Árdís - 01.01.1954, Page 21

Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna
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poems which I called “The Fairy Strawberry and Other Stories”.
My brother painted the illustrations. In all these writings I was
completely unaided, as, being of an independent nature with regard
to creative work, I had no desire to be helped.
During my youth I read a great many books for young people;
myths, legends and fairy tales always appealed to me most strongly.
When I was ten years of age we moved to Morningside, a
newer residential district overlooking the Pentland Hills, and, two
years later, Strathearn College was given up and I then attended
another girls’ school called Craigmount. My father taught music in
both schools mentioned.
In the summer of 1906 we all went up to London for a holiday
at the time that my father was asked to write part of the music
for Hall Caine’s “Prodigal Son” which was performed in the Drury
Lane Theatre.
During all my youth, a feeling of expectancy, of not knowing
what was going to happen next, seemed to pervade our household,
a feeling which was very delightful.
At the age of eighteen I entered the College of Art in Edinburgh
and the year following we went for a summer holiday to Copen-
hagen. There we had the pleasure of meeting many relations on
my father’s side, including his youngest sister, Ingeborg Trampe
and his cousin Thordur Gudjohnson, and other people of interest,
many of them being Icelanders living there. We spent much of our
time in sight-seeing and, altogether, the holiday was a great success.
During our visit in Copenhagen my father was given the title of
Professor by King Frederick VIII.
Four years after entering the College of Art in Edinburgh I
took the diploma in design along with a teacher’s certificate as well
as first and second years’ certificates in educational needlecraft for
children. I also studied the crafts of embroidery, writing and
illuminating and wood block printing, and, after taking the diploma,
I continued to study life drawing and painting for another couple
of years.
For over a year I assisted in the teaching of art at the Academy
in Forfar, Scotland, where I also supervised the art in four public
schools. From there I went to Kilwinning, near the west coast,
where I held the position of art teacher in the High School.