29.3.10

rosemaling, kurbits and midwestern water towers

right: kjersti's photo / left: strikkelise's photo

between outage bursts, i spent a lot of the morning researching rosemaling, the beautiful scandinavian art of flower painting. reminds me of the berggren enamelware coffee pot my mom used to serve grape juice in every morning growing up. or the water tower for the nearby lindström. (i hear they have one in stanton, iowa too!)


i found equally beautiful images of kurbits, another form of scandinavian folk painting. i could spend hours in the basement of the american swedish institute in minneapolis just admiring the kurbits paintings they have there.

painting by hjelt per persson

geez, it sounds like we're in the middle of a tornado! i think i'll pass on leaving the house. instead, there will be more scandinavian inspiration to come.

5 comments:

  1. my granny does rosemaling. i never really appreciated it though i always love a touch of folk art. so lovely!

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  2. I would see these kinds of things growing up when my family would visit our relatives Minnesota and Kansas. My grandfather made me a small trunk and hand painted some of the rosemaling on it. In the town where my mom grew up there is also a large dala horse (about two stories high!) - which always made me really happy. I think there is also a water tower, but I forget :)

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  3. wow chelsea, what a cool thing to hand down to her grandkids!

    julia, your mom is from mora? i grew up about an hour and a half from there. i would really like to do an all minnesota roadtrip with the fam soon, i'm pretty sure doug would love it!

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  4. I love that water tower! The drive to my friend's cabin passed right through Lindstrom and that tower was always such a sight to see.
    I never realized how immersed MN was in Scandinavian culture until I moved away. I miss it!

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  5. yes! :) she is from mora, her whole family grew up on farm there (which was later sold as my grandparents got older). what town are you from near there? i haven't been in soo many years!

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