“I wasn’t subject to a local ‘Janteloven’ (the expectation of holding back, being unobtrusive and claiming no special ability). I was a foreigner and didn’t know better.”

Danish Else Johnsrud has made her way ahead in the art of both home handcrafts and gardening in Hadeland, the region in the south of Oppland. She comes from the same country that most of the immigrants in Oppland have. At the turn of the century 739 Danes were residing over the whole of the county.

Elsa came to Gran in Hadeland in 1978 when she and her husband Iver took over the Steinsrud farm. She has had education in the art of embroidery in Denmark and has devoted much of her life to handcrafts. She worked along with others to establish the Hadeland handcraft organization and among other things helped redesign the traditional costume (bunad) representing the Hadeland area. In addition, this Dane has been central in work to preserve Hadeland’s traditional man’s work shirt (the busserull).

Else Johnsrud calculates that she is the person in Norway who knows most about a certain embroidery technique known as tambour. The work is done on fabric spread tight on a frame (resembling a tambourine) with crocheting directly onto the fabric. In the last few years she has concentrated on raising interest in this special technique that in the past was widespread in Oppland. She gives speeches, creates exhibits, gives courses on this embroidery style and has used it in redesigning the kerchief accompanying certain bunads. In addition to this she creates new objects from various materials.