Drawing on a Frozen Lake in Sweden (Feb 26)

Last week I returned from an MA residential in Sweden. Over all it was a really challenging experience. I still haven’t fully found the words to describe it and I am still actively processing the unexpected emotional rollercoaster of intensity.

However, one thing I can be clear on is how stunning Sweden was and what a profoundly beautiful experience I had while drawing there. 

I was on Uspen Lake not far from Floda and the weather was crisp and icy, during the night temperatures were dropping to between -7 to -11 centigrade. As a result of this the lake was solidly frozen enough to safely walk on. It felt so exciting to walk on water! A mix of peril, thrill, tranquility and awe.

I found the first two days of the course programme very confronting and I expressed elements of myself that made me feel proud and insecure in equal measures. 

On the third day I went out before breakfast and sat on the jetty over the lake. While drawing I felt the most perfectly embodied experience within the environment I had ever felt. The air was so crisp in felt sharp, not being able to use gloves also gave an extreme element to this feeling. The acoustics on the frozen lake were incredible. The ice and snow created a dampener effect, blocking out all background sounds. I reminded me of when my daughter went for a hearing test and we stepped into a soundproofed room. It created an ecological noise cancelling environment so that when there was a sound created in my vicinity, like the sound of a bird’s wings as it flew out from behind a bush, it was crystal clear – Dolby surround sound. This audible calm settled my nervous system and allowed me to ‘be’. Be calm, Be still, Be focused and allow the environment to really flow through me. I felt absolutely part of this place at this moment. 

As I was drawing using ink and a Chinese brush, the ink and water began to freeze and crystalize onto the paper, leaving forms within the drying that perfectly conveyed the moment within this landscape. 

As I sat and drew I became aware of a really deep rising rumble, which gradually built to something almost subsonic. A visceral, geological booming as the sun warmed the ice and caused some kind of shift to its structure. I could feel it sonically move across the lake.