Jamie Runnells is a Professor of Visual Communication at JSU from Colorado. She has lived in Georgia, Scotland, Iowa, Mississippi, and, now, Alabama.

Professor Runnells recently had the opportunity to participate in The Light Grey Norway Creative Residency. The residency took place this summer, from June 5^th to June 10^th, and allowed for a group of fourteen artists from different creative backgrounds to “share their ideas on creativity, art, design theory, techniques and methods, and a wide variety of global creative themes.”

She first learned about the residency from two illustrators that she follows on social media who participated in the residency in 2018. Both the location (Bergen, Norway) and the format of the residency caught her eye when she decided to apply. Although she had taught for over seventeen years without participating in a residency, it wasn’t for a lack of desire. She explains that she’s been interested in doing one for some time, but “with three kids at home it can be hard to work out the logistics for some of the longer residencies.” The residency in Norway was a shorter format, which Runnells found to be “more accessible.”

The residency, which emphasizes “connectivity, discovery, and learning together,” was a valuable resource for Runnells. She appreciated the group’s diversity: “as a teacher it is great for me to have a deeper understanding of specialties within my field as well as to have contacts within various visual communication specialties.” In addition, she learned about several traditional Norwegian art forms, such as “rosemåling”, which is a decorative floral painting style. The opportunity to explore the art forms of another culture and attend workshops surrounded by a breathtaking landscape has enriched her artistic practice in design and illustration.

One of Professor Runnells’ favorite sources of creative inspiration comes from food. While in Norway, she made it her mission to try local foods. “Walking up and down supermarket and farmer’s market aisles is one of my favorite things to do when I’m traveling outside the US,” she says. She fell in love with Norway’s cardamom buns—lightly sweetened cardamom-flavored rolls—and “skoleboller.” The skoleboller, or “school buns,” are flavored with vanilla custard and coconut flakes. Runnells also tried dried whale, reindeer sausage, and “brunost,” a Norwegian brown cheese.  

Aside from allowing Professor Runnells to explore her creative studies, the residency provided Runnells with unique opportunities. She was able to swim in a freezing fjord—“by swim, I mean jump in quickly and immediately jump back out,” she clarifies. She learned about traditional Norwegian arts and crafts, architecture, and the history of Norway. “We visited a working museum that restores boats and makes ropes by hand using traditional tools and techniques,” she says, adding that “they also build traditional Norwegian row boats, and we got to row them across the Hardangerfjord.”  The opportunity to explore the art forms of another culture and attend workshops surrounded by a breathtaking landscape has enriched her artistic practice in design and illustration, both as a professor and as an artist.

Now back in Jacksonville, Professor Runnells is excited to incorporate what she has learned and experienced into her lessons. This fall she is teaching Design Internship, an introductory design course in typography and an intermediate design course, and she is the faculty mentor for a Graduate Student who is teaching an introductory software course. She also coordinates the MFA in Visual Communication program.  In addition to teaching, she is looking forward to perfecting her skoleboller recipe.