21 November 2009

Swedish has a word...

... for its craft heritage: “slöjd”: the colours, techniques and the feeling of beauty and functionality in one.

I've been looking at the website of Swedish potter Karin Eriksson, who is showing with Merete Rasmussen and Ninna Gotzsche. Karin also has a section of "inspiration" on her site - an interesting mix of fashion and nature.

What does "Swedish craft" bring to mind? Well, the Dala Horses -
These roosters were a surprise - I associated painted roosters with Portugal -

Like all the Baltic countries, Sweden has a strong tradition of patterned knitting, especially mittens -
Remember these sweaters from the 1950s? -
Also in the Swedish craft tradition are the red-painted barns - the colour is called Falu red and it's effective in preserving wood. The most interesting photo I found is here. But everyone knows what a red barn looks like, right?

1 comment:

gjb said...

This round red barn link might be an interesting bit here:
http://www.nps.gov/history/nR/travel/route66/arcadia_round_barn.html
(just because it too is red and traditional!) I enjoyed meandering thru your creative collection. Thank you.