(From Sea to Glacier) | |||
| Applique Piece, 1990, 160 x 190 cm
This piece is a representation of Bremanger, a municipality on the west coast of Norway, where I happen to live. The title refers to the landscape typical of the west coast: islands and fjords surrounded by steep glacier-topped mountains, all in a relative small area. It is actually possible to go fishing or sea-bathing and climbing glaciers in the same day. | |||
 |
The fishing vessel is placed in the center of the picture because fishing is, and have always been, very important around here. In the years before 1990 the fjord outside my windows filled with spawning cod every March, and there was a lively acticity on the fjord from early morning till late evening for a couple of months.
Facing west with nothing but sea between us and the Atlantic Ocean, it can be very rough during the winter storms. | ||
The ferry and the legendary fjord crossing. The foxglove is the county flower for our county, Sogn og Fjordane. |
As Bremanger is an island, we depend on the ferries to bring everything to and fro. A ferry trip can be quite charming and relaxing, but there are drawbacks: you have to catch them on time, and there is a standstill during the night. So if you are not in time for the last departure in the evening, you are stranded till next morning.
This is why nearly every island community wants a bridge or a tunnel, and Bremanger is no exception to the rule. In 1990 there were plans for a bridge crossing the fjord, but it seemed a long way off, every year when the politicians debated the budgets, the plans were postponed, so I thought the crossing was like the legendary golden treasure at the end of the rainbow: always far off. But on the 12th July 2002 the first part of the crossing was opened, so now it is almost like a legend coming true. | ||
 |
On the eastern part of the island the legendary mountain Hornelen towers above the fjord. Every morning the Hurtigrute ships pass underneath on their roundtrip from Bergen to Kirkenes. | ||
The legend says that every Midsummer Eve witches come from everywhere and gather on the top of Hornelen where they dance and do whatever is done when witches meet. Also, it is said that the Viking King Olav Tryggvason climbed the vertical mountain side to rescue one of his men who was stuck. Hornelen consists of conglomerate, and every year smaller or bigger rocks fall into the fjord. At the top, a big crevice is widening a little every year, and people living on the nearby shores fear that the top will one day fall into the fjord and cause damaging flood waves. | |||
 |
On the mainland part of Bremanger industry based on hydroelectricity is important. Our rainy weather and water melting from the Ålfoten Glacier supplies the power stations built in the area, which again powers the ferrosilisium plant now owned by Elkem.
The willingness to "pipe" waterfalls has been overwhelming among politicians and most people, but has slowed down during the recent decades. One of our local politicians made himself famous many years ago by stating: "All water not running inside pipes is a monstrosity" So piped water had to be in my picture. | ||
 |
The eighties was the pioneer era of fish farming in Norway, and more and more fjords saw fish pens anchored along the shores. On my way to and from work I passed one of these early fish farms, anchored almost in the middle of the fjord, and next to it, probably on a raft, was this caravan, which I suppose was there for the workers to relax in during breaks.
Anyway, the sight was rather funny, and I thought it deserved to be in my picture. | ||
BACK
to Early Quilts