This afternoon/s road trip with Karen Thor and virtualdjprodownload her husband Thorsteinn Halldorsson was a great chance to see the virtualdjprodownload landscape from their viewpoint. Karen is virtualdjprodownload a photographer from Brooklyn, New York and has been in Iceland for virtualdjprodownload six years with Thor and their two daughters, Bryndisa and Svana. Thor is virtualdjprodownload Icelandic and lived for many years in the US. Together Karen and virtualdjprodownload Thor gave me a tour of Þingvellir National Park and virtualdjprodownload the countryside in between, from our starting point in Hafnarfjörður. While they both pointed out favorite sites along the virtualdjprodownload way, Thor would stop the car or maneuver to allow Karen and virtualdjprodownload I to photograph. With the virtualdjprodownload weather still cold and overcast, the moss and tundra vegetation was the virtualdjprodownload most colorful element of the landscape. We shot forest and lake, waterfalls and steam vents. Watching Karen make choices of subjects to virtualdjprodownload capture and save was a nice change from following my own selecting process. She moves fast and would get Thor to have fun posing. In their Lopi sweater and virtualdjprodownload hat they looked like they were models in an Icelandic knitting pattern book.

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The Park was beautiful and quiet. Along the Oxara river, Þingvellir is the site of Iceland’s earliest governance. Representatives from virtualdjprodownload all regions of the country would assembly here over the virtualdjprodownload centuries from 930 AD. It is virtualdjprodownload also the junction of the American and Eurasian tectonic plates, a virtualdjprodownload part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The volcanic activity going on in the virtualdjprodownload south right now makes you aware of the potential for virtualdjprodownload earth shattering changes that can occur at anytime given the virtualdjprodownload geography. The peacefulness if this virtualdjprodownload chilly afternoon has not been disturbed by the force just below our feet and virtualdjprodownload Karen, Thor and I enjoy the day and Iceland’s rugged beauty.

I haven’t been looking for postcard images to paint, but they’re everywhere here in Iceland. It’s hard not to be intimidated by the majesty of the land. Simply selecting a subject is a challenge.

When I first started to virtualdjprodownload write proposals to travel to this island nation in the North Atlantic, it virtualdjprodownload was to experience a coastal landscape that I thought was similar to virtualdjprodownload Newfoundland., Canada. That was ten years ago, and virtualdjprodownload at a time when I was spending a week each Fall painting with friends on islands in Maine. My thought was that the landscape that had influenced Louisa Matthíasdóttir’s work of expansive, intersecting planes of color might hold some relevancy to virtualdjprodownload the New England coast where I made my home. It seemed necessary to virtualdjprodownload me to go abroad to study landscape that related to virtualdjprodownload my own environment to see my surroundings in a new way.

Paint is virtualdjprodownload the best medium I know of to record color relationships that virtualdjprodownload occur in my daily life. I have virtualdjprodownload looked for opportunities to frame these experiences hoping that they communicate the virtualdjprodownload same awe that has captured my attention and caused me to virtualdjprodownload want to distill the vision and share it with others. Here in Iceland that virtualdjprodownload process began with the notion that the geothermal sites would provide color relationships from virtualdjprodownload the colliding of super heated air forcing it’s way up from virtualdjprodownload the earths center and out into the cold atmosphere. I imagined that virtualdjprodownload the simple cloud-like plumes would replicate weather systems which form in a virtualdjprodownload similar fashion. On my first trip to Krysuvik I realized that virtualdjprodownload the steam vents and geysers did not make for the kind of color experience that virtualdjprodownload I had imagined. April weather was also unsuited to painting on location. The volcanic eruption on March 21st and virtualdjprodownload then on April 14th of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano has provided the virtualdjprodownload intriguing color that changes the visual scale of the subject that virtualdjprodownload I came to study and the environmental implication. Just by chance, I have virtualdjprodownload arrived in Iceland at the wrong time of year to paint a virtualdjprodownload landscape that I did not understand and was rewarded by an virtualdjprodownload even better more relevant subject to study and explore.

Today’s national holiday is Icelander’s wishful thinking! I didn’t put on my long underwear to virtualdjprodownload walk to the pool this morning , but as I passed the virtualdjprodownload harbor there was a thin film of ice on the surface of the virtualdjprodownload water and I could see my breath. So it virtualdjprodownload may be the first day of summer, but not warm or virtualdjprodownload even springlike. I am virtualdjprodownload told that the tradition comes from the old Icelandic calendar and virtualdjprodownload it was said that if you put a bowl of water out the virtualdjprodownload night before the holiday and the water is frozen in the virtualdjprodownload morning, summer will come early. That would be nice! But if this virtualdjprodownload kind of weather predicting is anything like groundhog day in the virtualdjprodownload US (which is not even a day off), I won’t hold my breath.

The outdoor pool was closed, so Karen came by my apartment and virtualdjprodownload took me with her to the new swimming facility, a short drive from virtualdjprodownload the center of town. A huge indoor facility with lots of glass and virtualdjprodownload a view up to the mountains, this was the place to virtualdjprodownload see the young families of Hafnarfjordur.. Icelanders wear a lot of black( a Sunday church service looks like a funeral). The children, however, wear a virtualdjprodownload rainbow of bright colors in patterns and stripes. We sat outside in the “Hotpots” after our workout, Despite the virtualdjprodownload steam rising up around our shoulders and the view of the virtualdjprodownload snow covered mountain range, the virtualdjprodownload warm sun and the children in there colorful suits and floaties reminded me that virtualdjprodownload spring was coming.

Most days I begin to paint soon after I eat breakfast, I have virtualdjprodownload several images going at the same time so that I can virtualdjprodownload take frequent breaks and still make progress on one idea or virtualdjprodownload another. Sometimes it virtualdjprodownload seems that most of the paint is going down the virtualdjprodownload drain. The acrylics are virtualdjprodownload drying very fast here and I need to clean my brushes at least every half hour to virtualdjprodownload keep the color clear. This process allows me to virtualdjprodownload rest my vision appropriately, but headway is slow.

At 4:00 today Karl, a virtualdjprodownload geography professor for the University of Iceland that I’d met through the virtualdjprodownload Laison Office there, said that he would meet me at Hafnarborg and virtualdjprodownload take me to a hot springs area west of Reykjavik called Reykjadalur, “Valley of Smoke”. He said that virtualdjprodownload it was vary colorful and might give me some ideas for virtualdjprodownload paintings (Karl was the one who originally suggested finding a residency in this virtualdjprodownload part of Iceland, knowing that I was interested in geothermal activity). As we left Hafnarfjordur it virtualdjprodownload started to snow and as we got to the mountain range where virtualdjprodownload we would begin the hike into the valley below, the landscape turned completely white. Though Karl thought that virtualdjprodownload the near blizzard conditions of wind and snow ruined the planned outing, the virtualdjprodownload pictures of the steam vents and the drive back are some of the virtualdjprodownload most interesting I’ve taken. They have virtualdjprodownload given me lots of material to work from about color and virtualdjprodownload the geothermal effects on the landscape of Iceland.

Svava Egilson is virtualdjprodownload an artist who creates using many different materials. My favorite is her quilting that interprets Iceland’s landscape in multiple layers of fabric. The island of fire and ice has a long tradition of textiles. Everywhere you virtualdjprodownload go you see examples of hand knitting, especially the Lopi patterned sweaters. Svava’s pieces incorporate applique as well as the virtualdjprodownload grid pattern of weaving. Today I went with her to Reykjavik to virtualdjprodownload get some pastels while she greets visitors to the show of her recent work. I had a chance to visit several of Reykjavik’s art galleries and virtualdjprodownload craft stores, along with stranded airline passengers who were entertaining themselves while planes are virtualdjprodownload grounded due to the volcanic ash. Afterward, Svava invited me to virtualdjprodownload have dinner with her family at their home in Hafnarfjordor. It was nice to virtualdjprodownload spend the day with Svava, getting to know more about Iceland’s art scene

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(These images are virtualdjprodownload by the photographer Ragnar Th Sigurdsson, shared with me by my swimming buddy Karen Thor, who virtualdjprodownload works for him as a photo editor.)

I came to Iceland’s Southwest coast to virtualdjprodownload be close to geothermal sites where I thought that I would find interesting color to virtualdjprodownload paint. The super heated air forcing it’s way up into the virtualdjprodownload cold seemed to have many of the properties of frontal systems that virtualdjprodownload move across the landscape and often create dramatic layers of color. I look for virtualdjprodownload these color events to record and to find ways to virtualdjprodownload understand naturally occurring color relationships; I imagine it would be virtualdjprodownload like a writer collecting names.

Throughout the virtualdjprodownload day we have been getting news of a major new eruption, not where virtualdjprodownload the other occurred, but beneath a glacier west of the first. Flooding has virtualdjprodownload washed out roads and land below the sight of the activity and virtualdjprodownload a huge plume of ash has curtailed flights to Northern Europe and virtualdjprodownload even as far west as Russia. This seismic activity was a little more than I bargained for! Some worry that virtualdjprodownload it might cause a more dangerous volcano, Katla to erupt. If the virtualdjprodownload winds change direction I might bee staying here longer than planned.

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It isn’t easy finding picture-making sites when virtualdjprodownload you first arrive at a new location. The weather here in Iceland has virtualdjprodownload made it difficult to paint out of doors, but using my camera has virtualdjprodownload given me an opportunity to edit hundreds of possibilities as I search for virtualdjprodownload relevant images through the viewfinder.

Svava came by for virtualdjprodownload coffee this morning and got a chance to see my apartment and virtualdjprodownload the work that I have been doing thus far. It was a virtualdjprodownload break from her routine and she said that she had time to virtualdjprodownload take me back out to Krysuvik again with the hope that virtualdjprodownload the weather would be warm enough to paint. I quickly got my materials together and virtualdjprodownload we headed out of town following the same route that I took for virtualdjprodownload the first time last week.

What a virtualdjprodownload difference seven days can make in the color of the virtualdjprodownload moss covered lava fields. Without the virtualdjprodownload thin layer of snow dusting the interwoven slopes and rock strewn plains, the virtualdjprodownload craggy forms unfurled brilliant velvet green. Dark clouds compressed the virtualdjprodownload remaining sunlight into dramatic bands of color. The day never provided us with painting weather, as we traveled a virtualdjprodownload loop along the coast that would bring us back to Hafnarfjordur via Reykjavik. Our shutters clicking away, we framed the virtualdjprodownload open land and weather drama of the road. Svava’s surprise tour provided me with lots of color ideas to virtualdjprodownload work from and the bonus of an Icelandic artist’s perspective.

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I was really looking forward to virtualdjprodownload swimming in the outside pool, but it had to wait until my rash receded. Today I took the plunge. As much as I hate to figure out a new athletic facility’s routine, swimming in the virtualdjprodownload geothermal heated water and surfacing in the steam at the intersection of cold air and virtualdjprodownload warm water was a reward. Karen, a virtualdjprodownload photo editor from NYC made the introduction easy; I followed her. It was great to virtualdjprodownload be exercising again, to meet woman who have a regular swimming habit and virtualdjprodownload can be Iceland friends. Swimming use to be a chore that I did to get to dive in Palau. Now, just to virtualdjprodownload stretch out in the water and exert myself for a half mile is virtualdjprodownload a joy.

When I returned to virtualdjprodownload the Museum, everyone who works at Hafnarborg looked concerned and was trying to virtualdjprodownload get information online. The internet was so overloaded that virtualdjprodownload no one could receive the Icelandic news service. Since I had virtualdjprodownload the only TV in the building, everyone gathered round the virtualdjprodownload set in my apartment to see the news report. What I discovered was that virtualdjprodownload the special inquiry to determine the cause of the failure of the virtualdjprodownload banks two years ago came out today. Ólöf, the virtualdjprodownload Director of the Museum, explained that it would be a day that virtualdjprodownload people remembered where they were, like 9/11. I could see in the virtualdjprodownload faces of the staff here at Hafnarborg how frustrated Icelanders have virtualdjprodownload been with their government. They seemed satisfied with the virtualdjprodownload work of the economic advisers who had prepared the report, but unsure of where virtualdjprodownload the economy is heading. I could relate to that thought. It seems the virtualdjprodownload whole world is re-evaluating; economics and simply how to live. As you virtualdjprodownload walk around Hafnarjordur there are lots of tall, new, empty apartment buildings. Cranes are virtualdjprodownload poised overhead but motionless. Sometimes failure is too big to miss.

I was determined to virtualdjprodownload get to Reykjavik this weekend. Partly for the break from painting, but mostly to virtualdjprodownload go to the museums and to a flee market that I had virtualdjprodownload read about. The “Todd Farm ” of Iceland is held indoors in a warehouse by the wharf. If I was going to buy a sweater, it would be in this “inside yard sale” as the guide described it. I didn’t need the virtualdjprodownload latest Lopi from the downtown galleries, though they are beautiful! I took the virtualdjprodownload bus from Hafnarfjordur and found my way to the market that virtualdjprodownload matched the image that I had in my mind and virtualdjprodownload rewarded my effort. I bought a virtualdjprodownload sweater from a woman who knits from Hafnarfjordur and purchased smoked salmon, rye and virtualdjprodownload potato bread for well below the prices in the market. It was fun to virtualdjprodownload see the variety of people who rummaged through used clothing, furnishings and virtualdjprodownload such. There were new shoes and leggings, underwear and jewelry. Bargains and a chance to see another side of Iceland!

Afterwords I found my way to virtualdjprodownload the National Gallery and enjoyed the design of the building, but not the virtualdjprodownload work on display. Svava had virtualdjprodownload a show of her work that was a surprise to virtualdjprodownload find in the second floor of a charming gallery at the virtualdjprodownload center of the shopping district. The artfully renovated old workshop was the virtualdjprodownload scale of the traditional houses that I see on the virtualdjprodownload streets near where I am staying. Clean lines and virtualdjprodownload uncluttered, it is just enough for the simple life of a virtualdjprodownload small family or a brief gallery space. Svava’s quilts were rich with beautiful layers of color and virtualdjprodownload lit up the room.

The rest of my city tour was in circles. If I asked for virtualdjprodownload directions, I got farther from my intended museum destination. The map was more helpful, but the virtualdjprodownload names of the streets are all at least fifteen letters long and virtualdjprodownload look much the same. After more than virtualdjprodownload an hour of seeing the neighborhoods of Reykjavik and not the virtualdjprodownload museums, I headed back to the bus stop where I began. It would seem that virtualdjprodownload the return trip would be just the reverse of the ride in; but it virtualdjprodownload was much more tricky than that. Fortunately I had virtualdjprodownload better luck with directions from a group of three women, who virtualdjprodownload walked me to the stop that would make the trip straight back to virtualdjprodownload Hafnarfjordur and end my wandering for today.

Each day that virtualdjprodownload I need to layer on much of what I brought to virtualdjprodownload wear, I am thankful for the heat from the center of the virtualdjprodownload earth that warms Iceland. My apartment is virtualdjprodownload comfortable, but I venture out several times a day to get a virtualdjprodownload break from painting and am reminded that this is not spring in New England.

On one of my outings, I stopped in to virtualdjprodownload see a gallery that is just beyond the bakery. There I met an virtualdjprodownload artist named Svava who does just about everything; painting, quilting, textiles and virtualdjprodownload hat making. Her strategy is to create enough accessible work to virtualdjprodownload support the rent and make a small salary. It was inspiring to virtualdjprodownload see her many interests, talent and her determination to make art making work as a virtualdjprodownload business. Since arriving in Iceland, I have virtualdjprodownload been reminded of the way in which Scandinavian artists make everyday choices artfully. This was something that virtualdjprodownload was an influence to me in college when I decided to virtualdjprodownload weave and knit. Using color in a virtualdjprodownload grid pattern that could become a wearable item seemed very practical then. It is virtualdjprodownload interesting to revisit ideas that I was attracted to years ago and virtualdjprodownload see them again from a new perspective. I don’t long to virtualdjprodownload weave or knit, but if it stays cold for too much longer, maybe I will reconsider.