Oft times these blogs start with a discussion of the colonial past of a country and every now and then we come across one that was neutral. Alas, Sweden was once known as the Swedish Empire and had colonies in the Caribbean, Africa and a few other spots. The idea was to grow their own sugar cane and coffee to avoid paying the mark-up prices from the other empires. Who knew coffee and sugar played such a big role in shaping humanity. Like most Scandinavian countries Sweden has one of the highest quality of life, Norway usually held that record until being overtaken by Switzerland recently in the human development index. Fun fact, Canada used to be number one in that index until 2000. Lets not get too political, eh? Researching Sweden revealed two major types of landscapes, flat grasslands, or rugged mountains. There were a lot of lakes too. Using google maps, I was also impressed with how many panoramas had been uploaded in Sweden, they must really like google map view. The painting features a rocky field with tufts of grass, and the 'screen saver' scene in the background including snow-capped mountains and a reflective lake. Ready for a selfie anyone?
World Inspired Landscapes: Sweden, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2025
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