Of Vikings and Norwegians

This week we have had a little bit of a Norse theme going on in the studio. 

Early in the week a parcel from eBay arrived with some beautiful fabric in it. The cotton cloth is almost one hundred years old and is a beautiful piece of printing which uses, amongst other motifs, Viking ships! Isn't it amazing that these things survive in good condition for us to enjoy decades after they were made? You can see how lovely the colours and design are in the picture on the left. 

Norwegians of a different sort arrived in the studio too. Karin, who brings groups every year from Norway to visit the islands, came with fifteen people to see us. What a lovely group they were; interested and interesting. 

One of them left a link to Asa Eriksen, a weaver who runs her own textile studio and makes cloths for churches and historical pieces based on rigorous research. However it is the wonderful colours Asa uses in her pieces like Games with Colours (right) which I really love. 

This piece in particular reminds me very much of a pair of curtains which I bought a few weeks back for the collection. You can see part of one of them in the picture on the left. Familiar, isn't it?

So it seems that serendipity is up to its usual tricks in the studio. Long may these coincidences continue.