[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-utsira-school-visit-norway-2014":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"If you visit the island of \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utsira\">Utsira\u003C/a> (the one in the radio \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shipping_Forecast\">Shipping Forecast\u003C/a>, in the North Sea, off the west coast of Norway), you may spot a little eeping Sea Monkey on one of the rocks. And you may wonder why it's there. Well, here is its story...\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_monkey_mural1b_zpsd3a05fec-42c2dd0dce.jpg\" width=\"550\">\\r\n\\r\nIf you read my \u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/670224.html\">last two blog posts\u003C/a>, you'll know I've been taking part as a \u003Ci>barnebokforfatter\u003C/i> (children's book author) in the \u003Ca href=\"http://silkfestival.no/in-english/\">SILK Festival in Skudeneshavn\u003C/a>, on the island of Karmøy. When Utsira island librarian \u003Cb>Margrethe Djønne\u003C/b> saw me in the programme earlier in the year, she asked if Stuart and I would like to make a detour to Ustira for a couple nights, to visit their school. So after the festival, Margrethe (Maggie) and her mother picked us up at the local cafe and drove us from Skudeneshavn to Haugesund, where Stuart, Maggie and I caught the evening ferry boat.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_ferry4FB_zps87b67b67-56c180c944.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWhenever we'd mentioned to Karmøy people that we were going to visit Utsira, they'd suck in air and shake their heads, warning us about the rough sea passage and telling us to lie down flat on the ferry to avoid getting sick. And that evening WAS quite windy. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_ferry1_zpsfa667d99-53a4a8b500.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe didn't sit up on the deck, no one did; everyone stayed on the lowest floor of the passenger section. And I thought the advice about lying down would just be for visiting tourists, who didn't have their sea legs. ...Nope. The ship was pitching like a galloping horse in slow motion. By the end of the 70-minute journey, EVERYONE was lying down flat.\\r\n\\r\nBut the advice was sound, no one got sick. At Utsira North Harbour, all the passengers put on their shoes and headed out into the darkness. And gosh, is it DARK on Utsira. Island resident and artist \u003Cb>Marit Edie Klovning\u003C/b> picked us up and drove us to a fisherman's house, where Maggie jumped out to collect some crab he'd caught for us, and his mother had prepared. Then Marit drove us all up the hill, stopping to turn the car headlights onto a mural on the water tower, painted of the island's first female mayor. The first female mayor in all of Norway, in fact, a midwife named \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aasa_Helgesen\">Aasa Helgesen\u003C/a>, who served from 1926 to 1928. In the dark, her massive head looked quite scary.\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for more under the cut!-->\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_streetart_watertower_zpsa77973b9-217efaba95.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe car beams next lit up a white house, where we'd be staying for the next two nights. Maggie and Marit led us into the house, stocked the kitchen and showed us where the linens were, then disappeared back into the night. We lit some candles to make the place feel more cosy, delved into the food bags and feasted on crab and freshly baked bread.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_lighthouse_dinner_zpsd3f703a2-c3c3cba079.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe weren't exactly sure where we were. As the wind wuthered outside, we did a bit of exploring, first the kitchen cupboards:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_lighthouse_cupboard_zpsb3d6991b-bff95e98ed.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI'd been talking with a lot of Scandinavian crime writers earlier in the week, so we got a little bit too imaginative about what \u003Ci>Kylling, Farinsocker\u003C/i>, Finger Salt and \u003Ci>Grillkrydder\u003C/i> might be. Next the bookshelves, where I pulled out these two rather special books:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_lighthouse_books_zps007a9ebd-e17b4c6b54.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe couldn't read anything, but the people in them looked rather jolly. I think the one on the left might be writer-illustrator \u003Ca href=\"http://alextsmith.blogspot.co.uk/\">Alex T Smith\u003C/a> in a previous life. The one on the right might be one of my great-aunts or something.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_lighthouse_book2_zps9b9b43b8-26bf2fc9d5.jpg\"> \\r\n\\r\nWe went to bed, the wind still howling. We woke before sunrise the next morning, and in the dark blue sky, I could see an old lighthouse outside our bedroom window. I ran around outside to see where we were, getting my socks all wet. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_lighthouse_residence_zpsd5000f7b-94a05eb76b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThat white house in the middle is where we were staying. It's the Lighthouse artist residence, and it's where the island hosts people who come to work with the school or put on a local exhibition. \\r\n\\r\nHere's a photo of the lighthouse again, taken a bit later in the day:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_lighthouse_zps2792bcf6-81c2566afa.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd the view from the base of the lighthouse:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_lighthouse_panorama_zps8badbc68-6d9523252a.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI got dressed up in my Jampires costume and Marit picked me up in her car to take me to the school, while Stuart stayed behind, with his own plans to hike around the island. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_landscape6_zpse47b9771-13da21951e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI thought that we'd only driven a little bit of the island the previous evening, but I quickly realised we'd already covered almost the whole place. Utsira is \u003Ci>very\u003C/i> small! Here's a map, with the Lighthouse marked in red. The 'Utsira kommune' is in the same building as the Library, right next to the school:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_map_zps9dcb99ac-b5552a6176.gif\">\\r\n\u003Cfont size=\"1\">\u003Ci>Map from \u003Ca href=\"https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Utsira+fyr/@59.3049316,4.885884,15z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x463b13c67a6ce589:0xf9f11bb39f3b5eec\">Google Maps\u003C/a>\u003C/i>\u003C/font>\\r\n\\r\nUtsira is basically a pile of rocks with a valley down the middle, a harbour at either end. I took this panorama later in the valley, and you can see a surprising amount of landmarks from a single location: the harbours, the school, the library, the restaurant, the shop.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/Utsira_plan_zps60550d9b-9184f26108.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nMarit swung by her son's house, with a big split rock out the back, which is where she gets her married surname 'Klovning', which in English would be 'Clovenstone'. (Which is also the name of a place in Edinburgh and the country in my co-author Philip Reeve's book \u003Ca href=\"http://www.philip-reeve.com/goblins.html\">\u003Ci>Goblins\u003C/i>\u003C/a>.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_klovning_zpsa607471c-b318563851.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd we swung by the South Harbour for a peek. That flat white building to the right of the red boat house is where people might also stay if they were \u003Ci>overnatting\u003C/i> on Utsira.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_harbour_house_zps901c696b-414b6a7957.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThen we arrived at the library! Wow, Utsira Library is well stocked! The first thing I saw was a little exhibition of \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tove_Jansson\">Tove Jansson\u003C/a>'s Moomin books:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_library_moomins_zps465c9b13-2a0bb2dc2a.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nMaggie had put two of my books on display - \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/theres-a-shark-in-the-bath/\">There's a Shark in the Bath\u003C/i>\u003C/a>, \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jampires.com\">\u003Ci>Jampires\u003C/i>\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jabberworks.co.uk/oliver-and-the-seawigs/\">\u003Ci>Oliver and the Seawigs\u003C/i>\u003C/a> - and I spotted quite a few other familiar names, too. Here's Maggie showing their \u003Ca href=\"http://www.francescasimon.com/\">Francesca Simon\u003C/a> section. ('Rampete Robin' must be the Norwegian variation on 'Horrid Henry'.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_library_francescabks2_zps2fcd0407-7700b5c6c6.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI drew a little poster for the library (something I often do, to make sure the flip chart pens really work):\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_poster_zpsc801866c-bb41dfef6c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd then the children arrived! My first group was the younger half of the school's 22 pupils. I showed my books to them and read \u003Ci>Jampires\u003C/i>, then we all drew Jampires together. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_jampires2_zps4ccdb75e-4351425b0d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nJampires are a bit like vampires, but instead of blood, they suck jam out of doughnuts. I love how ours all had different personalities:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_jampires_zps116bd5a0-c12484746c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThen we talked about our favourite foods and they invented their own story creatures:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_group1_zps8c83e1b4-ed8f0f81da.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's a Pancakepire:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_pancakepire_zps0d826094-de61109e3c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nA Tacopire:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_tacopire_zps6cdf0621-723b428ee9.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd a Pizzapire:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_pizzapire_zps7140ef13-06020a342b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWhen the older half of the school arrived, we drew Sea Monkeys (from \u003Ci>Oliver and the Seawigs\u003C/i> and I led them in a Sea-Monkey-themed Comics Jam. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_comicsjam_zpsd5b8e323-5799f26b01.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe idea was that we'd all draw four panels of a comic, but between each panel, we'd switch papers, so we'd be writing each other's stories. (Here's \u003Ca href=\"http://www.jampires.com/activities/\">more information on running a Comics Jam\u003C/a>.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_comicsjam_shark_zpse24a5666-2c8ed5308a.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nUtsira Library has a great comics collection for its size, and I wish I'd had more time to browse. Here are some interesting-looking comics Maggie showed me:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_library_comics1_zps338bcdd6-0ecbbfe8f5.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_library_comics2_zps385d4cd2-449c7c72cb.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd picture books, too. This first one's a scrapbook of an artist's travel books, I think:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_library_comics3_zps577f98a1-1b8a3a4cf9.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_library_picbook2_zps5d1e09c7-4671cc176d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_library_picbook1_zps35429f6d-9768e90332.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nMaggie said that people don't tend to use the comics section very much, but I hope the kids I worked with will be inspired to explore a bit more in it. I mentioned my favourite comic, \u003Ci>Calvin and Hobbes\u003C/i>, which is called \u003Cb>\u003Ci>Tommy & Tigern\u003C/i>\u003C/b> in Norway, so maybe they can start with that one.\\r\n\\r\nOne funny thing about visiting Utsira: I'd assumed my visit would be kind of a big deal because they would get fewer visitors than your average school. But this was not the case! They have a decent budget for their cultural programme, a school cultural officer named \u003Cb>Knut\u003C/b>, and they bring in people regularly. So we didn't even have time to finish the Comics Jam because they were off to see an Oslo dance troupe perform! And I got to come along.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_pantarei_dancers3_zpsce2f6788-faac1ad8f1.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe troupe - \u003Ca href=\"http://www.pantareidanseteater.com/en\">Panta Rei Danseteater\u003C/a> - led them in a warm-up, then put on a quite sophisticated modern dance about an old woman's diary, mortality and the passage of time. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_pantarei_dancers4_zps941cbab2-fbcd081907.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAfter their performance, four of schoolchildren (who'd been working with the dancers) performed their own choreographed dance. And then the dancers sat on the floor and did a Question & Answer session. (And we all took a photo.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_pantarei_dancers_zpsc0002cc5-639f35473b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe school theatre was new-built and gorgeous; apparently the community had been campaigning hard for the budget and won. The dancers had brought their own flooring, which rolled away into their van; then they pulled away the black curtain backdrop to reveal enormous windows overlooking much of the island. Amazing.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_auditorium_zps0c9624f6-950b23d7dd.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nLunch time with Maggie with Knut, the cultural officer, catered by the island's shop.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_maggie_knut_zpsc8c4e158-f48559a60d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nMaggie also asked if I wanted to meet the kindergarten children, and I said yes. But I was expecting they'd be four or five years old, and they turned out to be infants as young as a year old. (More of a day care, really.) They looked at me in slight bewilderment when I pulled out my ukulele. But they seemed to like it best when I drew a Jampire for them, and I left them, happily colouring it in.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_kindergarten2_zps07db12b7-f55a500941.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's one of the mums, \u003Cb>Katrine Klovning\u003C/b>, collecting her son in a little onesie she'd knitted for him:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_babyonesie_zps365f829d-bd524d4ef2.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nStuart wasn't back when I returned from school, so I thought I'd set out by myself to explore the island, and went around behind the Lighthouse. Apparently Utsira is a birdwatching paradise; in peak season, there are more types of bird there than people. Oh look, North Utsira and South Utsira beach huts:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_beach_huts_zpse0bfcb82-9de8a73242.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nEven though I was wearing wellies, the ground was incredibly rough, and I had visions of pitching onto my face and not being discovered by anyone but the birds and sheep before nightfall. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_landscape10_zps44471d4f-e6e286a294.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nSo I went back onto the main road, and met a fresh-faced Stuart coming up the hill. Hurrah! He'd already walked all the way around the rough parts of the island, but he came out again to walk along the roads with me. \\r\n\\r\nI love this barn:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_barn3_zps51b7fee3-6ece0a9a2f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nSuch great textures and colours.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_barn2_zps405a7480-ff3440c12e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_barn_fishingweights_zpscd5281e3-486e06df89.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI made Stuart go all posey in his lovely new Norwegian jumper. (We actually bought it at a second-hand shop in London, still with the tags on. But we saw very similar jumpers being worn there, so he didn't feel like a silly tourist and wore it almost every day.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_stuart_jumper_zps8a9f510b-82c3878c35.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nCheck out this Warhol-inspired barn:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_soup_barn_zps07cb5f2e-08ca4cb8cd.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd speaking of soup cans, we had to visit the shop, to see what sort of things would be on sale when it's the only shop on the island. It was a wonderful shop, with loads of fresh produce, pretty much anything you could want. But I thought the canned food section was the most interesting because of the mysterious (and occasionally funny) labels. (What is 'Snurring'? A herring that snores?)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_shop_snurring_zps6d1fd68f-4255b64a62.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI recall a childhood song that went, \u003Ci>Fish balls, fish balls, yummy yummy fish balls/ fish balls, fish balls, eat 'em up, YUM.\u003C/i> (Or was it 'fish heads'? Anyway, I got the song stuck in my head for awhile.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_shop_fishballs_zps627aa8fc-7a1604aaaf.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nLots of Lapskaus.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_shop_lapskaus_zps6daa82c7-939d87f380.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nKjøttkaker and Sodd. Heh heh.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_shop_sodd_zpsbc346401-ea3e297630.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nBut we didn't eat out of a tin that evening, it was much better than that. Maggie had talked with \u003Cb>Daniella De Vreeze\u003C/b> and \u003Cb>Hans Van Kampen\u003C/b>, who run the island's restaurant, \u003Ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/DahmsgardUtsira\">Dahmsgård Utsira\u003C/a>. They weren't planning to be open that evening, as it's not peak season, but they opened just for us and Danielle made us one of the most tasty dinners I've ever had. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_resto_daniellehans2_zps88588658-5ef7f41a65.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nNot that it was overly fussy-fancy, it was just perfect; Daniella knew exactly how to prepare the mushroom sauce for the monkfish, and the vegetables were so tasty; the ice cream meringue dessert had some sort of special texture that was incredible. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_resto_monkfish_pud_zps75f4c84f-09211f0fc2.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd lovely wine to go with  it. Not at all what we'd expected to find in such a remote place! Here are Marit and Stuart:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_resto_company2_zps0b4d2a1d-30e092963d.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd we were also joined by \u003Cb>Arnstein Eek\u003C/b> and \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/atgrims\">Atle Grimsby\u003C/a>, who work for the Utstira Kommune administration. It's funny asking people there what they do for their job, because everyone ends up doing a lot of jobs on an island, so nothing's entirely clear. Atle first came there because he loves the birdwatching, and then never left.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_resto_company_zpsc12698d2-495eb9b7ab.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe only reading preparation that Stuart and I had done was on the airplane, from a book by Charlie Connolly that I'd had kicking about the house for almost ten years, called \u003Ca href=\"http://www.charlieconnelly.com/334/\">\u003Ci>Attention All Shipping: a Journey Around the Shipping Forecast\u003C/i>\u003C/a>. I'd never managed to read it, so I ripped out the pages that we'd need (which was perhaps a bit naughty, but there you go). It was quite illuminating, and I learned that people from Utsira are called 'Sirabu' (not Utsirans). And, of course, our dinner companions knew all the people mentioned in the book, and Atle's Facebook-friends with Charlie. (I might need to go back and read the book properly now.)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_book_zps0dc42dcb-4952a0a0d0.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWe didn't get to see Daniella for most of the meal because she was busy cooking, and Hans helped her serve. But Hans disappeared for awhile to help with the washing up, then we got to see both of them for awhile. They're Dutch, and bought the old school house about four(?) years ago to do up as a restaurant. They'd never run a restaurant before, just an art gallery, but Danielle had done a lot of catering for the gallery - over a hundred people at times - so she knew lots about cooking already. I think they said that they visited Utsira, found out the site was up for sale, and came up with a business proposal, right there on the island, in three hours. They're pretty awesome. They remind me a bit of a Danish film called \u003Ca href=\"http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092603/\">\u003Ci>Babette's Feast\u003C/i>\u003C/a>, about a French woman who brings fine cuisine to a rugged little island in Jutland. There's one other place on the island you can eat out - a pub that serves pizza, chips, sausages, that sort of thing, but it's definitely worth popping into Dahmsgård Utsira, even if just for cake and coffee. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_resto_daniellehans_zps694da7b6-fb57613a75.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe next day was Art Day; I'd been talking with Marit about her work over dinner and really wanted to see her paintings and studio. And Maggie and a few others had mentioned that they wanted me to add to the mural collection of the island, and I said I'd be up for that. So Marit took Stuart and me to her place, where we met her family and had some lovely breakfast.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_daughter1_zps1db8fa77-2de1f77cca.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nIt was such a cosy house and table, her daughter was warm and friendly, and her grandson was super-cute. I love this photo, it looks like some sort of half-remembered Nordic painting.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_family_zpsc67c623a-7a5511191e.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nMarit's husband used to work as a carpenter (and built their house, studio and workshop) but turned his hand in later life to becoming a fisherman, which he now does with their son.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_husband_zps78313a5f-91f3894b20.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's some lovely cinnamon cake Marit made:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_cake_zps87af9506-5a1a5cd237.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd more nice packaging (this time it's pâté).\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_liver_baby_zpsb5cd1071-aa2fd9fdd9.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nWhile I was talking with Marit's daughter, \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MarteEideKlovni\">Marte Eide Klovning\u003C/a>, I asked about her job, and it turned out that she's the island's mayor right now. She travels quite a lot, to go to meetings and things, so Marit juggles being a babysitting grandmother with making her artwork. I love the theatre poster hanging in her studio loo, with Marte on the left. I think she said it's a play about Aasa Helgesen, Utsira's (and Norway's) first female mayor.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.utsira.kommune.no/tema/individ-og-samfunn/politikk-og-valg/stemmerettsjubileet-1913-2013/haugesund-teater-kvinnekuppet-pa-utsira\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_daughter_play_zps30e9fb0c-08a32382b2.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nMarit showed me a few of the paintings and drawings she had on display in the main part of the house:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_reader_painting_zps3ed532f0-3b1c560887.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThis one in the kitchen's called \u003Ci>The Maker\u003C/i>, and has a real bit of lace stuck into it. Marit likes the idea of 'making' as much as 'painting'; she sees herself as much as a Maker as a Painter. I think I'm like that, too.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_maker_painting_zpsa520fcad-5ad8e31d4f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd here's a large one in the lounge. Until this trip, I never thought of Norwegian beaches as beautiful places, but they have soft white sand as good as Hawaii's (just less sun).\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_beach_painting_zpsa7aac543-14ecfe4824.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAfter coffee, we went around to the side of the house, to the separate building that's Marit's studio. You can see it there on the left, through the trees.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_studiooutdoors_zpsd53b3a6b-e14082a977.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe first things I noticed were all the portraits on the back wall. Utsira had a Jubilee celebration of  and Marit set herself the task of painting a portrait of every single woman on the island, from the youngest baby to a very old woman (104, I think). Many of them bought their portraits from her after the exhibition, but she still has some of them. I can't remember the exact number of portraits, but it was near 100. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_studio_boxes_zps34e7975c-677fb2d250.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe boxes were another part of the project; Marit likes looking for interesting driftwood on the beaches and she made these boxes out of bits she found. Again, there's one for each woman on the island, and it represents having a little space of one's one. Marit explained that a lot of people don't stay on the island, particularly women, and to keep living there happily, one really needs hobbies and a rich inner life. So these boxes are a bit like the things each one of them treasures around herself. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_boxes2_zps6206e6f3-f26078658b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_boxes_zpsae1aa4ce-37d1357fe0.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nMarit had already sold this painting, but she showed me a postcard of it. I love the northern light on it; so atmopheric.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_postcard_zps3753d92e-7f2a7d0df9.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd this one, too. I once took a class at university on Northern European Landscape Art, and true to form, I've forgotten almost everything. But I have vague memories of other Scandinavian painters who use this sort of light in painting, and there's something very magical about it.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_picnic_painting_zps249c65cf-dad3f87669.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's a peek into two side rooms.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_easel_zps8c5c6517-9b433b69b7.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nMarit's used some antique linens and lace effects in her paintings.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_blouse_zpse431a691-4c8b128a4f.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI was so pleased that Marit came to my talk on Skudeneshavn, and then took the time to show me around. Thank you so much, Marit! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_marit_brushes_zps058d9180-634e847617.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe island prides itself on its mural artwork that's been springing up during the past few years. You see this light bulb as soon as you get off the ferry:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_lightbulbhouse_zpsc116c8c8-27d8772bc8.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd there's a Norwegian video with a bunch more paintings \u003Ca href=\"https://publisher.qbrick.com/Embed.aspx?mid=B9AA6E02\">shown here\u003C/a>. I was starting to think I'd run out of time to paint a mural (which was okay with me) but in the last two hours, Marit kicked everyone into gear and raced me over to the school to paint a Sea Monkey on one of the rocks on the playground. I was quite happy with how it turned out, despite the rush, and I liked the location, where the little kids would be able to see it. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_seamonkey_mural_zps314bdd43-bbb5a5e6ae.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThen Marit and Arnstein Eek escorted me to another place to do a second mural, in a housing development by the North Harbour, and I expected to paint on one of the big blank walls. But that wasn't what they had in mind. Another artist, inspired by the Gaza conflict, had painted a sniper pointing a gun at a child with a balloon. And while the residents didn't mind the politics so much, they didn't like coming up the stairs in dim light and being confronted by a gun man. So they wondered if I could do something with it. \\r\n\\r\n...Yikes! I didn't know what to think! Would the artist be angry with me for defacing his work? (They didn't manage to record the name of that particular artist.) What might I be saying, politically? I didn't know! And the ferry was leaving in 40 minutes. Marit helped me and we got to work.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_monkey_mural2c_zps6210bd6f-65f642c166.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nOh boy. What had I done? Well. Marit and Arnstein and another guy there seemed much happier about it. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_monkey_mural2_zpsd694a5f6-d08b6ad450.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe politics of Sea Monkeys. I don't even know; don't ask me to write a paper on that one. Also, we caught the ferry.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_monkey_mural2b_zpsfbe64b88-8553f044f8.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nI was sad to leave. The Sirabu were so kind, and looked after us so well. The island is beautiful. I hope I can go back one day. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_teacher_maggie_zps379d1a9e-f293404f1b.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nBig thanks to Maggie, Marit, the teachers, Arne, Arnstein, Daniella & Hans, Borislav the Bulgarian and the Englishman who both gave us lifts, everyone who pitched in to make the trip so wonderful. You can follow \u003Ca href=\"https://www.facebook.com/utsirakommune\">Utsira Kommune on Facebook\u003C/a> if you want to follow their news. (I think the community is more active on Facebook than Twitter.) And they also keep a \u003Ca href=\"http://www.utsira.kommune.no/utsira-kommune/dagboka-lokalnytt-fra-utsira-samfunnet/2014/kjekt-mote-med-sarah-mcintyre\">blog here\u003C/a>.  \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_school_magmaritatle_zps15ea3111-61b06a7a01.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nThe ferry ride back to Haugesund was much quieter, only about a quarter of the passengers were lying down, and some were reading and chatting. \u003Cb>John Rullestad\u003C/b> from the SILK Festival met us at the dock and took us back to the Viking Museum at Avaldsnes, which I'd visited on my first visit. (Stuart did a quick run around.) We had coffee there with John's wife \u003Cb>Helga Rullestad\u003C/b> and my new Danish friend from this year's festival, writer \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lene_Kaaberb%C3%B8l\">Lene Kaaberbøl\u003C/a>. Oh, and of course, we dressed up. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/avaldsnes_john_lene_sarah_zpsea7ede0e-04bda87104.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nStuart's gone completely native. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/avaldsnes_stuart_zps1ae3a212-5725e071de.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nJust before we left, Maggie handed me a bottle to put into my luggage. So this evening back in London, I took down to our neighbours gifts of Risebrød (chocolatey rice thingies) and brown cheese, and also brought along the bottle so we could all have a taste. Good stuff, Utsira \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akvavit\">Akevitt\u003C/a>. Very strong. Thanks, Maggie! :)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_akevitt_zps76565617-2415dcaf7c.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n(And well done, reader, if you got this far! I know this is WAAY too long of a blog post, but I did it, really, for myself, as a souvenir. I didn't want to forget anything!)\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_landscape4_zps23315cee-8374022f59.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_meetinghouse_zps8f64f6dc-9f5a789515.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_landscape2_zps26fff3ad-ef36acfb61.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/utsira_landscape1_zpsa8832f56-76d5c10778.jpg\">\\r\n\\r\nGoodbye, Norway. We miss you already. x","2014-11-05T22:07:00.000Z","utsira-school-visit-norway-2014",[],"utsira school visit, norway 2014",1776628730088]