Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 4/7/24 Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 4/7/24

Exhibition in Stockholm

“Wind from the sea” (2023), watercolor on paper 106x76cm

Im happy to announce that my second solo exhibition at gallery Agardh and Tornvall in Stockholm will take place this spring. The opening is 13. April from 13:00 to 16:00 at Sibyllegatan 65, Stockholm. The exhibition will contain several new watercolors with birds and landscapes from the coast as the main theme. You can read more at the home page of the gallery: https://agardh-tornvall.se/aktuell-utstallning/

Welcome!

Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 7/6/23 Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 7/6/23

Exhibition in Torekov

The 15.-21. July I will have a solo exhibition in Torekov, southern Sweden. The show will be in the “Little Gallery” in the centre of beautiful Torekov at the tip if the Bjäre peninsula - an area of beautiful landscapes, and with an interesting birdlife. I will show several new watercolors of birds and landscapes that I have worked on the last months. Hope to see you there!

Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 4/20/23 Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 4/20/23

Solo Exhibition in Fredrikstad

Im happy to announce that I will exhibit at Galleri Klavestad in the old town Gamlebyen in Fredrikstad, Norway from 5.-21. May 2023. The opening will be between 19:00-21:00 the 5. May. The exhibition will contain watercolors of birds and landscapes from the last year

Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 8/19/22 Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 8/19/22

Solo Exhibition at Agardh och Tornvall, Stockholm

Im happy to announce that I will have my first exhibition in Stockholm in September. The exhibition will be at Agardh and Tornvall, a gallery with long traditions of exhibiting contemporary figurative art. The exhibition is open between 1.-24. September and will focus on bird paintings, but also some landscapes.

More information can be found at https://agardh-tornvall.se

Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 7/12/22 Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 7/12/22

Solo Exhibition in Torekov 23.-29. July

This summer I will have a solo exhibition at Galleri Torekov in Skåne. The exhibition will be in Fabrikken Konsthall (the old factory), and I will show birds and landscapes, field sketches and studio work. Welcome between 23. and 29. July (the gallery is closed on Mondays).

Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 4/22/22 Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 4/22/22

Two weeks in the Arctic

I was lucky to spend two weeks studying seabirds in Varanger, Northern Norway. The area is famous for the wintering King Eiders and Stellers Eiders that can be seen in the harbors, but other more common species like the Long-tailed Ducks were also lovely to see. I lived close to a Kittiwake colony at Ekkerøy, and Purple Sandpipers were everywhere. Despite the low temperatures and cold wind, I spent most days outside painting in the snow. This was an interesting experience since the watercolors froze instantly, creating unexpected effects on the paintings. Ofcourse, the circumstances were not ideal, but that is the point of painting in the field for me - I get different results. If my fieldwork looked the same as the studio work, what would be the point?

The Kittiwake colony at Ekkerøy. The sky was constantly filled with birds and sounds of spring. Watercolor on paper 38x56cm

Study of male Stellers Eider in Vadsø. Watercolor on paper 32x50cm

Group of Stellers Eiders in Vadsø. The birds often bend their neck backwards like the Common Eiders do during courtship. The water froze, creating interesting textures in the water. Watercolor on paper 32x50cm

Study of a female Stellers Eider, the painting session was unfortunately disturbed by a sudden snowfall

Male Stellers Eider from the sketchbook. This bird was actively diving, so I had to wait for it to return to the surface before continuing the study

King Eider study from the sketchbook, you can see the ice crystals in the colors

Sketchbook spread with Kittiwake studies

Portrait study of a male Long-tailed Duck, Vadsø harbor

The bird cliffs at Ekkerøy seen from my kitchen window

Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 1/6/22 Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 1/6/22

Solo Exhibition at Soli Brug, January 2022

Im Happy to start the new year with a solo show at Soli Brug outside Sarpsborg, Norway. The exhibition will show mainly landscapes, and opens January 15th. My paintings will be on display in one of the houses on the place, and the other houses will show an exhibition with Thorstein Rittun, and a group exhibition with other norwegian artists. In addition to the art, Soli Brug is a beautiful place with an interesting history - well worth visiting!

Welcome!

Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 11/29/21 Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 11/29/21

Autumn Field Sketches

I spent the end of August and most of September studying birds along the coast. This period is good for seeing migrating waders, but also gulls, and I got the opportunity to paint several species in the field. Not far from where I live is a beach where birds are always present. Good numbers of gulls, ducks and waders rest in the bay, and I use to go there with my telescope and sketchbook just to see what the morning brings. Being on such a location is very productive for me, as there are always inspiring motifs around. It can be anything form a “normal” Herring Gull to a more unusual Caspian Gull or an interesting wader. Regular visits to this location also gives me a better understanding about how the birds move around, since after painting a particular individual, I can often recognize it the next day. It is fascinating to see how some birds stay on the location for several days, while most are only seen once. “There is the one-eyed Caspian Gull from yesterday, he seems to have an injury on the left leg. Maybe that’s why he has not moved further?” or “That must be a new adult Kentish Plover, the one I painted yesterday had not moulted its lesser coverts…”

Here are some studies from my sketchbooks

Study of an adult Dunlin moulting from summer to winter plumage.

Adult Yellow-legged Gull, a surprise to find!

Sketchbook with study of Curlew and Redshank, the subspecies robusta

Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 11/8/21 Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 11/8/21

Birds at Kjelle Wetlands: a one-year project

The finished information board measures 1,5x3 meters

Since the end of 2020 I have been in the process of making an information board over birds at Kjelle Wetlands in Bjørkelangen, Norway. The area is owned by the local school, which now works on restoring the wetland. In addition to increasing the biodiversity in the area, the project also has the goal of improving water quality in the nearby river by leading the water through a natural “filter” - a wetland.

An important part of the project is to make the area accessible to people. The school has therefore made an observation point, where one gets a good view over area. To show what kind of birdlife the wetland could offer, I was asked to paint an information board with around 60 species that regularly appear on the location.

After painting and sketching for several months, the project is now finished, and the printed information board was officially “opened” on October 21st 2021. The size of the board is 1,5x3meters - the biggest I have ever made, and also the biggest I have seen until now. In addition, the local banks had sponsored a Swarovski telescope to be put up beside the board. Now, anyone can come by and enjoy the local birdlife both through the telescope and my watercolors!

Read more about the project and the opening here (in Norwegian):

https://viken.no/kjelle-vgs/aktuelt/storslatt-avduking.120786.aspx

https://www.aurskog-holand.kommune.no/nyheter2/se-fuglelivet-pa-kjelle-engene--ny-fuglekikkingsplass/

Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 7/12/21 Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 7/12/21

Solo Exhibition in Torekov

This summer I will have a solo exhibition at Galleri Torekov in Torekov, Sweden. The exhibition will open at 14:00 on July 17th, and last until July 23rd. I will present watercolors of birds and landscapes, mostly from the area around Torekov, where I have spent some time during the spring and summer to paint for the show.

Hope to see you there!

Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 2/8/21 Axel Emil Thorenfeldt 2/8/21

The Impact of Weather

My studio is comfortable. I have my chair, my desks, lighting, music, heat and coffee - all I need. Under these conditions, I come as far as I can get to having control over the watercolor medium. However, there is something about this comfortable, predictable situation that bores me. Ofcourse I enjoy being able to create exactly what I want, but after some time I have a tendency to dig myself down into a motif or a technique. For me, this is a big part of being creative. I take one step forward, then some steps back, and then forward again - but it is important not to get stuck.

This is one of the reasons why I enjoy painting outside, and particularly in bad weather. When I paint landscapes, I get inspiration from my own experiences. That is why I tend to paint the same landscapes and motifs several times, because they are strong memories of something I have experienced. To avoid getting stuck too long in the same memories, I need to get outside and gain new.

Painting in the field is often so different from painting in the studio, that it feels like starting from scratch. My field paintings rarely become as good as the studio work, but they become something else. When I was in Norway last October, I spent most of the days painting out by the coast. In these cases I normally work in my sketchbooks because they are easy to handle in the wind. As I started putting some color down on a small landscape, heavy rain came in from the ocean and washed the entire painting away. I had to run back to the car with the sketchbook over my head, and was sure everything was ruined. However, looking at the result, I see something new, a certain mood. Not much is left of what I initially painted, but this little study is the most true painting of rain that I have ever made. Maybe it is only true to me because of my memory around it, but who can make a more honest painting of heavy autumn rain, than the rain itself? This is definitely something to bring back to the studio.