The Big Bowl - research & development. December 4, 2014

I have been drawing and re-drawing the plans for the Big Bowl. It involves drawing something, refining it, painting a sample of it, redrawing it, painting a new sample, re-evaluating it, tweaking it, and finally painting it on the big bowl. Here are some of the sketches I've done.

Preliminary sketches for the Big Bowl.

The big bowl showing the mockup of the scene that will go around the middle of the bowl.

The Big Bowl with the mockup of the rim scene.

The big bowl first sample of the rim mockup. This has since been refined and will be narrower. This sample was a 2" rim and now I've decided to make it 1.5". Still don't know if I'll add the yellow rope.

The first sample for the bowl below the scene.

Thursday, December 4th, Pam and I had a site visit from Ann Pryor of the Wisconsin Arts Board.

November 6, 2014 @ Rosemaling Valhalla

Pam and I met at her studio on Thursday, November 6th and spent the day pouring over designs, photos from our Vesterheim visit, and critiquing the sample practice boards I brought with me.
I brought with me two designs I am working on refining. I will continue to improve the designs before painting them on actual woodenware. Here they are in their rough forms. The chalk lines refer to alterations and revisions. Onward!

Covered Bowl Design, Stage 1

TrunkDesign, Stage 1

Pam and Jan Visit Vesterheim, October 23 and 24, 2014

Below are a few photos from our visit to the Vesterheim Study Center and the Vesterheim Museum. We spent Thursday afternoon at the study center. We examined over 75 articles from their collection: trunks, tines, plates, cups, bowls, etc. and each of us took about 500 pictures.
On Friday we spent the morning at the museum checking out and photographing objects from the collections in the basement and all three floors of the museum. There are so many fine articles to examine. We concentrated on the woodcarving and Gudbrandsdal rosemaling.

Detail, Gudbrandsdal Cupboard

Top of Tine

Kubustol by Hans Sandom

Vesterheim Study Center

I demonstrated rosemaling at the Sons of Norway Lodge in Stoughton on Saturday morning, October 25, 2014.

Prillar-Guri Plate

While looking for a subject matter for the center of my crazy Gudbrandsdal plate I came across a reference to Prillar-Guri. According to oral tradition, Prillar-Guri placed herself on a promontory on the other side of the river to the advancing Scottish troops at the battle of Kringen in 1612. Today the site is called Prillarguritoppen. She either played her horn to distract them and then moved a piece of clothing to signal the ambush; or else she commenced playing as the signal.

On my first trip to Norway I brought a book with me called "Prillar Guri, A Heroine of Old Norway". I read it while we were travelling and left it at a hostel for others to enjoy.

16" plate in Gudbrandsdal style with Prillar-Guri illustration

October 2, 2014 @ Rosemaling Valhalla (aka Pam's studio)

Today Pam and I each worked on a version of this design. I followed the original design by Jacob Klugstad (1710-1773). If you have not looked up this man's work, you should. Pam's was more interpretive but equally as interesting. I am very fond of this style of painting!

My goals before our next session are:

• design for a border for my 14" plate.
• designs for the big covered bowl
• work out some color schemes I want to paint

Homework report: October 1, 2014

Exhibit A: Here I was working from a section of a sleigh from Norway. I really like the look of this!

Exhibit A: Inspired by the Sleigh

Exhibit B: My first try at adapting an old panel design into my own interpretation. Not wild about the flower but I like the blues and greens on the orange background.

Exhibit B: First try - homework I

Exhibit C: I like some of the colors achieved in this sample. The shapes are pretty awful. The cool outsides of the leaves and the warm insides--look good to me. The lower left corner is goofy looking.

Exhibit C: 2nd try - homework II

Exhibit D: Another quick warm up exercise to feel the flow of the strokes. It's just a couple of colors of paint on a piece of tracing paper.

Exhibit D: Just another quick practice

Exhibit E: I incorporated a landscape from Norskedalen for the plate with one of my early border attempts.

Exhibit E: Norskedalen 10" Plate

Exhibit F: An 8" bowl with a Gudbrandsdal center. I did this one before our September 18th session.

Exhibit F: 8" bowl with warm cool color scheme

Exhibit G: This is the plate I started at our September 18th session. It is a pattern of Pam's invention. The colors are mine but the bones of this are Pam. I love the flow and the sculptural quality of the design. In the coming weeks I will be working on a border for this plate.

Exhibit G: Center design completion 9.30.2014

September 18, 2014

Today Pam and I spent a couple of hours reviewing the items I had been working on. There were two 10" plate borders, two 8" bowls, a number of practice boards, some sketches and some practices on tracing paper. We looked at photos of objects Pam saw on this summer's trip to Norway. We discussed the subtleties of color and shapes of a variety of articles, their merits and flaws. Pam pointed out the merits and flaws in my explorations as well. All this is very helpful for learning the do's and don't's of Gudbrandsdal rosemaling.

After the critiques we each got our palettes ready, paints mixed, designs transferred to woodenware. At lunch we discussed more rosemaling examples, contemporary and antique.

Back in the studio we each began our respective projects, taking numerous breaks for me to see what Pam was doing and for Pam to check on my progress. I learned more about turnovers and linework (especially the proper shapes for the pockets) and put into practice some subtle color shifts that give the viewer more interesting details to explore. The 14" plate above is what I worked on. We painted all afternoon and I made the 2 hour drive home. I hadn't intended to, but found I could not rest until I had completed the other side of the plate. I'd done one half of the design at Pam's. It didn't feel right to leave it half done. I still have the center flower to do and I'm not sure about the red linework. It's the warm/cool warm/warm thing. Besides the turnovers which are warm, the red linework - also warm - may be too much warm. I like the punch of color but wonder if light blue wouldn't have been better.

Homework:
I will try doing dark strokework and letting it dry and then doing the turnovers in a different color. In this way the dark strokes and the light strokes do not blend. Often this is done wet into wet. This will be wet into dry.
Using an antique example of a Gudbrandsdal design I will redesign it using it as inspiration. Pam will do the same.
I will work on continuous border designs that are not repetitive.
Next time we will paint a section from the Lesja Church photos Pam took in Norway. I am to choose the panel I want to paint from and we will both reinterpret it at Pam's.

September 14, 2014

Background and paint samples

14" Tim Montzka plate, blue/black bkgr

Border for plate - first attempt

I've been working on samples of Gudbrandsdal painting. I felt a bit frustrated with the stiffness of my work. Today I painted a border on a 10" plate. It looks a little more spontaneous than previous attempts.

Thursday, August 28, 2014 and Monday, September 1, 2014

Practice before today's lesson.

A full day. Up at 5:30am and off to Pam's by 7. Arrived before 9 and we set straight to work catching up on what I'd practiced for the last month. Pam took her chalk and showed me where the turnovers could be improved. We went through all of the practice sheets I did.

Practice during today's lesson.

We looked at patterns, and examples of Gudbrandsdal rosemaling, settling on one for a practice board. I picked a board with a Georgia Clay-ish color: red iron oxide + yellow oxide + a touch of sap green hue. We used a red dark of alizarin crimson + burnt umber 1:1, a middle value of Indian red, a light value of mars yellow. Pam demonstrated how she begins, using the dark value, then the middle value and finally the light value for the turnovers. Of course the linework is lighter than the light value and looser, too. It gets tipped in the darker value when starting a line. That gives it more depth.
I've organized a binder with my Vesterheim competition critiques and photos of the pieces. We went through each entry from the last 10 years, discussing colors, design, execution. Very helpful getting Pam's perspective, especially on the design. Lots to think about and try out there!

Gudbrandsdal Sleigh

Pam's progressive example

Pam's progressive example

Pam's curved lid example

Pam's border examples

Jan's practice, Sept. 1, 2014

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

After my August 1st session I let rosemlaing shapes gel in my mind while I did a couple of landscape commissions and the Mineral Point 2014 Paint Out--a three day plein air event.

Today in the studio I drew another set of leaves. This time something called Sweetfern (Comptonia Peregrina).

August 13, 2014 - Sweetfern

I think my second attempt at the rocaille is much more successful than the first. The darker background helped, along with using a lively blue mix paint and feeling more comfortable with the shapes.

Rocaille - 2nd attempt

Rocaille - 1st attempt.

Rocailles

August 1, 2014 - in my studio

Today I have reviewed the 300+ photos of Norwegian woodcarving that Pam shared with me. She took a few thousand photos on her recent trip to Norway.
Also collected some maple leafs for more sketching. I've examined yesterday's painting sample and see many areas to improve upon. Here are this afternoon's attempts.

July 31, 2014: first official day of my apprenticeship

Pam and I met at her studio on Lake Winnebago. Beautiful lake, wonderful studio--full of beautiful rosemaling and much inspiration.
We checked out many of the examples of rosemaling and woodcarving that Pam has.
Pam had two books for me--one she bought while touring Norway: Ole Moene's Det store i det smaa and Johan Amrud's Ornamental Woodcarving. Both books show fine examples of acanthus carving that inform and inspire rosemalers who paint in the Gudbrandsdal style. Since this apprenticeship is concentrating on Gudbrandsdal style these are wonderful resources for designs.

Two books on Norwegian woodcarving

Next, I spent some time in the morning drawing collected leafs. They had dried and begun to fold in on themselves to I spent time understanding how the turnovers work. I sketched them in my new sketchbook. After the 4th leaf I felt I would get the hang of it. There will be many more leaf drawings in the future. It is part of my education now.Here are some early examples of my work:

Leaf sketching

In the afternoon we got out the chalk and chalkboard and also the paint. I played with paint, trying to paint the graceful curves of the main scroll and adding turnovers. Here's an example of my second attempt. There are many issues with it but I record it here to show you that being good at this involves practice and persistence. I am on the first part of my journey and it shows.

First application of paint :-p

For my homework I am continuing to sketch leaf turnorvers and paint freehand plus paint on tracing paper over a couple of patterns Pam has given me.

Some Different Items for Possible Gudbrandsdal Projects

Handmade modern bride's chair: I have 6 of them.

Show the tiny lid on the finial shaped bowl

Uncovered bowl by Paul Loftness

Covered Bowl by Paul Loftness

Tine