When you enter the farm in Tversted, you are greeted by the scent of organic flowers and the sound of nature's own tranquillity. This is where Emma Mercedes Riis has her studio and creative centre, in the middle of the living fields. Amongst the flowers and in the warmth of the glassblowing studio, she shows how her life's dream unfolds - a place where nature, art and human passion meet and create something very special for Vendsyssel.
"For me, it's all connected - the flowers, the glassblowing and the gallery. It's about creating something genuine and rooted in the place I come from. I want to give guests an experience of both calm and presence when they enter my universe," says Emma.
Emma has followed an exciting journey to get here. She trained as a glassblower in Sweden and holds a bachelor's degree in art and design from England, where she also met her English partner. With experience and inspiration from abroad, she returned home to her childhood home in North Jutland - determined to create an artistic universe rooted in the local but open to the world.
The vision is twofold: At the family farm in Tversted, Emma wants to create a vibrant workspace where her glass art and flower farm go hand in hand. She dreams of inviting visitors closer to the process - into the glassblowing studio, where heat, light and manual labour transform glass into unique works of art. At the same time, the flowers become a central part of the story; they are grown organically and testify to her respect for nature and her love for the genuine and responsible.
"For me, nature and especially flowers are a great inspiration, and this is reflected in both my own work and the artists I have in the gallery," she says.
In the long term, Emma wants the farm to be a place where artists can meet and where guests can participate in special events and experiences that connect nature and art in a sensory way.
In Skagen, she has also created the gallery Ena Strand on Sct. Laurentii Vej - a place where her own works are displayed in the summer alongside other artists who all have a strong connection to Vendsyssel. For Emma, it is important that the gallery is not just an exhibition space for her own art, but a community where local voices and creative forces can find space.
The gallery is buzzing with creativity, calm and presence, and visitors are invited to explore the works and the stories they carry with them from Vendsyssel.
When summer comes to an end, the activities don't stop. On the contrary, Emma continues to develop new formats - special exhibitions, solo exhibitions and events that cater more to the local community. The ambition is to keep the gallery alive throughout the year so that visitors and locals alike can experience how art is constantly evolving in new directions.
"I hope people take something away from here - not just a piece of art or a bouquet of flowers, but a feeling of having been close to something authentic," says Emma.
That's why Ena Strand is a natural fit for Slow Guide - a platform that emphasises the authentic, the sustainable and what makes Vendsyssel special. Slow Guide is all about exploring the slow and the local - and Emma reminds us of the value of responsible consumption, of growing organic flowers with care and of creating art that cannot be mass-produced or replaced.
"Every piece is unique - no two pieces are ever exactly the same. And that's exactly what I love: Giving people the opportunity to take a little piece of Vendsyssel's soul home with them," she concludes.
Ena Strand is therefore more than a gallery or a flower farm - it is a living universe where nature, art and human passion merge. At Emma, you don't just get an experience, but an invitation to slow down and recognise the value of the intimate and the unique. Here you realise that beauty can be created with your hands and that art is a way to carry a part of Vendsyssel's soul with you in life.