Wonderland

2012-03-08T08:16:00.000-08:00

Today (and most other days)

I feel strong and happy. Charlie Engman source Cengman.

2012-02-19T13:04:00.003-08:00

Madness; scented garden

Once upon a time, in 18th-century France, a book by Girardin De la composition des paysages inspired some of Ludvig the XIV:s gardeners to plant 125 000 pots filled with tuberose, narcissus and violets. When the king and his court arrived to the summer palace they had to escape the overwhelming odour by boat! I love this story and I love the fact that gardening sometimes makes me possessed, i can't stop working, can't really talk, just keep going...

2012-02-02T04:21:00.000-08:00

In bloom

Look what i found in my garden! During the summer there is so much beauty in the garden that it is easy to miss out on a quiet little bud like this, but right now it is the only thing in bloom out there...

2012-01-03T06:25:00.000-08:00

New Year and My New Books

It is afternoon and the sky will turn pitch black soon. But this winter is warm and there are many reports about flowering roses and red wild strawberries. Though I believe there is still time to dream of gardening rather than digging into the winter resting soil. I spend the time on the sofa reading my new books, Slow Gardening, 59 buketter från min trädgård and Karin Larsson och blommorna i Sundborn. At the end of this year all three books will be stained by ink or soil as I keep them with me while working rather than in the bookshelf.

Denise Grünstein

2011-12-23T13:07:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to you all!

We will be back soon with postings on vases, fabolous flowers and ideas for next year........

2011-12-13T01:01:00.000-08:00

Fight for attention

I have collected a few photos of weird vases and I have been very fond of this one for a long time. A bouquet of flowers in these vases would have to fight for attention, though I know that there are bouquets which have the same impact as these vases, a fantastic creation by Peter Ödegaard.

2011-12-03T11:45:00.000-08:00

Built by S; tea party!

I was thinking that I would like to start posting some of the flowers that I have arranged and found this picture of the last things growing in my backyard this summer. My teapot was a nice vase for a day or two. I will get back on the theme on vases, there is a lot more to be said and shown and I am working on that.

2011-11-29T23:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our xmas market
Saturday 3rd of December at 12- 5 pm
Tegen Studios, Bjurholmsgatan 1-11, Södermalm, Stockholm
Tube Skanstull or Medborgarplatsen. Only cash, please.

2011-11-28T08:46:00.000-08:00

Absorbed with my studio- work

Paper, ink, water. Branch, petals, leaves.

2011-11-18T00:14:00.000-08:00

Vases and vessels: top-list

On the theme of vase-vessel we made a top-list of the ones we have and love or wish we had.

The vase GRASS by Normann Copenhagen is a ceramic vase that works well with small solitaires as well as flowers picked by a child.

Savoy, this classic by Aalto works well with all kinds of flowers and styles. It's simple and timeless, a classic.

Foldevas by Tage Andersen is a folded brass cone designed to make flowers look good in it. It is a vase that give us desire. And yes, it does come in smaller sizes.

2011-11-11T00:50:00.000-08:00

Weird vase- vessel

Coming home with a brown package from the flower-shop is a fantastic feeling. Unwrapping and again to look at all sorts and colours of flowers that you picked. Then comes the real challenge, in what vase or vessel, will they fit, you might find the perfect height vase but is far too wide, then you find yourself cutting off half the length of a proudly tall-standing grass. It may be me, but finding the right vase or vessel is a challenge.

Via Tokketok

Via Flickr

2011-11-07T02:06:00.000-08:00

The past and the present

This week-end I got a gift from my mother in law. A new plant to love and care for. It's an oldie that originally belonged to her mother in law. What can compete with a plant that has been loved and been taken cared of for many years, even generations? A plant that has had a real chance to grow, get character and beauty. Age and the story that comes with it gives it an extra value in these times of wear and tear. Maybe that's why I find old gardens so fascinating, because what grows there has been around longer than me, sometimes longer than anyone on this planet. It's existence brings the past in to the present.

2011-11-01T01:12:00.000-07:00

Who am I?

Where do I come from?

This Friday night I was about to upload an image, a bouquet of dahlias from the garden, just because of its beauty and nothing more. Back in my head Wonderland manifest echoed, this is not what we aim for. How do I justify the beauty of a bouquet of flowers? Answering the question, my reply would be I deeply care for these plants which where brought to my possession and I do know that they will last for years of my life, either in soil or in a paper bag in a cold dark cellar wintertime. Not only because of their beauty.

Who am I? 

Where do I come from? 

I am Antonin Artaud  

and if I say it  

as I know how to say it  

immediately  

you will see my present body  

fly into pieces  

and under ten thousand  

notorious aspects  

a new body will be assembled  

in which you will never again 

be able  

to forget me.

Antonin Artaud (1896- 1948)

2011-10-24T02:27:00.000-07:00

My little exotica

To follow up on cacti and desire I want to share this picture with you. It always makes me smile. The picture is taken from the lovely Redstone diary of the absurd from 1998.

2011-10-14T00:41:00.000-07:00

I follow

Grassdoe

2011-10-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

Cactus desire

I spent my summer in Sweden consequently not lacking exoticism. These pictures is from the famous cactus garden in Norrköping. My fascination started early, as a kid I loved cacti. Nowadays I've fallen out of love but sometimes I do feel some cactus desire. A few years ago there was a really cool flower shop in Stockholm that only sold "vintage" flowers. Flowers that had a story like "I found it in my garbage room and took care of it for years but my wife hate it". They sold a cactus that had been a lovers gift in the 1920! It gave me some cactus desire, and so did the Norrköping visit.

2011-10-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

We admire: Herbarium

Such a perfect day, we enjoyed this indian summer day by visiting the exhibition "Herbarium" by Gunilla Lagerhem Ullberg at Rosendals Trädgård in Stockholm. We were amazed, Gunilla has created kaleidoscopic images by using pressed petals and flower parts. These images are strong and symmetrical but at the same time it reminds us of something very fragile and sacral. Visit if you have the opportunity, the exhibition is open until 9th of October.

This image is cut

2011-09-27T06:23:00.000-07:00

Manifest

Welcome to Wonderland. The first time we talked about creating a blog we didn't know that we were about to continue our endless conversation about gardening and nature. The same subject we had based our yearly collaborations on. Again, we wanted to illustrate our standing point; that nature is more than natural and earthbound- it is pretty strange and wonderful. So we wrote a manifest to direct our future coming posts. And in order to invite you to Wonderland and its ideas we have already posted two of our previously projects. Enjoy, welcome.

2011-09-26T04:09:00.000-07:00

Transitions

We remember a blooming carpet of spring flowers (winter aconite), cracked windows and broken furniture. The exhibition "Transitions" is a tribute to our childhood and the memories we have from playing in the old abandoned houses down the street.

We wanted to stage these memories in different ways and materials, trying to find the point where it is no longer certain what is what, a piece of furniture or something growing. A quiet battlefield where nature slowly conquers what once was.

Decorated furniture and ink paintings by Malin Bjorklund

Flower arrangements by Sofie Björklund

2011-09-24T08:06:00.001-07:00

Hybrids by Bjorklund

With this exhibition we wanted to explore the boundaries between the animal- and plant kingdom as well as the living and the dead. By using symbolic flowers and objects such as carnations, eggs, grapes and birds we strived to create hybrids.

Both of us are inspired by nature but we don't want to show or depict nature as it is. The paintings and flower arrangements are linked together by the dialog we kept during the creative process.