Edible creations

This weekend has been dedicated to celebration. More specific, the celebration of coming to the magical age of 4 for a true little princess. As the current residental artist in the family I was called to the department of creative decor, especially on the side of the famous Norwegian Marzipan Cake. For those of you who are not aware of our celebration tradition, the marzipan cake is THE cake. It is the symbol of a REAL celebration. You might have cupcakes.  Which we did.

Chocolate&avocado cupcakes with cream cheese & sugar toppings, “Princess” cupcakes with pink icing, glittery sugar and Disney-themed medaillions.

Then there need to be Gell-O. How else to bring that special anticipation of a bunch of kids of whatsup in these interactive media world than by carrying the dessert, making it shake a bit saying with a funny voice “ohnoohnoooo….. uhunooooo!!!!! I will be eaten soooon…….  Iam sooooo scaaared…”

Multiple coloured gelly with fresh fruit, vanilla cream and some bling.

Ok, okey dokey. Not done it for like… 20 years but my brain or at least my hands still found the way after some wonderful spunking about with geggamoja with some help from the jubilant herself, dressed in pink, of course, for the occasion.    

The celebrant googing around in sugary substances with us while the real mummy expert (NOT me!!!) get down to the basis for vanilla cream filled buns.

Finally! Then it was The Cake. Fine! Not scared, nooo…hehe.. !!! Looking forward to  reconnect with the magical mystery behind doing the definitive cake that makes all true Norwegians close their eyes if only for a split second when taking the first bite anticipating the mixture of sweet and nutty and fruity and creamy and--- how wonderful you are going to do all that and I will now sit down and bask in your glory and have a coffee and hmm?? waitaminutewhat… mmm… uh oh. You would like to have a… what as decoration? Crosscountry skier? In 3 dimensions preferably looking like the celebrant ?

The Cake for a moment looking like something that should definitely be kept behind the bar for… well… why can they not just eat all those other things???

Oh, ok. eh. sure. Are you sure? Yes? And you bought the most expensive ecological marzipan avaliable on the market to create it in? to be colored? by this… by me?? oh. Well. Ok. They asked for me, they will get what I can…, eh, not eat, and like along the way…

Marzipan, chocolate, cream, licorize and golden birthday candles on cake, princess cupcakes in the background.

Mummy is very clever. She knows how to nudge and she judges well. Well, it is creation, after all. So it went well. And it was fun. Especially eating the superfluous parts of the composition before publication;) (but oh I’m So finished with sugar for this year…)

We closed down ovens, took our aprons off, blew the balloons, had more coffee, the kids and parents came from sledging in the park ready to eat and relax and have fun and celebrate.

That was fun! Already booked for the party next year…

Winter pleasures

People may travel. Places, light (ambience) and landscapes may not. That might be why travelling will never go out of style. And why we sometimes just get a strong urge to go to be somewhere specific.

There are many places to visit on Earth. Some we tick off the list. Some places we come back to again and again, always finding it fresh, new, exiting, invigorating. This is one of mine.

 Fruvika beach, Vesterøya, Norway.

I find the ocean even more beautiful during winter. It’s like its quiet, powerful presence is more acute at this time of the year. Or perhaps the inwardness of winter make us more sensitive?

 

I like walking briskly on winding roads and pathways past fields and through forests to reach the sea from where I am based when here.

The forest is quiet now, just a single bird was heard, but there were many tracks from deer, showing its movements from the road into the forest, over some fields, then back again... Canine tracks: some obviously from dogs, but some smaller longer clawed ones might be from foxes, I know they are around… or badgers, perhaps? It is nice to stop and look and listen and enjoy.

The birch (Betula pubescens) stretch its branches towards the blue wintery sky, enjoying perhaps the longer days, feeling the spring is due in some more months, sensing the pleasant glow from the rays of the mid day sun…

The last days has been sunny and some snow had melted some places in the forest, creating interesting reflections in small temporary ponds, its transparancy revealing hidden stories and treasures…

Where the shades are deeper the ice is textured in a different way, the surface opaque, silklike in lustre, rendering other outlines, equally beautiful but different.

I know this area well. But there are still places I have not explored. You don’t want to disturb anyone and signs are scarse… So I was very happy when this area became designated as a Nature Costal trail, meaning I can wander along in any direction that takes my fancy, finding my way by following small patches of blue with signs at intersections showing different options for a way forward, knowing I will not end up in someones yard having to think of lame excuses for being an airhead not knowing the whatever was an obvious (really?) sign of… well well.... No more of that.

Not knowing the area is no hindrance – just follow the signs!

This way the residents get their privacy, the visitors get to know and explore beautiful areas with confidence. Maps have been made, historical descriptions is available, you can walk, bike, ride, ski or boat and the pressure on the most popular areas is down with the spread. You can find a place to be alone. You can find a place with buzz. Everyone is happy.

I like walking here. When – or if – you meet someone, they greet you with a nod, a smile, a quick hello. You can ask for advice, directions, tips on what to see, where to go, or just have a small chat with a stranger about their dog, something you have seen, or would like to see, then walk on after mutual greetings and wishes for a pleasant day. Or not. You can keep quiet and just smile. Or nod if you feel serious that day. It’s ok. It’s still friendly. Unpretentious. I like that. It makes me want to paint it from within.

I find an old Oak tree clinging to a cliff, caught up in a struggle for survival. It is squeezed but fit for a fight… I climb a small pathway and find ice hanging from the rocks, fluid water transformed into frozen moments of time…

 

It is all very fulfilling. I finish my walkabout, go home, grab a bite, do some work, read a bit: And then, the sun sets over the Fjord and I get up and put down my book to bask in the moment.

The sunset is slow here in the North. There  always seems to be time, somehow. Or, rather, the days and the weeks change fast but the daily rhytm, especially at sunrise and sunset, is just so massively impressive and grandiose that spending time in nature, like most people around here do when they have a chance, really reminds you of your place in the Universe as less than a speck of dust. But a lucky one.

Reflections in Water, in Mind. Trees. Mountains. Snow. Sun moving on elsewhere. Time to rest now. Then to work.

Drawing safaris…

Well, it must be allowed to enjoy good press when one gets it, no?

So I am happy to tell that in their newest special travel edition on Africa, the well established Norwegian magazine “Reiselyst” found space for a six page article about my Drawing safaris…

The head title, for those of you who do not read Norwegian, says “Hunting with a pencil”. How fitting! The image above shows me with the journalist Toril Moland who together with the editor Ronny Frimann came and spent some days in the Mara on a Drawing Safari with me a few months ago taking a cultural break after climbing Kilimanjaro...

It was an interesting visit, and a new experience for Torill who had never really drawn before even though she is a very creative person covering many fields!

After some initial fumblings due to lack of experience she quickly grasped the concept and after a few suggestions got her drawing going really well!

Obviously going on a safari is also about enjoying the animals, the landscape, the food, the people, culture… And I was pleased to find they did take it all in full.

I like doing these safaris. And I think Saruni Camp is doing really well looking after everyone accordintto specific likings regardless of where they come from or what their preferances are.

From an artistic point of view it took me a few years to get really started painting again as well as I wanted, and it took a lot of – real! - “beating around the bush” – to get it. Which perhaps is why I have a LOT of patience – as well as a genuine-  interest in what can make people tick away creating happily from exactly where they are.

The main key, to mine, as well as my students, blissful and creative mode, is to relax into the genuine gentle beingness of the bush. And oh how the animals around is assisting us in our efforts! And if it seems to difficult to get a hold onto how to get a painting by a giraffe done, well, the tree is not going to walk away anywhere soon, is it…

All in all we had a joyful time together, and we were all happy they came.

The Drawing Safaris is all about to be out there, to observe, to watch, to try and try and try again… and to be happy with the day when at the end of it we go back to camp and the fire and the good meals doing smalltalks with the drink of your choice in your hand… and then, next morning, when you open your sketchbook perhaps with a slight anitcipation to be dissapointed at what you did the day before because you think you are so dumb at it, instead you are delighted and happy and suprised and impressed with yourself! … and so you set out again refreshed, knowing that you have done something useful and worthwhile already and bent on doing even better this day…

Thank you also to Sigurd and Kari of  “Safari Opplevelsesreiser” for creating Torilds and Ronnys itinerary! If  you should ever want to travel for a safari from Scandinavia you can rest assured to be in the the best of hands should you book with them;)

…

Hmmm… well as I am on it… there was also a  nice article in a newly started Kenyan magazine called “Focus on Getaways” kidogo time ago which I post as below… A sister magazine to a very popular real-estate magazine as well as hosting links for expats they have been doing really well: thank you, Michelle, for giving me and us such a good press throught your fascination with the concept! When up and into it: Go check the magazine when you can! Available all over Nairobi and through subscription;)

Ok. Starting on the front page…

On the first edition! And on front page! Very honored. Then, as I got the magazine and opened it to read…

Iwas humbeld and felt again very honored to be mentioned in the editors letter…

Stevie Mann took the beautiful photos from the camp. A fantastic man and a true artist.

Meeting the local people, eating and drinking well is a part of the “hum” of a safari regardless if you shoot with camera or try to graps it with pen and pencil!

…and least but not last it is good to know where you are… to which Michelle worked on making clear. Easy to find the way to your home away from home with this!

Then there was a nice feature article about me in Sandefjords blad in relation to my summer exhibition..

Kudos to you all! And thank you for the support!

Things cats drag in…

I have always held the firm belief that it is not we who have cats. Cats have us. According to Wikipedia the domesticated cat stems from no more than 5 self -domesticated desert cats. I wonder who the woman was who took the time and effort to befriend them. Did she live in a tent? A cave? a mudhouse? Did she just find herself with a litter of cats recently born, their mother disappeared, or was it the mothercat herself choosing to trust this strange biped?

Uh, oh, well… Who can resist a bunch of kittens? Suprise  party came up… whaddado but love them?

Mummy Snapper found an unconventional mate – a wild card, a wild cat: a bit unexpected, perhaps, but then, again, hey: I am not one to complain! There is space in the bush! And I like their company! She did a great job rising them.

Mummy Snapper enjoying the warm light of sunset.

Well, back to the unknown lady: She, whoever she was,  must have had a way around her husband as well to avoid him clubbing the dear little creatures for an easy meal when hunting was down. Did he strike a bargain with the darling little things to bring in surplus protein as a bribe in tolling time? Or is that just part of how cats are from natures side? That they share? I am starting to be inclined to believe the latter.

This is one of the newest additions to the things the cats brought in to their pet (me). Carried nicely into the studio, promptly put down and of course “played with” on my favourite Maroccan kelim carpet under the drawing table, I could not resist to promptly rescue the poor thing as it was still in relatively good health; so, here it is:

…it was just too cute, sorry girls…

This might be an African Zebra Mouse: they live in kinship groups and are quite social. It could, however, also be -  according to Jeannine McManus from Sout Africas Wildcliff foundation (big thank you for your friendly note to my request!) an African Field mouse. If this is the same specie only with a different common name  has not been entirely verified yet. No worries. This little darling looks very young: is it not something about the eye/head/ear dimensions that suggests it? Also it was quite without resistance when I took it up and it stayed in my hand for the photo session. More mature animals sometimes resist a bit if and need to be caught in a firmer yet gentle way.

Well, the cats need to be fed…

Oops, that was indeed a slightly larger relative of the ones in my house but even this one dragged her… well, meal at this time of the victims life, closer to and not away from us… 

Krhm… back a kilometer or so to my domestically blissed world…

As mentioned in the last post Kitamu is the hunting master (hunting madam?) of the family. Being half wild perhaps it goes with the type: I have been amazed by her snatching huge spiders, bugs and other protein- rich… well …things... I am certain her  larger relatives is not above that sort of addition to their diets either… However I never expected to find myself glimpsing up from my work at the easel at the studio to find this sight quickly moving towards my feet:

Mmmwhoops!…

Jumped a bit there but the photo opportunity was just too good to miss although the photo itself is not great…

I hoped it was a grass snake and had somehow thought of giving it a go for the outdoors but I could not entirely get my head around how to catch it safely if it was of one of the 42 poisonous types we have around… meaning, well, to put it blunt, with means of defense above what my kitcen kabinet could give as relief… and since no avaliable tools was ready at the moment: painting brushes and cameras are, after all, for other types of hunting… I kind of just, well, backed up a little bit…

No, no, no, sorry, me, I am  NOT mummy!!! sorry!!! can not help you right now!!

The poor thing was up at a fight to everything – or was it looking for relief? I dont know! I have to admit I just said to it: “Sorry! But you might be one of those things that just get so scared and all, that they bite regardless of my intention, so I think I will just stand on this step for a while and see how you manage to fend for yourself until I figure it all out better…”

Mmm. well.  It went as it had to. Cat got addition to dinner, self caught way that day… Nothing left than a small stain of blood on the studio floor… and I definitely got some of the closest to a snake I have ever been during my 6 years in the bush…

Thats all for today folks, and so the story ends… for now!

Thank you for reading!