from herds of Jylland Danes to questionably legal swimming and golden hour towers
Day 008
My first complete weekend in Denmark consisted of traveling with my host family to their annual family reunion in Jylland, the main landmass of Denmark that connects the country to Northern Germany. Friday night to Sunday Morning was filled with many boisterous, tall Danes, herds of tiny shy Danes, delicious pork sausages, and classic dice games. The experience was thrilling, almost everyone there spoke English very well, but it was also overwhelming to live in a single bunkhouse with 40+ people I had never met before while I was still adjusting to existing on the other side of the Atlantic. So when my host dad asked me if I wanted to go with him to see a cool building, I jumped at the opportunity.
With zero expectations, I got in the car, not quite sure where we were going -my Dansk still isn’t good, so the Danish names of buildings and towns still go in one ear and out the other. When we got there, however, I was not disappointed. Our destination was the Vadehavscentret, or The Wadden Sea Center, a beautiful contemporary building serving as the gateway to The Wadden Sea, a stretch of coastline marked as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its ecological importance. The building’s facade is primarily made of straw, a sustainable throwback to traditional Dansi thatched rooves, and the subtle form and materiality of the building really allow the understated Wadden Sea to shine. To capture this, I limited my drawing of the building to pencil and used watercolor for the colorful landscape and its reflection in the building’s windows. Due to my focus on reading about birds and petting the tidal pool fish while in the actual building, this sketch was done later that day off a photo.
Day 009
This was my last day of cavorting with the Danes in Jylland. The weekend had its ups of playing cards and socializing and its downs of feeling awkward and intrusive, but overall it was an experience that I felt privileged and honored to partake in. The small bunkhouse near Gaston Stov was tucked away in the woodlands and fields of Jylland, but it was also filled with familial love and joy. Before I left, I snapped a quick picture of the scenery near an outdoor sleeping shelter. Later in the evening, after arriving back in Copenhagen and taking a lengthy nap, I did this simple watercolor. The colors are not that bold, nor is the landscape monumental, but it was beautiful and reminded me a great deal of the southern Minnesota river valley I call home.
Day 010
My first full week of classes began with a good deal of Studio homework that I did not d over the weekend. The site for my current project is along the harbor near Nyhavn. The brief is to build a public bath that allows people to lounge, swim, and launch kayaks. For Tuesday, I needed to do some light site analysis, a precedent study, and a diagram of the “soul” of the site. But when I got there, all I really wanted to do was take a dip. The harbor is a monumental part of life in Copenhagen. Tourists ride tour boats, kayak, and visit iconic spots. Locals go for a quick swim before and/or after work. It shapes the form of the city and the way people interact with nature. But I had yet to be formally introduced to it.
Anticipating this inclination towards the water, I had worn my swimsuit underneath my clothes, so I found the pier near our site where I had previously seen folks swimming, stripped down, and took a dip. It wasn’t a hot day, maybe 60-65 degrees Fahrenheit, but the water was still warm from the summer, and after initially having the breath knocked out of me, the water was perfect. I am not a strong swimmer, but finally being in the water I had biked over for a week and a half felt like when you finally say “hej” to that person you share three classes with and instantly become friends. I had unlocked a new part of the city and had taken one step away from “tourist” and toward “resident.” Plus, swimming is pretty fun. I knew the water had to be the subject of my daily sketch, so later that day, I tried to capture the light on the water from one of my photos of the harbor.
Disclaimer: after talking to harbor officials for class since then, I have concluded that this was probably not an official bathing area and my taking a dip was most likely not-entirely-legal. While I strongly recommend that you make swimming a priority for your next trip to Copenhagen, stick to the proper channels (or at least only swim where other people are swimming) because you can be ticketed.
Day 011
Tuesdays are busy class days for me and I didn’t get much sleep the night before. So this is just a quick Plein air sketch of the corner of Vestergade, the street where all my classes are. It was fast and messy, but it gave me a chance to finally include a bike in my drawing. There will probably be a blog post in the future about how having a bike in Copenhagen has allowed me to channel the rebellious 16-year-old that I never was.
Day 012
The day of my first study tour! Every Wednesday is free of regular classes at DIS. Instead, they are used for 3-4 hour class study tours where you go on a class trip to an area in or near the city to supplement your education and have some fun! On this particular Wednesday, I had a tour with my Urban Design Journal Class – a class which thus far has been us walking around drawing things. It is probably my favorite class so far. We went to the Fredericksburg gardens to say hej to elephants and draw some plants, shadows, and views. It was a great day and I was mildly to pretty proud of some of my drawings, but it left me more tired than I expected. After the tour, I sat in the courtyard near our classroom. To me, this space is classic Copenhagen in that it is picturesque, serene, and I never would have guessed it existed from the street. I only used charcoal and pencil in class, so I wanted to focus more on color for this Plein air sketch. It didn’t turn out great, but it was a relaxing time after class, and I hope to return to this space for some redemptive, future drawings.
Day 013
I don’t know which building this is. I should probably find out. All I know is that when some fellow student media team members and I passed by, the color it had in the golden hour light made us all stop and stare.
I typically withdraw when I am in new stressful situations. It is easy for me to find a safe space and stay there instead of leaning into new experiences. In Denmark, I have been very willing to go out and explore on my own, but I typically haven’t ventured out much after 6. I feel very safe in the city, but I have been trying to respect the significance of family dinners with my hosts and if I relax for an hour after dinner, it seems too late to go out again. Most of my experiences in Copenhagen have been strictly during business hours. But after the student media team kickoff picnic, a group of us stayed in the city into the night, chatting in a square near a fountain and walking past towers during golden hour. So this sketch, done after getting back home, is a reminder to get out and see Denmark in all different types of light.
Day 014
Danes know how to occupy a city. Part of this is the urban design of Copenhagen, but it is also the mindset that the city belongs to people. Most cafes in the city center are small and rely heavily on outdoor seating along the street. Part of the city’s liveliness is the people constantly eating and socializing on the smaller streets, including next to Pisserenden 8, where I got a coffee before studio on Friday. While I enjoyed my caffeine, I did a quick sketch of my cup and the flowers on the table where I was sitting. I tried something new with this drawing; I did a quick pen and ink sketch of it in person and then added watercolor to it later from memory. It was a fun exercise of cooperation between my past and future self and it created an experience that involved more reflection and personal trust. It is a simple composition, but to date, it is one of my favorite sketches so far, and it was a perfect way to close out the week.
A Dose of Denmark 