50 Years of Folk Art at Vesterheim

By Laurann Gilbertson

Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa, is celebrating 50 years of folk art, through classes, the National Exhibitions of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition, and tours to Norway. To mark this important anniversary, Vesterheim has created a special exhibition to share at least a few of the stories of 20 folk art tours to Norway, 90 Norwegian teachers, 145 American teachers, hundreds of class topics, and hundreds – if not thousands – of students between 1967 to 2016.

What is Folk Art?

Folk art is simply art of the people. American folk art is often defined as the work of self-taught artists, artists who have not had formal artistic training. It can be “outsider” art, created by artists who have had little contact with the mainstream art world and who may be expressing unconventional ideas or spiritual visions.

Folk art can also be defined as global art, fitting closely to local traditions. At Vesterheim, Norwegian folk art typically refers to useful objects created and decorated using local materials by individuals of a particular, often rural, region of Norway between 1600 and 1900. These objects and techniques usually expressed regional aesthetic and styles and were borne of traditions developed over several hundred years. The craftspeople that made these items typically learned their trades informally or through apprenticeships. The objects they created needed to be functional and beautiful.

What is Tradition?

Tradition is a repeated pattern of behaviors, beliefs, or objects passed down from one generation to the next. We follow traditions because they mean something to us. Traditions change through time and evolve with the availability of resources, forces of nature, personal taste, political or religious ideas, and foreign influences. All traditions change. But how far can they change?

Can an object made today be called traditional folk art? The artists of the eighteenth century didn’t have commercially-spun yarn, chemical dyes, circular knitting needles. Can an object made using these things be called traditional folk art?

Vesterheim often uses the phrase “in the tradition” to describe objects made today that are based on or inspired by historical examples. As long as there is a strong visual connection, it seems acceptable to change to the material OR technique OR medium. Too many changes, however, and the piece is no longer recognizable as having been part of the Norwegian tradition.

Folk Art and Vesterheim

Vesterheim began in 1877 as the Luther College Museum and folk art was part of the collection from the very beginning. Norwegian immigrant materials, including folk art brought from Norway, became the official focus of the collection by 1895.

In 1964, Luther College hired Marion Nelson, an art historian, to catalog the collection. He soon became director of an independent, world-class Vesterheim museum. Nelson was passionate about folk art and saw the collection’s potential to educate artists interested in Norwegian folk art. Nelson launched the Folk Art School and National Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition in 1967.

Weaving was added to the National Exhibition, an annual judged exhibition of folk art in the Norwegian tradition, in 1981. A jacket woven by Marie Nodland of St. Paul, Minnesota, won a blue ribbon that year. The diamond twill reverses to rya (pile weave) and there are handknit collar and cuffs.

While Nelson was interested in folk art as an academic, he did not create folk art himself. His wife, Lila Nelson, was an accomplished weaver and textile artist who would go on to teach many textile classes at Vesterheim in her capacity as textile curator.

The opportunity to study and practice of folk art is also offered through tours to Norway. The first tours, starting in 1970, provided a folk art focus while traveling. Since 1978, tours often included hands-on workshops with local artists as instructors.

Students learned Telemarksvev in the weaving class during Vesterheim’s first hands-on Folk Art Tour to Norway in 1978. The teacher, Elsa Bjerck, is standing in back, second from the right. Lila Nelson, the museum’s Textile Curator, is second from the left.

Fiber Arts at Vesterheim

A wide range of fiber classes have been offered at Vesterheim, from embroidery, knitting, nålbinding (knotless netting), spinning, loom weaving, bandweaving, sheepskin printing, and basketry.

Oline Bredeli of Molde, Norway, taught weaving and working with teger, birch or spruce root, in 1982 and 1990. Canadian artist Karen Casselman’s specialty is historical plant dyes. She taught dyeing at Vesterheim in 1997, 2002, and 2005. For this placemat, she used korkje, a Norwegian dye made from fermented lichens.

Fiber arts have been at the core of Vesterheim’s Folk Art School since 1967 when Carola Schmidt taught the first class in hardangersøm, a cutwork and embroidery technique from the Hardanger region of Norway.

Grace Rikansrud, a nationally recognized expert on Norwegian needlework from Decorah, began her two decade teaching career in 1970. Rug hooking was also added in 1970, along with the first weaving course taught by Lila Nelson, Vesterheim’s registrar and textile curator. Nelson gave students an overview of Norwegian weaving by focusing on traditional coverlet techniques, which continues to be a focus of weaving classes today.

Vesterheim hosted a rug hooking camp for many years and rug hooking was part of the National Exhibition from 1970 to 2005. Now independent, the Decorah Rug School continues to meet each summer for classes. Marianna Sausaman (West Lafayette, Ind.), Esther Miller (Decorah, Iowa), Anne Duder (Decorah, Iowa), and Dorothy Huse (Chippewa Falls, Wisc.) have directed the rug school.

The first weaving class with a Norwegian instructor was in 1978. Elsa Eikås Bjerck, from Jølster in Sunnfjord, taught tapestry and bandweaving at Vesterheim. An important weaver in her own right, Bjerck is known for traditional and contemporary textiles, monumental works for public buildings, and church textiles.

Elsa Eikås Bjerck was the first Norwegian instructor to teach weaving at Vesterheim. In 1978 she also taught weaving on a Vesterheim folk art tour to Norway. This piece replicates an early bed pillow from Jølster in Sogn, Norway, in plant-dyed wool on linen. The mittens were done in nålbinding, an ancient looping technique.

What has always set Vesterheim’s Folk Art School apart from other visual art and fine handcraft programs is the focus on historical objects – the collection – that can inform and inspire. Most classes at Vesterheim include a guided visit in the museum galleries or look at the depth and breadth of the collection in the museum’s storage facilities.

The Future of Folk Art

What does the future look like for Norwegian folk art in America? Are traditions going to live another 50 years?

Some say that the future of folk art looks bleak. With each generation we are further and further from the original practice of folk art. What meaning can folk art hold for the sixth, seventh, or eighth generations?

Others say that the future looks bright. No matter how Norwegian you are (and even if you are not Norwegian at all) you can find enjoyment, fulfilment, and meaning in learning and practicing skills that are rooted in the past. The beauty and pleasure of creating is not dependent on a time period, an ethnicity, or a language.

“50 Years of Folk Art” is on view at Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa, through April 23, 2017. The exhibition was made possible by the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts; Veronna and John Capone; Ron Hovda; and additional support.

John Skare, Bricelyn, Minnesota, in the exhibition. Handwoven rya wall hanging, 1987. “Mona took this photo of the kids and me by my rya weaving that the Vesterheim purchased in 1987. I remember Marion Nelson relating this piece to the ryas that were placed in the bottom of the long boats. Perhaps my heritage was creeping into my artworks without my knowledge. I hadn’t seen this piece since 1987. A reunion for me with one of my creations. A bit emotional. I like this piece. It was created with handspun wool yarns and wool blankets scraps from the Faribault Woolen Mill. Wool carpet mill ends where used for the weft. The weft ends have been wrapped. I know this artwork’s DNA quite well. An old friend with a good home, the Vesterheim.”

Laurann Gilbertson is the Chief Curator of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum and a tireless promoter of Scandinavian textiles.

November, 2016

Weaving on the Ceiling: A New Exhibit and Installation at the Osterøy Museum

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By Marta Kløve Juuhl (translated by Robbie LaFleur)

Spring 2016: Much Planning was Underway

The idea came during a lunchroom discussion with the exhibit architect, who had done something similar in the past.

I wanted to have something that would begin on the ceiling and come down over the end wall.

The background was that the permanent exhibits at the museum were being renovated. I wanted to have more focus on traditional knowledge tied to objects in the museum; it should reflect the traditional skills and knowledge of the people of the Osterøy community. The people on Osterøy are enthusiastic and full of initiative, and there are many large and small businesses.

The monster-weaving part of the project was a collaboration among Solveig Jordan, the head of our division; Dennis Guhl, our carpentry specialist; Nikolai Rypdal Tallaksen, our archivist; Monika Sunnanå Ravnanger, my weaving student; and me, with responsibility for the textile department.

Dennis has many contacts among local businesses. They made the steel supports and a frame to surround the weaving, according to Dennis’s instructions.

It took a long time to find the straps that would act as the warp on the ceiling, and we ended up ordering from a company in the Oslo area. They had the red color we wanted, and also green and yellow. The straps are five centimeters wide and came in 50 meter rolls. They are straps for life vests for boats and seat belt strapping. When we ordered 25 kilometers of strapping, the supplier was quite curious about what we were going to do with it.

I started the setup after Dennis attached the steel supports to the end wall and three places on the ceiling. As it showed in the photo in the newspaper, we used scaffolding to get high enough to lift each strap over the supports. A sewing machine sat on a rolling table in the room, and I moved it each time I needed to join the straps.

It was one thing to put the straps in place, but they also needed to be pulled tight. Nikolai and I stood on scaffolding on either end to lift the straps around the steel supports, and Dennis ran back and forth on the floor and tightened.

After all the red warp straps were tightened, 66 in all, it was time for weaving. I started down on the ground, but quickly came high enough to need the scaffolding.

The pattern we used was taken directly from an åkle (coverlet) that hung in the exhibit in the room. Between each strap we wove two shots of plain weave with fishing line, which was thin and strong and transparent and held the straps in place. Each square in the pattern is 10 by 10 cm. It took Monika and I about two days to weave/work in the pattern. There is, of course, no shed in this weaving, which is why I added “work in.” Our hands were quite sore after a while.

The red color on the ceiling has a dominant effect in the exhibition hall; the monster-weave installation brings together the old and the new in the exhibit. It illustrates the old themes, such as weaving and metalwork, in a new context.

For this installation there was a determination to work on the project together. Everyone was in on the discussion, and then it was Dennis and I who figured out how we could execute the ideas.

To make it work required a lot of mathematics and stretching out of the pattern. It’s difficult to describe how much mental effort it took; it followed me for many weeks. There were constantly small adjustments to air with the others. And it was just because we had so many contributors, that the project had such a great result.

The plan is that we will weave several motifs on the ceiling, which will last until sometime this winter.

Note: See additional photos in an article by Snorre Bang Utaker from Bygdanytt, “Eit vevemonster har inntatt Osterøy museum,” (A Monster-weaving has Taken Over Østeroy Museum). And if you would rather read the article in the original Norwegian, see below!

Veven i taket: Ny utstilling og installasjon på Osterøy museum, våren 2016

Mykje planlegging.

Ideen kom i ein diskusjon på lunsjrommet saman med utstillingsarkitekt som hadde gjort noko liknande før.

Me ville gjerne ha noko i taket som kunne enda nedover på endeveggen.

Bakgrunnen var at heile den faste utstillingen vår skulle fornyast. Me ville ha meir fokus på tradisjonskunnskap knytt til samlingane på museet; det skal gjenspeila Osterøysamfunnet og dei praktiske kunnskapane og ferdigheitene folk har hatt. Her på Osterøy er det eit stort privat initiativ, mange gründerar og småbedrifter.

For å knyta dette direkte til monsterveven er det og eit samarbeid mellom Solveig, dagleg leiar, Dennis handverkaren vår, Nikolai, arkivaren vår, Monika, vevlærlingen min og meg som tekstilansvarleg.

Dennis har god kontakt med dei lokale bedriftene her. Dei laga stålstenger og ramme rundt sjølve det vovne partiet etter Dennis sine mål.

Me brukte lang tid på å finna stropper som skulle fungera som renningstrådar i taket, og enda opp med å bestilla frå eit firma i Oslo-området. Dei hadde fyrst og fremst raudfargen, men og den gule og den grøne. Stroppene er 5 cm breie, dei kom i rullar på 50 meter. Det er eigentleg stropper til redningsvestar i båt og sikkerheitsselar i bil. Då me bestilte 25 kilometer av dette, var leverandøren veldig nysgjerrig på kva me skulle bruka det til. Me starta monteringa etter at Dennis hadde festa stålstengene til endeveggene og på tre plassar oppe i taket. Som det viser på biletet i avisa brukte me gardintrapp for å koma så høgt at me kunne lyfta kvar stropp over stålstengene.

Symaskinen stod på eit trillebord i salen, så flytte me den etter kvart som me måtte skøyta stroppene.

Ein ting var å få stroppene på plass, men dei måtte og strammast etter kvart. Då stod Nikolai og eg på stillas i kvar vår ende av den 25 meter lange salen for å lyfta stroppene rundt stålstengene, og Dennis sprang att og fram nede på golvet og stramma.

Etter at alle dei raude renningsstroppene var festa, 66 i alt, var det tid for veving, etter kvart også på stillas. Eg starta nede på golvet, men kom fort opp så høgt at eg trengde stillaset.

Mønsteret som er brukt er plukka direkte frå åkle som heng på utstilling i salen. Mellom kvar stroppe er det to innslag i lerret med fiskesnøre, det er tynt og sterkt og gjennomsiktig, og held stroppene på plass. Kvar rute i mønsteret er 10 x 10 cm. Det gjekk eit par dagar for Monika og meg å veva/fletta inn heile mønsteret. Det er sjølvsagt ikkje noko skille i denne veven. Difor skriv eg veva/fletta. Me vart faktisk ganske såre på hendene etter kvart.

Den raude renningen i taket er eit nokså dominerande innslag i utstillingssalen vår, den er som ein installasjon som bind saman det gamle og det nye i utstillingen. Den belyser gamle tema, så som veving og metallarbeid sett inn i ein ny samanheng. I tillegg kjem viljen til å gjera dette saman. Alle var med i diskusjonen, og så var det Dennis og eg som måtte tenkja ut korleis me kunne gjennomføra ideen.

Det ligg mykje matematikk bak og utrekning av mønster for å dette til å stemma, og det er vanskeleg å skriva om tankearbeidet som var nødvendig. Det fylgde meg i mange veker, det var stadig små justeringar å lufta med dei andre. Nettopp det at me var såpass mange om arbeidet gjer sitt til at det vart så vellukka.

Planen vår er at me skal veva inn fleire motiv i taket. Det vert til vinteren ein gong.

Marta Kløve Juuhl

Lila Nelson’s Danskbrogd

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Danskbrogd/Boundweave pickup. Lila Nelson. Vesterheim: 2007.404.004

By Robbie LaFleur

Several of Lila Nelson’s pieces in danskbrogd technique are included in the retrospective of her work currently hanging in the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa. Next to this piece, hanging prominently at the beginning of the show, Curator Laurann Gilbertson wrote,

Lila felt a special connection to danskbrogd because she and Marion “discovered” the technique in a coverlet for sale in a Norwegian antique store. The Nelsons eventually received permission from the Norwegian government in 1989 to purchase the coverlet for Vesterheim’s collection. The coverlet inspired numerous weavings by Lila and other American weavers in several different loom threadings.

Danskbrogd, which can be translated as “Danish weave,” is known in Norway in just one area, southwest Agder County. Old danskbrogd coverlets had a stippled look and a combination of rows of large motifs and narrow pattern bands. The weaver picked up the designs while weaving.

This piece was also featured in the September/October, 1996, issue of Handwoven magazine.

Danskbrogd/Boundweave Pickup. Collection of Aaron Swenson.

Danskbrogd/Boundweave Pickup. Lila Nelson. Vesterheim: 2007.404.006

For Lila, a traditional weaving technique was a language. She could speak the language plainly and eloquently. But then it became poetry, as she used the technique expressively and creatively. These pieces show her moving on, making the technique her own.

Piet Mondrian would approve of this piece, completed in 1997 or 1998 as part of a study of danskbrogd and variations for Scandinavian Study Group of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota. (Vesterheim collection number 2011.032.047)

Lila wove two pieces using danskbrogd to depict northern lights. (Vesterheim collection number 2007.404.009)

Which came first — the chicken or the egg? (Vesterheim collection mumber 2011.032.046)

“Neighborhood” dates from 1996-1998. From the Vesterheim description: “For many years, Lila and Marion Nelson lived in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood in Minneapolis. Neighbors included downtown Minneapolis (top row), I-35W and the Mississippi River (second row), blocks of Craftsman-style apartments (third row), and the University of Minnesota (fourth row). One of several works created as part of the Danskbrogd Study Group, Lila used danskbrogd on two harnesses here. She worked some wefts separately with a needle to give a raised effect.”

(Vesterheim collection number 2007.404.003)

The danskbrogd technique creates long floats on the reverse side of the textile. From the back of “Neighborhood,” you can see that Lila was not afraid of floats!

If you look carefully at the Mississippi River portion, you can see that the white water flecks are almost, but not quite, the typical diamond designs found in traditional danskbrogd coverlets. It’s almost like an inside joke for weavers.

A Common Thread: Weaving Traditions of Norway and Sweden

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Editor’s Note: This article by Katherine Larson was originally published in Vesterheim, a publication of Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, volume 3, number 2, 2005, and is reprinted with permission. Read the full article in pdf version HERE. (Note: This is a large file with photos, and may load slowly.) In addition, Vesterheim Curator Laurann Gilbertson provided photographs and information below from the labels used in the exhibit.

Monk’s Belt (Norwegian: Tavlebragd, Swedish: Munkebälte)
The small and large squares characteristic of both Norwegian and Swedish monk’s belt coverlets were often arranged to form either cross patterns (hanging) or square grids (trunk, left). Occasionally horizontal stripes of colored wool weft were used to separate the bands of monk’s belt patterns (trunk, right). The weavers in Skåne, Sweden, frequently wove their coverlets on a dark ground (hanging), a departure from the neutral linen or cotton ground that was more common elsewhere in Sweden and in Norway.

(Hanging: Table cover from Skåne, Sweden, Nordic Heritage Museum; Trunk left: Coverlet from Sogn, Norway, Vesterheim; Trunk right: coverlet from Nordfjord, Noway, Nordic Heritage Museum)

Tapestry (Norwegian: Billedvev)
Norwegian tapestry coverlets commonly depicted Biblical themes, such as the Adoration of the Magi. Tapestries were woven on their side to reduce the number of vertical dovetail joins required. A tapestry of this size and complexity was probably woven by a specialist that worked on a loom as broad as the finished weaving was high. (Adoration of the Magi, Norway, Vesterheim Museum)

(Swedish: Flamskväv)
The weavers in northeast Skåne were noted for coverlets that contained eight-petaled roses and the figures of men, women, birds, and horse. These coverlets, woven in the geometric tapestry technique, were executed in such fine detail that they included buttons on the men’s jackets and tiny candles. In contrast to Norwegian tapestry coverlets, which were woven while turned sideways on wide looms, these coverlet were made in two narrow sections on the smaller looms typical of home weaving. The two pieces were then sewn together to create a coverlet. The inscription at the top reads, “In the name of God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.” Initials and date, 1857, also personalize the coverlet. (Left, below: Geometric tapestry coverlet, Skåne, Sweden, private collection)

Three Holy King billedvev match with a Swedish weaving. Right: Geometric tapestry coverlet, Skåne, Sweden, private collection

Tapestry (Norwegian: Billedvev, Swedish: Flamskväv)
The Red Lion, a popular motif in Swedish tapestry cushion covers, was probably a simplification of earlier tapestries depicting Samson and the Lion. Norwegian and Swedish tapestry weavers often drew on Biblical these for their subject matter. The Wedding in Canaan is believed to be the inspiration for the banquet scene in this cushion cover.

Left: cushion cover from Skåne, Sweden, private collection; Right: cushion cover, Vesterheim

Thanks to Laurann Gilbertson, Curator of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, for arranging permission to post the original article, and for providing extra information and photos from the exhibit labels.

A Personal Scream Series

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Editor (and author) note: This article was published in the Fall 2015 issue of the British Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, and is reprinted with permission. Read the pdf version of that article HERE.

By Robbie LaFleur

Almost every mention of Edvard Munch’s expressionist painting, “Skrik“ or “Scream,” is followed by a phrase along the lines of, ’one of the world’s most recognizable works of art.’

I’ve contemplated Munch’s Scream since the first time I saw one of the paintings in Norway during weaving school in the late 1970s; he had painted several versions of the Scream. My own interpretations began in 2001, during a Scream-worthy situation. I worked for the Minnesota Legislature, and the legislative session dragged on in overtime, into the summer, filled with acrimony and budget dilemmas. It seemed like a good time to weave Edvard Munch’s image of angst. I set up my tapestry loom in the living room and wove as frequently as possible, telling myself that when the tapestry was finished, the special legislative session would wrap up its work. I was right.

A photocopy of the image, taped to a top corner of the loom, guided my color choices as I wove the background behind the figure on the bridge. The wavy lines created with a distorted, or eccentric weft, didn’t exactly match Munch’s paint strokes, but they created a similar feeling of unease. I’ve displayed the small tapestry (11in x 7in) many times during the past decade, often during a weaving demonstration. Each time at least one person asks, ‘Can I buy this?’. I could have sold it many times over, but maybe not, if I’d actually suggested a price that could make me part with it.

The tapestry was the beginning of a series, partially prompted by a friend who suggested I continue making Scream in various textile techniques. It is a great image for exploration. The painting is meaningful and powerful, yet also recognizable to the point of kitsch. It is also fun to examine for line and color, to determine how to use each textile medium to advantage.

French Knots

The French Knot Scream was an experiment in shading to achieve a photo-like quality. I chose a portion of Munch’s image and using an inkjet printer, printed it onto a sheet of fabric. I carried around the small embroidery (7in x 5in) for a whole summer, adding a few more of the approximately 9,500 knots during car trips and snatches of free time. The knots were made with two strands of embroidery floss, which made many subtle shades possible. I framed the embroidery in a substantial gold frame, which seemed to draw viewers in to figure out how it was created.

Line Embroidery

Another summer, a line embroidery of Scream occupied my travel bag, starting, appropriately, on a trip to Norway. The face is surrounded by a phrase used by my Scottish grandmother in a letter to me when I was 21, ‘We sure have missed you, but life doesn’t hand us all our desires’ (I think Munch would agree). This has been embroidered in her handwriting. The line drawing itself, embroidered in a variegated purple silk thread, seemed dull, so I quilted the linen backing with thin batting and short, randomly-placed linen stitches. The practical part of me felt this piece should become a pillow (completed size: 15in x 13in).

Fabric Printing

I carved a Scream linoleum-block image for textile printing. It has been well-used; many of my friends have napkins and guest towels with the image. I titled my original textile piece was “Edvard Munch Kommentarer Paa Opvask” (Edvard Munch Comments on Washing Dishes). Five IKEA dishtowels, printed with the same screaming figure, hang from a towel bar, which portrays the title in gothic script. (total dimensions: 29in x 31in) It’s intended to be amusing, but also a comment on Munch, a serious male Expressionist painter who likely spent little time thinking about domestic arts.

Skinnfell

In 2010 I took a course from a Norwegian instructor, Britt Solheim, on making skinnfell (coverlets sewn of several sheepskins). In traditional skinnfell pieces, which have become popular again in Norway, the smooth side was either wood-block printed with traditional motifs or covered by a woven textile, or sometimes both, leaving secret designs underneath the fabric. After the class I created a Scream wall piece (18in x 26in) on sheepskin, incorporating the iconic image with traditional wood-block patterns. I wanted to explore the relationship, or lack thereof, between Munch’s fine art prints and the traditional folk arts of the period.

Rya

The largest Scream piece (36in x 60in), a Scandinavian rya, was an experiment in weaving in a pixelated fashion. I cut the full-sized pattern into narrow strips. With each row of knots on the rya I entered bundles of yarn to match the colors along the strips. This technique did not work perfectly; after unrolling the finished piece from the loom I spent many hours with a tapestry needle, putting in some bundles and taking out others to improve the image. This piece is much larger than the original images in Munch’s paintings, and while weaving it I was surprised by my emotional reaction to the image which I had reproduced many times before. As I tied the knots of the face and hands, I worked at close range and spent many hours looking at my blown-up pattern and back at the unfolding face on the loom. To me the yarn gathered the sense of psychological unease in Munch’s painting. Would the piece be large and frightening? Once completed, however, the shaggy image was striking, but not scary.

The 150th anniversary of the birth of Edvard Munch was celebrated in 2013, a fitting time to complete my textile appreciation series. Still, I might pick up the theme in the future. Could the collection be complete without a knitted Scream?

Robbie LaFleur is a weaver and librarian living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She began her weaving study with a course in traditional Norwegian weaving at Valdres Husflidsskole in Fagernes, Norway, in 1977. Since that time she has studied with several Norwegian and American weavers. Among other projects, her current series is an exploration of family members, current and long past, in tapestry. You can follow her weaving activities at her blog, boundweave.wordpress.com. She is the editor of The Norwegian Textile Letter, and recently converted it to a digital publication, norwegiantextileletter.com.

Postscript: The Scream series was also featured in an exhibit in the Community Gallery at the American Swedish Institute from June-September, 2015. As well as the Scream pieces, the exhibit included Munch-related cartoons and magazine covers. (Read more here.)

Krokbragd and More at the Summer Exhibit

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The collection of weavings in the 2015 National Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition was rich in color and techniques, but especially strong in krokbragd and bound rosepath. The header photo shows a unique pair of mittens with band-woven cuffs by Kathryn Evans of Lena, Illinois. In addition to the ribbon-winning entries, these pieces were on display.

Gay Dudley Allan. Iowa City, IA. “Raspberry Pie,” Wall Hanging in Krokbragd Technique.

Jan Mostrom, Gold Medalist. Chanhassen, MN. “Dancing Skies,” Wall Hanging in Rya Technique

Rosemary Roehl, Gold Medalist. St. Cloud, MN.
“Playing with Red,” Wall Hanging in Krokbragd and Rosebragd Techniques.

Rosemary Roehl, Gold Medalist. St. Cloud, MN. “Northern Lights,” Wall Hanging in Krokbragd and Rosebragd Techniques.

Robbie LaFleur, Gold Medalist. Minneapolis, MN.
“Bands of Summer,” Rug in Bound Rosepath Technique.

Connie Rubsamen. Long Beach, CA. Guitar Strap in Bandweave Pick-up Technique.

Sandra Moe. La Crosse, WI.
Wall Hanging in Vestfoldsmett Technique.

Melba Granlund. Minneapolis, MN.
“Julefest” Wall Hanging in Krokbragd Technique.

Mary Glock. Decorah, IA.
“Apple Tree All Year,” Wall Hanging in Krokbragd Technique.

Melissa Brown, Guttenberg, IA. “Ode to Betty Nelson, ” Table Runner in Overshot Technique.

Kathryn Evans, Lena, IL. Mittens with Tablet-woven Cuffs.

Laurann Gilbertson is the Chief Curator of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum and a tireless promoter of Scandinavian textiles.

National Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition – 2015

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Weavings were well represented at Vesterheim this summer in the National Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition, beautifully displayed with painted and carved pieces. For example, Melba Granlund’s krokbragd piece was displayed next to a deep-toned rosemaled piece in the Os technique by Peter Stromme. Beside one another on the brick wall, the colors glowed.

Well-deserved awards included:

Blue Ribbon:
Sandra Somdahl, Decorah, IA, “Loki’s Rainbow.” Wall Hanging in Rutevev Technique

Red Ribbon:
Marilyn Moore, Cedar, MN, Rosepath Rug

White Ribbon:
Kathryn Evans, Lena, IL, Tablet-woven Pillow with Setesdal Embroidery

White Ribbon:
Virginia Wekseth, Onalaska, WI, “Whimsy” Wall Hanging or Throw in Boundweave Technique

Honorable Mentions:
#200 Corwyn Knutson, Roseville, MN, “Hardanger Cherry Tree” Wall Hanging in Rya Technique

Honorable Mention:
Donna Laken, Rockford, IL, “Sunnfjord Dusk” Wall Hanging in Krokbragd Technique

Honorable Mention:
Karin Anderson Maahs, Blaine, MN, “Anderson Berry Farm, Bay City, Wisconsin” Tapestry

Best of Show Weaving and People’s Choice:
#210 Judy Ann Ness, Gold Medalist, Eugene, OR, “Playa Summer Lake, Spring 2014” Wall
Hanging in Krokbragd Technique (See separate article)

People’s Choice:
#210 Judy Ann Ness, Gold Medalist, Eugene, OR, “Playa Summer Lake, Spring 2014” Wall Hanging in Krokbragd Technique

The staff of Vesterheim are grateful for the help of two expert judges: Ingebjørg Monsen, Weaving Instructor from Morvik, Norway; and Jan Mostrom, Gold Medal weaver from Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Laurann Gilbertson is the Chief Curator of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum and a tireless promoter of Scandinavian textiles.

“Best of Show” Background

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By Judy Ness

“Playa Summer Lake, Spring 2014” was woven with a combination of tapestry and krokbragd, a technique I developed while I was in graduate school at the University of Oregon. While the front worked well, I was not able to design an elegant back side while weaving the combination. In regular tapestry, the back side is not reversible and has a mass of yarns tied neatly to keep the ends from coming to the front. In krokbragd, the reverse side with the blocky geometric floats is expected to be clear and clean of any odd disruptions. Over the years, the judges at the show would sometimes ding me for the finishing of the back. I did the best I could to keep the tapestry joins that occurred in the middle of a shot from showing too much on the reverse side. Over the years, pieces would come back to me with the judges’ comments, sometimes dinging me for the unorthodox backside finish. Ticketed by the ‘Krokbragd Police’ again.

This piece evolved from a five-week artist’s residency in Summer Lake, Oregon, in 2014. The residency allowed me to concentrate without distractions on a difficult piece in the Diné (Navajo) technique that I couldn’t seem to face at home. The Oregon high desert in early springtime has subtle colors in the land and outrageous panoramas of dramatic color in the sky. The view out my cabin window was the inspiration for the work that was in the show this year. It was made to honor the experience–to be grateful for the opportunity and to mark it as important.

“Playa Summer Lake, Spring 2014” by Judy Ness. Detail.

There was a little breakthrough on the structure issue. Clasped wefts. On a smaller piece like this one, using the clasped weft technique (à la Peter Collingwood) made the curves in the clouds. It only took me 17 years to figure that one out. Weaving is not for weenies.

“Playa Summer Lake, Spring 2014” by Judy Ness. Detail of clouds.

I can trace my deep interest in two favorite types of textiles: Norwegian and Navajo. As a child, I visited the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle, Washington, during Nordic Fest and was fascinated by the beautiful historical items. The tools and textiles on display guided me to a connection with my people. I didn’t know I had people! The idea of becoming a weaver began when I saw the primary colors and startling geometric patterns in Diné (Navajo) rugs as a child. It was so clearly a way to weave beauty and harmony into the world.

Keep weaving. It doesn’t matter what they say or how many shows you get into. Impress yourself, and only yourself.

Judy Ness is a tapestry weaver from Oregon with special interests in Norwegian and Navajo weaving. She has shared her knowledge and love of textiles as an instructor in weaving, spinning, and dyeing since 1995.

Editor’s Note, and Some Tapestries to Visit in Norway

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This post brings apologies from your editor. Completing an interim position at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota plus other consultant work, and then family obligations, stalled the rewarding job of publishing the new issue of the Norwegian Textile Letter. However, there was one saving grace – the money I earned is earmarked for a trip to Norway in August. (Plus it was a fabulous experience.)

The keynote article of this issue, “Petrine’s Quilt: A Remembrance from America,” will please mystery fans, as Katherine Larson follows the threads of a story about a crazy quilt acquired by a northern Norway museum and the immigrant woman who stitched her family names. Follow along with Kay in her quest (and be inspired to document some of your own significant textiles, to help those in future generations).

As evidence of the continuing passion for rya in Minnesota, “Rya – The Adventure Continues!” describes Jan Mostrom’s most recent rya class offered at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota. This time the featured technique was weaving a rya with hidden knots on a base of houndstooth, inspired from an artifact from the from Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. The students in Jan’s class came up with very creative pieces.

Also, you might be interested in reading about a student from Jan Mostrom’s rya class last summer, who turned into a teacher for her friend with Sami background. Read: “Rya Exploration: A Class, A Student, a Student Teacher” on the Weavers Guild of Minnesota website.

A detail from Annika Ekdahl’s “Follow Me” Facebook site

Though my summer trip to Norway will be mainly to show the beauty of the country to my husband who has never visited, it will include two important textile detours. First, Swedish tapestry artist Annika Ekdahl recently finished two large tapestries on display at the Andrea Arntzen’s Hus at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences. Amazing! I’ve been following the progress of the tapestries on the Facebook site she created to mark the progress. It’s worth reading through all of the posts she wrote during this epic weaving project. Also, watch this video.

“Høisommer,” (High Summer), one of four tapestries deposited in the Stavanger Art Museum by SpareBank.

Second, this summer a retrospective of Frida Hansen’s tapestries will be shown at the Stavanger Art Museum. There was an interesting article in the Norwegian newspaper, Aftenbladet, “Nå skal Frida Hansen hedres” (Now Frida Hansen will be Honored). You should follow the link to see the accompanying photos, but I’ve translated the text below. I think it would be amazing if a Norwegian Textile Letter reader actually turned up a missing Frida Hansen tapestry! Have you seen one?

Next year Stavanger and Rogaland’s most internationally-recognized artist will be celebrated with a major exhibition in Stavanger’s art museum. The textile artist Frida Hansen had her international breakthrough at the World’s Fair in Paris in 1900, where she received the Gold Medal.

Her textile works were purchased by several arts and crafts museums in Europe, for which the Stavanger Art Museum can be thankful today. Many of the works in the upcoming exhibit are borrowed from these museums in Norway and Europe. Our regional art museum owns none of her works, but has deposited four pieces that the Norwegian SpareBank purchased.

Where are they now?

Several important weavings by Frida Hansen have disappeared, some in Europe and the United States, and some in Norway, maybe even in Stavanger. And there may be others, unknown works by her hanging in private homes, notes Inger M. Gudmonson, the conservator with Stavanger Art Museum and one of the two curators for the upcoming exhibition. “De Fem Kloge or de Fem Daarlige Jomfruer” (“The Five Wise and Five Foolish Virgins”) is one of the works that everyone thought has disappeared, but which perhaps still exists somewhere. The weaving is dated 1900 and was displayed at the World’s Fair in Paris. It was also displayed in Glasgow, Florence and Stocklholm. It was sold in Florence, but disappeared during the First World War.

“Sørover” (“Southward”) from 1903 was exhibited several places in the United States, and was purchased by Mrs. Berthea Aske-Bergh. The current owner is unknown. “Svinedrengen” (“The Swineherd”) was accepted by the salon in Paris in 1909, and sold from an exhibition in Berlin the year after. “Frieriet” (“The Wooing”) was displayed and sold in Oslo in 1903; it’s owner is unknown.

Bankruptcy

Frida Hansen dreamed of becoming an artist, but had to drop her plans when she married the wealthy Wilhelm Severin Hansen. When her husband went bankrupt they lost two large businesses and a model farm in Hillevåg. Not long after Frida Hansen began an embroidery business in Stavanger and discovered old Norwegian coverlets. In 1892, nine years after the big collapse, the family moved to Kristiania (Oslo) and Frida Hansen established a weaving and dyeing business in Tullinløkka. She had many employees, but participated in the operations. She patented the techniques she developed.

Forgotten for many years

Frida Hansen was famous and successful as a textile artist, but was more or less forgotten until the 1970s. Gudmonson believes this was because interest in Art Noveau died out. Frida Hansen’s work places her in the direction that was popular around 1900. But not long after her work was considered both tasteless and excessive for years. When interest in Art Nouveau revived around 1950-60, so did interest in Frida Hansen’s works.

Another reason for a lack of interest in Frida Hansen, Gudmonsen explained, was that she was too internationally-oriented. Norwegian arts and crafts museums preferred works that referenced Norse mythology or Norwegian folk tales. Therefore they chose Gerhard Munthe and not Frida Hansen.

Art Historian Anniken Thue is the advisor for the two curators who are working with the upcoming exhibition at the Stavanger Art Museum. She wrote a book on Frida Hansen in 1986, building on her master’s thesis in 1973.

This year the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design (Kunstindustrimuseet) in Oslo created a traveling exhibit, shown also at the Stavanger Kunstforening and the Vestlandske Kunstindustrimuseum i Bergen. It had been over one hundred years since Frida Hansen’s art was displayed in a large exhibit in Norway.

33rd National Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition

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This summer, beautiful weavings were displayed in the galleries of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, interspersed with rosemaled items, hand-made knives and wood carvings.

The National Exhibition of Weaving carries on the tradition of Norwegian weaving by encouraging the preservation of traditional weaving techniques, and also spurring weavers to create contemporary pieces that depart from the historical in technique, colors or materials. This year the judges considered all entries together, rather than dividing ribbons by traditional and contemporary categories. The judges wrote comments individually on each piece. Then they met together to evaluate the 18 entries for ribbon competition and decide how many of each type of ribbon to award. Finally they considered these pieces and the eight pieces entered by Gold Medalists to identify the single best weaving.

Blue Ribbon: Donna Lacken, of Rockford, Illinois, for a table runner in krokbragd technique

Blue Ribbon: Judy Ness, Eugene, Oregon, for “Inner Lights,” a wall hanging in krokbragd.

Red Ribbon: Jane Connett, Roseville, Minnesota, for a card-woven Telemark belt.

White Ribbon: Mary Glock, Decorah, Iowa, for a wall hanging in krokbragd.

Keith Pierce, Lauderdale, Minnesota, for “Ouroboros,” a belt in tablet-weaving technique.

Honorable Mention: Melba Granlund, Minneapolis, Minnesota, for “Summer Sizzle,” a wall hanging in Vestfoldsmett technique.

Marilyn C. Moore, Cedar, Minnesota, for a tablecloth in Östgötadräll technique.

Best of Show Weaving: Jan Mostrom, Chanhassan, Minnesota for “Folk Dance,” a wall hanging in boundweave technique.

People’s Choice: This award had a tie between Jan Mostrom’s “Folk Dance” wall hanging in boundweave and Judy Ness’s “Inner Lights” wall hanging in krokbragd technique.

Many worthy woven items were submitted, but were not awarded ribbons. Several of them were submitted by weavers who have received gold medals from Vesterheim; their works are eligible for the “Best of Show” award. Here are images of all submitted items: GALLERY.

Norwegian Textile Letter

Archives

50 Years of Folk Art at Vesterheim

Laurann Gilbertson is the Chief Curator of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum and a tireless promoter of Scandinavian textiles.

Weaving on the Ceiling: A New Exhibit and Installation at the Osterøy Museum

Spring 2016: Much Planning was Underway

Veven i taket: Ny utstilling og installasjon på Osterøy museum, våren 2016

Mykje planlegging.

Lila Nelson’s Danskbrogd

A Common Thread: Weaving Traditions of Norway and Sweden

Thanks to Laurann Gilbertson, Curator of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, for arranging permission to post the original article, and for providing extra information and photos from the exhibit labels.

A Personal Scream Series

Editor (and author) note: This article was published in the Fall 2015 issue of the British Journal for Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, and is reprinted with permission. Read the pdf version of that article HERE.

French Knots

Line Embroidery

Fabric Printing

Skinnfell

Rya

Postscript: The Scream series was also featured in an exhibit in the Community Gallery at the American Swedish Institute from June-September, 2015. As well as the Scream pieces, the exhibit included Munch-related cartoons and magazine covers. (Read more here.)

Krokbragd and More at the Summer Exhibit

Laurann Gilbertson is the Chief Curator of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum and a tireless promoter of Scandinavian textiles.

National Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition – 2015

Laurann Gilbertson is the Chief Curator of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum and a tireless promoter of Scandinavian textiles.

“Best of Show” Background

Judy Ness is a tapestry weaver from Oregon with special interests in Norwegian and Navajo weaving. She has shared her knowledge and love of textiles as an instructor in weaving, spinning, and dyeing since 1995.

Editor’s Note, and Some Tapestries to Visit in Norway

33rd National Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition

Laurann Gilbertson has been Textile Curator at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum for 19 years and is now Chief Curator.

lgilbertson (at) vesterheim.org, 563-382-9681