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Once again – France. Once again I become a traveler with a landscape all my own. This time I’ve discovered “everything in France” is symbol or dream. “Everything in France” I lay before you in these paintings, the distillation of a quintessence of travel. I think of these paintings as religious symbols that should be considered perishable. Please make them your own and quickly! For me art is not a goal, only an occasion. I graze from one occasion to the next. As for a goal? I’d answer the same way we all would, “happiness”- the meaning of life. But let’s think about the grazing. My paintings are always a symbol. They symbolize the unknown, without which the known could not exist. France allows me the opportunity to hold the symbols. I was able to see the landscapes that I present to you this wonderful year- 2008. Karl Krogstad |
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 Pigeon Blanc Solitaire SOLD |
 SOLD |
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 French Countryside |
 Le Cirque de Chien |
 Swiss Festival Drummers |
 The Two WWI Warriors with Gasmasks |
 Paris Window SOLD |
 The Year of Death by Water |
 Peu de Petite Rue SOLD |
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All over the world some form of small artwork called a votive has existed in relationship to religion or religious momentous events. In parts of Western Europe, for centuries, it has been a common practice to have an artist on hand when one's death was imminent. The artist was to capture the moment of transition from the body to the spirit world of the dying person. A later painting might be done if the death was sudden or unexpected. |
 Opedette, France |
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Painter Karl Krogstad My first watercolors were done in 1973 on the Oregon Coast in a little town named Rockaway. In 1977, Penny Walden and I traveled to France where I painted for the second time. This is the story of serious self-taught stuff. The clock rolls forward to find me with my own daughter. The year is 1996. Standing beside me is not Penny. The country is France, once again. Owing to the miracle of sex, a large chunk of Penny was still at my side. We are in an unimaginably beautiful tiny town named Triganace. We stop walking as I see a char near a doorway. I might have said it aloud or maybe I just thought it, but there it was. The chair on that little street was just like the painting that Penny and I had seen back in 1977. That painting was created by George Braque. Penny and I could have bought it for $600. (It was a litho.) We did not have the money. And so now I myself shall paint the chair. It's no Braque -- but it is a great Krogstad! |
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