Thorbjorg Halldorsdottir was born in Strandarhjaleiga in south west Iceland, and always identified closely with her place of birth. For most of her adult life she worked as a farmhand but in her seventies, when she retired, she began to embroider. She designed her own patterns, and with assorted embroidery stitches and colours, her artworks acquired depth and varied textures. 

Halldorsdottir’s numerus embroidery works can be considered an artistic novelty in Iceland. Her place of birth was her most frequent subject matter, but she made no fewer than six works showcasing her beloved childhood home. Her oldest known work depicts the bridge over the Olfusa river, which was built in 1945, but the work is believed to have been sewn in 1946. Her last work is from 1975, when she was 100 years old. This year marks the 150th anniversary of her birth, she passed away in Reykjavik on April 4th 1979, 104 years of age.