Wednesday, June 16, 2010

My Artistic Cousin in Norway

I found my Norwegian cousins over eight years ago using information from an old box of photos I inherited from my great-aunts. It took some academic research (translating letters and writing on the back of photos, online genealogy, and microfilm of Lutheran church records and census data) but ultimately it was a search of email addresses that gave me the one name that might be a cousin: Bjorn Folkmann. Looking for relatives named Olsen would have been hopeless, but this name I recognized from old photos. Bjorn didn't even know he had American cousins and had to ask his mother about our common great-grandfather, Gustav Olsen. Bjorn then put me in touch with Elsie and her daughters, Merete and Barbro. Bjorn is a statistician, which I found amusing and I've enjoyed meeting him. Elsie is close to my age and is a weaving artist. She has two Swedish looms and creates intricate wall hangings as well as rugs for her beautiful wooden floors. Here are some samples of her work.
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She is also a great cook and likes to make desserts as much as I do.
Cream cake with marzipan cover.

1 comment:

Paper Chipmunk (aka Ellen) said...

Elsie's work is beautiful. What a wonderful experience to visit with them! I detect a family resemblance too...