Tag Archives: art

Jens Funder-Nielsen: The H.C. Andersen Artist

4 Replies

Jens Funder-Nielsen has through a life-time been an author and artist of many media. Having grown up in Egernsund he moved to Copenhagen and Esbjerg to study and work, before returning to Sonderborg. We found out about him via a tip off from a friend who has bought some of his works of art to decorate her house. We wanted to learn more, so a quick phone call resulted in an appointment made to visit him in his house a couple of days later.

IMG_20160506_161853

On arriving at his house you can immediately see that the fairytales of H.C. Andersen are some of the things that inspire him the most. The items that had originally caught my eyes were the gold-plated HC Andersen fairytale ornaments. But that is not the only H.C. Andersen-inspired items he makes. There are also paper mobiles and paper cuttings, some of which you can buy and others which you can buy books with patterns to make your own.

Besides books about paper clippings inspired by H.C. Andersen, the 14 books he has published also include decorations for Christmas, table decorations for parties, and mobiles on other themes. Looking through the books the patterns are really detailed and intricate. A work of art in themselves!

His paintings are very colourful, covering many whimsical subjects in a childlike manner. You can see a few of his paintings here and as is to be expected, the local events and landscape are also an inspiration. If you have ideas he might also be open for making some on commission.

If you are interested in his work, do think about going to visit him. Jens and his wife are very friendly people. For many years they have been producing and selling art and books out of their house in Dybbøl. At an age of 81 years Jens is getting on in years so there are no regular opening times. But make a call like we did and you can sort a visit out very easily.

Jens also mentioned that every Christmas they have an open week, so you can also keep your eyes peeled on the local newspapers for more information about that when we get closer to December. His smaller items are perfect for giving as gifts, especially if you have foreign family and friends.

Oh! And just so you don’t say we didn’t warn you! If you visit I can promise you that you won’t allow yourself to leave empty-handed! We left with a small collection of items: some for us, and some to give as gifts.

See Jens Funder-Nielsen’s website for more information.

Hustle and bustle during market days

Leave a reply

Sonderborg Handel is Sonderborg’s chamber of commerce, bringing together the shops and business in the area. One of its main tasks is to draw customers in to the city. And one of the ways this is done is by organising ‘market days’.

There are two main sets of ‘market days’ organised in town. These are the Market Days in June and the International Market Days in July. The Market Days have already happened this year, but you are still in time for the International Market Days!

So what happens?

Well, in the June set of market days the shops all put on offers and make an effort to showcase their products to the customers. However, there is even more than that. What really caught my eye was the ‘kunst telt’ where there were local producers showcasing their crafts. As always, I am particularly drawn at things made of wood. not sure why. Maybe as in Malta wood isn’t used that much except for furniture, considering we have no forests from where to get it!

This year, the Market days also coincided with the Danish-German Music day, where musicians from all over the Southern Denmark and Schleswig Holstein meet to play in a number of locations in one town. And this year, it was Sonderborg. Combine a market day with a music day, and you get a very busy and lively town. Oh, and don’t forget to add sunshine! It really makes me happy to be in Sonderborg on days like that.

So now all that is left is to cross our fingers for good weather in July for the International Market Days. Last year I remember cheese and sweets from around the world. What will there be this year?

porcelain

Get creative at Sonderborghus

Leave a reply

Sonderborghus is one of the main music venues in Sonderborg, hosting a variety of well-known and lesser known Danish and international acts. We have, in fact, already mentioned them on our 99 things to do list for both jazz and rock. However, Sonderborghus offers more than just music, as I came to discover on a ‘girls night out’ with colleagues recently.

What had been a hidden secret to me until very recently is the workshops in the basement of Sonderborghus. There you can get your hands dirty with some glass work (above), pottery or even multi-material creative projects. The amazing thing is that, besides the regular courses on offer, you can also just go down on your own and work at your own pace on your own projects, while getting access to the materials you need for a minor outlay, as well as cheerful guidance from the staff.

This being before Christmas the plan of action was to populate our Christmas tree by making porcelain decorations. This is the first time Michael and I will have a Christmas tree at home which means that I had loads of work to do. With the guidance of two of my colleagues, who had already been on courses there, it was more than easy to do. We could buy the porcelain clay there (50DKK/1kg: this covered all costs, including firing of the porcelain in the kiln, shown below), we had access to a variety of shapes for making decorations, and we also had access to all the tools we needed to make our decorations.

porcelain

In total I used around 500g of porcelain (25 DKK) and made around 50 different items for our Christmas tree, some of which you can see below. Needless to say, our Christmas tree is well populated now! It is good to note that the items are not typically fired on the same day, but we were asked to go pick them up around one week later. So do keep this in mind if you want the items for a specific event.

porcelain

Other than that, the workshops is open on Tuesday and Wednesday 10-22, Thursday 13-18 and Friday 10-15. Do confirm opening hours at the Sonderborghus website, since these may change, or other events may be going on. Other than that – go ahead and enjoy yourselves. Perfect for a family outing or evening out with friends.

Piet Hein: Kuben – Spheres within cubes

Leave a reply

Roundabout art. It seems that where people build a roundabout in Denmark there is an urge to put something in the middle.

One of the better examples of roundabout art is the cube with spheres outside Augustenborg. The sculpture is made by Piet Hein, a scientist, architect and poet who created many interesting things.

On the way to work we pass by it every day and I got curious about it.

The sculpture, called Kuben, was inaugurated in 2008, exactly 20 years after Peit Hein had finished his drawings for it. The artist himself never saw it finished as he passed away in 1996. It weighs 5 tons and stands 7 meters tall. The sculpture is funded by Bitten og Mads Clausens Foundation.

The company contracted to create the sculpture, Royal-Tee, has some interesting photos from the construction and positioning of it. Here is one of showing how the different sections are produced:

Kuben being constructed by the company Royal Tee.

Sculpture Garden by Augustenborg Palace

Leave a reply

IMG_1583

If you walk in front of the baroque palace in Augustenborg you might stumble on a charming garden where you can enjoy art for free.

IMG_1576

Officially it goes by the name of Augustiana Skulpturpark og Kunstcenter Augustenborg but the day I was there the art centre was closed so that is for a future post. But the sculpture garden is worth a visit in it’s own right.

IMG_1570

The sculpture garden is the second largest of it’s kind in Denmark and is home to about 100 sculptures. It moved here from Fyn together with the gallery owners Mette Buhl and Uffe Larsen.

IMG_1572

The park sits in gorgeous setting at the edge of a forest right on the water by Augustenborg Fjord and with the palace in the background. A beautiful setting and a great place for a walk any time of the year.