Vildhjärta

The reason we went to visit Sunne was to have lunch before we went to a very special place in the woods between Sunne and Grums. We had booked a visit to the Tortanforest, close to Brunskog to visit the world of the artist of Vildhjärta. (I apologise in advance for the photo bomb)

This is a very special place, created by the couple living in the house you see behind us. You are invited to visit their kitchen garden, the workshop of Vildhjärta herself, and the "sculpture trail" they have created in their forest.
We started in the forest:

I loved the cunning and subtle humour of her sculptures. A lot of play on words and meanings, so I'm afraid it doesn't translate all that well. The girls walked fairly quickly through this part as they admit they didn't get many of the jokes.
Here "På Y-fronten intet nytt":

"Äggstock":

There was so much to admire and explore. The sculptures were placed on the ground, in the trees, both high and low. We walked slowly because we were busy looking all around to try and spot it all.

"Käppar i hjulet":

"En skänk från ovan":

"En glad skit":

This was such an incredible experience, and I was so happy we got to share this together. We even had sunshine and beautiful weather, so of course that also helped making it all magical.  

"Den förlorade kontakten med naturen":

"Trädkramare":

"Pinnviner":

One of my favourites, "Jag protesterar mot all skit" - I protest against all bullshit. Look at the face on this one, love it!

Towards the end of our walk, we reached the workshop of Vildhjärta herself, in the middle of the forest. She creates all of her artwork by collecting sticks that inspires her. Sometimes she paints them, adds other stick, burns the wood or manipulates them other different ways to create her clever creations.

Her name is Maria Westerberg, and she makes a living from her art. She calls herself a writer, a poet, an artist and a stickcollector.

Her and her husband Johannes also work with their forest, to ensure the balance of the biodiversity there. They have amongst other things, by hand, replanted over 2600 deciduous trees!
Vildhjärta works here in her workshop with the view over the forest. She makes her sculptures, and writes her own kind of 'Facebook'. She showed us her over 50 notebooks with drawings, texts and thoughts.
My absolute favourite of her creations was this one - "Grow some balls motherfucker"!

We ended up having a long chat with her, about her work, her art, their story and so on. She was so passionate, I don't know if I have ever met anyone like her before. I was in complete awe. She was also genuinely interested in us, and the conversation just flowed. I could've stayed all day.

But I must admit, by this stage of our visit, I had so many feels that I had to step outside for a bit and collect myself. I couldn't contain all the emotions, I was in complete sensory overload.

The forest walk ended in the little shop, and I couldn't get there fast enough. I knew I HAD to bring a piece of Vildhjärta and her forest home with me, as a memory of this day and all the feels. 

I bought one of her books filled with her texts and thoughts, and also a small stick-sculpture, that will get prime place on my desk.

The girls were patiently waiting for us as we got out of the forest.

But we still had to visit the beautiful kaleyard.

And we were also invited to enjoy some 'fika' under one of their big trees.

What an afternoon!
An experience like no other, that moved me to my core.