Contributed by Patrick Neal / This time of year in Norway, the sun sets around 10 o’clock at night and rises at 3 a.m., and the day shifts from misty drizzles of rain to clear, sunny skies. Whether in a city or further afield, the country’s natural topography is stunningly beautiful. Fjords, carved out by glaciers, are placid, meandering and surrounded by steep cliffs. Waterfalls cascade and zigzag down mountains, and everywhere are bright green meadows and deep, forested hills and valleys. It’s no surprise that the painter, Torild Stray mentions these climatic factors as influential to her work. As someone who has straddled dramatic atmospheric conditions, and has divided her time between North America and northern Europe, Stray has absorbed the intercontinental shifts and characteristics of different cultures.