Got a call from an artist called Anders Ek (born in 1952) yesterday who wanted me to see his painting of Storsie, so I payed him a visit. He is a painter and last year he created this work, based on what he saw down by the lake in Torvalla as a boy in the mid 60´s. He is no longer sure about the exact year, but the 1964-1967 period should be correct. He lived with his family in a house not far from the lake at the time and used to play down by the shore all the time. One day, he suddenly saw the back of something rather big about 20-25 meters from the shore, swimming from left to right (towards the town of Östersund). It rose two to four dm above the waters surface and the part that he could see was two to three meters long. The skin looked dry, as if it (or the back) had been above the surface for some time. The animal was in no hurry but moved fast enough to create waves that hit the shore where he stood. After the sighting he excitedly told his family about what had happened but they did not believe him. However, a local newspaper did report (the next day) that two witnesses had seen this animal from a location a few km away at a workplace by the shore in the village of Optand, probably some time before the animal reached his location. This report should still exist in archives which will put a date to this.
Anders has had this painting on display and intends to sell it. He wants it documented before he parts with it as it might well end up in private hands. He would prefer it to end up so that the general public can see it though. This painting is not the only one that exists, a handful of artists has seen Storsie over the years and painted what they have seen in the lake.
This will be in print in RETROFUTURE 8 next year.
(Image of said painting by me)
…
trinkelbonker 