Innvik 2006-07 |
The Nore family came from Norway to Nebraska 100 years ago. But we have kept contact with our Norwegian cousins and share the common Christmas meals of lutefisk and lefsa (codfish and flat bread) ever since as they do in Bryggia, Nordfjord, Norway. I visited Norway and my cousins in 1998 and vowed to return again to spend a greater amount of time making art, which I did for 3 months the summer of 2006.
While in Norway I drew and painted the sights near my family of origin primarily in and around the Nordfjord, Norway. Eventually my primary response to the fjord views of the Innvik landscape had to be “representationally abstract.” The small sections of farm land, in myriad colors of ochre-browns, light greens, yellows, and dark greens, glowed radiantly as the midnight sun positioned its rays on these acres and woods across Nordfjord from Blakset. These bucolic fields were surrounded by hedgerows. In the late sun, it was magic. Because of the steep angles on both sides of the fjord, these paintings give the impression that the viewer is air bound and observing the landscape as it were from an airplane, when in actuality I was in a cabin across the fjord from Innvik. These 16” x 20” works were executed on black gesso (on canvas) or archival India ink (on 140 pound 100% cotton rag watercolor paper) with gouache (opaque water color) or Sennelier oil pastels. This series is on Loan to William Jewell College, Liberty, MO and is displayed in the foyer of Browning Theater. The 2006 summer in Norway was partially funded by a Summer Grant from William Jewell College. |
