Week 37 & 38 of „One Year – One Island“ at „Horns udde“ and at Löttorps market
Because I’m so terribly behind with my blog posts, I’ll be summarizing two weeks, which means two watercolor paintings, today and in future posts. Today is already September 23rd, and I’m reporting from the beginning of August. So I have to get going!
The first week of August can still be considered high season, even though the so-called industrial holidays (many companies close in July) are over. Over the years, we’ve observed that the weather often deteriorates around the turn of July and August. We often have a lot of wind and rain, or changeable weather, during this week – only a meteorologist knows why. But the Swedes are pretty tough. They jokingly call it the „Swedish summer“ when it’s windy, cool, or rainy. That certainly doesn’t stop them from swimming. That’s why, in the first week of August, I drove to a popular swimming spot: a little bay on the coaststreet at „Horns udde“ (translated: Horn’s Point). This is clearly visible on the map. North of Horns Udde is „Stora Raset“ located, as it is called on Öland, which means „The Big Break-off.“ Large rocks broke off the cliff there and slid onto the stony beach. I found old photos in the Borgholm municipality’s photo archive showing this spot. You can see that a larger boulder (arrow) had already broken off in 1930, and even more 20 years later.
The bay is sheltered from the wind, and the water is crystal clear, although colder as on the long-bottomed eastern side of the island. The advantage is that you don’t have to walk hundreds of meters until the water is deep enough for swimming. This is one reason why fewer families with young children go swimming here. There’s a small parking lot at the road and even a clean and bright outhouse that the municipality built there. So, everything you need for a nice day of swimming is there.
I spent a long time working on this picture and, to be honest, I’m not entirely satisfied. The people are painted too naively for my taste (I found it difficult to do otherwise because they’re so far away and therefore so small). And somehow I think the cliff looks too low. However, I kept making comparisons—measuring the relationship to other parts of the subject—and the measurements seemed right. Perhaps it’s just because it appears so high when you’re standing underneath it, and I wanted to capture that feeling in the picture, but it obviously doesn’t match the painted point of view. As I was packing up, a change of visitors was taking place: those who had been swimming there during the day had left, and several new groups arrived and seemed to be having a barbecue or at least a large picnic. Perhaps they lit a campfire later; I just imagined it. In any case, it was such a wonderful evening atmosphere that I wished I were part of one of those groups myself, so I could sit down now beside friends and family. (I sometimes really miss my family AND I was hungry, too!). In any case, a great spot in summer.
On August 12th, I was in Löttorp because it was market day. Once a year, always in mid-August, a large market takes place in Löttorp. In Swedish, the market traders are called „Knallar,“ which refers to those who travel from one market to another selling their wares.
Small food producers in particular offer their products: cheese, sausages, honey and jams, herbal oils and vinegar, pickled cucumbers, flowers and vegetables, and, of course, sweets. There are also stalls selling inexpensive toys, sheepskins and sewn sheepskin slippers, as well as all kinds of brushes and wooden cutlery. In between, of course, there are the food trucks: kebabs, hot sausages, crepes or langos, waffles, or even soup. Here in Sweden, it’s also common for local organizations to set up their own stands. Examples include the Red Cross, the lokal Sport Association, the fire department, and the Sobriety Association. In any case, it’s a colorful mix of stalls, stands, market vendors, and offers. As you stroll down the street, the smells and aromas change every few meters. People flow to the market from all corners – and here, it’s mostly the locals.
The market is an opportunity to meet up, have a chat, spread the latest rumors, and catch up on the latest news. In fact, it’s probably had been this way for hundreds of years. The market here has a long tradition – the street name reveals this: „Marknadsgatan“ = Market Street. I found an old picture of this street in the archives and even a photo of the Löttorp market from 1900, in which you can recognize some existing buildings. I’ve marked them for you to recognize.
It’s still a challenge for me to include people in my watercolors. I find it VERY difficult to capture people moving in front of me on paper in such a way that the proportions are correct. That’s why I took photos of the passersby in this picture, then composing them together in the frame and painting the frozen movement from the photo. I’m really very pleased with the result—after all the hard work I’ve put into it.
The next post will feature a picture of Gillberga—a village like a scenery from a Viking film—and a picture of the bungalows on Sandvik’s cliff.
Until then
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