READERSVOICE.COM: Do you need to have a personal connection to a place to draw it, like the drawing of the panorama from the hill over your cottage in Stora Korno?
MATTIAS ADOLFSSON: I don't need a connection to a place to be able to draw it, but it helps, and Stora Kornö is wonderfully picturesque; this makes drawing easy.
RV: Did you draw the whole picture there, or did you take a photo or finish the drawing later?
MA: I like to draw on place; when drawing from a photo I feel more locked.
RV: What sort of pens and paper did you use to draw things, like the old fishing houses in Stora Korno?
MA: The pen is a reservoir pen from Mont Blanc, the paper is fine grain aquarelle paper.
RV: Your father is from Stora Korno, and I was wondering how the town has changed over the years. What made you buy a cottage there?
MA: My father was of the last generation who lived on Stora Kornö; now it's only inhabited summer time.
But most of us who have houses on the island are connected to the people who used to live on the island.
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The island has not changed much in the last 100 years; the people living there like to keep the genuinity of the place alive.
When my father passed away my sister and I took over his small house (or bungalow as we call it).
RV: What was life like for your parents when they were growing up, and what were their towns like? Where is your mother from, and how did your parents meet?
MA: As I understand it, both my parents had a very happy childhood.
They grew up just after the Second World War, and as Sweden was spared the war, the economy was good and there were a lot of kids.
My mother was born in Täby just outside Stockholm.
My parents met at the steering deck of a fishing boat called Eros, very romantic indeed.
RV: Why did your mother choose to live in Sigtuna?
MA: My mother wanted a more quiet place to grow old in.
My sister and her family live there as well.
RV: What's it like there, and do you always draw places you visit?
MA: Sigtuna is one of (if not the) oldest cities in Sweden and very beautiful.
No, I haven't done this so much yet, but now when the kids are growing up there will be more time for this, I'm sure.
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RV: How often do you go for walks and draw things, and what sort of places do you go to?
MA: This is something I'd like to have more time for, but at the moment I draw a lot of things from my imagination.
I'd like to be able to focus on walking and drawing as well.
RV: With the church in Lysekil painting, can you describe the steps you took to draw and paint this, and the sort of paint you used?
MA: I wasn't that satisfied with the line drawing so I decided to wash it - that is, using the ink from the pen to colour it.
RV: How much time do you spend on making linoleum prints? Do you prefer drawing?
MA: I have not made a linoleum print since I left school (HDK). I'd like to take up this and a lot of other techniques, to alternate with the drawing.
RV: What are some of your plans?
MA: I'd like to be able to get more time to focus on my artistic side.
I'm preparing for an exhibition in Göteborg this fall; I'm also planning on searching galleries for exhibitions abroad.
The ultimate goal would be to live off my art.
- Check out Mattias Adolfsson’s ink drawings at his blog www.mattiasa.blogspot.com and at www.mattiasadolfsson.se
-copyright Simon Sandall.
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Copyright 2008 ReadersVoice.com
