Swedish Horses

Family histories makes fascinating stories. Here's a little piece of mine.

These bright colored horses are a symbol of Sweden and are called Dala horses (based on the region where they come from  called Dalarna). They are really big tourist items.  They became very successful after appearing at the 1939 New York World's Fair, and I know many American families with Swedish ancestry or backgrounds have one in their homes.

I have a whole collection of these horses. When one of my uncles was still alive, he would give me a Swedish folk object each year for Christmas. These included the Dala horse and some tomte, which is the Swedish word for these wooden carved people. 

I put them out on my living room bookshelves each year at Christmas. As they aren't just for Christmas, I leave them out for while into the winter. Since they are so cheery.

These 2 little people on the left mean a lot to me too.  Back in my 20's I went and spent a month in Sweden with some of my mother's family-her uncle and her cousins. They made and gifted me with this great little traditional couple   on the left. They also gave me the large red embroidered one on the right.

The 2 tomte on the left are gifts from my uncle and the 2 on the right are similar pieces I bought last summer in Iceland. One is  a sheep and the other is the Icelandic Huldufolk or elves. I think they fit in with my Swedish pieces just fine.  After all, we are a multi-cultural world.
I enjoy this connection to my past, even if I can't say I really know all that much about it.

Any why I cherish my Swedish folk art pieces.

And if you are curious

Here's a newspaper article about these horses:

The Dala Horse from the Local

And here's how Wikipedia describes the tomte.

My page started with my painting part of the Swedish flag, and then I added my painted sketch of the Dala horse. I stamped the Viking image and the word hej (which just means hello).
I am linking this story up to Art Journal Journey. This month's theme is every journal page tells a story.

And thanks to Valerie for inspiring me to make this page. Back at the beginning of the month she showed us some gorgeous glass that she received from relatives, and that put the idea of Dala horse into my head.

Hope everyone has a great start to their week.