Petra takes up residency
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THE sun streams into the studio at Creative Spark where artist Petra Berntsson is working for the next three months as artist in residence.
The Swedish-born artist, who has made Ireland her home for the past 23 years, is thrilled to be back creating art as she spent the last two years completing a MA in Art & Research Collaboration at the Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dublin.
At the time, she welcomed the break from the pressure of creating paintings which would appeal to buyers, but now she is returning to making art with a renewed enthusiasm.
She grew up surrounded by paints, as her father and grandfather worked in decorative painting in Gothenburg, and she started her own business making traditional organic paints when she moved to Dundalk in 1995.
After the birth of her two children, she turned to fine art painting, working from home and building up a reputation which has seen her work held in private and public collections. She has also exhibited widely throughout Ireland and the UK as well as in New York and Sweden.
Her work is informed by the landscape of the Cooley peninsula as well as her native Sweden, particularly the coast. Fishing boats, seaside cottages, humble farmsteads, and domestic still life arrangements sing of the simple pleasures of life in a palette of crisp colours.
For her residency, Petra is looking forward to returning to the artistic expression of the topic which formed the basis of her research for her MA which explored the concepts behind boat building and our relationship with the sea.
‘I never studied art when I was young and that was why I felt it was right to go back to education and do the MA,’ she says. ‘I liked the idea of the course, the collaborative aspect as it can be quite isolating working in a studio in the countryside.’
She left her paintbrushes aside while doing the MA, working instead in video, sound and writing in collaboration with UK-based artists Jane Pitt and Colin Glen.
She travelled up to Dublin for lectures once a week during the two-year programme but spent many many more hours working on her research project.
‘It was a lot of work, very intense and more challenging that I had expected but I enjoyed working with other artists and taking a break from painting.’
As part of her residency Petra is now hoping to create new works inspired by the Co Louth coastline and maritime heritage.
Going back to the 18th century, she says her ancestors would have been boatmen in the waters which surround the Swedish islands where her family still live and which she visits regularly. This may explain her fascination with the sea.
‘I hope to go cockle fishing with the fishermen in Annagassan next month and also to explore parts of the coastline that is lesser known, and to make work out of these experiences.’
She is also looking forward to learning print techniques in the print studio at Creative Spark.
‘My own studio here has already given me some much needed space and time to reflect on my creative practice,’ she says.
Petra led the activities for National Drawing Day in Creative Spark recently and will also host a public talk during the summer.
She will be taking part in the annual exhibition in the Basement Gallery in August featuring work by the artists who have completed residencies at Creative Spark during the past year along with members of the print studio.