Week 2 – a runestone & the first uppcoming obstacles
To get a rough idea of the distance I would have to cover per week to get around Öland in 52 weeks I used Google Maps: the total distance on bike around the island should be about 317. Which makes it 6 km per week (317 : 52).
That´s why I drove to my last place (Färjestaden hamn) and then further south for 6 more kilometers to look for a parking space. The next parking lot was directly in front of the Karlevistenen, a large, well-known rune stone. I stopped there, took my bike and headed west toward some trees or a forrest. I scared away a group of young male pheasants, which – in panic – were fluttering and running in all directions. Beautiful birds (but not very smart). I followed the trail into the forest under the green canopy of beech, oak and birch leaves and, when it was necessary, decided to turn south. Between the trees to the right and behind a wall of reeds I got a glimps of the Kalmarsund. At some point I realised that I was in the Beijershamn Naturreservat – I had been walking here just a few weeks ago. While my bike hopped over roots, leaves and branches I kept looking for a motif, thought about sitting up on one of the observation towers for painting, but I had to assume that there would be a lot of bird watchers in the towers (now in beginning of October), so I rejected this idea. I had to get off and push my bike a few times because the forest path was too soft, too muddy. There were leaves and tree trunks and lots and lots of green shades everywhere. Should I paint the forest? Honestly? I didn’t feel for it, so I just kept cycling… something more interesting would appear. But at some point I ended up on a paved road, then came the Haga Park campsite and I turned east. Now I was going uphill and I quickly realised that I my shape was worse than I had imagined. I switched down to the lowest gear and pedalled on – I barely got anywhere. When I reached the slight hill, I was proud that I hadn’t got off, but I was weezing like a steam engine, sweating like I would play at Wimbleton and my muscles were burning. How had this stuppid idea that I would make it around Öland? I followed the small road through a summerhouse area – fairly new, fairly chic, fairly middle-class. And then I was suddenly standing on the main road. On the other side, the view opened up over fields and meadows and further up on another hill you could see some houses. A look at my map (an analog one, not on my phone!) showed me that it should be Vickleby. For a moment I considered whether I should go there – but it was already afternoon (yes-ah – I had left home too late again and only got to the parking place at lunchtime) and it would be some more kilometers to get there. I quickly decided to paint the runestone instead, so I went back north on the bike path and back to my car.
I took my painting equipment and started finally. Runestones are also a typical part of Öland. There are a few of them and the Karlevistone is definitely one of the most beautiful. So why not.
When I started the clouds hardly allowed for any contrast (no sun – no shadows)and the runestone looked quite „flat“. First a pencil sketch, of course, then the watercolor.s Unfortunately, I started with the stone itself and then painted the surroundings. When I got to the background I noticed that the trees had many shades: because the clouds had moved to the side, the sun was warming, you could even see the blue sky behind the fluffy clouds. And the stone now looked completely different. NOW I had good contrasts and now – after 4 p.m. – the light was warmer and the green tones had changed, the rune stone cast a long bluish shadow – NOW WHAT? Everything looked so much better and more colorful – but my painting was grey and fade and uninteressting. I looked at the painting, still not finished, the runes were still missing – and got really angry. But I had lost my concentration and experience has shown that it is not a good idea to try to improve or change the picture with further layers of glaze. With watercolor, this is only possible to a limited extent anyway and there is always a risk that the paper will eventually react badly to the many layers of water and start to fuzz. I packed up, very frustrated. Was it all for nothing today?
On the way home I didn’t turn on the radio, the amount of advertising was just annoying, but instead thought about what this realization meant for my project. What do I do if a picture doesn’t work out? Do I have to add another week or go twice a week? Do it all over next week? How useful was the bike ride today, since I ended up painting only 20 meters from the car? Did I spend too much time cycling? No! Cycling is part of the project and the search for a good motif is important. The picture can only turn out well if I find a motif that is interesting to me. Hungry and tired, I arrived home after a good hour drive and when Kex (that´s my husbands nickname) asked how it went, I just turned around and stomped up the stairs into my studio.
Two days later, however, ambition got the better of me and painted the picture again – at the table in the studio. This time from a photo. Is this cheating?
Here are the two pictures for comparison. Meanwhile I have decided that the second picture may be included in the project. The other picture ended up in the trash. My project – my rules!
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Enjoy nature’s autumn colors – they don’t last long.
Joyful greetings, Angelika