A girl, crocheting

Just a quick one today. Found this beautiful painting by the Danish painter Anne Ancher in a book I gave to a friend, Gail Carolyn Sirna's 'In Praise of the Needlewoman'. It was painted in 1881 and is called 'Sunshine in the blue room'. I like the mood of the painting, the sense of silence, stillness, with the yellow-haired girl sitting alone in the room with her back to us, head bent over her crocheting in absolute concentration. Her feet aren't touching the ground, the small ball of white wool lies halfway across the room. The light in the room is gorgeous, illuminating the back of her small head, painting yellow streaks across the carpet and on th wall the shadow of a plant in the bright reflection of one of the windows. I don't think the girl's hands are wet with sweat, trying to make even, regular stitches - her posture is not tense and it looks as if the thread weaves slowly but easily through her fingers. Looking for information about the painting and the painter I came across flowerville, a very interesting and thoughtful blog about poetry and art, where you'll find a note about Anne Ancher on 7 Dec 06.