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