last day in Iceland

Today is my last day in Iceland. I arrived yesterday in Reyjavik, and I stayed at the Sim house (Sim is the association of visual arts in iceland) in Seljavegur where other art residents have spent the month. There is a great atmosphere here and yesterday we all went to the local swimming pool, with naturally hot water and hot pots all outdoors, it was really relaxing. Today I visited the city in more depth, its a really exciting place, with lots of shopping to do and museums and galleries. In a bit I will go down to the harbour and have some lobster soup. Then tomorrow morning Im taking the bus to the airport which stops at the Blue Lagoon for one last relaxing swim before take-off!
I really enjoyed my month in Iceland, and am without a doubt coming back next year, I would like to try May when the sun never sets. If anyone is reading this and thinking about visiting Iceland or doing a residency, think no more, you will have no regrets. Its just brilliant here. Im looking forward to home and seeing my friends and family tomorrow.
Thanks for reading my blog. Till next year ...

Grettislaug

Hello all. Here are photos from the lovely invigorating swim that Grettislaug was. It was really in the middle of nowhere, at the end of a very rough and long dirt road. The sort of place you would never just chance upon. It was a really enjoyable experience, to have the cold wind blowing in your hair while youre stewing in hot water. Parts of the pool are even boiling and you have to be careful, they regularly have to top up the natural thermal water with cold water to achieve the right temperature. Its the last week of my stay so it was about time I got into some water, as it is said by all icelanders that you havent really been to Iceland if you have not been in a pool! Better late than never. The concert was good too. We stopped for an inevitable hot dog at the even more inevitable petrol station, then drove to the High School where Megas was playing. Its a shame I speak no Icelandic, or even understand it for that matter, because clearly the music was all about the ironic (or so they seemed, from the laughs drawn out of the happy audience) and witty lyrics. There was a interval where some young Icelanders from the school played some music, and I was really impressed by their standard. They were in their early twenties, but their musical maturity was beyond their age. I thought about a concert of Olafur Arnald I saw in Hollywell Music Room in Oxford, a young Icelandic musical genius, and realised that Icelanders are very humble. They are quietly very good at what they do. I guess maybe it has to do with Iceland being a relatively small country, and the musical scene being smaller still, that the meaning of stardom or fame is put in perspective. Its a really refreshing attitude, compared to the Uk where charisma and attitude seem to have as much of a part to play as musical ability. Anyway. Enough rambling. I packed my paints and posted them back home today, and the air in Skagastrond has aromas of farewells and departures. I included a pic of the invitation / flyer for our open studio affair on Saturday. The end is near...

the last 100 metres

So...thats it. The last painting. I wont be able to do more before Sunday as it needs to be dry for transport. Here is the shot with all of them. I might be making some drawings etc but tonight its the concert and I shall be posting shots of that and of the thermal swim. The name of this natural hot spring is Grettislau, which apparently comes from an Icelandic legend. Grettis was an outlaw, exiled on an island opposite the hot spring, and he swam accross to steal some embers for his fire which had gone out. He was found cold and passed out, naked on the shore by the two local girls who commented on the small size of his attributes. Apparently, swimming in the hot spring sorted that out for him, or so says the TimeOut guide to Iceland. So anyway, its a man-made pool, but a very old one made of stones. Looking forward to it. Sunday I am leaving for Reykjavik where I will spend two nights before flying back to Blighty. I intend to go to the Flea Market, eat some whale skewers and lobster soup, and make a trip to the Blue Lagoon. And do galleries. And shopping. I forgot to mention I bought some horse meat last week. Icelanders eat horse meat, although its not so common, and there was some at the local supermarket, so I gave it a try. I am French, so Ive eaten horse before, and Im very fond of it, so I was looking forward to it, but the Icelandic horses are left in the mountains free to roam for 6 months of the year, and so the meat was SO strong and tasted nothing like I was used to. Im a very enthusiastic meat-eater, but I must say this tested my limits. Venison is for beginers compared to this! I ate some of it, but I cant say Ill be cooking it again anytime soon. They actually boil the meat here, they dont pan-fry it or grill it like a steak. So, bring on the rotten shark (the other icelandic specialty) and the puffins!

Hello. Its been a while since I posted anything, as Ive frankly not been up to much. Had enough painting for a while, so only just got painting again today. Here is my latest painting. Although it is not meant to be read very figuratively, its of the upside down house that was blown away by the wind in a deserted valley. The weather has been pretty awful since the storm last week, which was in fact the follow-up from hurricane Ike. The wind has made it hard to get out of the house at all, and the studio is pretty chilly. For tomorrow, we have planned a trip to Saudurkrokur to go to a local hot spring for a swim, then to a concert by Megas. He is a kind of Icelandic star, poet/singer on the mad side, so it should be really interesting. more anon...

Hi. Just a quick late night post to show you my latest discovery: these are cake plates from the local shop. The cake obsession is a real icelandic thing, so its quite suited really. Im loving the gold

Hello all. Yesterday afternoon a man came to the studio and warned us about a storm to be coming over Skagastron in the night. He actually asked us to take the heavy picnic wooden tables inside, in case they blew over! Sure enough, the wind was really strong, and all I could hear last night was the noise of things being blown down the streets, the doors rattling and the rain hitting the windows. This morning all the windows were covered in a layer of sea salt! And the wind has not diminished at all, it's really difficult to even walk in a straight line. Ive never experienced anything like it. Other than that, here are pics of the two last paintings ive been working on. I hope the weather gets better, its not doing much for my mood...

shelves and horses

Hello all. Sorry Ive been out of touch for a few days, Ive been busy doing not much. I went to a horse round-up on Saturday, its actually the second biggest horse round-up in Iceland and the television crews turned up with their cameras. It was really impressive, with huge amounts of horses running down the mountain. There were hot dogs, a lot of drinking, and Icelandic music was sung by the people. It was a very heart warming experience all in all. It took all day and my ears are still hurting from the wind. In fact the wind is really becoming super strong these days. Yesterday I had to get off my bike, because I wasnt really moving forward at all on it against the wind. It evens blows your breath away before you can catch it. Its driving me insane. Anyway, while we were at the horse round-up we drove up to a desolate farmhouse deserted by its inhabitants, it was kind of eerie. There was even a house upside down, blown by the wind. The red patches on the mountain are blueberries.
Then sunday was sleeping and laundry day so I did absolutely nothing. I had been thinking and wondering about how to put my work up for the open studio which will happen on friday 26th. The walls are concrete and in any case it seemed rather unecessary to put a massive plug in the wall for a light board the size of a comic book. So I am quite pleased with myself today as I wrestled with a giant board outside in gale force winds and managed to detach the metal edge off it. And I turned it into a shelf! I know it sounds like nothing, but for ME, its a lot...
It looks good actually, I have left the rusty nails on it etc so that it remains an object instead of a shelve. Im really relieved to have sorted that out now instead of running around like a headless chicken in ten days. Now I can bear it in my mind while doing the rest of the paintings, and think all the while about how many, in what order, on top or next to, over or under, even or uneven, sequences etc. I always think the way you put your painting up creates 50% of the work. Painting is really very 3 dimentional. At the moment I like them close together and the accidental meetings of line and colours that provokes. Tomorrow I shall do some more painting. Today I even found some nutella at the shop. AND there was a rainbow on my way home. These good omens can only mean that my shelf is good news... Speak soon x