Salina Art Center

Stories in Stitches: A children’s workshop with visiting artist Hildur Bjarnadóttir

A very special opportunity for 4th through 6th grade children comes to the Salina Art Center on Saturday, October 21 from 9:30 to noon when visiting Icelandic artist Hildur Bjarnadóttir will conduct a FREE workshop, Stories in Stitches.

After a tour of A Changing Fabric, the current exhibition at the Art Center in which Bjarnadóttir’s work is featured, the artist will show participants how to use a needle and thread to transform a found textile object into a unique work of art. This isn’t your grandmother’s sewing! Spaces are limited, so please RSVP by calling the Art Center at 785-827-1431 by Friday, October 20.

Hildur Bjarnadóttir is internationally recognized for her contemporary interpretations of traditional Icelandic textile handwork. With hints of humor and surprise, her art encompasses weaving, needlework, tatting, and crochet, as well as painting, drawing, and sculpture.

According to Bjarnadóttir, “When I was four years old my mother taught me how to knit, crochet and sew. I was raised immersed in a textile environment. My mother was a knitting and sewing teacher, and I would constantly be knitting or making crafts. One thing my mother did not teach me was to follow patterns; everything I made she had me design myself.”

Currently, Bjarnadóttir is a practicing artist and art educator. Her work has been shown in numerous group and solo exhibitions in Scandinavia, Germany, Canada, and the United States. In September 2006, Hildur was the first artist to receive the prestigious national Icelandic Visual Arts Award.