Täby Danderyd Magazin, nr 10, 2010

ANNELIE SJÖDIN HALLGREN CREATES WITH HER WHOLE BODY. IN HER RICHLY FLOWING ABSTRACT WATERCOLOUR PAINTINGS THERE IS A LOT OF FEELING, FOR ONCE HER INSPIRATION BEGINS TO RUSH IT IS HARD TO CHECK.

At the centre of Täby colourful works are created. Here Annelie Sjödin Hallgren has her studio, where she lets her own creativity flow and also teaches how to release the inherent artist within ourselves.

"I regularly run classes in watercolour painting and there are a lot of people interested in this. Recently I arranged a weekend class and we spent two days creating freely in here. It was awesome! Teaching classes also inspires me in my own work of creation," she says enthusiastically.

In addition to weekend classes she also runs well-attended weekly courses at Södergården in central Stockholm and regularly arranges art courses for children, headed "The Children´s Academy". This summer and autumn we have been able to see her pictures exhibited at Karby Gård, and last summer she took part in a juried exhibition at Edsviken art gallery.

"Now I´m looking forward to 2011 and first of all to an exhibition at Söderhamn, my old hometown. It is actually the first time I will be exhibiting there, after I moved away 30 years ago.

And although it is said to be so hard to succeed in becoming a prophet in your own hometown, maybe it is easier to be a success as an artist."

ARTIST AN EARLY GOAL

As early as in her first year at school Annelie knew that she wanted to become an artist. Her talent was evident even then.

"I have always been very resolute, knowing that I want to work in art. For a short period though, my dreams of becoming an artist actually competed with the plan to become a dancing-partner to Fred Astaire. On the other hand it had been implanted in me that artist isn´t anything you have as a profession or qualify for – it´s something that you turn out to be. So when I had finished school I was first a drawing teacher for students only about one year younger than myself. Then I made sure of getting a good foundation by attending various art schools – hoping it might also help me to a career" she says with a smile.

To start with she took classes in textile handicraft, then followed a series of other art classes and then the Cutting-Out Academy in Stockholm, where Annelie studied to become a designer. Subsequently she was received at the Beckman´s College for Design where she chose to concentrate on fashion, illustration and textile design.

"For a while I designed and made my own clothes, but I have more talent for other things", she says laughingly, adding that her sister, on the other hand, is a skilful designer. "Still the training was very useful, since I also learnt fashion design and thus was commissioned to make a series of fashion-plates for some Swedish magazines.

Swiftly and with exuberant energy she shows us round the premises which from the outside look just like any ordinary office. But in fact here is concealed a creative-art treasure out of the ordinary. Pictures are resting against the walls, canvases and paint-pots are waiting to be of use and fine old furniture contributes effectively to creating the cosy atmosphere.

WATERCOLOUR AS BASIS

Today she works mainly with watercolour as basis adding acrylic paint and Indian ink. A special feature in Annelie´s pictures is a sprinkling of gold-foil.

"I have gradually drifted on to abstract painting which has also enriched my artistry. Earlier on I had not done so much drawing from nature and once I started my tree-trunks turned out not to be brown but red, and the sky became green rather than blue. Then I realized what freedom and what potential there is in abstract painting – and since then I´m hooked. Besides it´s quite close in colour and form to design."

DRAWING HER INSPIRATION FROM NATURE

She gets her inspiration from many different sources, among others from Swedish watercolour artist Anders Wallin, but also from the American expressionists, Jackson Pollock in particular.

"I also have Nature as a never ending source of inspiration to draw from. I work mainly with four different colours in the shades green, yellow, blue and red combining them in a certain manner with an infinite number of personal characteristics. While others prefer to work calmly and collectedly with the colour, I love to just let go. When all barriers are down, one job tends to beget another. It becomes like a flow of its own, and I am apt to prepare sheets and sheets of paper and just get going. Then it is easy to forget everything around you" she says with a smile.

It was in 1994 that she moved to Täby near Stockholm "We used to live in the city at first but moved here when our twin boys were born. My husband is from the south and I from the north of Sweden and we both longed for surroundings closer to nature. So we agreed that Täby ought to be perfect for us – which it also proved to be" says Annelie with a warm laughter.

Now her objective is to go on developing as an artist, but also to share her knowledge with others.

"Painting is fantastic and I can´t imagine that there exists a more pleasant occupation.

I get fresh impressions all the time and ideas that make me shift on to new tracks. Another interesting challenge would be to put the painting into words; that is to write a book about it."

From original Swedish text Anna Sandgren, translated into English by Anne Marie Blomberg