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Last month my husband and I took a vacation to Iceland. We rented a car and traveled the south coast as far around the island as the Glacial Lagoon formed by the melting of Vatnajokull Glacier. The landscape is wild, harsh and very beautiful. We had to buy extra insurance on the rental car for ash and sand which when windblown can destroy the finish on a vehicle. It all sounds scary but their September is like our November here in Maine and we had no issues driving. 

Our first stop was for two nights in the town of Vik. It would take 2 1/2 hrs. to drive there from Reykjavik but we took the whole day stopping at Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss along the way. Any word ending in foss means waterfall and they were spectacular. Seljalandsfoss has carved out the cliff behind it and one is able to walk right in behind.

Seljalandsfoss

Many other waterfalls that have less water coming over them could be seen from the ring road. There always seemed to be a house or a little village below each one. The following day my husband explored the black sand beach in Vik while I did a couple of watercolor sketches sitting at the picnic table at the beach. I painted the rock formation Reynisdrangar that sits off one end of the beach. Legend has it that two trolls tried to land a three masted ship unsuccessfully in the night and when the sun came up they turned to stone. Just one of the legends and myths aplenty in this wondrous place.

Reynisdrangar

Turning around I painted the lovely village of Vik. Arriving in Vik one drives down the pass between the mountains. The white slope seen in the back is Myrdalsjokull Glacier. Anything ending in jokull means glacier. Now you know as much Icelandic as I do. We laughed and laughed trying to say the names of places. 

Vik

The afternoon we spent at Halsanefshellir, the basalt column cave and Dryholaey rock formations. 

Day three we drove to the Glacial Lagoon. We drove through expanses of lava fields covered in mosses, lichens and heathers. We drove through The Sandur, a large glacial flood plain of nothing but black sand and winding streams of glacial melt. Bleak and beautiful at the same time. The Glacial Lagoon is a huge tourist attraction and has been location for movie shoots. The colors! Oh my the colors! We took the boat tour in the lagoon and even ate some 1000 year old ice. After our ride my husband went for a hike down the lagoon so I could paint. Visually it looks very cold but the temps were in the low 50s. I wish I could spend a couple of weeks painting just at this location. The ice is constantly moving and is so beautiful. The mountains without snow on them kept changing from browns to a dusky plum color. 

Glacial Lagoon

In Reykjavik the best thing we did was go to the Reykjavik Museum of Art. They have three locations in the city and we visited two. I was struck and am still in awe of the work by Johannes Sveinsson Kjarval. Kjarval (1885-1972) is Iceland's most beloved painter. He grew up poor but with support from fishermen and the Icelandic Confederation of Labor was able to attend the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He was a prolific painter and over the years he used expressionism, impressionism and cubism in his work. He also infused myth within some of his pieces in such a way that struck me as being a legitimate expression of his experience. In the winter he rented in Reykjavik and in the summer would tent on a farmers land in northern Iceland. Eventually the farmer built him this little hut for his summer lodging.

Here is Kjarval working en plein air. I can't imagine working that large in a place where the wind almost always blows. 

This painting of a lava field is typical of many of his paintings. The surface is so complex. Not knowing if it was ok to take pictures I snapped them on the sly. It looks like a tapestry.

This is a close up of a small area of the painting.

This painting is not as textural but look what he did within the design. 

Love the paint handling here.

This next one is my favorite piece. It is 6'x12' and made quite an impression on me. The visual richness of the composition, palette and story made it hard to move away from. I sat on the viewing bench for about 10 minutes trying to take it all in. I really couldn't. This tiny picture can't describe the impact of such a large work. It pulsed and vibrated. So good. 

Iceland even put him on their 2000 Krona note because he is so loved. That would be like being on our $20 bill, a bill that is used and seen often. 

Kjarval left behind thousands of paintings and drawings, his life work, carrying his message, his vision of Iceland. What a privilege it was to view a bit of it.