Akvile Lawrence: Blog

“A place full of action – Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) in the park of Finspång’s Manor House (Finspångs slott)” is the second wildlife painting in the series Swedish castles and manor houses. Finspångs Slott (Finspång’s Manor House) is a grand house commissioned by the industrialist Louis De Geer in 1668. The house is pictured in modern times, just as the ice is breaking up in the Spring. With open water on the river running in front of the house, the ducks are back, waiting for the imminent tourist season. The day is so far grey and rather indifferent, however the action in the Finspång slott park and the energetic chitchats of the ducks make it very lively indeed…

“On Alert – Pheasants (phasianus colchicus) and Ekenäs Slott (Castle)” was inspired by the rather dramatic sky that was meeting us the day when we were there for gathering references and reminded me by the story about the chicken-lady named Lena (Höns-Lena). Höns-Lena is claimed to have saved Ekenäs castle from destruction by the Russians in 1718 by setting up bonfires around the castle, which was done, and thus confusing enemies who saw the smoke rising beyond the forests and thought that the castle really was on fire. Another version of the story says that höns -Lena met a soldier who was asking her about the Ekenäs castle and she told him that many thousands of soldiers were guarding the castle, which scared the enemies off. Whatever really happened is perhaps a little confusing, but the fact is that in order to commemorate the event a portrait of Lena was painted (Hönsagumman) in 1786 and the portrait to this day hangs in the entrance hall directly in front of the main door thus being the first portrait one sees when entering the castle. It seemed fit to feature a pair of pheasants on alert, that can be seen in the surroundings sometimes for reminding about the story…they would have been on-alert during that turbulent time after all…

Some progress to report on my latest wildlife painting: “On Alert – Pheasants and Ekenäs Castle”. This is a rather quickly taken photo of the painting and is a little dark, but shows that the painting is taking form. The rough sketches of the various components of my first painting in the Swedish Castles series, featuring Ekenäs Slott (castle) and a pair of pheasants have now been composed into a coherent unity. Ekenäs Slott stands dramatically on a rise in the background, its interesting roofline standing out against the sky (the day I was there getting reference photos, the lighting behind the broken clouds was atmospheric and I try to capture the same feeling). As it often is in reality, the male pheasant is easy to see and the female takes a little searching for (one might think she has a little more sense). I have battled a little with the sky, trying to get just the right lighting and effect.

Akvile is starting a new series of paintings of Wildlife and Swedish Castles (Svenska slott). Each painting will feature a Swedish manor house (most often those with particular historical significance) in the background with featured wildlife in the foreground. The first in the series features Ekenäs Slott, located in Östergötland, between Norrköping and Linköping. Ekenäs was first built in the 16th century and expanded at later dates. The foreground of Akvile’s painting will feature a pair of pheasants. As a preview, the thumbnail shows some early sketches. Stay tuned to follow the progress of the painting as found on the easel in Akvile Lawrence’s studio.

In Spring on the way – Great Tits in motion , Great tits (Parus Major) appeared to be the most invasive conquerors this winter, since they invaded not only our bird-restaurant and but also they invaded my painting! Aside from the ubiquitous great tits in our garden, the idea was also influenced by the fields surrounding our little village. Usually, conifers are prevalent where we live, however there are small places that if recorded (painted, photographed, etc) can give quite a different impression of the surroundings, perhaps giving a more southern feeling. Hence, this time, I chose to show a smallish landscape with a meadow where one can see such very typical habitats as cocksfoot (dáctylis glomeráta) and common sorrel (rumex acetósa) and with deciduous trees such as eurasian aspen (pópulus trémula) and some young oaks (Quercus robur) in the far background. And of course quite few great tits, after all it is a landscape very promising for meals despite the remaining snow here and there …

Narrow Escape – Iberian Lynx is the title of the painting. In this wildlife painting, I could not resist painting the world’s most critically endangered feline – the Iberian lynx (lynx pardinus). Since Iberian lynx’s main prey is the European rabbit (oryctolagus cuniculus) under normal circumstances, it felt natural to include a rabbit or two in the painting. Here, I wanted to emphasize the chase and hence I left both the foreground and the background rather simple. Thus the foreground consists mainly of just the sandy soil and the background consists of a few rabbit burrows, open grassland and holm oaks (quercus ilex). And… I left the chance for both to win the chase…who will it be this time?

Our bird-restaurants are very popular this winter, since whenever one sets eyes on them there is always a guest or few and even more are waiting or enjoying their snacks in the trees and bushes all around. It is never too quiet and never lonely. Winter 2010/2011 is very harsh indeed: cold with lots of snow and long lasting (the piles of snow appeared already in november and are still big in march).The most frequent guests are the great tits (parus major), the blue tits (parus coreuleus), the eurasian nuthach (sitta europaea), the european greenfinch (carduelis chloris) and the eurasian red squirrel (sciurus vulgaris). One can see them nearly all day long and everyday. The european roe deer(capreolus capreolus) , the great spotted woodpecker (dendrocopos major), the common pheasant (phasianus colchicus), the common wood pigeon (columba palumbus), the martsh tit (poecile palustris) pay us slightly shorter, but regular visits. Whereas, such jewels for the eyes as the bullfinch (pyrhulla pyrhulla) and the eurasian jay (garrulus glandiarius) are seen less frequently . The common blackbird (turdus merula), the european magpie (pica pica), the eurasian jackdaw (corvus monedula) and the carrion crow (corvus corone) are frequently seen in the surroundings, however not too often on the birdfeeders – perhaps they do not really enjoy the menu? Recently, we have seen the european brown hare (lepus europaeus) vising us as well, but they are hard to spot and it is only their footprints that reveal their visits. Our bird-restaurant visitors give me great opportunity to observe, make notes and sketches for using them as reference for my wildlife paintings. Thank you very much! I am working on using all of them in my paintings sooner or later, just wait and you´ll see!

Sometimes the”wasted time” while waiting at the dentists can be quite productive! At least that is what happened to me during my last visit. The patient before me had taken more time than was planned, hence giving me extra time to sit in the waiting room. Usually situations like this are a real bore! However not this time, since I was lucky to sink into a nice and comfortable armchair right next to the window in front of which was growing a jasmine bush and in between was a birdfeeder. Many birds were taking their snacks for eating in the bush and kept on flying between the birdfeeder and the bush, hence giving me the rare opportunity to observe birds in flight towards me and from me. Luckily I had a scrap of paper and a pencil with me and hence I managed to make quite few rough sketches and notes for myself before I heard my name called. Some of them found a place in my painting that is on the easel right now about to be finished in a day or two. An opportunistic chance to be productive in a short time indeed – thank you those who hang birdfeeders in front of the waiting rooms!