Mick and Brita do have illustration work for sale if you'd like to email them.
In fact they usually have examples of their work on this page. But just now this page
is updated to feature Brita's solo paintings and exhibitions.
Updated September 2007:
Winter Landscapes: Exhibition of new paintings by Brita Granström, Sophie Benson, Paul Gallagher, Ørnulf Opdahl and Dale Atkinson.
9th November – 22nd December 2007
The University Gallery and Baring Wing
Northumbria University
Sandyford Road
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 8ST
UK
www.24hourmuseum.org.uk
Updated July 2006:
"A language beyond words."
Click image to enlarge
If there were an Alternative Turner Prize, devoted this time to what Turner actually did, which was to work outdoors in all weathers (on one occasion being strapped to the mast of a ship during a storm), Brita Granström would have to be a serious contender for it.
A photograph of her in a recent catalogue shows her seated on one of the foothills of the Cheviots, apple-cheeked, buffeted by the wind, tucked into her parka as she keenly observes the landscape in front of her. She’s caught in the act of painting, totally concentrated and oblivious to anything else around her, including the cold.
This degree of professional discipline doubtless originates from her education in her native Sweden.
She studied painting first at Örebro and then did a four year post-graduate course in illustration at the National School of Art and Design in Stockholm. Illustration has enabled her to enjoy a distinguished career, ranging from a commission for graphics for the Swedish Pavilion at World Expo 92, to projects
in Kenya as well as a host of award-winning children’s books. Painting however, remains vital to her.
As she puts it, “I need to paint – it feeds me. Painting and illustration feed each other.” This is not an ideological pronouncement, simply a statement of fact, but given the endemic prejudices of the art world, it needs to be said. There are many illustrators who are substantial painters, Daumier, for example, or Heath Robinson, who was a visual poet of real distinction.
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As to how she paints and what she paints, they are, of course, symbiotic. Not by nature given to manifesto pronouncements she would settle, I suspect, for the old “News of the World” slogan, “All human life is there”, to describe her subject-matter. Of Berwick, where she lives, she says, “I love the hustle and bustle of people getting on with their lives in a timeless seaside town – where it always seems to be windy.” In her painting of Berwick Market for example, the buggy pushed by the young mother wearing trainers has a coverlet of blotches of terra cotta and ochre, while the old codger in the middle distance wears an urgently cross-hatched pullover. These are, indeed, “people getting on with their lives” but if supposing a mugger had invaded the scene she would have dealt with that too.
Unlike many of her contemporaries, she has no programmatic, politicised view of society. Nor is she in the business of making socio-political documentaries or entering the dark dystopian world of her compatriot Henning Mankell: what happens, happens and she deals with it.
The clearest evidence of her sustaining philosophy, however, lies in the way in which she handles paint. In its directness it is reminiscent of the late Winifred Nicholson: a wash is applied here, a patch of
sky is laid in there, while percussive marks establish light, fronds of leaves or a ploughed field (you
can almost work out which brushes she has used by the vigour of the marks she makes). Whether her subject is of people, landscape, or a bowl of flowers in front of a window, the underlying purpose is always the same: the energy of nature finds its equivalence in sweeps and scribbles of paint, shapes
and colours which together encompass a myriad of feelings. In this language beyond words one
senses nature burgeoning, decaying and indefatigably renewing itself. In a world damaged by violence and antinomianism, Granström’s painting is an art of affirmation and an art of healing.
Shakespeare would have called it an art of "largesse."
William Varley, Art Critic
April 2006
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"She carries with her that priceless gift, the stubborn, hard won skill of drawing from life."
My painting is something I have tended to nurture and keep separate from my book illustration. As a painter I have been described as a 'colourist' and landscape artist, however, I would add to that, and describe myself as a painter of 'people-scapes'.
In my approach to painting I seek out interesting places and with acrylics on large boards I record what I see – on a particular day, at a particular time. I don’t 'add' anything later in the studio environment. I want my audience to get my direct reaction to the 'spirit' of the place; whether it be a lonely beach or a busy Berwick market scene. My paintings are in essence a contemporary observation on a world I love; an interaction of people and a world full of colour. In the fullness of time I hope my work will be seen in a historical perspective, a documentation of our ever-changing way of life.
Brita Granstrom
February 2006
Despite a hectic schedule as a best selling children's illustrator Brita has nurtured her painting and given it time and space; an island of calm in a commercial world of publishers deadlines. Indeed Brita has often said that her painting 'feeds' her illustration work, and, no doubt, vice versa.
Brita paints in two locations; England and Sweden, and the seasonal and cultural contrasts can be seen in her works, "done on the spot and in all weathers", Swedish winter light across ploughed fields; a spring market day in Berwick; the warmth of a midsummer night, or a winter afternoon by the seaside... Whatever she paints, her work is always spontaneous – a reaction to what she sees, hears and even smells.
When you engage with one of Brita's paintings you witness a familiar world, yet you see it through her eyes: positive and vibrant, full of warmth, humanity and ready wit. Brita's heroes include Winifred Nicholson, Ardizzone and Lowrie, and like them she carries with her that priceless gift, the stubborn, hard won skill of drawing from life.
Mick Manning
March 2006
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Brita Granström. New Works. The Exhibition.
18th August – 16th September 2006
The University Gallery and Baring Wing
Northumbria University
Sandyford Road
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE1 8ST
UK
The show is curated by Mara Helen Wood and will run alongside the Matisse exhibition
'Drawing with Scissors'. Contact the gallery for Brita's price list.
www.24hourmuseum.org.uk
E-mail Mick & Brita here.