Gullkistan – the Residency

For the past few years, I’d been dreaming of visiting Iceland. Gullkistan was the perfect opportunity for me to experience the beauty of Iceland and also, have a studio to make art.  I spent the month of October 2016 at the Gullkistan Center for Creativity an artist residency, located in Laugarvatn, a small village on a lake surrounded by horse farms and mountains.  When the weather cooperates it’s possible to see Hekla, the stratovolcano in the distance.

Click here to see the paintings I was inspired to create.

There were six artists working at the residency.  Stacy Lynn Gould, Molly Burt-Westvig, Merle Pa, Josephine Turalba and Dennis Kim

We each had our own space within the 2 big rooms that served as our studios.  While I’m not a fan of group working situations, I was able to overcome my objection by setting up my studio first thing when I arrived.  The more comfortable I am in my space the easier it is to focus on painting.

I brought lots of prepared paper and a few small canvases.  I was limited by what would fit in my two suitcases.  Laugarvatn is such a beautiful and peaceful place, I was inspired to paint many views of the lake at different times of day.

Iceland – The Highlights

I want to share a brief glimpse of what I saw in Iceland.

Laugarvatn is situated in a perfect spot for traveling to the “must see” places.  It’s one of the stops on the Golden Circle a popular tourist route in southern Iceland, covering about 300 kilometres looping from Reykjavík into the southern uplands of Iceland and back. Luckily, the residency has a car available for the artists to use and take on day trips.  Once a week we would pick a few places to visit and all load in the car for a tour.  Some of the highlights include Gullfoss, Geysir, Þingvellir

Gullfoss  translated  means “Golden Falls” and is one of Iceland’s most beautiful and without a doubt  most popular waterfall.

Geysir

The Þingvellir is a national park. It is part of a fissure zone running through Iceland, situated on the tectonic plate boundaries of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

The land of rainbows and waterfalls!

In the last week of my residency, I decided to leave a few days early to spend some time in Reykjavik, hike up a glacier and see the icebergs of the glacier lagoon and spend a day sightseeing around the Reykjanes Peninsula.

Jökulsárlón is a large glacial lake in southeast Iceland, on the edge of Vatnajökull National Park. I took an amphibian boat tour around the lagoon. During the excursion you sail among the huge icebergs in the picturesque scenery of Jökulsárlón.

I did it! I strapped on the crampons, faced my fear of heights and falling off of mountains and climbed up Falljokull (glacier). I had 2 very nice/patient guides. One super pro New Zealander and a newbie Icelandar. Luckily, they didn’t cancel the tour even though I was the only guest. We hiked down at sunset. Absolutely breathtaking view.

The Reykjanes Peninsula

The Bridge between two continents at Sandvík is a small footbridge over a major fissure which provides clear evidence of the presence of a diverging plate margin. The bridge was built as a symbol for the connection between Europe and North America.

Paintings – A Preview

I’m scheduled to have a show of paintings inspired by Iceland in March 2017 at Arthouse Gallery in Sacramento.

Click Here to see the series of Iceland Paintings.