Finding my “place”

Now I am in Olafsfjordur, Iceland, beginning my 6 week residency at Listhus.  I arrived four days ago in the pouring rain, everything mysterious and shrouded.  The day after, the town and landscape emerged and this is what I saw:

The landscape is beautiful, the mountains are impressive, white, towering above the town and casting interesting shadows.

My mission here is to “go deeper” into the Icelandic landscape, and how I experience this place. Everything tugs and pulls in different directions, exciting and unknown, every road a temptation.  Instead of chasing mountains, I think I’d be well served to sit still and see what comes into focus, right here, right now.

This is the morning light, 8:45 am on a rainy morning:

 

I did 3 quick sketches “9:05”, “9:20”, and “9:35”:

 

 

 

 

 

I end each day with a swim in the community pool, outside, with clouds of steam rising off the surface and billowing away.  Mountains are visible on both sides as I swim length after length.  My mission is to absorb the influence of this place, to be patient with myself, and to work without censoring.  Something will happen.