Kurbits Folk Paintings

Jonah 4:6
And God prepared a gourd, ("kurbits," in Swedish,) and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.

Kurbits painting, (also known as Dalmålnings or Dala painting,) is a distinctive form of Swedish folk art painting, (circa 1750-1850,) with imaginative fantasy plants, and the paintings frequently depict religious motifs in local settings and folk dress.  Each parish had their own distinct style, but shared many similar design concepts.

"Jonah Sat East of the Town of Nineveh and a Gourd Grew Over Him.”
Snarf Anders Andersson, (1795 - 1850) Ullvi, Leksand.  Sweden.

Her Blacks Crackle and Drag

"The moon has nothing to be sad about,
Staring from her hood of bone.
She is used to this sort of thing
Her blacks crackle and drag."
--- Sylvia Plath, "Edge"

ARTIST NOTES:
Sylvia's hand rests on the curtain cord as she readies to pull. Her back is turned from the life force of God, and on the table she has laid out bread and milk for her children as they sleep peacefully in the next room.

The last poem Sylvia Plath wrote, (or at least the last one found on her desk,) before she took her life, was “Edge.”  I read it about 12 years ago when I was muddling my way through postpartum depression.  I kept mumbling the final phrase, "Her blacks crackle and drag,”  over and over, like a doleful Rainman.  I liked the imagery of big black velvet curtains slowing drawing to a close, dragging along the stage, creating static which crackled, and then the curtains closed, the show was over, end of story.

I pushed it out of my head for a few years, until Paul Westerberg wrote a tune titled “Crackle and Drag.”   My doleful mumbles returned, and I painted this in a desperate attempt to make it all go away.  I hang this painting above my fireplace to remind me that things can always be worse. 

ABOUT THE PAINTING:
Casein and acrylic on canvas board. 24" high and 18” wide.
NFS

Ted Gathers No Moss

Poet Ted Hughes carries a traditional Swedish grave marker, which he plants in a bed of burial stones.
 

ARTIST NOTES:

Ted was a rolling stone, a cad, a notorious philanderer who caused great pain to many.  His wife Sylvia Plath, (the kurbits on the right,) killed herself in 1963, and his mistress Assia, (the kurbits on the left,) killed herself, along with their young daughter, (small sprout on left,) in 1969.    

ABOUT THE PAINTING:
Casein and acrylic on canvas board. 24" high and 18” wide.
NFS

I Am a Wormy Hermit

"I Am a Wormy Hermit in a country of prize pigs so corn-happy they can't see the slaughterhouse at the end of the track."
--- Sylvia Plath, "Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams."

ARTIST NOTES:
Painted during a time personal and economic depression:  Ponzi  schemes, banking bailouts, unabashed corporate greed.  I know I should have cared more, but a dark gnarled mass of ugliness coated my insides.  I could barely leave my room without crying from overwhelming anxiety.   The times I did make it to the outside world, I looked around and hated every single "shiny," person I saw.  You know the type, all showered and make-upped, size 6 Ann Taylor outfit, and always sportin' a new faux handbag.   They speak as though they are constantly updating their bloated Christmas card, "Johnny loves the 'gifted and talented' program at school, and Susie is the star player on every team."  Me?  Most days I strive for mediocrity.  Other days, I just try to not fuckin' lose it in the grocery store again, a primary source of my anxiety/panic attacks.        

ABOUT THE PAINTING:
Casein and acrylic on canvas board. 24" high and 18” wide.
NFS

"Don't be no yes man, no get by."

olk

My great aunt Mary lived on LaFond Avenue in St. Paul, and we'd drive past Tiger Jack on our way to visit her every weekend.   He always smiled and waved his bony, crooked finger at me.  (Boxing injury perhaps?) One time Mary and I walked to his shop, I bought Juicy Fruit gum and Tiger Jack asked me if I behaved myself at school.       

ARTIST NOTES:  
Tiger Jack waves near his bench and bible. His wife Nurceal and nine children are nearby.    
    
 Here is a video of Tiger Jack made by sixth graders at Capitol Hill School. 


ABOUT THE PAINTING:
Casein and acrylic on canvas board. 20" high and 16” wide.
NFS

Min Cherry

Min Cherry is Swedish for, "My Cherry"

ARTIST NOTES:  
A copy of the first original canvas painting I ever sold.  No story behind this one really, I just made it for pretty.

ABOUT THE PAINTING:
Casein and acrylic on canvas board. 20" high and 16” wide.
NFS

Mary Greets Elizabeth, (after Kers Erik Jonsson)

"When Mary entered the house of Zechariah, and greeted Elizabeth, the baby leaped in Elizabeth's womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb" (Luke 1:41-42).

ARTIST NOTES:
This is based on a traditional Swedish kurbits painting by Kers Erik Jonsson, 1812-1852, from the Leksand parish in central Sweden.
 
ABOUT THE PAINTING:
Casein and acrylic on canvas board. 20" high and 16” wide
NFS