Rosemaling - The Decorative Painting of Norway

 

As the great-granddaughter of immigrants, I'm always interested in the foods, culture, art, and music that our ancestors brought with them from their native countries.

And I enjoy creating main and secondary characters who have immigrated from distant shores. 

So, in my current wip, I again created a FMC from Norway. Admittedly, I knew next to nothing about Norway, its people, its food, or culture. I spent several days online researching these amazing but complex people. One of the art forms, rosemaling, caught my interest immediately.

The term, rosemaling, is likely based on the flower "rose" and "maling" meaning "painting". However, some dialects within Norway use the word "rose" to mean "to decorate". Combined, rosemaling can also mean "decorative painting".

Rosemaling Doorknobs

History

During the 1700s and 1800s, ornamental painting was spreading throughout Europe. With Norway's strong tradition of woodcarving, metal work and decorative weaving, decorative painting was a good fit, and this joyful world of color and flowing floral patterns, unique to each region rose in popularity.

For about one hundred years, rosemaling was all the rage. Everything made of wood was painted...the walls, ceilings, bed and built-in cupboards. Freestanding objects such as bowls, trunks, dressers, clocks, and sleighs were especially popular to paint.

In the early-to-mid 1800s, the first wave of Norwegian immigrants hit the shores of the United States. Maintaining a strong ethnic identity both privately and publicly, these immigrants brought along some of their most treasured decorated objects such as trunks and bowls. Many of the skilled rosemalers--primarily men--also left Norway and traveled across the ocean. With them they brought the art of rosemaling and continued their work in America.

Per Lysne is often considered the father of rosemaling in the United States. He learned the art from his father in the 1800s in Norway and brought his skills after migrating to Wisconsin. He painted and sold items for extra income in the wake of the Great Depression. His work was featured in several newspapers and magazines, spreading the word about his work and the painting style. He is particularly known for his smorgasbord plates.

Currently, there is now a growing segment of Norwegian-Americans from the Upper Midwest who have taken on Rosemaling painting, offering more ways for them to pass on rosemaling skills and traditions to future generations.

Styles

Typically, backgrounds are white, red, black, blue or orange. Designs include geometric shapes such as cubes and squares, and architectural motifs as churches or fine houses. Flowers, both symmetrical and asymmetrical are grouped on stems with heavy line details on leaves. Transparent, bright colors, and saw-toothed borders, C and S strokes, scrolls, flowing lines, floral elements, dots and teardrops, and cross-hatching are also used.

Os Style - Coming from the west coast of Norway, the Os style of Rosemaling is distinctively bright and cheerful. Flowers are abstract and the use of geometric shapes is a hallmark of this style. 

The striking feature of Hallingdal is a central flower around which all things gather symmetrically. Scrolls and flowers are painted with vibrant bold colors.

Greatly imitating the woodcarving of the time, the predominant scrolls and leaves of Gudbrandsdal are painted to show great depth and dimension. The portrayal of the gradations of light to dark are the hallmarks of this style.

Flower elements are a predominant feature of Valdres Rosemaling with scrolls taking a secondary role or no part at all.

The asymmetrical Telemark style is defined by the signature C scroll which forms the framework from which all other elements in the design grow.

In my upcoming release, Lefse by Linnea (Old Timey Holiday Kitchen series), Linnea Nyland finds something tucked away in a Rosemaling chest similar to the one pictured below.

He made a promise to a dying friend.

She vowed never to love again.

 "You've become a recluse."

Linnea Nyland heard the concern in her sister's voice. Still filled with grief and missing her husband a year after his unexpected passing, she didn't have the inclination to disagree with the statement. Though she dearly missed working her magic in the family bakery, she liked her life on the farm just the way it was...solitary.

Especially after Deputy Finn McBride came calling with his ridiculous proposal of marriage!

In a moment of panic, Finn made a heart pledge to Erik Nyland to take care of Linnea, to marry her. He'd bungled his first attempt and he's not sure his heart can endure the vow he made knowing he'd been in love with her from the day he came to Holly Springs.

Giving it one last try, he challenges her to a holiday baking competition. If he wins, she must agree to let him court...if she wins, he'll leave her alone...forever.

Throw in a matchmaking landlady, a Norwegian Buhund dog, and a missing special ingredient, the lonely deputy prays for a Christmas miracle.

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Melting Pot Themes in My Stories

One aspect of frontier stories that I love is the “melting pot” society of immigrant populations. Family genealogy tells me most of my ancestors were already in the United States by the 1700s.  But in those years most people didn’t travel far from where they were born, because travel was by horse and wagon. In order for the plots of putting a character into an unknown situation (which I love), I need time periods when stagecoach lines and train routes had been established. Hence, my favorite periods are post-Civil War and settings are west of the Mississippi. I’m a California native, and I’ve visited lots of places in the western states so I have visuals of lots of different places in my memories.

Why am I writing all this? Because all of the above came in to play when I developed my plot for Ione’s Dilemma. I wanted to take a young woman of a more-privileged-than-most lifestyle (daughter of a Des Moines’ surgeon) and throw her into a working class situation where she had to fend for herself away from everything she’d known. On top of those obstacles, she has to deal with a small-town Texas carpenter aspiring to expand his business who thinks because she comes from a big city, she’ll have great ideas. Sound like maybe some tension is created?

Ione’s Dilemma is currently on preorder for 99 cents. Price will increase to $2.99 on January 17^th. (Although the book is Book 6 of the Dorado, Texas series, it can be enjoyed without reading the previous stories. They are how several other characters in the town who may appear in this story met and fell in love.)

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When Ione Forrester calls off her wedding, she becomes the social pariah of Des Moines. Much to her society parents’ chagrin. To escape the gossip, Ione accepts a teaching job in Dorado, Texas, vowing to avoid scandal at all costs. Relocating from a doctor’s household with cook and maids to a room in a boarding house is quite an adjustment. Then she has to face her biggest challenge—a schoolhouse full of students.

Carpenter Morgan Shipley has been working hard to build his business and now he’s looking for companionship in his life. An ad for a mail-order bride brings a deluge of letters, and Morgan adopts the role of matchmaker to share the wealth among other Dorado bachelors. To his surprise, an intriguing woman from a big city arrives in his small Texas town. Correspondence is nothing like interacting with a flesh-and-blood woman every day. But Ione wants nothing to do with Morgan’s attempts at courting, which makes him try even harder. (Book 6 of the “Dorado, Texas” series)

I hope you enjoy my story.­­­­

Turnvereins—German Men’s Social Clubs

I love using different and unique facts I’ve uncovered while doing research and incorporating making them into a story’s plot. I also like seeing the geography of a place that I’m using as a base for a story locale. Well, I hit paydirt with both of these aspects as I flipped through the pages of Images of America: Comfort, Texas book. Right there on the page was a picture of a non-descript building, but the sign stated “Comfort Turnverein” and an accompanying picture showed a group of men labeled with “Turner Picnic May 1896.”

The sign over the walkway says "Established 1860" Photo by Ruth Kiel

Soon I’d lost an hour on the click-through-the-URL trail to learn more about these social clubs founded soon after immigrants settled in Texas (and many other places—look up “Turner Hall” in Google images and see how many cities had these clubs) The gymnastic movement of the early 19^th century is credited to Turnvater (father of gymnastics) Freidrich Ludwig Jahn. The clubs started forming in Germany while the county was occupied by Napoleon’s armies. In addition to advocating fitness, these clubs in America also provided meeting space to discuss politics and the continuation of German ideals.

A peek inside the turner hall in Milwaukee shows equipment that audiences of contemporary gymnastics are familiar with. (what’s missing is the high bar) The men must have dressed up for the picture because I can’t imagine them exercising in dress shirts and bow ties.

In Ione’s Dilemma, (cover reveal below) to be released in January 2017, the hero Morgan is a member of the local club. This location is where he interacts with bachelors in the area, and he uses those contacts to engage in a little bit of matchmaking. More hints in next month's post...

St. Patrick's Day and the Irish Contribution to America

Since today is St. Patrick's Day, it seems only fitting to relate back to the Irish, so today I bring you fun facts of the Irish and their contributions to America.

Let's start near the beginning.  Did you know that almost half of Washington's troops in the American Revolution were Irish?  This is due to the fact that during the 1700s, the Irish were the largest immigrant groups coming to America. Another fun note- the first St. Patrick's Day in America was celebrated in 1737.

What do Thomas McClean, Charles Carroll, James Smith, Matthew Thornton, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Lynch, Jr, George Read and John Dunlap have in common?  They all signed the Declaration of Independence and were Irish-Americans.

Henry Ford's father, William Ford, was an Irish immigrant who fled to America during "the great hunger".

Twelve Irish-born men died at the Alamo, the large number of casualties within an ethnic group defending the popular mission which became a symbol of independence. In present day, the Irish flag stands within its wall to honor those lives.

The famous outlaw, Billy the Kid, was of Irish descent.  Legendary lawman, Pat Garrett, the man who shot and killed Billy the Kid, was the grandson of Irish immigrants.

Many US presidents have been of Irish heritage (this number varies anywhere from 10-22 depending on source and metrics), with John F. Kennedy, perhaps being the most famous of them.

Our country was founded on many beliefs and cultures, which adds a certain richness to our heritage. Though much of our history shows a bias against the Irish in the late 1700s-1800s, one only has to look through their accomplishment to see the incredible value they have added to America. Happy St. Patrick's Day!