Archive: this feature describes a Buxton Museum project in 2020.
Swedish artist Martin Olsson worked in cartooning and illustration. Before the pandemic, he ran regular workshops at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery where he showed people how to have fun with illustration. In 2020 he took part in the museum’s Arts Council-funded Made in Lockdown project.
The project invited local artists and groups to create work during lockdown. Martin produced a picture of Buxton during the pandemic, featuring local landmarks and scenes, and a series of drawing guides.
The 2020 report said the painting was displayed in the museum foyer and described twenty drawing worksheets shared on the museum’s Facebook page. The museum has since moved to a temporary home next to Buxton Library; check with the museum about current displays.
Like us, you’re probably wondering where he found the inspiration for his maniacal montage of pandemic pandemonium?
The 2020 profile said Martin had worked as an artist and cartoonist since 1991. He studied animation as a student in Dublin in the mid 90s and went on to work in the field in 1999. He moved to Buxton in 2002 and embarked on a period as an abstract painter. In the early days of Buxton’s The Green Man Gallery, Martin was the chairman, becoming increasingly more involved with the town’s vibrant art scene. It said he had started illustration workshops in the preceding years. “My default setting is to draw as a 12-year-old”, he explains. “I think I use painting as a way of dealing with the world. I used humour in my cartoon work. I want to make people laugh when they see my artwork – so I hope I’ve done that with the painting I’ve created for this project for Buxton Museum”.
You may also be wondering about the process involved in producing a work like this. We asked Martin: “It probably took me one month, approximately, and I decided to approach it in the same way that I made drawings when I was a child: a horizon, a large ground area, and water at the bottom. In this approach perspective hardly matters, only the full and busy contents, as this is what creates a response in the viewer, and contents tells the story. I decided to add landmarks – Buxton is full of them, and weave in the virus as well. When I worked as a cartoonist in the past the challenge was to mix a message with characters and often a commentary from myself upon the goings on in the picture as this relates to the world around us. I added The Grim Reaper, the virus itself and people fighting said virus. So there was a bit of planning. Once I had picked the landmarks and chosen what creatures and people to include, it was just a question about sitting down and paint!”
Speaking in 2020, Martin reflected: “The painting and the drawing sheets are a way of ‘building a bridge’ to the creative hub of the museum”. “If the painting makes people happy and smile then that’s great. I was so grateful when Buxton Museum manager Ros Westwood asked me to be part of the project; the grant money was very welcome too. Artists and the creative industry have been hugely hit by the pandemic and lost so much work so it’s humbling to know that the museum wanted to help local artists in whatever way they could”.
Follow Martin on Instagram for his artwork and updates.
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