„One Year – One Island“ – week 10
I’m really behind with my diary for this project – by a few weeks, in fact. I ended my last report (week 9) with New Year’s greetings, although I painted the picture that is the subject of today before Christmas. And while I’m sitting here on my couch writing this report, a snowstorm is raging outside (it’s been going on for 24 hours now) and outside my husband is fighting his way through our yard with the snow blower. But now that it’s set to continue like this for another 2 days, the thaw has already been announced – then the snow masses will turn the intire island into a mud hole. Our sidebuildings will probably be flooded, that’s what happens when too much snow melts too quickly and the water can’t drain into the groundwater quickly enough.
We´ll see…
So only a few days before Christmas my project arrived at the southern tip of Öland. I thought for a long time about whether I should actually paint the lighthouse, it seemed such a touristy picture to me. I cycled around a bit and found an interesting motif – a limestone hut with a thatched roof being re-tiled. But I would have had to paint it against the sun to get the lighthouse in the background, and I wanted to have it in the picture somewhere. We have several very different looking lighthouses on the island, but „Långe Jan“ (that’s the name of it) is the most famous on Öland. Certainly also because of the ornithological station that is right next to it. Thousands of bird enthusiasts come here every year, lying in wait in droves – especially in spring and autumn – with their huge cameras to get the perfect photo of a rare migratory bird. When I was there, there were just three cars parked and only a few people dressed in camouflage clothes wandering around. The restaurant and the souvenir shop are closed for the winter and in the bird station there was only one light on in one window. I chose my location based on the wind and the sun: painting against the sun doesn’t make much sense and at the same time I could stand in one of the shelters to escape the wind. So I painted while sitting south of the lighthouse, with the open sea behind me. I leaned my bike against the white wall to show the proportions in the picture.
If you’re wondering who’s taking my pictures, in this case it was my husband who came along on this trip. Otherwise I’m equipped with a selfie stick with a tripod. But most of the time I ask someone who passes by if they’d like to take a picture with my phone. My husband is used to wandering around alone while I draw. He passed the time somehow, maybe watching the seals, which are known to be seen from a wind shelter behind the restaurant. For his sake I stopped painting a little earlier, but it was still 1.5 hours. After that we went for a longer walk through the „Schäferiängarna Ottenby“ nature reserve. If you want to read more about the mansion in Ottenby, you can find information about it on Wikipedia. We only met one hiking couple on the entire route and were also lucky enough to be able to observe a herd of fallow deer up close. Two of the stags were practicing a duel – a little listlessly – and the clicking of their antlers against each other was really loud.
Fallow deer are also part of Öland’s history. For centuries Öland was a royal hunting ground and fallow deer (along with moose) were the most sought-after hunting object. Hunting was forbidden for the island’s inhabitants. But because the starving people did not comply, the enraged King Johan III issued a law in 1574 that all dogs on Öland were only allowed to have three legs (which resulted in them no longer being suitable for hunting). The local artist, Marlene Lindmark (se her work at her homepage) made – among other things – a sculpture of a three-legged dog that stood in Borgholm for some years. Unfortunately, it was taken away due to vandalism.
The royal hunt must have been a great nuisance to the island’s inhabitants and was a constant reason for the Swedish kings to protect their hunting grounds from poachers from Öland. In the 1650s, Charles X Gustav had a high limestone wall built that separated Ottenby from the rest of the island. This wall is also a sight, but a rather monotonous motif, I decided. There were several such royal border walls within which the respective kings hunted and which the population was not allowed to enter. Nowadays (at least I think so) there are only fallow deer in Ottenby and they live in a spacious enclosure on the so-called sheep meadows. The elk, on the other hand, are still found all over Öland, but there seem to be health problems with the population – their numbers are decreasing.
Oh… and not to forget the painting:
Next week I will report on my visit to Eketorp Castle (week 11) AND on my windy day of painting in the picturesque harbor of Gräsgård (week 12) – to catch up with my diary.
Colorful thoughts from the snowdrifts sends Angelika