Quick and Easy Crafts: The Art of Norwegian Rosemaling

Norwegian Rosemaling is a beautiful, folk painting style that is easy to learn, but hard to master. I love this style of craft painting and have been trying to do it for about 20 years now. I was introduced to it at a very early age. My mother is Norwegian and her entire side of the family still resides there. Norway is a beautiful country and has many wonderful and awe-inspiring traditional arts. Rosemaling is one of them, and I invite everyone to try it.

My sister and I have been collecting Rosemaling pieces our entire lives. The pieces are simple spoons, wooden boxes, wooden bowls of various sizes, and many other items as well. If it is wood, then you can Rosemal it. I haven't seen much on other mediums, but I am sure it can be done. My cousin is very talented in this art form. For many years she has painted push brooms. She takes a simple broom and transforms it into a work of art. The painted pieces come in three main color schemes: light blue, red and black. You will also find 'natural' colored wood as well. These colors are the base and then the Rosemaling decoration is painted on top of that. (Please see photos above for more examples.) My sister collects the blue, and I collect the red. No two pieces are the same because they are all hand made.

On one of my trips, I purchased the book "Rosemaling: Decorative Painting from Norway", by Bjorg Oseid Kleivi. (As seen in above photo.) This is an excellent resource if you would like to learn the art of Rosemaling. The book I have is not written in Norwegian; Joan Felicia Henriksen has translated it to English. This book has many projects to walk you through the steps to begin your quest to master this beautiful folk art.

This book will teach you not only a brief history of this art, but it also lists all the different styles of brushes needed, proper cleansing of the brushes and even how to store them properly. There are stencils in the back of the book to use on the different projects. This style of folk art painting looks intimidating, but it is actually broken down into four main parts. First you draw the rose/flower design, then you fill it in with your chosen colors, then you highlight the edges a bit, and finally you highlight the centers and with more definition. These are simple steps for beautiful, elaborate projects. You don't need expensive pieces of wood to work with. My collection consists of simple wooden eggcups, a wooden spoon, a wooden bowl and even a clothes brush. This great art form can transform any plain piece of wood into a treasure.

Sources:

Personal Experience