READERSVOICE.COM: Do you need to have a personal connection to a place to draw it, like the drawing of the panorama from the hill over your cottage in Stora Korno?

MATTIAS ADOLFSSON: I don’t need a connection to a place to be able to draw it, but it helps, and Stora Kornö is wonderfully picturesque; this makes drawing easy.

RV: Did you draw the whole picture there, or did you take a photo or finish the drawing later?

MA: I like to draw on place; when drawing from a photo I feel more locked.

RV: What sort of pens and paper did you use to draw things, like the old fishing houses in Stora Korno?

MA: The pen is a reservoir pen from Mont Blanc, the paper is fine grain aquarelle paper.

RV: Your father is from Stora Korno, and I was wondering how the town has changed over the years. What made you buy a cottage there?

MA: My father was of the last generation who lived on Stora Kornö; now it’s only inhabited summer time.

But most of us who have houses on the island are connected to the people who used to live on the island.

The island has not changed much in the last 100 years; the people living there like to keep the genuinity of the place alive.

When my father passed away my sister and I took over his small house (or bungalow as we call it).

RV: What was life like for your parents when they were growing up, and what were their towns like? Where is your mother from, and how did your parents meet?

MA: As I understand it, both my parents had a very happy childhood.

They grew up just after the Second World War, and as Sweden was spared the war, the economy was good and there were a lot of kids.

My mother was born in Täby just outside Stockholm.

My parents met at the steering deck of a fishing boat called Eros, very romantic indeed.

RV: Why did your mother choose to live in Sigtuna?

MA: My mother wanted a more quiet place to grow old in.

My sister and her family live there as well.

RV: What’s it like there, and do you always draw places you visit?

MA: Sigtuna is one of (if not the) oldest cities in Sweden and very beautiful.

No, I haven’t done this so much yet, but now when the kids are growing up there will be more time for this, I’m sure.

RV: How often do you go for walks and draw things, and what sort of places do you go to?

MA: This is something I’d like to have more time for, but at the moment I draw a lot of things from my imagination.

I’d like to be able to focus on walking and drawing as well.

RV: With the church in Lysekil painting, can you describe the steps you took to draw and paint this, and the sort of paint you used?

MA: I wasn’t that satisfied with the line drawing so I decided to wash it – that is, using the ink from the pen to colour it.

RV: How much time do you spend on making linoleum prints? Do you prefer drawing?

MA: I have not made a linoleum print since I left school (HDK). I’d like to take up this and a lot of other techniques, to alternate with the drawing.

RV: What are some of your plans?

MA: I’d like to be able to get more time to focus on my artistic side.

I’m preparing for an exhibition in Göteborg this fall; I’m also planning on searching galleries for exhibitions abroad.

The ultimate goal would be to live off my art.

– Check out Mattias Adolfsson’s ink drawings at his blog www.mattiasa.blogspot.com and at www.mattiasadolfsson.se

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