FIRST GENERATION: GRANDMOTHER OLGA

Grandmother Olga in the winter garden (Stengården) at Lysholmen (outside Gothenburg) many years ago. Have a look at Lysholmen (below) and listen to grandmother Olga play the piano at the same time.

Olga was born 1890 in New Mexico, grew up in Florida and married her husband Folke when only 18. They met in Brussels/Paris where he romantically proposed on the Eiffel tower. She had no idea how children were conceived, and by the time she was 32, she had had eight children. She had many artistic talents, too, as shown below.

She loved to paint flowers. These are some of her many oil paintings.

She also learned to do Chinese Lacquer work in London. She decorated this chest, but she also had a carpenter make lamps that she decorated with Chinese lacquer work. She found some of her work in antique shops in Gothenburg years later, sold as genuine.

She proudly told me that she could do the pattern free hand.

This mirror goes with the chest as well as the matching chairs below.

OLGA JONSSON 1948

SWEDISH FOLK ART

She was also interested in Swedish Folk Art and made this bridal chest.

She gave it to the Red Cross Lottery sometime in the 1950s, filled with linen. 

My mother was lucky to win it, so it stayed in the family.

The insides of the bridal chest.

Detail of the inside of the bridal chest.

This is a handmade Swedish wooden basket decorated by grandmother.

She used the raising compound (upphöjningsmassa) she used for her Chinese lacquer to make the mushrooms stand out.

More of her Swedish Folk Art decorations.

I loved to spend time with my super-interesting grandmother and she was pleased to see later in life, that I had taken up the tradition of painting Swedish folk Art also.

This was originally a thin wooden ladle, used to put bread into big  wood fired ovens

The charity work gave Olga and her children many opportunities to express their artistic talents. Olga painted and donated a great variety of items to the Red Cross as can be seen above.

Olga Jonsson
Chinese scene painted on the back of glass. Not many of such paintings remain. I have never seen any.
This particular one was broken, but rescued (glued together and framed).