Stories of the Faroe Island Crafters

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Guorio Poulsen is a pioneering sculptor and potter - who devotes herself to both creating beautiful and unique pieces as well as teaching the craft to folk in the Faroe Islands

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Guroio in her studio throwing a cup

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Time lapse of a cup being made

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Joel Cole

I’m from from Minnesota, from the forests.

I used to go for walks in the woods. I could hunt geese and ducks, but I was more insisted in hunting trees. 

There are at least 70 different kinds of maple trees. My favourite is the sugar maple.

Once I see the right tree, I cut it up into slabs. I do everything, from felling to lacquer work, everything. I wash the wood. Then I start cutting up the log, and the tree’s history comes to life. From felling to portioning, to curing and storing, it’s about a 4 year investment before you can use it in a product like this. 

The maple is a fantastic tree visual. The interior is beautiful too. The wood and the annual rings tell a story. When I moved to the Faroes, I brought 12 tons of wood with me. The plan is to start curing and collecting wood.

There is one guy on the island who uses only Faroe wood. There is not enough for both of us, so I’m waiting till he’s done. 7-8 years worth of waiting to use only Faroese wood. 

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I say this is my boyfriends jumper - he loves it. It’s a very popular item, so in that way I say I have many boyfriends. It looks like chain mail, so there is a connection to vikings.

The stitching looks like Danish waffles - not like American

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Shisha Brand The name comes from Japan. She lives in Faroe.

She used to work in media, wanted to work with her hands. Loved knitting.

Her size is unique - so she always had to work to find clothes to fit her. She wanted to wear something unique. 

She knits, makes clutches and handbags.

She moved to Berlin, but then longed for home, and started think about sheep. So her first collection is about sheep - cushions.

Faroese wool is harsh. It’s water resistant. The texture is quite harsh, so she moved over to Italian wool. Each piece is unique. http://shisabrand.com/