Bring your terrible boyfriend on a summer holiday to Sweden
The long days have me thinking about the movie Midsommar and the beauty of folk horror.
Reading time: about 3 minutes
As well as mishaps and murders, the film is notable for its folk art. Midsommar is set in the Swedish region of Hälsingland, which is renowned for beautiful decorated buildings; ordinary people covered the walls of their homes with meaningful imagery.
Artist Ragnar Persson took inspiration from Hälsingemålning for the style of paintings you see throughout the film — Persson’s work has a gory edge, of course. (Check out this Dazed interview).
The Hälsingland paintings had me thinking about decorative art which you live with but is eventually lost to time. This brings me to the lost folk art of pub signs (obviously). I’m interested in the original, practical, medieval pub signs (not the fancy portraits and ships from 18th, 19th, 20th centuries). It was back in the 1100s that it was common to name pubs, and since most people were illiterate, you had to make a sign.
The medieval signs rotted away or vanished hundreds of years ago, but it’s fun to imagine how the average person would draw or paint with little artistic influence other than church murals or maybe a glance in a book.
Why not explore pub sign designs by inventing your own pub? I can already tell I’m going to create a lot of designs for “The Crow & Cryptid”.
If I had my way, pub signs would be made by the same people who create tarot cards. How cool would that be?
Finally…
Here are a couple of culture recommendations:
For more fascinating folk horror, check out the 2021 British film In The Earth - Richard Wells created the art that appears in the movie.
I’m reading Dream State by Eric Puchner; it’s funny, touching, and easy to read in a way that is incredibly hard to write.
Kate Nash has released a pro-trans anthem
And in case you missed it, I’ve finished setting up my shop with prints and postcards: www.nataliebsketching.com
Love the title, and the pub sign idea! 😍