Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag produced a wide variety of rosemaling painters and styles. In this class, Vesterheim Gold Medalist Louise Bath will focus on Ole Olsen Heimvågsåsen, who was a prolific and distinguished rosemaler. He lived in Snåsa, Nord-Trøndelag, around 1800. He became known for reddish-brown painted cupboards with green rosemaling panels. He also painted trunks, usually blue with red bands. Perhaps he also made these pieces of furniture himself – in the census of 1801 he is listed as a carpenter and painter.
Heimvågsåsen had a distinctive style with tulips, roses, fruits, and small flowers in red, orange and white growing from urns, and vases or on swaying stems swinging up from a volute at the bottom left. A rhythmic multitude of black brushstrokes make up the foliage. He used small flower stencils throughout the painting and to surround the green panels. In an exhibition by the Snåsa Historielag in 1979, the majority of the rose-painted chests and cupboards were thought to have been painted by Ole Heimvågsåsen between 1790 and 1820. His style is elegant, flowing, and unique.
In this class we will paint a box showing the variety of flowers and foliage he used. A limited palette is used to create the variations in those flowers, and the foliage stands as black shadows tossed on playfully. Louise hopes students will enjoy this interpretation of the style of a unique Rosemaling Master.
Louise Bath took her first rosemaling classes in Denver, Colorado, over 25 years ago, but it was her first class at Vesterheim in 2005 that started her on the journey to a Vesterheim Gold Medal, which she was awarded in 2017. She has been teaching rosemaling at the Trollheim Sons of Norway Lodge in Lakewood, Colorado, since 2012 and for Vesterheim since 2017. Three trips to Norway (2013, 2016, and 2018) have given her a wealth of rosemaling knowledge and ideas. Completing a certificate in botanical art and illustration from the Denver Botanic Gardens in 2017 has added to her knowledge of technique and composition. She strives to give her rosemaling students not only a grounding in painting techniques but also a review of the history and examples of the regional style.