By Heidi Goldberg, Associate Professor of Art
Examples of students’ warp-weighted loom weaving
Last summer from May 9th through June 7th, four students from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, went on a learning adventure. Alexis Anderson, Kristina Brunson, Rachel Johnson, and Alli Pahl joined me and her daughter Aubrie (a freshman at Oak Grove Lutheran High School in Fargo) for a month-long course in Norway, Craft and Identity. Their experience was celebrated in an exhibit at the Prairie Fiber Arts Center from January 12 – February 16, 2018. The samples they wove during a week-long course at the Osterøy Museum represented traditional åkler (bedspread) designs from Western Norway and varafeldur (Viking cloak). Below are the artist statements written for the exhibit; they demonstrate the meaningful experience of immersive, hands-on craft instruction. As Kristina Brunson wrote, “Sometimes when looking at things, there isn’t a great appreciation for it until you’ve done it yourself. It also means a lot more after putting your own hard work into something.”
The Craft and Identity group (left to right); Aubrie Goldberg, Kristina Brunson, Rachel Johnson, Alli Pahl, Alexis Anderson, and Heidi Goldberg
Alexis Anderson
The most impactful part of the Craft and Identity course for me was the weaving workshop in Osterøy. It was my first time weaving with a warp-weighted loom and I very much enjoyed the whole process. The weaving workshop gave me the opportunity to throw myself into making art. Rarely do I and will I have the chance to truly live and feel like an artist for a week: daily walks to and from the museum, spending hours on end deeply engaged in creation, eating our matpakke in the studio and picking right back up shortly afterwards. This workshop showed me that I have what it takes to dedicate myself to a project that seems intimidating and larger than myself at first, and that I can be an artist in whatever way I choose. The weaving workshop was the most impactful for me because it taught me the most about myself: I can be patient and go with the flow; I can be hard on myself, but I can easily shake my mistakes off, learn from them, and move on; and I can learn a new skill and be successful if I dedicate my energy and time to it. Throughout the four weeks of this course I found myself increasingly noticing the art and beauty that surrounds us all. My eyes have been opened to the art that exists naturally and it has made the world a more colorful place.
Rachel Johnson
I am a Social Studies Education major at Concordia College. While at the Osterøy Museum during the Craft and Identity class, I worked on an åkle weaving on a warp weighted loom. The most challenging part of weaving was the process of setting up the loom. There is a lot of preparation, about a day’s work, to do before one can even start weaving. I really enjoyed picking out traditional patterns from weavings in their collection and using traditional colors in my own small sample piece. My absolute favorite part of our time at the Osterøy Museum was our teachers. Marta and Monika were wonderful, incredibly knowledgeable, and extremely patient.
Alli Pahl
Last May 9th through June 7th, I had the opportunity to attend the Craft and Identity course. The course offered many experiences that we all learned so much from, but one of the biggest learning weeks for me was the week we spent in Osterøy. While in Osterøy we had the opportunity to spend a week at the Hordaland Museum where we learned how to warp and weave on a warp-weighted loom from amazing weavers, Marta and Monika. It was an experience that I will never forget. I had never done any sort of weaving before so it was definitely something new for me, and was much harder to do than I had originally thought. After seeing Marta and Monika’s works along with museum pieces, and in the process of working on a weaving myself, I gained so much respect for weavers and the work they do. It truly was an amazing experience to learn from such talented artists. Not only did they teach us about weaving techniques, but they also talked about the history of these weavings, and they taught us about making and using natural dyes. Throughout the month we spent in Norway, it opened my eyes to so many different types of art forms and techniques. There was so much we learned historically from going to places such as Maihaugen (an open-air museum in Lillehammer), where we got to see the old houses of Norway and learn about how people during lived in previous centuries. Norway is a place filled with art and beautiful scenery, and this was a trip I will never forget.
Kristina Brunson
The Craft and Identity trip was no less than amazing. The experience and culture that was obtained on the trip is something I’ll remember and will forever influence how I look at the world around me. I have also gained a greater appreciation for the skill, effort, and hard work it takes to do things such as weaving. Weaving takes more time and patience than it may look. It took almost a day and half before actually being able to start weaving. While working on the weavings there were a variety of different techniques to learn to get different patterns such as tabby (plain weave), krogbragd (crooked path), and rutevev (square-weave), just to name a few. After learning some of the different patterns it made things go a bit faster but it still took time, which was ok as it gave a perspective of how much work it really takes, even though the weaving is a lot smaller than normal size for the traditional akler (woven bedspread). Sometimes when looking at things, there isn’t a great appreciation for it until you’ve done it yourself. It also means a lot more after putting your own hard work into something. This experience has opened my eyes and changed how I see things and appreciate the hard work and dedication it takes to do handcrafts like weaving.
Aubrie Goldberg
Weaving on Østeroy brought a new perspective to me about how much work used to be put into every aspect of a person’s day to day life. I worked on making a varafel sampler. The traditional varafel would have been used by the Vikings as a large cloak to keep them warm and dry. This would have been a valued item at the time for obvious reasons. I observed the process of making the åkler, which were used as thick blankets on a bed. They were very colorful and tastefully designed. I realized how much work was put into every object. Everything was crafted by hand, from the table-wear to the homes. It’s crazy how much time was spent making things then compared to now with all the machines doing a lot of work. Most people have lost sight of what it takes to make something by hand and especially how long it takes to get good at it. For me, art and craft are both very rewarding. I enjoy spending my time working on something creative that will be enjoyed by others and myself. Weaving on Østeroy was a valuable experience.