Art

Thursday Thoughts – Norrvikens Trädgårdar

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For my husband’s birthday, we decided to surprise him with Norrvikens Trädgårdar…

A lovely park we had not visited since the 1970’s.

One man’s work – glorius, and even better than I remembered it.

The grand greenhouses were magnificent,

and a great place for weddings and big parties.

The various gardens also displayed very old trees and foreign species.

Open air installations were blending in quite well.

And Milo found several little ponds to drink from, before the next adventure…

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday Thoughts – Friends

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We had our yearly outing at Wanås castle, Viveka and I. Finally. This is something we look forward to every year – and even this ”lost” year,  2020, we made it happen.

 

Much of the art work and installations are the same, but each year there are new interesting artists and art on display. The forest linen and the mirror barn 2020.

These days the importance of friends is even more highlighted. What would our distanced lives be without them? And we can still visit exhibitions that are mostly outdoors.

Viveka (of Myguiltypleasures) is an inspirational and avid photographer, and her Oscar is always going warm when we are out. So, what is she photographing now?

 

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Laetiporus sulphureus – or sulphur shelf. A very beautiful species of fungus growing on tree trunks and branches.

You can easily lose sight of Viveka as she often gets lost in her photography – but there is one unmistakable sign that helps me finding her again…her bag. Her striped bag. Whose bowels contain anything needed for a day out…including Oscar.

https://www.wanaskonst.se/sv-se/ Artist: Kimsooja, South Korea

A friend to go on adventures with, a friend to chat with, and to share your thoughts with, a friend to hold your hand when you need it. Even virtually.

Thank you, Viveka, for being my friend – and Cheers – for future adventures together!

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #99 – Old and New

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Old and new make the warp and woof of every moment. There is no thread that is not a twist of these two strands.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

First of all I would like to thank you for all your gloriously delicate colours from last week – so creative and so interesting – and so many!

This week, Amy is challenging us to look for “Old and New”, and now we’re looking forward to your interpretation.

In the opener, Hovdala Castle, Sweden, a place to remember the old and celebrate in new ways. But Old and New can be the contrast of architecture, fashion, collections, treasures… in one photo or multiple photos. Please visit Amy for beautiful views and inspiration!

I have consulted the archives, and these all represent moments where I really was stricken by the perspective of Old and New.

Tbilisi, Georgia – is a very old city that is being totally rebuilt. Sometimes the combinations are not that great, but old and new is always very striking.

Everywhere in Europe, you will find Old and New together.

Some combinations hurt more than others – This beautiful old building was combined with a new hotel – Umeå, Sweden.

Tbilisi again – the old fortress looking down on the new city.

In fact, when I think of old and new – two cities come to mind directly – and here they are. And, there is a reason to why one of them is called ”The Eternal City”…

I hope you will enjoy the challenge, and we are looking forward to interesting posts!

Stay tuned for Tina’s (Travels and Trifles) LAPC #100 on June 6th.

 

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #97 – Pastime

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Thank you all for sharing your interesting photo crops for Patti’s challenge last week – so many good pieces of advice! As usual we can learn much from each other. Now we are happy to welcome our guest host this week – Sue (Mac’s Girl) of The Nature of Things.

Sue inspires us to post about our pastimes, old or new. ”Pastimes. It could be something that you are trying for the first time or a hobby or interest that you have enjoyed for many years.” Please visit her site for more inspiration!

Leaving my jigsaw puzzle for some hours, I have chosen to post my newly found (some weeks ago…) pastime, sparkled by ”Swirls and Twirls” at the World according to Dina.

These are some of my first attempts. I started with the little house (in the header) from a spring walk for Thursday Thoughts. Find the house here.

After making a couple of images, I realized that roads were good starters, leading straight into the swirl. This one is from Iceland, original photo here.

A lonely house on a hill, a cold, cold evening in Jämtland, Sweden. Windows are helpful to get the feeling of ”wind and light” running through.

The cherry blossom path. See the original photo here. As usual, click to enlarge.

Finally, this colourful library in Warsaw, where the original photo can be found here.

 

What did I learn from some hours of fun creating? Some things that felt right for me, were:

  • Colourful photos (rather vibrant) worked best – monochrome worked well too.
  • Roads and paths were good choices for a start.
  • Buildings – doors and windows were helpful to make the swirling go”live”.
  • Animals and people will need more practice…(Dina was very successful in her post!)

Another thing is how much time flies when you get absorbed in this – but that was of course part of the intention. If you want to try it, for guidelines, please go to Dina’s site (Link above), and/or to Youtube.

We look forward to seeing your interpretation of the Pastime theme. Please be sure to link your response to Sues post (use the original post link, NOT the one from the WP reader) and use the Lens-Artists TAG so we can all find you.

On May 23, challenge #98, we will be back on schedule, and I (Leya) will be your host. Until then – take care and stay well.

Wordless Wednesday

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Maybe not really wordless today. Puzzling is what I am doing right now, but please visit Cindy Knoke for expert help to handle the pandemic situation we are in!