The cool part about Sweden in the summer is that you can paint all day and still have endless hours of daylight in the evening. So the routine lately has been - paint all day, dinner, then an evening swim in the lake. It's been in the 80's since we've been here.
The paintings in progress are some scenes from San Francisco (around Russian Hill) that have been floating around in my head for several years. And I'm reworking that Central Coast Oaks painting on the left.
That's my little girl, Molly. We're spending the summer in Sweden. My wife, Caroline, is from here and Molly was born here 15 months ago. Thought I'd post something I wrote about Sweden a while back. In it I wrote that Sweden and I "haven't exactly clicked" but I have to say, I'm really getting into this Swedish summer thing!
You can order any or all of my 3 books in my Blurb Bookstore. The following is an excerpt from my first book, B E R K E L A N D: Original Oil Paintings 1997-2008:
I married into Sweden. There's a little bit of Norwegian blood coursing through my veins, but even so, there's no telling if I would have otherwise made it to Scandinavia had I not met Caroline. There are places where you really feel like you are in the thick of things. New York and Rome come to mind. Then there are places where you know you are on the fringe. Sweden sometimes feels like it is halfway to the moon.
It's a weird place. Not what you'd expect, if you do, in fact, expect something. First off, there is no Matterhorn there. That's Switzerland. Whole other country. No, I haven't seen any bikini teams, and, for that matter, haven't seen much of anyone at all. There are almost no people in Sweden and that sparseness is tangible. There are candles and wooden horses and little gnome things everywhere. These people eat more candy and drink more coffee than anyone else in the world. They're a bunch of hot rod driving, RV enthusiasts who listen to home brewed polka-rock based on American standards and then dance around a pole like frogs on the longest day of the year. Their hospitals birth their babies for free (relatively speaking) and when you set off for such disease-riddled destinations as, say, the United States, they'll ask if you've protected yourself with all the right shots.
I'll be honest. Sweden and I haven't exactly clicked, yet. It's funny. The people who look most like me on earth and the meat and potato diet that most resembles that of my childhood still leaves me feeling like something of an interloper best regarded with skepticism. But there are two factors that do redeem Sweden for me. Actually the first one alone would have been enough. Family. Sweden could have been on the moon and the fact that my wife's family lives there would have been all the reason I'd need to spend significant amounts of time there.
But Sweden is not on the moon, which leads to the second factor - that Sweden is actually very beautiful. The harshness of the dark, cold winter is balanced by the chilly brilliance of the afternoon sun perforating the leafless birch woods as it sets into any one of a thousand Swedish lakes. In the summer, the sun never really sets at all. It just glides behind the trees and along the horizon for hours before settling in for a dusklike power nap.
I have no choice. Sweden is part of my life now and I will be going back often. I will learn the language and I will eat fermented herring respectfully. I will dance like a frog and I will watch Pippi Longstocking DVD's with my daughter. And I will earn it all by digesting my Swedish experiences onto canvas, as I've done wherever I've ended up over the years.
I paint a lot of sunsets, and I wouldn't rank one over the other since it is always a significant part of the day for me no matter where I'm standing. That said, there is something very different about the midsummer sunsets of mid-June in Dalarna, Sweden. They last for hours! You could literally go for a dip in the lake as the sun is setting, have some dinner, and still go out afterward and watch the sun continue to slowly glide along the horizon line like a stubborn baby refusing to go to sleep. So here's an idea of what it looks like. This one measures 24" x 48".
It's gotta' be close to 100 degrees today in LA but here's another one coming out of the Swedish winter. Measures 30" x 48".
We're getting close to Midsummer here in Sweden with temperatures reaching into the 80's some days. Quite a contrast to this winter scene that I started some months ago when things were still frozen. This one measures about 100cm x 150cm and will be available a little later this summer. Please contact me for more info.
The first of the Swedish paintings! A winter sunset over Lake Siljan. Measures about 42" x 48".
Once again, my lucky circumstances have landed me in another beautiful spot in the world. Here's the view from my new studio in Rättvik, Sweden!
The best way to contact me here is by email (dan@danberkeland.com) or through Skype (visit www.skype.com if you aren't familiar with the technology). My Skype name is simply 'Dan Berkeland'. I have a webcam so I can show you what I'm working on. just remember the time difference from the states. I'm now 9 hours ahead of California!
I'm back in the studio after an excellent three week trip to Sweden. I've posted a few photos from my trip here.
If you are on the Central Coast, please stop by the studio any time at 736 Main St. in Morro Bay to see what I'm working on!
I spent February in Rättvik, Sweden. It was too cold to take many pictures but I did manage to snap a few around town and a couple in Stockholm. Beautiful but cold!
