COMMUNIQUE ... editors: Beverley Cairns & Patricia Reimer

PROFILE ____Spring 2012 Nils Goran Bengtsson Artist & Teacher The strong design and colour of Goran Bengtsson’s oil paintings light a room. The rivers seem to gush with exuberance and the trees and flowers to blend in a lyrical unity of sun, sky and water. They speak to his passion for the purity of nature. The dominant place of nature in the Canadian landscape, along with the social equality of the society are what pleases Goran most in his new country, where he is now a citizen. Göran was born and lived most of his life in Sweden: a student, a teacher and a salt water sailor. The nearness of salt water and open skies are what he misses most at his new home in Elora. But he paints the sweet water of the streams, and captures the wholesome inspiration of nature. He is a rather solitary person. Since his youth Göran has been drawing and designing. An early east coast painting series from Sweden focuses o n the sparsely treed red cliffs, the swirls in stone made by the turbulence of the sea. These are close to abstracts, influenced perhaps by the post war Scandinavian purity of design: functional, pleasing to eye, hand and body. Early in life, Göran ’s agronomist father moved the family all over Sweden. At nineteen Göran applied to be an Engineer, but soon realized that was not for him. For many years he drove a taxi in Stockholm, always with his sketchbook ready for quiet moments. In 1958 he married and had two sons While supporting his young family with taxi driving in Stockholm, Göran took his paintings to an art school for assessment and was admitted to evening classes. Within half a year he himself taught at the same school. While his parents discouraged him from the life of an artist which they viewed as impractical, being a teacher was acceptable. In the spring of 1964 Göran applied to the 168 year old Konstfack University College of Arts, Craft and Design in Stockholm, the only school in Sweden where he could earn a certificate to be an art teacher. He continued to drive a taxi on weekends, to paint and even to teach at schools for the disabled and mentally ill during four years of study which led to the equivalent of a Master of Arts degree in the Teachers program in 1968. With solid training behind him, Göran began to teach full time, first at university evening courses and then at the art school of Vasteras Konst Skola, a separate school with a one year course. By this time he was selling his own paintings, but it was difficult to combine the necessary focus and contemplation of painting with the preoccupations of teaching. In 1975 he took the adventurous leap of going to Nairobi, to teach at the Kenya Science Teachers College. There his ingenuity was challenged by the lack of equipment in classrooms, large class sizes and the ever present need for adaptability of teaching materials. His pupils at the Teachers College would face all these in the rural schools of Kenya, which frequently had no electricity, no text books, no science equipment. With Göran they learned to be creative and resourceful. In the summer of 1978, Göran was back in Sweden. Here he taught at the Malmoe Teachers’ College, a part of the prestigious Lund University. But eventually he sought a more hands on and practical position. In 1982 he began teaching at the Gymnasium in Stenungsund as well as at a local secondary. school. Art was a compulsory subject for first year students, and optional in the second and third years. Göran taught here until he retired in the millennium year, 2000. Göran has always been a keen salt water sailor, owning his own yacht and plying the difficult but beautiful coastlines of Kattegatt Bay, the Baltic and North Seas. While on the sail training ship the Havden, a three masted schooner, he met his Canadian wife Judy, who had volunteered onboard as a cook. In 2003 they settled in an ideal log cabin in the Swedish countryside, with a completely furnished, separate art studio, where Göran continued his love of painting. But the isolation and language presented too many obstacles for them, and the couple decided to sell everything and come to Elora, where Judy was known in the community,- a keen gardener and environmentalist. Göran had visited Canada several times previously, and this time he became a Canadian citizen. Göran Bengtsson is a member of the Harris Collective at the Elora Centre for the Arts. He continues to paint in his small studio on Price Street, Elora. His work was exhibited recently at Groves Hospital lobby with EAC’s Art in Public Places and in Redding Connecticut and at the Insights Juried Arts Show. Interview by Beverley Cairns E-MAIL:artistgoran@hotmail.com His website is www.goranbengetssonart.com RETURN TO HOMEPAGE

The newsletter of the Elora Arts Council is published four times a year. It is distributed by mail to EAC members. It is also available at information offices, libraries and numerous galleries and stores throughout the area. The Communique has been in constant publication since the founding of the Elora Arts Council in 1985. Featured in each issue is the Profile of a local artist, musician, performer, or craftsperson in the Centre Wellington area. _____________________

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