Nina Johansson

There is a lot of snow in Stockholm right now. A lot. Some say more than it´s been in the last thirty years. The day before yesterday the underground gave up because of the cold, along with the commuter trains, which of course strikes hard on a city like Stockholm. Some people got angry, others got dressed and started walking.

I didn´t draw this from life, -16° C is below the limit for my fingers. I took a reference photo while walking to a station where they said the underground to town might work. Cold, yes, but it was an incredibly beautiful winter´s day.

17 x 11 cm, Uni pin fine line and watercolours on Fabriano Rosapina paper (sketchbook page).

Before all the Christmas joy begins, I want to tell you how things went with Aspudden public bath, that I have posted about before. (If you missed the earlier posts, they can be found here, here and here.)

The struggle to save the bath continued outside the building after the police ended the occupation. People demonstrated, formed a Bath group to raise money, held meetings, went to Municipal government meetings trying to talk to politicians – you name it, they did it. The bath and the demonstrations around it have been mentioned in both local and national newspapers and TV news, but to no avail. The politicians would not listen, and the demolition started from inside the bath, with police guarding the outside.

On the night between Dec 9 and 10, the demonstrations to save the bath were called off. The cars parked in the middle of the street outside, to prevent the excavators from reaching the bath, were moved. At midnight a large number of people from Aspudden (including myself) marched past the police guards to lay down roses in front of the bath. A very sad moment, and many of us had tears in our eyes. A few days later the last walls of the building were torn down, and now the site is just a pile of dust and snow.

I don´t often post photos, but I just happened to photograph the bath sign on the 24th of November – which turned out to be the last night the sign was lit. I´m posting it as a little tribute to a bath that was in use the whole time from 1919 to a few months ago.

Big cities can seem so anonymous sometimes, and the people living there a bit jaded, and you often get a feeling that no one really cares what happens around them. But in this case both old and young – ordinary people! – stood up for their beliefs. In the process, a lot of people got to know each other and I know Aspudden is a few degrees warmer now, in spite of the snow. I am so proud to live in a community where people care about their surroundings and are ready to give their time and efforts to try to change things for the better.

15 x 13,5 cm, ink on Fabriano Rosapina paper (sketchbook page).

I ran some errands in town this afternoon, and took a break in a café at Odengatan, where this girl was studying (”plugga” in Swedish) something very intensely.

I couldn´t help but trying to capture her on paper, it is so rare with people who sit still when you try to draw them!

Some news here on the blog: I have been trying to figure out how to get threaded comments to work, so I can answer the questions I get in the comment section in a neat way, and it seems I´ve solved it! So if you pose questions to me, please don´t forget to check back for an answer!

7 x 11 cm, Lamy Safari with Noodler´s Lexington grey ink and watercolours on Fabriano Rosapina paper (part of a sketchbook page).

A text message and a massive explosion of fireworks outside our kitchen window woke me up at 06.00 this morning. The police was down at the old public bath here in Aspudden, and the action group trying to save the bath from destruction wanted everyone´s attention. A little crowd of people gathered outside the bath when the police ended the 59 days of occupation. They emptied the building, sealed all windows and doors with sheet metal, and put up a fence around it. And just to make sure no one would try to save the house again, they pointed a flood light at it, and placed two guards outside.

What a waste of people´s efforts in trying to make their community a better place, and what a waste of historical value – the bath has been around since 1919! The responsible politician has never set her foot in this place, even though this matter has been discussed for almost two years now. I suppose travelling six kilometers from City hall is too much to ask to have a meaningful dialogue with the people you represent.

This has been in the national television news today, and in the morning papers. If nothing else, I hope this opens the eyes (ears!) of politicians who forgot to listen to ordinary people.

I wrote and drew about this before, here and here (and the same drawings were also posted at Urban Sketchers).

Oh, and if you want to see some actual photos of this place, check out excellent news photographer Lars Epstein´s blog posts about this subject, he has covered it over a period of time:
Nov 25 (evening)
Nov 25 (day)
Nov 21 (Aspudden public bath festival)
Nov 13 (oppositional politicians show their support)
Nov 8 (art barricade)
Sept 29 (the bath is occupied)
Sept 4 (about decision to tear down the bath)

Top drawing: 16 x 17 cm, Uniball eye pen and watercolours on Fabriano Rosapina paper
Black and white drawing: 14 x 9 cm, Uniball eye pen and Copic marker on same paper.

I wrote about Aspudden public bath here in Stockholm in an earlier post. In short, the local politicians want to tear it down, most of the people in Aspudden don´t.

A little update on the latest development: Since the 28th of September the bath has been occupied by people living in Aspudden, to guard the building from destruction. The pool is empty – a sad sight – but the bath is very much alive anyway. All kinds of folks from the neighborhood – adults, teenagers, children, parents, elderly – are there all day round. The door is open, the coffee is hot, and people come visit to show their support.

We´ll see what happens, so far the politicians have been quiet.

16 x 19 cm, Lamy Safari with Noodler´s Lexington Grey ink and watercolours, on Fabriano Rosapina 220 g printing paper.

It´s been quiet here for a while, I had to make an unplanned journey to my old hometown Umeå. Unfortunately I didn´t have much time for drawing up there, but waiting for flights at Arlanda and Umeå airports gave me some excellent opportunities to take the sketchbook out of the bag and get some People Practice. I need it badly…

13 x 18 cm, Lamy Safari pens with Noodler´s Lexington Grey, Fox Red and Hunter´s Green ink on no-name sketchbook paper.

This place is within a stone´s throw of my home, and I went to draw it yesterday with sorrow in my heart. The old public bath in Aspudden in Stockholm will be torn down to give room for a new kindergarten. The City made the decision a few days ago, and many people (including myself) are incredibly upset about this. Built 1919, this bath is a pearl, a unique piece of history, offering bathing experiences that you don´t find anywhere else. Or how about a swim and a movie (shown on the wall above the pool), or an all ladies night with candles lit around the edge of the water? And, of course, since the pool is rather small and not so deep, this place is a favorite for families with young kids living in the area.

I don´t know if the last word is said yet about the demolition, the local organisation that runs the bath and the people who use it and love it have been fighting for this place for a long time, and the discussions are lively right now. We´ll see what happens…

Till Stockholmare och andra hugade som vill påverka: gå gärna in på Madeleine Sjöstedts (fp) blogg och tala om vad ni tycker om beslutet:
Kommentera rivningsbeslutet

(The above is a chance for people in Stockholm to comment on the political decision on a Swedish politician´s blog.)

26,5 x 19,5 cm, pencil, Lamy Safari with Noodler´s Lexington grey ink and watercolours on Moleskine Watercolor Folio page.

I finally got around to drawing this place – Hötorgscity in Stockholm, with the five skyscrapers and the fountain. This is the heart of the city, the shopping streets are centered around these blocks, and the Central Station is not far away.

If you are looking for city pulse, street performers, fashion shops and excitement, this is the place to be. For cozy cafés and warm atmosphere I would probably go somewhere else.

28 x 20 cm, pencil, Copic Multiliner SP and watercolours on Moleskine Watercolor Folio page.

This area in Stockholm will soon be torn down to give room for apartment buildings – something Stockholm is always short of. The area where I sit to draw this is a little harbour for private boats, a rough forgotten spot that I suspect will soon be exploited too.

28 x 17 cm, Lamy Safari with Noodler´s Lexington grey ink and watercolours in a Moleskine Watercolor Folio Sketchbook.

A few days ago I took the bike out to an industrial area not far from where we live, and sat down in the shadow behind a parked trailer to paint this old building. For once I had real painting gear with me, and a sheet of proper watercolour paper.

I find so much inspiration in this place, the old buildings, the dirt around them, big vehicles and strange constructions for industrial use… It never ends. And when a painting is done, you bike one block away and find the next fantastic sight to paint.

20 x 20 cm, pencil and watercolours on Saunders Waterford watercolour paper.