“Deep Winter Needs the Colors of Scandinavia” (Part Two)

March 20, 2024 by Leave a comment

The Scandinavian Weavers exhibit “Deep Winter Needs the Colors of Scandinavia” is currently on view (through April 2, 2024) at Becketwood Senior Cooperative in Minneapolis. While Becketwood is a private residence, you can arrange to see the exhibit by calling the front desk at (612) 722- 4077 prior to your visit to make sure the galleries are open for viewing. We recently enjoyed a gallery talk with residents, who asked great questions about the traditional weaving techniques on display.

 Sharon Moe Marquardt wove this Sami-style grene on a warp-weighted loom while on a study trip in Norway. She learned this traditional technique from Sonja Vangen and Olaug Isaksen at Lofoten Folkehøgskole in Kabelvåg, near Lofoten.

Detail of Sharon’s weaving.

Mary Skoy was also inspired by her travels in Scandinavia. She wove this traditional-style christening blanket based on one she saw in a museum in Sweden. “Red being my favorite color,” she explains, “I knew I needed to reproduce it!” Christening coverlets were traditionally woven with protective symbols to shield the infant from evil influences while being carried to church for baptism. The coverlet is woven in three-shaft bound rosepath with cotton seine warp and wool weft. The selvedges are covered with a band, woven on an inkle loom with pick-up patterns, which also includes protective symbols. (Read more: https://norwegiantextileletter.com/article/baby-basket/)

Robbie LaFleur wove this colorful half-flossa wall hanging, called “Protection,” for the Scandinavian Weavers previous exhibit “Myths, Symbols, and Fairy Tales.” Half-flossa technique includes alternating sections of plain weave and short pile.

Lila Nelson, one of the original founders of the Scandinavian Weavers group, wove this elegant danskbrogd wall hanging, which is in the permanent collection of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota. Lila did extensive research on danskbrogd and is largely responsible for bringing the technique to the United States.

Judy Larson wove this stunning rag rug called “Rippling Water.” The rug is a double binding rug in which smaller strips of multiple blue fabrics were sewn together to contrast with the navy solids. “Rippling Water” was a labor of love. “Even with all the fabric prepped and already on the shuttles,” Judy explains, “this rug took 8 hours to weave at the loom!”

On the left is another rag rug, this one woven by Barb Yarusso. The weft comes from a rug woven by her grandmother Alma Norhala, an immigrant from Finland. The original rug was woven in the 1950s, in plain weave with log cabin threading. Barb carefully salvaged and cleaned the cotton weft material and re-wove it into a new rug as her way of honoring Alma’s work and carrying on the immigrant tradition of not letting anything go to waste. Barb’s rug exactly re-creates the original log cabin threading as well as the stripe sequence. (Read more: “In Honor of Alma: A Reconstructed Rag Rug.)

On the right is “Horda 3rd Gen,” a transparency by Lisa Torvik. Lisa studied weaving in Norway and focuses her work on traditional Norwegian techniques and geometric designs. In this case, the center panel is based on a coverlet from the Hordaland region of Norway, while the motifs along both sides are abstract improvisations on traditional motifs. In 2023, “Horda 3rd Gen” won first place in the “Weaving the North” exhibit at North Suburban Arts Center as well as a blue ribbon at Vesterheim’s National Norwegian-American Folk Art Exhibition. (Read more: “Three “Generations” of an Old Hordaland Weaving Design.”)

Raanu is a traditional Finnish weave that takes many different forms. Lisa-Anne Bauch learned to weave raanu rugs from Wynne Mattila at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota. Most raanus take their color inspiration from the natural world. “Polar Vortex” explores the colors of a cold winter’s night.

For more beautiful weavings, stay tuned for Part Three of this post, which will be up later this week!

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“Deep Winter Needs the Colors of Scandinavia” (Part One)

February 6, 2024 by 2 Comments

Becketwood is a senior housing cooperative in Minneapolis, located in the Longfellow neighborhood on a beautiful bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Becketwood has an active fine arts committee, including several weavers. The committee invited the Scandinavian Weavers to present an exhibit in their gallery space.

Scandinavian weavings at Becketwood

Our goal was to present a wide variety of traditional Scandinavian techniques. Since we were expecting our usual harsh Minnesota winter, we named the exhibit “Deep Winter Needs the Colors of Scandinavia.” Alas, it has been unseasonably warm with almost no snow. Nevertheless, the bright colors of the weavings are a welcome sight.

Kevin Olsen, who specializes in Scandinavian tapestry techniques, wove a wreath pattern called Betrothal, traditionally woven to celebrate an engagement. “Since my husband and I had already been married for six years when I wove the tapestry,” Kevin explains, “I called mine Anniversary instead. I included irises and peonies, which were our wedding flowers, while the tulips are a traditional motif.” The six red roses stand for the six years Kevin and his husband had been married. In the spirit of betrothal tapestries, Kevin included the date and an image of the marriage certificate.

Kevin Olsen’s Anniversary tapestry

A vitrine showcases woven bands, a common element of Scandinavian folk costumes. As seen below right, Jane Connett used card-weaving to create a wide belt for a bunad (traditional costume). In this ancient technique, warp yarns run through holes in square cards. Each single card has four holes, one in each corner, and dozens of cards may be combined to create intricate patterns. After each weft shot, the cards are turned forward or backward to create the next element of the pattern.

Below center, Judy Larson wove a smaller band using a heddle or bandgrind. In this portable technique, the weaver raises and lowers the heddle to create the open sheds through which the weft passes. To weave designs, the warp strings can be picked up individually and a curved knife is used to beat in the weft yarn.

 The charming tea cozy in the background was woven by Marie Nordland (1909-2000), the aunt of current Scandinavian Weavers member Nancy Ellison. Marie was a member of De Norske Vevere (the Norwegian Weavers), a group in the Weavers Guild of Minnesota that was a forerunner of the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group. She used a variety of techniques in her tea cozy, including krokbragd, danskbrogd, and rya.

Back row, left to right: Tea Cozy by Marie Nordland, Heddle Band by Judy Larson, and Bunad Belt by Janet Connett. Foreground: Sami-Influenced Band by Sharon Moe Marquardt.

Sharon Moe Marquardt wove the Sami-style band in the foreground using a simple tube loom. She added miniature Sami boots that she purchased at the husflidlag (handcraft association) in Manndalen, a Sami community on Kåfjord, east of Trømso in Norway, where she learned the technique.

Close-up of Sharon Moe Marquardt’s Sami-style band, including miniature boots of reindeer leather.

Syvilla Bolson (1928-2011) wove the wall hanging below in Flesberg technique, a style of three-shaft bound rosepath from the Flesberg region in Norway. Syvilla was a beloved member of the Scandinavian Weavers for many years. (Learn more about the flesberg technique in the November, 2020, issue of the Norwegian Textile Letter.)

Flesberg technique woven by Syvilla Bolson

Jan Mostrom wove the rutevev wall hanging below, evocatively named “Old Soul.” Rutevev, or square-weave, is a geometric weaving technique using single or double interlock joins.

Ann Haushild, a Becketwood resident and long-time study group member, wove this colorful hanging in Vestfold technique, named after the Vestfold region in Norway. It is an inlay technique, in which weft yarn is laid in to create the designs. (There is more on this technique in the February, 2020, issue of the Norwegian Textile Letter.)

Vestfold wall hanging by Ann Haushild

Last year, the Scandinavian Weavers set up a group warp to weave in telemarksteppe technique. (See previous blog posts for more photos of this technique.) Kala Exworthy wove the beautiful version below in colors inspired by the natural world.

Telemarksteppe wall hanging by Kala Exworthy

Rya is a traditional pile technique. Marilyn Moore’s lush version below was inspired by the colors in her expansive flower garden.

Rya wall hanging by Marilyn Moore

Nancy Ebner wove a rutevev wall hanging called “Divine Order.” The original pattern drawing was produced in the 1930s by Linnea Kullman (Johansson), a student at Johanna Brunsson’s Weaving School in Stockholm, Sweden. Nancy discovered the pattern in the historical collections at the Nordisk Museum (via digitalmuseum.se).

“Divine Order” by Nancy Ebner

Brenda Gauvin-Chadwick wove the pillow below, called “Joy Exploding,” in rosepath technique. “The pillow was woven with Fåro yarn that I purchased in Sweden many years ago,” she writes. “I carried it all over Scandinavia for weeks in my suitcase. I bought it after skiing the Swedish Vasaloppet. Two weeks later in Norway I skied the Birkebeiner race. The colors represent the forests, the beautiful sunshine and my heart exploding with joy as I skied along!”

Brenda Gauvin-Chadwick’s “Joy Exploding”
Detail of “Joy Exploding”

Robbie LaFleur’s weaving below is in double krokbragd technique. Called “The Old Pattern” it includes a sheepskin backing and fringe. (Read the full article from the Norwegian Textile Letter on the old pattern.)

“The Old Pattern” by Robbie LaFleur
Detail of “The Old Pattern”

Stay tuned for more blog posts featuring photos from the exhibit, which will be on view through April 4.

If you would like to visit the exhibit, please call the Becketwood front desk at (612) 722- 4077 prior to your visit to make sure the galleries are open for viewing.

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