February 29, 2012:
"Also
this week I had the chance while Syster Hill was here to visit some
members and have lunch. Kurt and Gerd Sjöqvist - who are both amazing
artists! She actually went to BYU and James Christensen was her teacher.
They are the mormon artists who made the really neat Tree of Life model
that was in the conference center a couple of years ago. The big model
with lots of color. Really breath taking. Anyways, I felt right at home
when I was there."
March 5, 2012:
"This
has been a week full of music and that has made me very happy. I have
the coolest district ever and before I came here they had planned a
music night with our branch, Uppsala. and Borlänge. The music night was
held on Saturday and we had about 70 people show up!! We had a potluck
dinner and then the music began. We had about 15 different numbers. One
of my favorites was Kurt Sjöqvist. He sang some Swedish folk songs with
his guitar and it reminded me a lot of Dad and Brian´s music. I was
happy."
March 15, 2012:
"One
last thing.. I was looking through my notes that I got from people
before I came here of Swedish people that any of my friends or family
knew. I found one of those and read off the names of Kurt and Gerd
Sjöqvist, friends of Caitlin´s grandparents!! They are the artists that
I talked about a couple of weeks ago. But, I just put two and two
together that they are friends with Donnette´s parents! Small world in
the church."
So cool! It sounds like they are living close to each other, so hopefully they will see each other again soon and Talisa will be able to explain the connection to Kurt and Gerd.
Grandma and Grandpa, do you talk to Kurt and Gerd often? Can you tell us a little about how you got to be friends with them in the comments? So fun to have this connection.
I don't remember what Kurt and Gerd look like. This picture of the aforementioned music night is from Talisa's blog: http://surfingonawildcat.blogspot.com/. Are Kurt and Gerd in the picture?
Yes, Gerd and Kurt are long-time friends. Gerd was my (Grandma's) student in a Humanities class or two. She did the sculpture by our front door as a student here. She and her son, Peter, were with Jeff and Bill in Bologna, Italy when terrorists set off dynamite in the train station, sending all three young men to the hospitals. Gerd has been back to Provo several times and in 2005 they stayed in the basement of the house across the street (the Gruppman's house) for a year. We took them to Christmas Meadows and Kurt painted a picture of the scene from the campgrounds. We visited them in Sweden for a week in 1986 when they lived near Borlaenga. They took us to see Karl Larsens' home and to see some wood carvers work. We talk to Gerd every once in awhile on the phone and correspond by email from time to time. It is great that Talisa has met them. I'll post a photo of them separately.
ReplyDeleteKurt is in this photo but unfortunally with his back towards the camera. He is by the door wearing a pink shirt. One of his sons - Johan - is also in this photo. He's sitting in the back, wearing a blue shirt and having his right side towards the camera. :)
ReplyDeleteHere's a photo of Kurt and Gerd together:
http://i440.photobucket.com/albums/qq125/Frostensdotter/34564_132742090096159_100000811069751_148267_6848973_n.jpg
And regarding this photo.. I was there this evening and it was a great music evening. :)Sister Vistaunet is still here, serving in Gävle and I'm so glad that I've had the chance to get to know her. :)
Seven, thanks! That photo you gave is actually of Kurt and Gerd when they were camping with our family here in Utah! That music evening sounded like a lot of fun. So glad you get to know Sister Vistaunet! Tell her hi for me.
ReplyDelete