As I wrote in the art blog 190 Art and CHRISTMAS IN JULY recently I was so happy to receive another 2 parcels from the very generous man behind Galerie Knud Grothe from Copenhagen in Denmark.  An art gallery and whose artists I have written about several times now in; 180 ART AND THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS and 182 GIVING PAINTINGS AS GIFTS

I have now committed myself to an exhibition there at Easter next year and am really enjoying painting towards that.

Overwhelmed and excited about my new gifts I would like to share with you one of the books I received “Kolonihavemaleren – Walther Schaldemose og Maleriet” which is another fantastic art book by Ole Lindboe from ArtPage about Danish naïf artist Walther Schaldemose.

SCANDINAVIAN VISTAS IN NAIVE STYLE

I was very taken with Walters work, he paints a variety of subjects both indoor and outdoor motives circuses and beach scenes and often includes the little “Koloni stuger” (cottages) in a setting by the sea (hence the title of the book which translates to Colony Sea Painter) In Sweden these miniature cottages with one or two little rooms are set out like a tiny little town on small plots of land each with its own little garden and a communal park for social gatherings.  The city residents who live in apartments rent or buy these types of cottages as a place to get away during the summer months or weekends and potter in the garden and enjoy the seaside or the forest.

EROTIC NAIVE ART

What I do enjoy most about Walthers work though is that he combines these wonderful images with a touch of the erotic, as nearly every painting harbour one or two couples engaged in some hanky-panky of some kind or perhaps a female nude either sunbaking or artist and model, breast feeding, in the bath or on the toilet.  His designs are colorful and very rich in detail and with a hint of eroticism and humour – a real feast for the eyes.  As I too play around with the erotic in art his imagination appeals to me very much.

MINIATURE ARTWORKS

Walther was born in 1932 and trained as a stamp engraver where he picked up his attention to detail no doubt.  He often paints miniature works with the use of a microscope and uses brushes with only few hairs on them to get the very small details just right.  Another unusual way he draws inspiration for his artwork from is going around to second hand dealers looking for frames and then lets that determine what size painting he will paint.

PAINTING ON MASONITE

Walter paints on masonite and instead of starting with a gesso or white painted canvas he paints his black.  The images in his paintings that are black are therefore left untouched and peek out between the other colors and he also likes to paint in relief just like I do and uses a moulding compound usually glue to build his images up with.  So I bet his artworks are even more wonderful in real life when you can also see the texture of the paint.

GALERIE KNUD GROTHE

It seems to me that Denmark is currently in the forefront in Naive art with so many different and talented artists being produced there.  No doubt also helped by the support of the wonderful mainstream contemporary art gallery GALERIE KNUD GROTHE .  So yet again Thank you so much Knud for your lovely gifts and also for introducing me to so many wonderful artists whose work gives me delight and joie de vivre every day.

Here is a quote I think perhaps Walter has in mind when he paints by James Dent;

“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all.

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.