Stina Persson
by Håkan Bull
As an illustrator Stina Persson supplies commercial art to international clients such as Nike, Reebok, Louis Vuitton, Sony Music and Microsoft- and recently she painted the illustrations for Linda McCartney’s Family Kitchen commissioned by Paul McCartney and the daughters Stella and Mary. Often the original illustrations undergo numerous digital alterations, thus becoming “multimedia art”. Initially Stina Persson always makes use of watercolour and/or ink for her works, often combined with various kinds of collage. What makes her works so charming? She has once stated in an interview: “I strive for beauty. But I do not want it to be perfect or sweet.” Among her own sources of inspiration she mentions the Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele (1890-1918), the French fauvist Henri Matisse (1869-1954), and the Italian artist and illustrator René Grau (1909-2004) as well as her friend the fashion illustrator Sara Singh and Meri Bougart who was her teacher at the Pratt Institute in New York.
Malin Björklund
by Jacqueline Stare
When working with commissions intended for porcelain, textiles, tiles or glass Malin Björklund always uses an original painting as her starting point. The photograph of the original will then undergo various digital alterations to suit the design purpose. Her recurring motif is flowers and other kinds of organic growth. She paints with flowing ink diluted in water on watercolour paper or rice paper and her floral world depicts the underground growth as well as the growth above ground. She is influenced by classic Oriental painting styles and her subject matters are not necessarily botanical correct but just appealing to the imagination. Her aim is to capture the soul of the flowers depicted so she might paint them in various time aspects from small buds, to full-grown and later withered. Her recent shows in Katarina Church and at the Mälsaker Castle were created for the specific exhibition spaces. Malin Björklund studied at Norwich School of Art and Design in 2003-2006 (BA Visual Studies) and before that at various art schools in Denmark.
Gunilla von Zweigbergk
by Karin Faxén Sporrong
Throughout her whole life Gunilla von Zweibergk has observed and studied colour. She has a deep knowledge of how colour works and can be called a passionate lover of colour. She has been painting ad drawing since her childhood and she is attracted to watercolour for the transparency and depiction of light. Artists that have inspired her include Albrecht Dürer (with his vivid watercolour studies of nature), Paul Klee, Emil Nolde, and Gerhard Richter. Apart from being an artist Gunilla von Zweibergk har been an interior designer for many years. During her education at the High School for Design and Crafts in Göteborg there was much focus on colour theory. She used to live in Bohuslän but in 2000 she moved to Skåne and both these very different landscapes have formed her painting motifs. The more she paint, the more she desires to continue painting and she delights in deeper knowledge of how various light forms function and how they can be used and how light affects us.
Kjell Ekström´s fine art booklets
by Håkan Bull
Kjell Ekström from Åland has published a series of fine watercolour art booklets. He was a member of the board of NAS 2002-2007 and in 2010 and you may read an aricle about his art in the akvarellen magazine issue 4-2006. Alongside his artistic career Kjell Ekström has been director of Ålands Museum in 1990-2003 and he was the one who initiated the Önningeby Museum (near Mariehamn) where he still is on the board. He also writes books about other artists. His own books have various themes, mainly with inspiration from his travels around the world.The books may be obtained directly from the artist.
The empty sheet of paper – Lessebo Hand Paper Mill
by Ida Rödén
Lessebo Paper Mill was founded in 1693 and these days paper is produced in according to traditional methods in the adjacent Hand Paper Mill built in 1897. Since 2019 the Hand Paper Mill has been owned by Kronoberg Study Foundation for Adult Education and is a venue for cultural events, conferences and studies. From the shop visitors may aquire watercolour paper and writing paper. Many well-known artists and writers through history have made use of Lessebo paper: Lars Lerin, August Strindberg, Vilhelm Moberg, Cornelis Vreeswijk. Labour at the paper mill was hard for men and women alike and was often passed on from generation to generation. Even children worked at the mill from the age of 7. Today the mill attracts artists and creative minds who delve in the authenticity and beauty of the plant and its surroundings and now Lessebo’s customers comprise of writers and artists who appreciate the care that goes into that magical product: the empty sheet of paper.
Presentation of our writers: JBK Ransu
by JBK Ransu
I am a visual artist and author, born in Reykjavík Iceland, educated in fine arts and painting in Holland during the early nineties and pedagogy of the arts in Iceland. In my art and writings I work dialectical, usually bringing together opposites or paradoxes in a formal dialogue. My writings and artistic practices are entwined. My playground is the history of art, where I revisit famous artworks and draw them into another context. I have, for instance, created series of paintings, prints and videos bringing Edvard Munch’s Scream into a dialogue with Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Vertigo as a research on the attraction/repulsion effect, as well as paintings and videos bringing Joseph Alberts color investigations in Homage to the Square into a dialogue with The Cohen’s brothers feel-good satire The Hudsucker Proxy.