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Frida Hansen’s Swans and Maidens in “Southward” are Heading Eastward

Maidens riding swans are forever moving through blue fan-shaped waves in Frida Hansen’s monumental tapestry, Sørover [Southward], 1903. Perhaps that is appropriate for such a well-traveled work of art? 

Frida Hansen. Sørover (Southward), 1903. Photo: Peter Pap

Southward was barely cut from the loom of Frida Hansen before spending decades on exhibit in many American states.

1903-1931. Southward was exhibited in more than 25 U.S. venues, including New York City and Brooklyn, New York; Rochester, New York; Washington D.C.; St. Louis, Missouri; Baltimore, Maryland; Toledo, Ohio; Burlington, Vermont; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Read more: “Southward on Display.”)

In particular, tens of thousands of Norwegian-Americans visited the Norse-American Centennial celebration held at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds on June 6–9, 1925. Thousands of the visitors must have seen Southward hanging in the Exhibition hall. 

Southward hung prominently at the Norse-American Centennial. Photo: Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum

1961 — Southward is sold at the estate auction of Norman Bergh, son of Berthea Aske Bergh, but there is no record of who bought it or how much was paid. (Read more: “More Provenance Puzzle Pieces are in Place.”)

19?? (1970s?) — David McInnis, a rug dealer from Keene, New Hampshire, acquired Southward and stored it carefully. 

2021 — After the death of David McInnis, Rug Dealer Peter Pap rediscovered the tapestry, many decades after it was last publicized, folded in a bin. (Read more: “Frida Hansen’s Sørover.”)

2022-2023 — After cleaning, Southward was once again exhibited in two venues. It was part of Scandinavian Design and the United States, 1890-1980 at LACMA, the Los Angeles Museum of Art (Oct. 9, 2022-Feb. 5, 2023), and the Milwaukee Museum of Art (March 24-July 23, 2023).

2025Southward travels eastward, back to Norway for an exhibit at the Stavanger Art Museum, From the Roots: Kitty Kielland & Frida Hansen.

Imagine all the times Southward has been rolled, unrolled, and moved. Here is a photo of the tapestry in Peter Pap‘s studio in Dublin, New Hampshire, being rolled for shipping to Stavanger.

Think of all the types of vehicles that were used to transport the tapestry to various venues. It came by boat from Norway in 1903. It was most likely moved by horse-drawn carriage during the first decade of the 1900s, and then by gasoline-powered trucks and cars. It was sent between the Toledo Museum of Art and the Brooklynn Museum of Art in 1931 with American Railway. It will not be sent back to Norway by boat.

Through the diligent work of Berthea Aske Bergh, the owner of Southward, the tapestry itself was a vehicle in the United States for promoting Norwegian tapestry and Frida Hansen’s talent. Bergh received the St. Olav’s Medal from Norway’s King Haakon the Seventh for her promotion of Norwegian art. I think she would be happy that the tapestry she bought from Frida Hansen’s loom is still admired by new generations.

“The Honorable Erling E. Bent, Consul General of Norway presenting Mrs. Berthea Aske Bergh with the St. Olav’s Medal. Sent from King Haakon the Seventh of Norway for her many years work for Norway Arts and Industries at a party held for Mrs. Bergh in the Norwegian (Seamen’s?) Hotel, December 10, 1948. Brooklyn, NY”

Thousands of Americans have had the opportunity to admire Southward. After 122 years in America, it seems high time to bring it back to Norway for a blockbuster exhibit.

Fra Røttene: Kitty Kielland & Frida Hansen [From the Roots: Kitty Kielland & Frida Hansen]
Stavanger Kunstmuseum, June 14-August 31, 2025

Vibrant Tradition: Scandinavian Weaving in the Midwest (Exhibit Recap)

Vibrant Tradition: Scandinavian Weaving in the Midwest, an exhibit including 49 traditional and contemporary weavings, opened at Norway House in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 31, 2025. For more than thirty years devoted fans of Scandinavian weaving techniques at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota have been gathering to learn from one another. This resulted in a strong community created by a shared interest in traditional Scandinavian weaving techniques and commitment to keeping our craft alive — and vibrant. The current exhibit at Norway House in Minneapolis celebrates the history and the ever-constant enthusiasm of the members of the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group. 

Each piece in the exhibit is accompanied by a QR code, which leads to information about the artist and the piece. The weavers were encouraged to give detailed background about their weavings, and because this is a study group retrospective, to write about how the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group has been important to them. All the descriptions are linked to this table: Artists and Description

Norway House
913 E Franklin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55404
January 31 – April 19, 2025

In the center of the exhibit is a magnificent weaving in progress by Melba Granlund on a warp-weighted loom. 

People of all ages enjoyed an introduction to weaving on two Family Fiber Days on February 22 and March 22. The March event began with a group from a local retirement center, Becketwood, followed by a steady stream of families and children all day long, more than 60 in all. The Family Fiber Day demonstrators (Beth Detlie, Nancy Ebner, Melba Granlund, Holly Hildebrandt, and Peg Hansen) gave away at least 10 frame looms with shuttles so visitors could finish weaving at home.

Carstens Smith, Program Coordinator at Norway House, shared several positive comments about the first two months of the exhibit.

(Photo: Lisa-Anne Bauch blends with her weaving, Aegean Norwegian.)

Carstens also shared a story that reflects a change in audience responses to textile-related exhibits. “I have seen a tectonic shift in the attitude towards working with textiles as art. In the early 80s, I attended a gallery showing of quilts with my father-in-law. He barrelled through the exhibit, and when I caught up with him, he snorted, “I wish they wouldn’t pass these things off as art.” The people coming to this exhibit clearly recognize the textiles they see as art. They appreciate the work that went into each piece and they acknowledge the artistry. There’s no snorting here.”

I agree with Carstens, and also feel that even if textile objects are not exclusively examined as art, they can be appreciated as important cultural historical objects or examples of exquisite (and often disappearing) craftsmanship. Those are all valid reasons to be worthy of gallery exhibits.

Vibrant Tradition honors the Scandinavian Weavers’ longstanding programs, including education, mentorship, group projects, exhibits, and collaborations with other organizations. Several group members studied weaving in Norway and other Scandinavian countries through weaving schools and private study, while others have taken classes with visiting teachers at American institutions such as the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, Vesterheim Folk School, the American Swedish Institute, and Vävstuga. Several of the members teach weaving.

Our Scandinavian Weavers Study Group is a source of personal connection and sharing of expertise. This retrospective will be over soon, but plans are already underway for our next opportunity, featuring even more interactive programming.

Read more about Vibrant Tradition: Scandinavian Weaving in the Midwest in these two articles:

Vibrant Traditions on display at Norway House: A colorful tapestry of Nordic color.” Carstens Smith, The Norwegian American, January 25, 2025.

Norway House’s Vibrant Traditions — a tapestry of time and place.” Sommer Wagen. The Minnesota Daily, February 5, 2025.

Finding Unexpected Treasure in a Familiar Place

Imagine my surprise when, at the end of a lovely dinner with my old friend “H”, her family and some of my relatives, she plucked something off the wall in the corner and proudly showed it to us:  a genuine Hannah Ryggen tapestry!  My jaw just dropped.  I have visited this home many times since the mid-1980s, since her parents, then her brother and finally she and her family lived there, on her mother’s ancestral farm outside of Trondheim.  Though we seldom dined in the formal dining room, which they call the Red Parlor, I was amazed that I had never noticed this particular part of the décor, somewhat obscured by her great grandmother’s wedding veil.

How did it come to be there?  Here is the tale in “H’s” own words, my translation:

“The story:  At the end of the 1950s, Hannah Ryggen broke her ankle. At that time my father was a “young” doctor at the Central Hospital in Trondheim.  He operated [on Hannah] and set in a screw. When she left the hospital he said he thought he deserved a tapestry for the good job he had done, said with a gleam in his eye of course (you well remember my father….).  She replied that he would never be able to afford to buy one of her tapestries.  Certainly said with a gleam in her eye, also. When she came for a checkup some weeks later she had this tapestry with her, which of course shows the ankle with the screw and the doctor’s hand. Now it hangs in the Red Parlor!!”

Not a bad “tip” for good medical care, I would say.

March 2025

Editor’s note: If you want to celebrate and view the work of Hannah Ryggen this summer, visit the Hannah Ryggen Trienniale 2025 sponsored by the Nordenfjelske Kunstindustrimuseum.

Read more: Minnesota weaver Christine Novotny visited the Trienniale three years ago, and reported on her experience in this Norwegian Textile Letter article, “Anti-Monument: The 2022 Hannah Ryggen Triennial.”

Walborg Nickelsen: A Designer Influenced by Frida Hansen

Frida Hansen (1855-1931) was a ground-breaking Norwegian artist at the beginning of the 20th century. Her work was tied to the National Romantic period in Norway, and influenced by the international Art Nouveau Movement.  She reinvigorated Norwegian billedvev, [tapestry weaving] from the Renaissance era, investigated natural dyes used in historical weavings, ran a school for tapestry weaving, directed one of the largest tapestry studios in Europe at the turn of the 20th century, and gained international fame for her large tapestries in Art Nouveau style. She also developed a patented technique for weaving “transparent” tapestries with wool warp and weft. Portions of the weavings, usually hung as portieres or curtains, were left unwoven, giving a see-through effect and an emphasis on positive and negative spaces in the images. Hansen’s transparent tapestries drew rave reviews at the Paris Exposition in 1900, and were purchased throughout Europe.

Frida Hansen, JUNI [JUNE], 1918. Now on view at KODE Museum in Bergen, Norway

Frida Hansen inspired a production of transparent tapestries in her signature technique that stretched for decades, and even inspires contemporary artists. She released her patent in 1906, and some of the first pattern designers were weavers from her studio, Den Norske Billedvæveri [The Norwegian Tapestry Studio]. Hansen’s open warp technique became part of the curriculum in early 20th century Norwegian weaving schools, so it was widely practiced.

Below are two details from the JUNI transparent tapestry.

The transparent tapestries designed by Frida Hansen are well-documented, due to her diligent record-keeping and the incredible sleuthing of her biographer, Anniken Thue.  But the names of creators (and weavers) of many patterns designed by her followers remain a mystery. I would like to solve some of these mysteries, and in doing so, demonstrate the enduring influence of Frida Hansen and her innovative technique on decades of weavers. I recently had the chance to do just that on a visit to Norsk Folkemuseum.  When exploring in the museum archives I came across boxes of patterns from Husfliden [the National Handcraft Association] dating to the early 1900s, and I made a few discoveries. A young woman named Walborg Nickelsen, who briefly worked for Husfliden, designed at least two patterns for transparent tapestry. This article highlights one of these, and tells the brief tale of her life, as far as I could piece it together.

Norsk Folkemuseum Curator Bjørn Sverre Hol Haugen unfolds a full-sized 1927 pattern for a portiere designed by Walborg Nickelsen. Most patterns in the archives were small sketches, not full-sized.

I have not seen a woven version of the full-sized pattern, with the wonderful deer. The second pattern, from a smaller sketch, must have been woven frequently. I recognized it from the collections of three museums, none of which listed the designer.

The second Walborg Nickelsen pattern. There are admonitions printed on the pattern that the yarn samples must not be clipped off and to please handle the pattern carefully

The color choices made by the weavers give each version an entirely different feel. This copy from Maihaugen is in lighter and softer colors than the suggested yarn colors that were attached to the Husfliden pattern.

A tree of life transparent tapestry design by one of Frida Hansen's followers has turned up in multiple versions around Norway
The museum record is here: https://digitaltmuseum.no/0210211617142/portiere. I think the pattern clearly includes a tree image, so it is surprising when it is hung upside down. The weaver’s name is unknown, and it is also displayed upside down.

Here is a version at the Sverresborg Trøndelag Museum.

The colors chosen are similar to those in the pattern, except the weaver used white wool for the background, giving a more open feel to the image. Museum record: https://digitaltmuseum.no/021028326715/akle

A version of the pattern is even found in an American museum, Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa. It was woven by a Norwegian-American weaver from Portland, Oregon, Ruthi Klever Lunde Clark (1900 or 1903-1981). Clark’s pink and green version was woven in tow linen rather than wool. (You can read more about Clark’s version and other American tapestries that were woven in Frida Hansen’s technique in this article, “Frida Hansen – Transatlantic Ties.”)

Nickelsen pattern woven by Ruthi Clark, found in the collection of Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum

Since the first draft of this article was written, yet another set of portieres in Nickelsen’s tree pattern turned up on the Norwegian Blomqvist auction site. They were originally listed “Unknown Designer,” but I was able to give them updated information.

Walborg Nickelsen-designed portieres for sale by Blomqvist. Full record: https://www.blomqvist.no/auksjoner/moderne-design/moderne-mobler/nickelsen-walborg/740186

The auction house was not able to provide any provenance. I have no verification, but since this version is woven in exactly the colors specified by threads attached to the pattern in the Husfliden archives at the Norsk Folkemuseum, I have a hunch they may be the original set woven by the designer. Will more clues turn up?

Who was Walborg Nickelsen, the designer?

Walborg Weil Nickelsen (1907-1980) was born in Narvik, in the far north of Norway, in 1907, during the time her father, Wilhelm Nickelsen (1874-1953), served as the city engineer. They moved to Oslo in 1910, and Wilhelm spent most of his career as an engineer in the construction division of Asker municipality. According to newspapers of the day, he was a frequent speaker on the radio, often during a program with the tagline, “Small Visits with Big Men.” (One example was in Buskerud og Vestfold, April 11, 1931.) Walborg’s mother, Ragnhild Agnes Marie Nickelsen (born Ruud), cared for the home and lived to 103.

Walborg became a well-trained weaving instructor. She studied weaving at the Kvinnelig Industriskole [National Women’s Arts and Design School] for four years (best guess, around 1923-26), and then worked for Husfliden [the National Handcraft Association] for two years (1927-28?).  

Walborg Nickelsen in a Hallingdal costume, 1926. From the Norsk Folkemuseum. Photo: Anders Beer Wise. Full record.

After her stint at Husfliden, Walborg worked as the assistant to Tora Qviller, a well-known Art Deco-influenced designer and weaver in the 1930s. An article in Dagbladet (12/12/1931) described Qviller’s work on two large commissions, for the director’s office of the Oslo Electric Company and 75 rooms at the Continental Hotel. In the General Director’s Office, Qviller proposed designs for upholstery, curtains, and rugs. “Tora Qviller and her young assistant, Valborg Nickelsen, received only a week and a half to create all the samples.” 

In 1932 Walborg Nickelsen moved on to teach weaving for a new private weaving school started by Ingebjørg Hvoslef at the Tanberg estate in Ringerike. The ad for the school listed Nickelsen as the instructor. The three-month course had a very ambitious scope – both for learning and teaching! Students would study overshot weaving, linen damask, clothing fabric, home-spun, tapestry, pile weaving, transparent weaving, coverlet weaves, weaving theory, lace-making, pattern design, natural dyeing and spinning of linen and wool. 

Aftenposten, July 21, 1932

As far as I could determine, Walborg Nickelsen ended her career as a weaver, teacher and designer after teaching the course in the fall of 1932. Her name was not listed in the advertisements for the Tanberg Weaving School in the years after that. Also, according to newspaper notices in the summer and fall of 1932, Walborg became engaged to Ellef Bennichmann Petersen. She married in 1935, and had one son, Bjørn. She died in 1980. It seems a shame that she didn’t continue her life as a weaver and designer. If anyone knows more about her life, I’d love to know.

Frida Hansen’s influence

What if Frida Hansen had chosen to lead a life of conventional expectations, to work exclusively in her home? She began her career in textiles by opening an embroidery shop out of necessity, when her husband went bankrupt in an economic depression. After his finances improved, he encouraged her to give up outside work, but she refused. She had too much to accomplish, too many tapestries to create.

Walborg Nickelsen’s tree design is just one small indication of the decades of influence Frida Hansen had on weavers and designers in Norway. Nickelsen learned the technique in weaving school, created patterns for the technique as a young designer, and taught the technique as a weaving instructor.

Bibliography

Thue, Anniken. Frida Hansen: Europeeren i Norsk Vevkunst. Oslo : Universitetsforlaget, 1986.
“Wilhelm Nickelsen,” Lokalhistoriewiki.no [accessed 10/8/2024]

Read more about Frida Hansen: “Frida Hansen: A Brief Biography.” Norwegian Textile Letter, April 2022.

Robbie LaFleur is a weaver and writer from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She has been following a thread of Scandinavian textiles since she studied weaving at Valdres Husflidskole in Fagernes, Norway, in 1977. She is a Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum Gold Medalist in weaving, coordinates the Weavers Guild of Minnesota Scandinavian Weavers Study Group, and publishes the Norwegian Textile Letter. In 2019 she received a fellowship from the American Scandinavian Foundation to study the transparency technique of famed Norwegian tapestry weaver Frida Hansen. Contact: lafleur1801@me.com. Blog: robbielafleur.com. Instagram: robbie_lafleur

Help support wonderful articles on Scandinavian textiles with a donation to the Norwegian Textile Letter. Thank you! Tusen takk!

A Red Lion and Castle Flamskväv from Skåne

By Kristina L. Bielenberg

The historic textiles of southern Sweden are especially appealing, given their bright colors and detailed designs. My great-grandmother came from western Skåne, so I am particularly fond of the geometric röllakan and curvilinear tapestry weaves from this region of Scandinavia. The older textiles, from the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, have become harder to find at reasonable prices in recent years. Therefore, as a weaver and collector, I am happy when I can purchase even a tattered textile that reveals technical features of its construction while retaining much visual charm.

In anticipation of my birthday, I splurged and bought a well-worn top of a square cushion cover [dyna, jynne or kudde] woven in dovetail tapestry technique – flamskväv. According to several authorities, its central design, a red lion and a castle in a roundel of foliage and flowers, was one of the most popular during the period 1780-1800. Most of the red lion and castle tapestries are attributed to the Bara District just east of Malmö, with some 70 examples having been inventoried from southwest Skåne, including single and double agedyna [seat covers]. Interestingly, many of these surviving textiles are almost identical in composition and color, suggesting that their weavers relied on the same prints or cartoons for their design or closely copied the work of other weavers.

All photos: Kristina Bielenberg

The cushion top that I acquired is approximately 19 inches high by 20 inches wide. It has an indigo blue background inside the roundel, which contrasts nicely with the red lion, and also a dark brown field behind the surrounding frame of flowers. Some of these flowers are recognizeable – tulips, roses, and a lily – but other blooms and figures defy identification. Like most flamskväv pieces, the design was woven perpendicular to the warp on a vertical tapestry loom. (See detail photos here and at the end of the article.)

The warp is a fine two-plied linen warp (Z2S) with a sett of 12 ends per inch.  The weft is spun of fine worsted wool, two-plied (Z2S) and, though the density varies somewhat, there are approximately 40 weft passes per inch, creating a firm but flexible fabric. The front of the textile is somewhat faded, but the vegetable-dyed weft yarns retain their distinct colors and lustrous beauty.

Why the red lion and castle? That remains a bit of a mystery. Some scholars say that the red lion was derived from the Biblical story of Samson’s battle with the lion; others describe it as a symbol of nobility and valor. One has said that the red lion was a heraldic symbol for the village of Bara. No one knows for sure.  King Frederick I of Sweden acquired a live lion in 1731, so I imagine that this might have been a source of inspiration.

My cushion top’s design, or one very similar to it, was copied by 20th century weavers and woven using commercially-dyed, woolen-spun yarns. One from about 1900 recently sold at Stockholm Auktionsverk and, though nicely executed, it is coarser in appearance and the pattern is reversed and simplified. See: Flamskväv Skåne  The patterns for such 20th century reproductions were often produced by handicraft associations and can still be purchased on-line from Skåne AB’s webstore. See the akedyna design kit with materials at: https://butiken.hemslojdeniskane.se/produkt/lejon-i-krans/

As noted at the beginning of this article, my red lion and castle cushion top is tattered. Sections of weft are missing and there are tears along the selvedge. The seller had mounted the piece on dark cardboard with a cardboard and fabric frame to hold the piece in place. My plan is to remount this textile using acid-free board, supporting fabric, and museum conservation clear glass to protect the weaving from ultraviolet light. This should extend the life of this historic treasure for future generations to admire and study.

Sources:

Viveka Hansen. Swedish Textile Art: Traditional Marriage Weaving from Scania. The Khalili Collection of Textile Art: Vol. 1. The Nour Foundation : London, 1996.

Willborg, Peter. Flatweaves from Fjord and Forest: Scandinavian Tapestries of the 18th and 19th Centuries. David Black Oriental Carpets : London, 1984.

Also, DigitalMuseum.se, “flamskväv” For example: Vävnad

Kristina L. Bielenberg is a retired attorney living in Vermont. She learned to spin at the age of 9 and weave as a teenager. Her current dream project is to weave a Norwegian-style åkle on an oppstadgogn using her own handspun yarn.
Help support wonderful articles on Scandinavian textiles with a donation to the Norwegian Textile Letter. Thank you! Tusen takk!

A Bit about the Transparent Portieres of Frida Hansen

By Astrid Bugge (1902-1988)

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in “By og Bygd” (Yearbook of the Norsk Folkemuseum), 1962, pp. 133-138. Today many of the tapestries described in the article are in the digital collections of museums and available for us to enjoy in color.

When the Norsk Folkemuseum acquired a pair of portieres1 in transparent weaving technique in 1962, it was the fourth time this special type of weaving turned up in the museum’s collection. 

The first time was in 1954 when a set of two curtains and a single piece came from Louis Nicolay With’s villa, Haugen, at Hoff in Skøyen. Haugen is a typical Swiss-style villa with an interior of painted timber walls. A photograph from 1908 shows how the portieres hang in a broad  doorway so that the woven pattern appeared clearly against the transparent ground threads, as was intended. Now the same portieres are displayed in the dragon-style room in the city collection. The materials are all wool in many strong colors. The design: roosters, large flowers and twining leaves – all strongly stylized – are woven in with regular tapestry, but the ground consists only of uncovered warp, in this case two-ply dark blue yarn, doubled and tightly twisted, and “see-through” as the technique intends. The warp ends in long fringes at the bottom and the top. In the tightly-woven border at the bottom “DNB 1901 LXXXIII” is woven in, meaning “The Norwegian Tapestry Studio, production number 83, 1901.” The Norwegian Tapestry Studio was a company founded by Mrs. Randi Blehr with Frida Hansen as its director to undertake a revival of historical coverlet and tapestry weaving on a modern basis. It was active from 1897-1904. 

Villa Haugen

Villa Haugen. Photo: https://digitaltmuseum.no/011013387071/haugen

Frida Hansen, née Petersen, was born in 1855 at Hillevåg near Stavanger. She intended to become a painter and had studied drawing at home and abroad, but in the middle of the 1880s she became interested in our historical weaving. At the first Almindelig Norske Husflidsudstilling [Universal Norwegian Handcraft Exhibition] at Tivoli in Kristiania [now Oslo] in 1890 she displayed her first tapestry, Birkebeinerne, after a lithograph by Knud Bergslien. The exhibition catalog noted that “all the yarn for the tapestry was dyed and handspun by the artist.” Some time after the exhibit Frida Hansen moved to Oslo, and in 1892 opened her studio, with instruction in weaving for students from the city and countryside. This studio became the Norwegian Tapestry Studio in 1897, with large, light-filled rooms in the merchant Simonsen’s building at Stortorvet. The tapestries were woven on large vertical looms, one of Mrs. Hansen’s improved models. 

In 1894 Frida Hansen began a dye studio that worked with plant dyes and, after Miss Augusta Christensen’s method, dyed unspun wool that would be carded together afterwards. This allowed her to create yarn in a myriad of nuances and shades from 3-4 simple main colors. The jury at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 wrote that in this way Miss Christensen’s yarn attained color combinations that were more full of energy and fresher than by dyeing already-spun yarn. It was the theory of deconstructing colors in modern painting translated to yarn. 

portier in transparent technique

One of a pair of portieres. Warp: two-ply wool yarn doubled and tightly twisted, three threads per centimeter. Dark blue with some lighter blue. Weft: two-ply wool yarn, six ends per centimeter. Light blue, medium blue, bright red, dusky rosa, beige, light brown, orange. All yarn is handspun and plant-dyed. Height: 340 cm, width 111 centimeters. Fringes on both ends. Full record: https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023185980/portiere-1-fag. Note: Throughout the article, reference numbers have been replaced with links to the museum records.

Each yarn is specially spun for its location in the weaving, just as every nuance is specially blended for the painter’s brush, the jury concluded. 

This is a form of expression that we don’t fully understand in our time. With few exceptions, and perhaps especially with Mrs. Hansen, tapestries from the Art Nouveau period worked with their imprecise colors. Yarn from carded-together wool gives a different appearance than the juxtaposition of pure color areas in painting. Frida Hansen, who drew for tapestries herself, was moreover clear over the need for good cartoons and in 1897 received a royal grant of 1000 kroner for a studio for pattern designing.  

The first time The Norwegian Tapestry Studio [DNB] appeared was at the husflidsutstillningen [handcraft exhitibion] in Bergen in 1898. Among the things the press noted and was excited about was a pair of “distinctive portieres with dense flowers and transparent base…the see-through curtains, one of Mrs. Hansen’s artistic inventions.” A hanging in transparent weave with flowers in white and orange marked NABV 1898 X, which in 1962 was purchased by Kulturen in Lund [a museum in Sweden] is the earliest known example. (http://carl.kulturen.com/web/object/60480) so far. At that time the studio signed pieces with the original name, Norske Aklæde og Billedvæveri [NABV; Norwegian Weaving and Tapestry Studio], and had only reached example #10. 

But it was at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 that Mrs. Hansen’s work caused a sensation. We quote the judges committee: “Our attention was immediately drawn to a whole group of transparent weavings in the form of portieres. The greatest honor is due to Mrs. Frida Hansen, who has created the compositions of these completely modern portieres. They reveal her deep knowledge of the possibilities of weaving, and that with nuanced areas in a limited number of strong yet well-balanced colors you can create the most enchanting decorative effects. These textiles in transparent tapestry are the only ones of that type in the exhibition and they are, we will declare in two words, truly new. These weavings are designed to work as portieres between adjoining rooms. They are woven in a way that allows a person in one room to see what is unfolding in another room. The weaving, which is created like other tapestry on an upright loom, is woven on the warp threads only in the areas that create the pattern. The warps are left bare in the areas that would have been a one-color background.

“As you will understand from this short explanation, this is tapestry in which you weave only the pattern and not the background, and it is through the free spaces between the warp threads that you can see what is happening on the other side. Therefor you need an especially meticulous composition for the work. Even though the jury regrets that such a technique requires a high sales price, we admire the skill with which they are made and spare no congratulations in connection with this new creation, of which several examples are laid out for us in a variety of lively colors.”

Then the jury switched over to discussing Frida Hansen’s tapestries from Gerhard Munthe’s cartoons. The DNB, Frida Hansen, and Gerhard Munthe all received gold medals. 

When Frida Hansen returned to Oslo she was interviewed by Urd [a magazine], and she described her gold medal and the orders that came from museums in Copenhagen, Basel, Brno [in former Czechoslovakia] and Kensington. “‘It was especially the curtains in transparency that were sold at the exhibition, and now I have a new idea regarding them — ceramic beads. I think they will be beautiful — here you can see, I’ve made them myself,’ and she brought out some small things, glimmering in strange metal colors. ‘Don’t they remind you of antiquities, as from an old Egyptian find? They will form the sepals in flowers.’”

No examples of transparencies with beads have been found to date. 

Frida Hansen had taken a patent out on her discovery. When the Norwegian Tapestry Studio was discontinued in 1904, she gave up her patent. There were several others who took up the technique. According to Einar Lexow, the most important weaver in the Gobelin and transparency technique, in addition to Frida Hansen, was Ulrikke Greve. Using her own designs, Greve wove the other hangings the Norske Folkemuseum received from the Haugen villa, commissioned between 1910-1914. These are a pair of portieres in front of one door and a single hanging in front of a door in the same room. They are more tame in their designs than Frida Hansen’s rooster portieres, they have almost rug-like patterns in subdued tones, the first in reds and greens on a rust-red warp (https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023185982/portiere); the other in green, lilac and beige tones on a deep red warp (https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023185981/portiere-1-fag). The yarn is hand-spun and carded together, from dyed wool. 

Ulrikke Greve. Portiere. Full record: https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023185982/portiere

Ulrikke Greve. Portiere. Full record: https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023185981/portiere-1-fag

At Norway’s Jubilee Exhibition at Frogner in 1914 there was a large showing of transparent weaving. Frida Hansen delivered two hangings, Hvite Fugler [White Birds], a long, narrow panel, and a large rectangular hanging, Sommernattsdrøm [Summer Night’s Dream]. The last had a completely tapestry image with trees, greenery and water, all quite stylized. They were both particularly noted by Carl W. Schnitler in the official exhibition document, who determined that it was the technique that gave Summer Night’s Dream its dream-like effect. 

Others who wove in the transparent technique around 1914 included the wife of Consul Robertson in Hammerfest (using a cartoon by Anette Schirmer); Ingeborg Arbo; Titti Karsten (sometimes with her own, and sometimes with her sister Marie’s designs); Ragna Nicolaisen; Agnes Røhr; and Aslaug Mohr in Bergen.  

Ingeborg Arbo: Nasjonamuseet/Andreas Harvik.

Ingeborg Arbo: Nasjonamuseet/Andreas Harvik. https://www.nasjonalmuseet.no/samlingen/objekt/OK-1991-0394

The Norsk Folkemuseum’s newest transparent curtains were also at the Jubilee Exhibition in 1914. They were woven by Miss Aagot Lund from her own design: large red rowanberry clusters and leaves in different shades of green and brown against a warp of medium blue, doubled, tightly twisted three-ply wool yarn. The wool yarn here was also dyed, carded together, and handspun. 

Aagot Lund. Photo: Anne-Lise Reinsfelt.

Aagot Lund. Photo: Anne-Lise Reinsfelt. https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023193360/portiere-1-fag

Transparent weaving was taught in the tapestry course at Statens kvinnelige industriskole [National Women’s Arts and Design School] up through the mid-1920s. Husfliden [the Handcraft Association] in Oslo wove the last example of weaving in transparent technique, Ygdrasil, after a drawing by W. Nickelsen in 1939. Then it ended — unless there is still a romantic person sitting and weaving a dream into an open warp in this uniquely neo-romantic weaving technique. 

Astrid Bugge (1902-1988) was a conservator and author of many articles in museum magazines and yearbooks, in addition to several books. She was appointed the Senior Conservator for the Norsk Folkemuseum in 1954.
Translated in March 2023 by Robbie LaFleur and Katherine Larson

1A portiére is a curtain hung in a door opening, from the French word for door: porte. Wool transparent curtains or portieres were often sold as pairs, known as “et fag” in Norwegian.

Sources: 

“Selvhjælp,” Stavanger Husflidsforenings Tidskrift, I. February 1897, I. November 1898.

Husmoderen, 1898, p. 250.

Norges Deltagelse i Verdensutstillingen i Paris i 1900. K.V. Hammer, Kra. 1904, page 175. 

Urd, August 4, 1900, page 313. 

Marie Karsten, Billedvæv og Prydsøm. Kunst og Kultur, 1912, page 61.

Schnitler, Carl W. Norges Jubileumsutstilling 1914, Officiel Beretning, Kra. V. II, p. 432. 

Norske Kvinder, Kra. 1914, p. 421 ff. (Randi Blehr)

Einar Lexow: Moderne Decorativ Kunst i Norge. Kunst og Kultur 1919, p. 159. 

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Kristina Austi: Dialogue between the Ancient and the Digital

By Kristina Austi

Background

Kristina Austi (former name Kristina Daukintytė Aas) was born in 1978 in Klaipėda, Lithuania, and now resides in Bergen, Norway. Austi’s multifaceted work spans digital jacquard weave, embroidery, installations, video, and collage. Her artistic inquiries challenge our perceptual understanding and the relationship we maintain with our surroundings, pushing the boundaries of textile art into new realms.

Kristina Austi

Kristina Austi

After graduating from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design in 2011, Austi’s journey in the textile arts has been marked by a profound engagement with digital Jacquard weaving since 2013. This technique, which marries traditional weaving methods with digital technology, has allowed her to explore the woven surface in innovative ways. Her work as a part-time textile designer at Innvik AS, a small weaving mill in Western Norway, further enriches her practice, blending industrial techniques with her artistic exploration.

For Austi, the allure of digital weaving lies in its ability to extend the ancient craft of weaving into the digital age, allowing for unprecedented creativity and precision. This fusion respects the past and embraces the future, reflecting Austi’s deep respect for textile tradition alongside her commitment to innovation.

Current exploration

In my latest endeavour, Hybrid, I venture into the realm where folklore, poetry, and advanced technology converge, creating a narrative fabric that weaves together the mystic charm of Lithuanian folktales with the profound verses of William Blake. This project is an artistic endeavour and a textual exploration that bridges centuries and disciplines. It represents a dialogue between the ancient and the digital, embodying a quest for a new aesthetic and conceptual vocabulary in textile art.

Kristina Austi. “And it grew both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright” Photo: Øystein Thorvaldsen

 

Central to Hybrid is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) as more than just a tool—it is a collaborator in the creative process, pushing the boundaries of traditional craftsmanship and digital innovation. By feeding AI algorithms with images of my handcrafted weaves, I challenge them to reinterpret 16th-century tapestries. The outcomes are mesmerizing yet unsettling, blurring the lines between creator and creation and prompting a reevaluation of authenticity, originality, and the role of the machine in art.

The project further explores the potential of AI to generate novel patterns that draw inspiration from historical textiles while simultaneously questioning established notions of artistic genesis and authenticity. This inquiry extends into the domain of 3D printing, where digital weaving patterns are transformed into tangible models. These intricate structures, reminiscent of futuristic cityscapes or sophisticated microchips, serve not only as a testament to the versatility of weaving techniques but also as a metaphor for the intricate interplay between tradition and innovation.

Kristina Austi. “The Princess Tears”

The exhibition Hybrid encapsulates this duality, showcasing the collaboration between artisanal expertise and machine intelligence. It’s an invitation to perceive textile art as a tactile experience and a medium for conceptual exploration and technological experimentation. I aim to showcase the tangible outcomes of this artistic journey and initiate a conversation about the evolving landscape of art in the digital age.

Hybrid I marks the beginning of this larger project, with further developments and revelations anticipated in Part II, to be exhibited at KRAFT, Bergen, in April and May, 2024. One selected piece from this series will be displayed at the “Tendencies 24” exhibition at F15 in Moss from March to June. Later in 2024, I will show the project in Lithuania.

In 2023, I started my own company, VEVFT, together with three of my former students. This initiative is born out of a deep-seated desire to explore the boundaries of digital weaving myself and cultivate a thriving professional environment for this innovative craft in Norway.

Through VEVFT, I am dedicated to sharing the knowledge and insights I have garnered over years of experimenting and creating with digital looms. It is a platform for learning, collaboration, and experimentation designed to empower artists to harness the potential of digital weaving in their work. The establishment of this organization reflects my belief in the power of community and education in advancing the arts and crafts. It’s gratifying to witness the impact of these efforts, as a growing number of young artists are now embracing digital looms in Scandinavia. As digital weaving continues to evolve, so will the ways we think about, create, and interact with textiles.

March 2024

Editor’s note: The author sent a link to a review of her current show at the Soft gallery, with the pieces shown above, by Katia Maria Hassve for paragone.no. Because it is difficult to understand the impact of Austi’s tapestries with photos, it is fun to read Hassve’s reactions to seeing them in person. For example, “Turning to the right, I encounter another impressive tapestry with the text “Swim here, swim here, little boy, I will give you white shirt and red ribbon!” This piece immediately captures my attention. I begin to wonder: Is this a forest? Is the forest burning, or is something else happening? My gaze shifts to the stones in the water, and I ask myself if someone could drown there. Could someone drown in the tapestry itself? I notice that this seems more intricate, and I start to think that some form of data must have been used in the creation process. It’s almost like a woven snippet of a video game.”

See more of Austi’s work on her website, austikristina.com, and on Instagram: 
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Nordic Hands: 25 Fiber Craft Projects to Discover Scandinavian Culture (Book Review)

By Robbie LaFleur 

Nordic Hands: 25 Fiber Craft Projects to Discover Scandinavian Culture. By Anita Osterhaug. Schiffer Craft, 2023.

Nordic Hands begins with a 30-page geological, political and cultural history of the Nordic countries. Ambitious! The section sets the stage for a book that is both an interesting read and a compilation of practical and well-conceived projects. The text includes many photos of Nordic nature, buildings, and traditional fine craft.

The projects at the heart of the book are imaginative and beautifully designed by a variety of Nordic fiber experts. Some reflect the author’s deep weaving connections. The knitted “Nordic Summer and Winter Throw,” designed by the author, resembles a traditional Norwegian coverlet in krokbragd technique (only much softer and fuzzier). Knitted tea or coffee cozies by Sarah Shippen and a knitted market bag by Osterhaug have krokbragd patterns too. 

Coffee cozy designed by Sarah Shippen

Osterhaug pays homage to many Nordic traditional crafts, including woodcarving, metalwork and rosemaling, and they serve as inspiration for fiber projects. Birgit Albiker-Osterhaug transformed the designs of deep-relief acanthus into a beautiful lacy tablecloth. Laura Berlage used felting to reimagine Telemark scrolls found in rosemaling. 

Birgit Albiker-Osterhaug transformed the designs of deep-relief acanthus into a beautiful lacy tablecloth.

Osterhaug deftly incorporates history and culture from several Nordic countries, often comparing and contrasting. Here is part of the section describing a now-ubiquitous Nordic concept, because, as she posed, “Who hasn’t heard of hygge by now?”

While hygge is often translated as”cozy,” a more accurate translation would be a feeling of comfort of satisfaction…But Swedes use the word mys, and Norwegians say kos. Icelanders call it huggu, though the term is not as commonly used as in Denmark. The nearest Finnish equivalent (this from many reliable sources) is kalsarikänni, or “underpants drunk,” which Travel and Leisure magazine once described as “the thrilling act of enjoying a good class of wine in your skivvies.” To each his own, right? 

I couldn’t resist adding a quote with the phrase “underpants drunk.” The book is filled with funny stories and anecdotes. When writing about the history of band weaving Osterhaug included:

In her book Weaving Patterned Bands, Susan Foulkes relates how the Sami weave bands to trim clothing and small bags and about how they tie bands around their fur boots to keep the snow out. The band patterns and colors indicate a person’s village, family, marital status, and gender. 

Band weaving was also an important cottage industry. Foulkes relates a saying from Leksand, Sweden, that “one should weave 2 to 3 meters while boiling the potatoes.” I think either those band weavers were lightning fast or those were tough potatoes!

Woven bands owned by Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum

The projects featured in Nordic Hands are not only tempting because they are cool, but because they are accessible to many fiber enthusiasts. The danskbrogd designs on the beautifully graphic pillows featured in the book are most often woven on a multi-shaft floor loom, but Osterhaug asked Jan Mostrom to write directions for weaving on a rigid heddle loom. Overall, there are projects for everyone from beginning fiber enthusiasts to deeply experienced handcrafters. 

Danskbrogd pillows designed by Jan Mostrom

The instructions for each project are thorough and clear, as befits an author who was formerly the editor of Handwoven magazine – and they include useful extras. Would you like a refresher on the right way to make a yarn butterfly for weaving? See page 142. I found the “Weaving and Other Tips” pull-out box in Osterhaug’s placemat project valuable for weaving with linen in general (p. 87). 

Nordic Hands should definitely be on the bookshelf of Scandinavian textile lovers, and it would be a great entry point for future Nordic fiber enthusiasts who haven’t been exposed to Scandinavian handcraft and culture.

Nordic Hands: 25 Fiber Craft Projects to Discover Scandinavian Culture by Anita Osterhaug is available through bookstores and at the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum bookstore.

December 2023

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Tales of Magical Weavers Keep a Medieval Tapestry Tradition Alive

By Marianne Vedeler, Professor, Cultural History Museum, University of Oslo (UiO), and Lars Mytting, Author

This article was published in Forskersonen.no on November 23, 2022, and translated by Katherine Larson.

A battle is fought in a pictorial tapestry from Oseberg, 9th century. Drawing Stig Saxegaard.

A battle is fought in a pictorial tapestry from Oseberg, 9th century. Drawing Stig Saxegaard.

For over 300 years, stories about the Hekne sisters have been an important part of oral tradition, but no one has found tangible evidence that they actually existed.

In the beginning of the 18th century, a priest named Stockfleth wrote in the Dovre church records that two conjoined sisters from a place called Hekne gave the church a tapestry that they themselves had woven. He called them a monster. Since that time the legend has lived on in Gudbrandsdalen.

The story of the Hekne sisters is connected to a very special form of weaving. Through their textile pictures, local artists brought forth central stories from the Bible as well as chivalric ballads. This manner of telling stories had deep roots in the oral traditions of the Middle Ages. 

A Special Tapestry Tradition in Gudbrandsdal

A special form of tapestry weaving flourished in 17th century Gudbrandsdalen and certain other areas of southern Norway. These were tapestries woven in a technique that likely came from Flanders, but one that developed its own style in Gudbrandsdalen.

The characteristic manner in which figures and patterns were combined, as well as the use of color, make these textiles distinctive and easily recognizable. But it is not only the stories told by these pictorial textiles that make them a living and treasured expression of art.

In the past when stories were to be told in halls and dwelling places, pictorial textiles were well suited to evoke emotions. They showed highlights of the shared stories that everyone knew, and they also served as “memory cues” for the story teller. 

A line runs from the pictorial textiles of the Viking Age Oseberg grave through the Middle Ages and forth to the Renaissance textiles from Gudbrandsdalen. Medieval sagas suggest that pictorial tapestries had a very special role in the story-telling tradition.

In the Lay of Gudrun from the Poetic Edda, Gudrun weaves all of her sorrows into the bloody story of Sigurd the Dragonslayer. In the Orkneyinga Saga, there is a scene in which two skalds compete over who can create the best descriptive verse from the stories depicted in the hall’s tapestries. In this case the weaver and the skald go hand in hand.

Weavers with Unusual Capabilities

In stories from the Middle Ages, weavers are not simply visual story tellers. They often have magical capabilities that can change the course of history. They can see into the future, but also cause ill fortune and sickness, rob people of their wits and strength, open mountains and gravemounds, and even commit murder.

After the Reformation it seems that the connection between magic and tapestry weaving remained. Written records from the end of the 16th century indicate that at least two of the women burned as witches during that time were associated with tapestry weaving.  On the other hand, the Hekne sisters gave their fantastic tapestry to the church so that God would arrange their deaths to be at the same time. And God did in fact do this, writes Stockfleth. Even so there are several hints in the Hekne sisters’ legend that they had almost magical capabilities.

The Hekne Sisters Embodied a Warning

When the priest of Dovre church wrote down the story of the Hekne sisters, he devoted most of his narrative to describing the sisters’ unusual appearance. They each had a head, he says, but only one hand and one foot each. That he called them a monster [et monstrum] is a very important detail, since at that time the word had another meaning. It is derived from monere, which means to warn.

The birth of a malformed child was considered a warning from God, a message that should be meticulously interpreted and decoded. This was part of a common European notion. In early modern Europe, monstrous births found their way into everything from illustrative prints to books about miracles to medical works.  These were extreme creatures, lying at the intersection between human and animal, between man and woman, between one and several. This points back to a pre-Christian symbolism of natural omens that was now interpreted in a new early modern understanding of the world.

The Stories That Kept Each Other Alive

For over 300 years stories of the Hekne sisters were an important part of the oral tradition in Gudbrandsdalen, despite the fact – or perhaps precisely because of the fact – that no one had managed to find tangible evidence that they ever lived. It is striking that many officials of the 18th and 19th centuries, among them Gerhard Schøning, found space to describe the Hekne sisters in otherwise succinct accounts of the Dovre area.

The textile is described in several old records, locally called the Hekne weaving or Hekne decoration. It is not an exaggeration to call this Gudbrandsdalen’s most legendary weaving. It eventually disappeared from the church and became – especially following the travels of antique dealers in the 19th century – an object shrouded by myth.

The description of the subject varies, as does that of the textile’s fate. It may have been sold abroad, perhaps purchased and brought back, possibly switched, or falsified or kept in secret. The stories about the sisters would never have been so enduring if they were not tied to a weaving that had disappeared, just as fascination with the weaving would never have been so strong if it had been made by a person with an ordinary life story. 

What Was the Motif of the Hekne Tapestry?

The oldest sources give us no indication of the motif in the Hekne tapestry, but one of the most influential families of weavers in the area was convinced that it depicted the Biblical story of the Three Wise Men. Women in this family made two weavings with this motif, one in 1860 and another around 1931. This was long after the time when this special tapestry-weaving tradition flourished.

Tapestry from Gudbrandsdalen, 17th century, with the Three Wise Men motif. Photo: National Museum. Full record here.

The “new” tapestries are almost identical, and both are described by the weavers in family records as copies of the Hekne weaving, and with descriptions of the Hekne sisters. Thus the legend of the Hekne sisters lived on through new weavings.

Collective Wonder

The stories of the fantastic weavers from Hekne bring forth actors that otherwise are often silent or rarely seen in the sources. They give a glimpse of skilled craftswomen’s contribution to setting the stage for collective storytelling, and in that way incorporating a continental trend into a local tradition. In this context it makes little difference whether the incredible stories are “true.”

The legend of the Hekne sisters and the surviving tapestries from Gudbrandsdalen are sources of both wonder and new knowledge about the past. They are our common cultural heritage. What is more natural then to bring them forth in the light and look at them from several angles at the same time? Searching out the sources and discussing them with curiosity can provide an opening for both stories and research.

Marianne Vedeler holds a position as Professor in Archaeology at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo. Her primary area of research is the Viking Age and late medieval periods in Scandinavia.
Translated in April, 2023, by Katherine Larson, Affiliate Assistant Professor,
Department of Scandinavian Studies, University of Washington, Seattle

Editor’s note: Lars Mytting wove the story of the Hekne sisters into his novel, The Bell in the Lake. Listen to a Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum bokprat [book talk] with the author and Dr. Maren Johnson, Luther College’s Associate Professor of Nordic Studies and Torgerson Center for Nordic Studies Director. View on YouTube

For a more detailed investigation of Norwegian historical tapestry, storytelling, and the legend of the Hekne sisters, see Marianne Vedeler’s article: Gudbrandsdalen Tapestries and the Story of the Hekne Sisters.

October 2023; originally published October, 2022

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Spinning and Weaving in Iceland

By Rebecca Mezoff

Editor’s Note: When Rebecca Mezoff, the well-known tapestry teacher and author of The Art of Tapestry Weaving, traveled to Iceland for a residency in 2022, I was envious. I followed her posts about sheep and tapestry weaving avidly. My favorite one was, “Myth and Fact: Yarn in the Grocery Store in Iceland.” Here is a taste of her experience. 

Black beach in Iceland. Photo: Rebecca Mezoff

Black beach in Iceland. Photo: Rebecca Mezoff

Icelandic sheep spend winters in the barn and summers in the Highlands. I can only imagine the long dark winters in the barn are quite the communal experience. And a summer unsupervised in the Highlands? That must be a romp in the long light-filled days, eating and wandering to their hearts content until fall calls them home. Then the farmers round up the ewes, sort them by farm, and bring them home to be shorn and spend another winter in the barn. That fall Icelandic fleece is what took me to the Icelandic Textile Center in Blonduos for a month of experimentation with spinning. That and a desire to experience the landscape of the north of Iceland.

Tapestry weft is most often wool and Icelandic sheep, being the hardy creatures they are, produce a long-staple dual-coated fleece that can be excellent for tapestry weaving. At the Textile Center I spent the month spinning and weaving this material in many different ways. I found it both frustrating and exhilarating as I struggled with hand spinning the dual coat, creating a variety of colors from the undyed fleeces I was working with, and observing the potential this wool had to produce luminous, though often hairy, yarns.

After spinning and spinning I wove some small tapestries inspired by the landscape using only Icelandic fiber. The horizons of Iceland called to me in the same way the open horizons of my home in the American Southwest do and those feelings found their way from the wandering sheep into the yarn I was making and then finally the tapestries. Maybe the Icelandic sheep and their long horizons will call me back to Iceland again before too long.

Rebecca Mezoff, March 2023
www.tapestryweaving.com
Read more about Rebecca’s Iceland adventure here.

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