Recently I had a chance to be virtually acquainted with Åsa Lind Schrader, a Swede who has been living in Florida, USA for the last 9 years.
How did she get there?
Why, she met her great love of course!
It seems that many of us can relate to moving to a completely different land for love.
But living in America hasn’t made Åsa any less of a Swedish Freak!
Between raising two beautiful children, Åsa is also a Swedish artist.
She makes beautiful pieces great for a child’s room.
And many of these pieces have a dash of Sweden in them.
Including the Pippy Longstocking toy box (yes, Pippy Longstocking is Swedish! That is general knowledge, right?)
She also did an amazing pot plant for the Royal Swedish Wedding (will there be one for the newborn?)
All of her work can be seen and purchased on her Etsy shop which is properly named SwedeArt!
I was lucky enough to be able to interview Åsa and found out that she really is still a Swedish Freak!
Where abouts in Sweden are you from?
I’m from Helsingborg, Sweden
How often do you go back to Sweden?
I go back every year, at least once. It’s getting harder and harder though now that I have 3 kids…
Do you speak Swedish at home in Florida?
Yes, I only speak Swedish to my kids and they understand everything but they usually answer me back in English.
What do you miss most about Sweden?
I miss my family and of course some of the Swedish foods. Sometimes people send me candy and stuff, nom nom!
I miss Swedish cheese too and sometimes I try to bring it from home when I visit. It’s just different, you know? My family and friends send me “lösgodis” which is just a mix of different candies and licorice & chocolates.
At home I usually drink Swedish coffee (zoegas). It’s made in Helsingborg and I just love it, so my dad alsways brings a suitcase full of it with him when he visits.
What is something very Swedish your family does in Florida?
We have a small Swedish “club” and every year we get together and eat “semlor” in a park, we also celebrate Christmas on the 24th, we take our shoes off in the house, and I always offer people coffee when they come to my house .
We try to watch as many Swedish movies as possible, and I read Swedish books. I love the “Änglagård” movies and of course all the “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” trilogy.
I also enjoy the Wallander series, even my husband likes those, it’s a murder mystery type thing.
Wanna win some SwedeArt?
Stay tuned! Tomorrow we will have a contest where Åsa will away a fabulous piece of SwedeArt exclusively on Swedish Freak!
Yeah… A swede in Florida. I grew up there, became obsessed with Swedish culture and art through a Swedish pen pal I met when I was 12. I ended up studying at Uppsala University my last year of college to learn about Swedish art with a goal to bring it back to Florida and then the rest of the US, praising the amazing art of Sweden through my own photography taken there, and starting dialogues about Swedish artists. Unfortunatley it proved harder than I thought to grasp why Swedish art/artists have not made it in the US art world. So it makes me happy to read about a Swede living in Florida making art. Keep it up!
She does some great work, and I love the stuff connected to Sweden. Just goes to show that you don’t have to live in Sweden to be a Swedish Freak! 🙂
Lisa, is that you? I mean, Lisa who’s penpal with Emil?