Portugal Collection

 

 

The Portugal collection consists of fruits, plants and sea-creatures that I found in, and on the way to, Portugal.

Finding inspiration for new work always works best when being in new environment. This summer I made a trip with the campervan through France to get to Portugal. My father has a house in the South of France and we spend some time here in the wine-fields and in their garden. They have a beautiful collection of succulents and other plants that I experimented with. 

 

The trip continued to Lisbon where I visited all the local markets to find new fish and an octopus. To me the octopus is one of the most fascinating creatures in the sea, and capturing their beauty has always been very high on my list. They have a beautiful skin texture, crazy colour and their anatomy is incredible.  

Another goal of my trip was to visit a fisherman village and see their craft and work from nearby. In Ericeira I found a small dock with dogs, boats and a some old Fishermans sheds. With broken English I was able to talk with one of them, to understand if they were also catching lobsters. I was at the right place an had to come back the next day. 

 

At 1PM the boats came back from sea and with success - freshly caught lobster and some beautiful fish. What I love about this way of ‘finding’ the creatures for my work - is that first of all, it is always an adventure, and secondly, you are directly buying from a small scale source. And this way contributing to a craft that has history and importance to the local area.