The Distillery

Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval (15 October 1885 – 13 April 1972) Jóhannes Kjarval is widely considered one of Iceland’s most important artists. Kjarval was born into poverty and worked as a fisherman. He spent all of his spare time drawing and painting and managed to learn basic skills from Ásgrímur Jónsson. When he was 27 years…

Þórarinn B. Þorláksson. February 14 1867 – July 10 1924 (Quick Icelandic language lesson: ‘Þ’ is pronounced ‘th’ as in in ‘theatre’, ‘theodore’ and ‘thought’. ‘ð’ is pronounced ‘th’ as in ‘they’, ‘them’ and ‘that’. Ó as in ‘snow’ and ‘fro’ and á like the ‘ou’ in ‘shout’ and ‘cloud’) Iceland is an isolated place,…

Caspar David Friedrich September 5, 1774 – May 7, 1840 Caspar David Friedrich was a Romantic painter born in Greifswald on the Baltic coast. As a small boy, Friedrich was involved in a terrible tragedy, which left a burden on him for the rest of his life, leaving him in a state of deep and…

As you’ve probably noticed by now, if you know me or have read my blog before, I really like art. I’ve always had an interest in making art, ever since I was a small child. This is a passion I forgot about as I was growing up, only recently rediscovering it. But one passion I…