In the Norway House exhibit, The Baldishol: A Medieval Tapestry Inspires Contemporary Textiles, fiber artists responded using a wide variety of techniques.
Renee Holzknecht, from Little Canada, Minnesota, responded to the calendar aspect of the Baldishol Tapestry in her circular embroidery titled “Menn og Tider” (People and Times). She wrote,
My piece, inspired by the tapestry’s linear sequence of months, depicts the cyclical sequence of human life in its natural stages–the day, the seasons of the year, the generation, the civilization–borrowing characters and motifs from the original.
The horse and rider of May in the Baldishol are now riding through a winter landscape. The circles in the background of the Baldishol horse in the original tapestry become snowflakes in this new embroidery. Another fun detail: look at the four Viking ships in the gray perimeter stitching.
Renee’s intricate stitches are a fun way to honor the heritage of the Baldishol Tapestry–and her own roots. She learned to embroider from her grandmother, who in turn learned from her grandmother from Setesdal in Norway.