Edith Underdal

I have to start with a thank you and a big one at that: to Christine who has helped me to transform  my old blog into this new site.

This is in fact a milepost; my first real blog after leaving the OCA a necessity I regret since I was forced to make this decision due to illness. Actually in doing so I removed a burden giving me more energy to devote my time to my art. I am deeply thankful for having spent time and getting so far as I did on the path to a BA in textile design. It has given me a greater depth in the understanding of composition, technique and colour absolute necessities in the making of any art. In the meantime I have suffered a second and larger thrombosis only three weeks ago which has actually made me aware of the fact that I am indeed lucky in that I have work to do and plans to make. No more on this topic.

Planning, getting ready and hanging up an exhibition together with other artists can be a very trying experience but this has not been so for our exhibition in Bødkergården last week. We started at 10 am last Monday by getting our various pictures etc into place and ended by holding the Grand opening from 4 pm to 8 pm with about 100 guests.

Bødker is the Danish word for cooper and this building was the coopers workshop which has been refurbished by the present owner who was in earlier years a well known restaurateur in Køge.  This building is not a protected building whereas the house out to the street is as all buildings on the street  are. Denmarks oldest building is on the same street https://www.koegebib.dk/det-gamle-hus  dating from 1527. The venue is really brilliant for exhibitions, however the lighting is really poor a fact that we might just have to discuss with the owner before we exhibit again next year in September. The four were Lillian Binderup Jensen a ceramist https://www.google.dk/search?q=lillian+binderup+jensen&espv=2&biw=1921&bih=887&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwivp_CY583QAhVqGZoKHf2OCpgQsAQINQ  Sorry about the length of the link, only way I could give folks a good possibility to judge her work which is in fact quite unique. Next Tom Lundsten http://tom-lundsten.blogspot.dk/  who is probably just as well known in England as he is here in Denmark. Sanne Rasmussen  http://sannerasmussen.dk/  whose work is almost photographic in its expression. and last but not least Preben Barrett http://www.123hjemmeside.dk/Barrett/  who had his sculptures in the courtyard.

I had put smaller pieces into passe-partout and Olav had the brilliant idea of hanging them up in cellophane using close-hangers which was quite effectful even in the poor lighting. I sold 3 of these during the week and one large picture from the Nordic Impressions series I did three years ago. I had three stints of custodial duty during the week which I spent embroidering on a work in progress the theme of which is Roots but at the same time talking to visitors. We had open from 10 am to 6 pm which is a long time! I found that I gained a lot by talking to the various folks maybe even getting hints/ideas for future projects.

Roots; basically I am sewing  a preserved tomato root on to a piece of  old metis, part of a well washed sheet that I bought on ebay  from France. The stitch is a very uneven running stitch again my aim is not perfection but instability.  In the end there will be text and I hope to weigh it down by small objects given to me by people who have moved from their place of birth to a place far from home and their cultural roots. Move from Thyborøn to Copenhagen and believe me this is far from your roots but actually I am thinking more of the people who are migrating from Africa and the Middle and Far East to Europe in the hopes of bettering their possibilities and living in peace. I have moved from farming North East Scotland to Denmark via Norway over 50 years ago yet I would have to say that I am still the person brought up by Lilian and Alan who taught me how to behave and react. Maybe I have changed in many ways but the basics are there; I am a Danish version of the young woman who met a young man 54 years ago in Edinburgh.

Planning ahead is going on. Open Studio in Whit, an exhibition in Hörby   http://www.tradgardsriket.se/tradgardar/bjorkhaga-tradgardsgalleri/ in south Sweden in August together with Elisabeth, http://vskg.se/elisabeth-olsson-linnersten/ . I am going to have to start a working sketchbook of ideas since Elisabeth wants us to go wild outdoors as well as exhibiting in the gallery building itself and I have spiders in my head!!  There is so much to do, to look forward to and to work on that there is no time for gloomy thoughts.