Portrettegning fra tenårene, 1973. Tegningen viser en slektning av meg, Odd Grønbeck Nilsen, og ble tegnet i stua hjemme hos ham i Nevlunghavn mens han ser på TV. Da tegningen var ferdig ble den vist til noen slektninger som var samlet i etasjen under. De «gav seg ende over» over portrettlikheten. En onkel av Odd G. Nilsen som var på besøk fra New York fikk latteranfall over likheten og krøllet tegningen brutalt sammen som for å kaste den i søpla. Tegningen ble reddet ut av de amerikanske klørne av en kusine av meg, men fikk noen varige bretter etter den besynderlige «lavkulturelle» reaksjonen. Jeg fant fram tegningen under en ryddesjau i atelieret.
​Odd G. Nilsen døde for en del år siden. Han var professor i menneskelig adferd. 

The Smoker, oil on canvas
Maybe nicotine stimulates «the innovative parts of the brain».
​When man started smoking on a daily basis we got the industrial Revolution.

A granduncle of mine from New York, born in Norway, participated with U.S. troops in three major events during World War 2. First – Operation Husky – the landing of allied troops in Sicily July 10, 1943. Second – Operation Overlord & Neptune – the landing of allied troops in Normandy on D-Day June 6, 1944. And third – The Ardennes Offensive – December 1944.

My granduncle was married to the sister of my grandfather. My grandfather was captured by the Germans in the Antarctica 1941 along with Norwegian whalers, and sent to concentration camp in Germany. He came home later during the war.

His father, my great grandfather, was killed by the Germans in the English Channel in the First World War.

As we are approaching the 75 years anniversary of D-Day, we should remember the heroes of WW2.

​Some facts from Wikipedia:
The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Code-named Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of German-occupied France (and later Europe) from Nazi control, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.

These anniversary posters are available here:
​https://www.redbubble.com/people/artyardacademy/collections/1113147-d-day-anniversary?asc=u

The painting Hippie Van in Snow shows a Volkswagen Hippie Van completely covered in snow. The car belonged to some idealistic hippie-like youths living next door to my studio. They had worked on restoring the car for at least two years. I knocked on their door to warn them about the amount of snow on the roof, advising them to move the vehicle as quick as possible. But they didn't listen. And the roof avalanche came down shortly after, smashing the front window and the cabin, causing another nostalgic year of restorement.