evening, having one of those “one day I will visit this place” fantasies, and was moved by the short bio of Carl Larsson’s wife Karin.

Karin was a painter herself but after the birth of the couple’s first child she stopped painting to look after her family. Perhaps inevitably, she found her creativity pouring out in to the design of the home – textiles, flower arrangement, clothing, furniture design and so on, all which play such a huge part in Larsson’s paintings. In 1997 the Victoria and Albert Museum held an exhibition of the Larsson’s work – what an exhibition that would have been! I am guessing this is from the catalogue:

“Karin was Carl Larsson’s muse. So thoughtful and quiet, he portrayed her as his idol, forever young. She was, in fact, hard-working, hard headed and highly creative. Carl relied upon her as a critic of his work. She trained as a painter at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and Paris. After the birth of Suzanne in 1884 she turned her artistry to decorating the home, especially to weaving and embroidery. She also designed furniture and her own and her children’s clothes. Her most creative period was between 1900 and 1910.

Karin’s textiles were absolutely original. Pre-modern in character they introduced a new abstract style in tapestry. Her bold compositions were executed in vibrant colours; her embroidery frequently used stylised plants. In black and white linen she reinterpreted Japanese motifs. Technically adventurous, she explored folk techniques and experimented with others. A good example of her bold weaving is the tapestry ”The Four Elements” that she composed in 1903 to be hung above the new sofa in the dining room.

At Sundborn the Larssons developed an aesthetic partnership. He was effusive, covering the walls with foliage and flowers, she arranged the living flowers, but in her designs austere and often abstract. The colours of the interior seem to have been jointly decided. Their combined contributions created a perfect whole”

– From the official homepage of the artist Carl Larsson.

I highly recommend this book – Amelia and I dip into it all the time and it’s pure escapism.

I just wish there was more photos of Karin’s original work to be seen on the web.

Autumn leaves me

I have been having such a good run of days where everything feels perfect and like it’s all clicking along just the way it should be. You know the feeling – you find yourself driving back from somewhere late in the afternoon, the traffic is light and moving steadily, there are big puffy black clouds over the Dandenongs looking dramatic, the sun is shining on the autumn trees just so and there’s a good piece of music on the radio. The kids are chatting happily rather than grizzling or fighting. No one is sick, no one is sad and you realise that everything feels pretty good. Everything feels exciting, the possibilities seem endless and there is a gentle sense of an overriding rhythm. On those days I can feel such inspired energy running through me. I am such a bloody pessimist though, that these moments are always bittersweet, tainted with that “oh, it’s too good to last! I wish I could just hold on to this forever!”.

And of course (because I just knew it!) today isn’t one of the good ones. But that’s part of the rhythm too I guess.

On my desk – turned wood

On my desk today are a group of beautifully turned wooden kokeshi-like dolls. My Uncle Michael has had a wood lathe for a long time but just recently has been spending some serious time turning out exquisite bowls as gifts and these dolls specifically for me to decorate. Let me tell you, it was with a tremulous hand that I approached the first one yesterday with a sizzling-hot wood burning tool. It’s hard to get my head around decorating them as in my opinion they are perfect just the way they are… but I experimented on the little peg-like one on the right.

The wood burning tool catches in the grain so it’s difficult to get a smooth line, but it was exciting and now my mind is buzzing with possibilities.

I tried wood turning at uni – it was incredibly difficult as a beginner (for me, anyway). It’s one of those activities like throwing a clay pot. When you watch someone with expertise and talent work at it, it looks beautiful, soothing and as easy as working with soft butter, but when you try it yourself things go (sometimes scarily) awry. I finally managed to turn a strange knobby thing to include in my woodwork folio, but it didn’t inspire me. Michael’s work *is* what inspires me.