The Sweetest

just some of the ladies at my lecture last night

I'm pretty sure I gave the sweetest lecture ever last night, or at least to the sweetest audience in the sweetest environment. I spoke to a crowd of Icelandic women during their monthly knitting club night as well as the four other resident artists, all textile artists from Denmark. Jóhanna Erla Pálmadóttir, director of the residency, translated for me as I showed my images, and while all those ladies knitted. As they worked, they would look up at the screen, look to me, knit, nod their heads, and occasionally say já, Icelandic for "yes." I spoke in a simple way so that Jóhanna could translate easily, which was also good for me. I tried to find just the right words, to say the most important stuff. When it was over, there were some questions and comments and I enjoyed connecting with them a little bit more. Jóhanna told me that even though some of them couldn't understand everything, they could feel my emotion. They said they could tell I was giving them a lot. This felt amazing and made me a little bit teary. Then I grabbed my own work, the embroidery I'm working on here, and sat with them for about an hour, all of us working on our own projects and chatting. We talked a little bit about the volcano that is erupting right now and about Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano that erupted in 2010. I was congratulated on how well I pronounced it and then was taught to say a few more things in Icelandic. I was also told my new embroidery reminds them of lava, and I took that as a very high compliment.

Last night is now among my favorite moments in Iceland.

Thanks for reading.

Texílsetur Íslands

Currently, I'm living and working at Texílsetur Íslands, the Icelandic Textile Center, in Blönduós, Northwest Iceland. Texílsetur is housed in Kvennaskólinn, a former women's school, situated at the estuary of the Blanda River and Húnaflói Bay. It occupies the top two floors where there are private rooms and two large shared studios. I have a private room and studio and feel very fortunate to be making my work in such a special place, a transitional place, where the river meets the sea. I have long been fascinated by estuaries and brackish water, and given my most current work, In Between, which is about transition, being here at Texílsetur seems very, very appropriate. I'm also curious about the history of the school and like thinking about the years of women who lived and learned here, too.

I will be here for a month and will be creating a black version of "Island of 14,264 Days," something I've been wanting to do since I first made that piece in May, 2013. I came up with the idea then, to make a companion during the darkness of winter, the opposite of when I made the white version. I began working yesterday and will complete the piece by the end of the month. Other plans include walking and documenting my observations outside, but also studying the interior of this building and taking pictures of what I see inside. I also have a lot of reading to do.

the view from my room on my first day

Thanks for reading.