Søndre Green: May

Looking out to Lake Kroderen, Norway, May 27, 2019.

Søndre Green: May uses Norwegian wools and other local yarns in a weaving-a-day that ‘maps’ the colours of the shifting spring landscape of this small farming community, 90 minutes west of Oslo. I was honoured to be one of four artists selected for a monthlong residency at Søndre Green Farm. Each day, I would walk along the lake, up the mountains, through the pastures and occasionally into the tiny hamlet of Noresund nearby, and then return to make a small weaving in a tone of an aspect of the natural world that had caught my eye. I watched with delight as spring arrived and the world filled with colour. Missing from the 27 squares above is the 28th — in the brilliant yellow of the dandelions that thrive in the fields, much to the delight of the pollinators.

A weaving-in-progress with beautiful Loftofen wool, dyed with indigo, on the small child’s loom that was my source of daily hands-on pleasure. This loom was just the right size to permit me to complete a weaving of about 6″ by 6″ each day, achievable in a few hours depending on the size of the yarn I used. The indigo is not quite the same blue as the remarkable night sky in the panorama below, which looks back through the fog at the white farmhouse residency (from the 1700s) and dark barn. My studio room is on the ground floor (right) of the house, with the lights on.