"One Year, One Island" – Nr 1

Week 1 – Starting secretly and in advance

Now I’ve just started… a little earlier than I announced. Not because I can’t wait (although I’m really looking forward to it), but because my private plans have changed unexpectedly and I won’t be on the island for a few weeks and have to bring the missing time forward.

On September 17, 2024, I strapped my painting bag onto my bike for the first time and set off – starting from the parking lot at the tourist office directly behind the Öland Bridge. Because (almost) all visitors to our island come by car and thus over the Öland Bridge, I wanted to start my trip right here. And after a year, it will end here again: at the bridge to the mainland. Of course, that’s what you want to see in the first picture, the bridge. I knew that when I set off on this cloudy, gray day. So I steered my bike – a sky blue ladies‘ bike from the Småland manufacturer Pilen – towards Möllstorp, a campsite with a view of the bridge. But the angle of the bridge didn’t make for a nice subject and I cycled south through a tidy neibourhood towards Färjestaden. I kept as close to the water as possible past the Paradisverkstad, then through the small park at Snäckstaviken. From there you have a good view of the distant bridge between the reeds on the bank, but I thought it would make a boring subject: reeds & water & the bridge. First, let’s see if there’s anything more interesting. The next good opportunity to look out over the water and not get in anyone’s way was at the harbor. From there, the small bike and passenger ferry goes over to Kalmar, but only during the summer. I found a good spot behind a restaurantbuilding right on the harbor basin where a few sailing boats were rocking back and forth in the wind. A high terracewall provided me with the necessary wind protection. From here I had a view of the bridge, which was almost fully visible behind the moored boats.

So here are the coordinates:

56.649612, 16.462143 / Södra Hamnplan 6, Färjestaden

I sat for many hours and painted, eating my cheese sandwich (which I had brought with me) in between. I was lucky that the toilet in the harbor office was open. Although I only started one painting, I still hadn’t finished by 4 p.m. In the meantime, the clouds had passed and the sun came out. Many thoughts went through my head:

… I’m so slow … maybe I should paint more like sketches, maybe draw with a black pen and just color loose with watercolor? … how much time do I actually have to look for motifs if I’m so slow? Today I didn’t go more than a kilometer. Well, that’s a bad start! … Whatever, I’ll just carry on. I’ll finish … etc.

The sun was now casting shadows on the boats, which made the shapes stand out more clearly. But now I had to adjust the resulting picture. I was really too slow. But I shouldn´t rush either. It stresses me to think this way. I’ll have to get quicker over the year. I’ll have plenty of time to practice!

At 5.15 pm it was done and I was completely frozen – it was 16 degrees. What will it be like in winter? Half an hour later I packed everything in the car and turned on the seat heating. The first picture of 52 was made and the project had started: secretly and in advance! Yeah!