Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Dala Dreams

My visits to Sweden always include buying one of the traditional Dala (short for Dalecarlian) horses. Painted from little wooden carvings, these creations go back for generations, at least 150 years, and are now widely symbolic of the country. Historically, there were probably made as toys, but were also used as kind of a currency in some rural areas. I love the painted details. They come in many colors, but red seems to be most popular.

I have our Dala horses situated on our front room window sill. Last week on a foggy morning, I felt the larger Dala almost peering out wistfully down the street, thinking of his homeland perhaps. I did a small basic scratch of one to color later...



2 comments:

Julie Clay Illustration said...

I've been drawing these horses too :) They are quite popular as is most Scandinavian stuff at Christmas, I do like them. I sadly have not visited Sweden yet, it's at the top of my visiting wish list, being a Carl Larsson fan for many years now!

Claudia said...

I would love to go to Carl Larrson's house! It was quite a journey from Goteberg, so we did not attempt. It is one big country.

I almost tried a potato print dala horse after seeing you tackle the spuds in your post update!

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