I have always wanted to create a jewellery collection on the theme of Stormskerry Maja. Maja was the main character in a television series broadcast throughout the Nordic countries in the 1970s. It was based on Anni Blomqvist’s books about Maja and her life in the Åland archipelago in the 1800s. There and then, people lived entirely on the sea’s terms. The sea could be both generous and cruel. In the series and the books, the sea takes both Stormskerry Maja’s husband and son. In reality, Anni Blomqvist suffered the same fate.

I began the work a couple of years ago, but at first it was hard to find the guiding idea. Then, all of a sudden, it came to me. We live off and with the sea.

Water is the most important thing. It is about living in harmony with the sea, caring for it. Like the sea meadows of eelgrass that both cleanse the water of the Baltic Sea and provide shelter and food for mussels and fish.

The winding shapes of the eelgrass became the inspiration I needed. It is a plant worth celebrating but also one that needs protecting. That is why it became the inspiration behind this collection.

Maria Karlström, Guldviva’s head goldsmith.

Anni Blomqvist’s novel “I stormens spår” from 1966 was the first of six novels about Stormskerry Maja and the hard life in the outer archipelago. Anni Blomqvist knew everything about archipelago life and the unpredictable sea. The first book was a tribute to her husband and son, who had both lost their lives at sea.

Today Stormskerry Maja is the backbone of Åland’s cultural heritage and a symbol of the strong women of the archipelago. Those who can see the light on the horizon even at its darkest. And who know how important it is to live in harmony with nature and the sea.

The stories of Stormskerry Maja were not only taken to heart by the Åland islanders. In the 1970s Stormskerry Maja became a popular television series broadcast in all the Nordic countries. Thanks to Stormskerry Maja we now have a peephole into 19th-century archipelago life.