Salmon Days may be a celebration about that most Pacific Northwestern of icons — the salmon — but this year’s celebration had a bit of a Norwegian flair, thanks to a new piece of artwork in Olde Town Issaquah.
Bergljot Hals’ “Journey,” a sketched, black and white recreation of an old Norwegian woodcarving, covers what was once a plain utility box at East Sunset Way and Second Avenue Northeast.
The piece not only brightens up an intersection, but more importantly, plays an ambassadorial role; the art symbolizes the bond of friendship between Issaquah and its Norwegian sister city, Sunndal.
Sunndal is a municipality of about 7,200 people located about 300 miles northwest of Oslo. Like its American sister, Sunndal lies nestled in a green valley among picturesque, snow-topped mountains.
The Issaquah Sister Cities Commission reached out to Sunndal, putting out a call for artists to submit designs to cover an Issaquah utility box as a permanent art installation. After a careful selection process, Hals’ piece was chosen as the winner.
Hals traveled to Issaquah to see her creation unveiled on Friday at the beginning of Salmon Days weekend. Her time here will also include visits to local schools and to prominent sights in the area, such as Snoqualmie Falls and Boehm’s Candies.
Hals said that she is excited to be on her first-ever trip to America, and to see her work displayed so prominently half a world away.
“It’s a great opportunity to show my art outside Norway,” Hals said. “I’m very glad to be here.”
“Journey” is deeply rooted in Norwegian history and culture. To create illustrations, Hals does rubbings of wood carvings on old houses, then creates illustrations of the images in the rubbing.
“I don’t have a plan — I just stare at the imprint, see what pops out. I work until I feel I can see a little bit of history or a fairy tale,” Hals said. “It’s just a feeling — I don’t really know what it is.”
She decided on the name of “Journey” for the piece because she felt like the main man depicted “was going somewhere.”
The design for “Journey” comes from the history museum in Sunndale. Hals laughed that the original carving in Sunndale is much smaller, and so it is “a bit strange to see it this big.”
The first rubbing-based art piece that Hals did came from a historic barn near her house in 2012. The barn was going to be torn down, and Hals “wanted to have a physical memory of it,” so she made a rubbing on paper.
After doing the rubbing, she “started to see figures in the pattern,” and created a drawing based on these figures.
Creating art has been a lifelong passion for Hals, who this spring graduated from Kristiania College, a vocational art school in Trondheim, Norway. Now a full-time artist, she wants to try her hand in a variety of mediums; she hopes to do illustrations for books, magazines and perhaps as concept art in the film industry.
“I like to work with different things, not just one,” she said.
Living off of art alone is a challenge, Hals said, but she is determined to do whatever it takes to follow her dream. Before studying at art school, she worked as a teaching assistant and as an art teacher in a type of Norwegian school that teaches evening classes in cultural pursuits, such as visual arts and musical instruments.
“You have to work hard if you’re going to try to live as an artist,” she said.
The Sister Cities Commission members, several of whom joined Hals for the unveiling of her artwork on Friday, said that they were delighted to have Sunndal represented at Salmon Days. For the past several years, artists from Issaquah’s other sister city, Chefchaouen, Morocco, have been guests at Salmon Days, but Sister Cities Commissioner Olivia Zhang said that it has been years since a resident of Sunndal has visited Issaquah.
“We were really excited to make that connection again,” she said.
To check out more of Hals’ creations, visit her booth at Salmon Days across from City Hall on East Sunset Way.
Salmon Days runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7 and Sunday, Oct. 8.
Hals, center, cuts the ribbon in front of her work of art, while her husband Ivar Karvatn, left, and Sister Cities Commissioner Robin Kelley, right, look on. Nicole Jennings/staff photo
The Sister Cities Commission and their Norwegian guests smile in front of “Journey.” From left, Mohammed Belali, Oligia Zhang, Ivar Karvatn, Robin Kelley, Bergljot Hals, Heather Stapf. Nicole Jennings/staff photo
Bergljot Hals and her original piece, which stands as a symbol of the bond of friendship between sister cities Sunndal, Norway and Issaquah. Nicole Jennings/staff photo
