VIKTOR DONOVAN: May 2012

Friday, May 25, 2012

OCEAN LINER NOSTALGIA: SWEDISH M/S KUNGSHOLM 1928-1965

It is always fun to go back to the era of Ocean Liners. The nations that had their own liners, had a chance to show the best design and products from their country. It was excellent marketing strategy.
M/S KUNGSHOLM, the Swedish passenger liner was built 1928.
The week it took to cross the Atlantic could be a wonderfully luxurious trip for those with money-
(All photos from Wikipedia)

First class vestibule

First class smoking room.

The staircase. First Class dining room.

Kungsholm sofa from 1928 restored from this site.

Sketch from M/S Kungsholm (Wikipedia Commons)

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

WILDERNESS IN THE CITY

Sometimes we tend to over work our gardens so it is nice to see a garden left a little wild. Only a ten minute walk from downtown Gothenburg you can find this private garden . The wild aspect has a calming effect.

The lovely FRITILLARIA MELEAGRIS thrive here.

Not far away, dandelions are blooming their little hearts out on the roadside.
I don't think dandelions have a calming effect on people, but if one did not know that dandelions are invasive and a definite garden pest, they would be regarded as quite beautiful.

Monday, May 21, 2012

CUPS THAT SPEAK TO YOU

Mass produced cups that are sold for very little, have their place, but they lack the beauty and personality of a handmade cup. I love it when I fall in love with a cup. The experience is a definite a "must have it". And the cups become very dear friends. Let me introduce you to some of them:

I treasure these Angel cups (Gunilla Lundberg from Gothenburg)
Perfect for a very special cappuccino.

These cups are little masterpieces (recent acquisition) By Yumi Kato of Gothenburg)

I have always loved the Arabia Ruska cups (1950's) They are machine made, but the glaze was hand applied and very tricky to get just right.
Many cups had to be destroyed in the manufacturings process.

This and the cup below are really BIG cups, The California potter Randy Schneider, made them with his father's big hands in mind. The handles are enormous.
Talk about cups with personality!

Nice faces painted by Angela Dougall in London.

These are the most beautifully designed and "hand-and-lip-friendly" cups I have come across. The glaze is wonderfully matt and the cups sits perfectly/blissfully in your hand. Of course, one never finds cups like these again.
They do not hold a large cup of tea, so a nice strong coffee is just dandy for them.

These cups are absolute favorites. Each cup has a different design that reminds of the primitive floral design (kurbits) in my Swedish Folk Art Paintings.

Monday, May 14, 2012

IF THAT'S THE WAY AMERICAN SOCIETY TREATS ITS WOMEN -- THEY DON'T DESERVE TO HAVE ANY !

Drawing by Donovan O'Malley

In Sweden we can celebrate Mother's day with a reasonably good conscience, but can Americans honestly do the same? Chris Hayes on MSNBC tries to answer that question. And the facts are depressing. The statistics are merciless.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

American women have a lot to put up with. Besides the tribulations of motherhood, they must contend with the recent insane (and politically suicidal?) rightwing assault on women's reproductive rights -- abortion and contraception. Women in Europe could hardly imagine this insanity and journalists no doubt find it difficult, if not impossible to communicate this absurdity to the public in other countries.
Rachel Maddow sums up "the war on women":

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

A SWEDISH KITCHEN - DOING IT MY WAY

My creative American grandmother Olga loved going to flea markets (as I do now) long before it was fashionable. She inspired me to paint Swedish Folk Art. My kitchen is an expression of all this.

The round painting on the wall depicts the Swedish King, a popular subject for the primitive painters.

I used the painting on my kitchen wall to make trays like this one. It is smaller than the original painting, but on the other hand, one can serve food on it and put it in the dishwasher.
See more about my trays here.

By Randy Schneider of California ca 1974. It fits in very nicely.

I kept the old cabinet frames that were made of solid pine, left some shelves open and made new doors.

This used to be a toolbox before I decorated it. Now it is a perfect place for napkins

This IKEA center working table contains an amazing amount of pots and pans on the lower shelf.
The cabinets under the sink are new.

The East india Company blue china goes well with the Swedish "Dala"blue (some call it Baltic Blue)

I wish I had room for this in the kitchen. It is an old fashioned food container that I finished decorating recently.

I never met an old beater I did not buy. Mostly decorative of course, but what comfort to be able to whip cream during a power shortage.

NEW BOOK!

Much of human activity is centered around food. We think of food whether we’re hungry or not. We spend a great deal of time buying it. We take hours preparing it (well, some do). We talk about it. We read about it in cook books. We watch television when chefs talk about it (sometimes to excess). When we socialize, it is often centered around the communal intake of it. We give it as gifts. Food, we can’t escape it! Some people become keenly interested in preparing food for themselves and others; many have become what we call “good cooks”. Usually a degree of creativity is involved together with a keen interest to entertain and a need to take care of others, to be a good host. It is such people that one remembers, and that is how I got started on Food & Folk, remembering, for example that excellent couple, Beatrice and Clayburn La Force on their ranch in Alpine California. After that I just kept going.

MY HOMETOWN GOTHENBURG

A series of closeups (224 photos) of Gothenburg, Sweden. Language: English and Swedish.----- This book consists of a series of closeups of Gothenburg. It is no history book but, hopefully, it will generate some curiosity about our city. When you walk in a city like London you are struck by Britain’s colonial past and its enormous wealth which manifests itself in buildings and institutions all over the city. When you walk in “Little London” as Gothenburg is often called, one is keenly aware of its importance as the best fortified city in Northern Europe. Two forts still watch over it. Remnants of the seventeenth century wall, and the meandering moat are a reminder of the city’s military past. Positioned on the West coast of Sweden, Gothenburg was once a world leader in ship building and shipping and evolved naturally into a merchant’s city. The English and Scottish heritage here is very important. There are clues and traces everywhere. One has only to look.

A GARDEN IN MY HOMETOWN

A book in English and Swedish about the Garden Society of Gothenburg--TRÄDGÅRDSFÖRENINGEN -----The Garden Society of Gothenburg is one of the best preserved early 19th century parks in Europe. It is situated directly downtown, offering lovely walks in the park or in the shaded woodland areas along the canal/moat, waterfront. The garden recently went through a major renovation under the auspices of Ulf Nordfjell, the internationally known landscape designer. The aim was to bring the garden back to its old nineteenth century glory. Carpet bedding returned and five new woodland areas were designed by five international garden designers. A superb new rose park was added, a successful blending of historical roses and perennials.

Love letters from my Swedish grandfather Folke to my American grandmother Olga 1909 - 1961

My American grandmother, Olga, met my Swedish grandfather, Folke Jonsson, in Brussels in 1909. Olga was 18 and Folke, 23. They settled in Gothenburg and Särö, Sweden. Olga, being American, had her family in Florida, and Folke soon came to realize that if you marry a woman from another continent, and this woman is charmingly independent, innovative and brave, and has her own means to boot, she is bound to want to visit her native country some time -- or several times -- or more than several times. To Folke, a sensitive soul, the long separations were quite painful and he suffered till his darling Olga returned. He “talked” to her in his frequent letters. Olga saved all his letters, in their original envelopes, in neat little bundles held together with different coloured ribbons. They were a treasured lifelong testament of his love. Olga and Folke corresponded in English as Olga was American and preferred writing in English. Had my grandfather Folke married a Swedish woman who had stayed at home, there would not be this stack of his letters today. He never intended the letters to be shown to others, but more than one hundred years have passed since Folke wrote them to his darling Olga. I have enjoyed getting to know my grandfather in this manner and I think others, not only relatives, should also share that privilege.

A pictorial Companion to the letters in the book above: 150 pictures of Olga & Folke 1909-1978

NEW BOOK BY DONOVAN O'MALLEY

REVIEW: "...O'Malley continues to prove that he is one of the more important writers around, a writer who with every book brings into our lives some very strange, often exceedingly humorous, and now, frequently very lonely people. His ability to create language for each of his characters is sharp, well studied and written, and without belittling anyone he, in language, shows the difference between class, and education, and exposure. Likely that comes from his experience in writing plays where characters are alive and moving, but with his considerable literary skills he makes his written page people morph into real life folks. He is in top form here ... " Grady Harp, June 12 (Hall of Fame reviewer)