Icelandic Inspiration

Part 1 - Light

I’m just back from my first ever trip to Iceland. I wanted to visit Rekjavik for a long time so I used the excuse of my 50th birthday to plan my adventure. I knew it was going to be beautiful with the city surrounded by sea and mountains, but I wasn’t prepared for the incredible quality of the light!

Whilst I was there the sunrise time was between 8.30-9.00am, it shifted quite a bit each day. The amazing thing was that the angle of the sun, which was always going to be low in the sky at this time of year, meant that each sunrise lasted for hours, changing and developing before your eyes. I hadn’t expected it to be so beautiful for so long and it allowed me to take loads of photos. I adore sunrises and you can expect to see some of these turned into tapestries soon.

It was a similar story at sunset which felt like it lasted from 3.30-5.30pm. Our apartment faced east so it felt easier to catch the sunrise but the lie of the land in Rekjavik meant that being up high gave the best sunset views. Fortunately the Perlan cafe and viewing deck, and the clock tower at Hallgrimskirkja provided perfect vantage points to look west.

Once darkness fell there was still plenty of beauty to be found as the moon rose each night just above our apartment and by the time we left yesterday morning at 3am it was almost full.Jupiter kept watch over us and when the clouds cleared we could even see lots of stars right from the centre of town.

On Wednesday there was a ‘lid’ of cloud over the city, but that didn’t stop a sliver of Aurora being visible!! My trip was made. At home I always use the Aurora watch app and can be found near Mugdock park on a dark night waiting and watching so that I can take pictures for more weaving inspiration. On Wednesday I got an alert just as we were leaving the restaurant after dinner and we were perfectly placed to walk along the shore to get the best view to the north. It was absolutely thrilling!