Posts under "Art"

Cute Little Norwegian Shops

Posted by kari No Comments
Sep 9 2011

My boyfriend and I spent the Labor Day weekend sailing on the great Lake Superior.  We took lessons several years ago and keep going back to the company we took lessons with in Bayfield, WI.  For those interested in sailing, Lake Superior, or northern Wisconsin in general, the company is called Superior Charters and it operates out of Port Superior Marina just south of Bayfield.  It was a fantastic weekend with mostly great weather and a decent amount of wind.  I could go on and on about the sailing part of the adventure, but my intention for this post is to highlight the numerous cute little Norwegian (Scandinavian to be sure, but for our purposes, we´ll call them Norwegian) shops.

Before we departed Bayfield to head south to our homes in southern MN, we had to stop at 2 of our favorite places-

1) Coffee Roaster-for an amazing maple syrup enfused iced coffee drink called ´Cold Fusion´

2) Eckels- an art boutique specializing in pottery

 

On the main drag of Bayfield there is a store called ´Johannes.´  We had never actually stopped there and I wanted to look for a gift for my mother because she kindly watches my dog any time I am out of town, which is quite a lot these days.  My mom loves Norwegian stores.  We used to have one in Northfield called ´Fire Venner´ or ´Four Friends.´  There is a great one in Minneapolis called ´ Ingebretsen´s´which also has fish, meats and cheeses in addition to home and giftware.  In Hastings, MN there is Scandinavian Marketplace.  Scandinavian Gift Shop is located in Alexandria, MN.  In Rochester, the Nordic Shop.  The Scandinavian and British Isles Shop in White Bear Lake, MN and Exelsior, MN.  Iversen´s Imports in St. Louis Park, MN.  The list goes on.  Feel free to browse the websites below to see what kinds of products these cute little Norwegian shops offer.

Browse Ingebretsen´s here.

Browse Johannes here.

Browse Scandinavian Marketplace here.

Browse Scandinavian Gift Shop here.

Browse the Nordic Shop here.

You will find many similar products in all of these stores.  Among them are the following:

-crystal, porcelain, and blown glass (i.e. Kosta Boda, Porsgrund)

-dinnerware and stemware, cheese slicers (i.e. Ittala, Fortress)

-trivets and tiles, trays, napkin holders, napkins, placemats and table runners (Ekelund Linen)

-jewelry (troll beads, charms, amber and other stones, pewter, wood, sølje, Sterling Silver, Skagen watches)

-candles and candleholders (Orrefors and Danish Wrought)

-blankets, throws, and rugs ( i.e. Roros)

-shoes and clothing (Danish Dansko clogs, Vrikke sweaters, Dale, Oleana)

-needlework and knitting supplies

-calendars and stationary

-books, film and music

-Christmas decor

-flags

It is interesting to go into these shops after one has spent a significant amount of time in Norway.  I say this because many of the articles sold in these shops would be hard to find in a modern Norwegian home.  These stores are definitely Scandinavian or Norwegian American.  Much of the products are more closely related to Norway many years ago.  I still love these stores, though, because they are a great example of Norwegian American heritage here in the United States.

Next time you pass a Norwegian shop, stop in and have a look around and then share with us what you found!

 

Kristi Himmelfartsdag

Posted by kari 1 Comment
Jun 2 2011

A comical name for a holiday for non-Scandinavians, Kristi Himmelfartsdag is the Christian Holiday known to English speakers as “Ascension Day.”  Always falling 40 days after Påske (Easter), this year the høytidsdag (religious holiday) falls much later than normal because Påske was so late this year.

Today, June 2 is Kristi Himmelfartsdag and the Norwegians are heading to their hytter (cabins).  While this day usually marks the beginning of the hytte sesong (cabin season), this may be the 2nd or 3rd trip for some folks because of the unseasonably warm weather earlier this spring.  Today is an official helligdag (holiday), so for Norway this means that nearly every business is closed.  Traffic driving out of the cities is expected to be very busy as everyone is trying to scramble out to enjoy the weather, which has been forecasted to be absolutely beautiful (at least south of Trondheim).

So who is Kristi Himmelfart?  According to Norwegian legend, Kristi was a sæterjente (cowgirl) and thought by some to be a huldra (a seductive forest creature).  She apparently made some poor decisions and fell in with the wrong group, but was saved by her faith.

According to the Christian tradition, Kristi was a Saint (which means she was a virgin and a martyr).  She was a sæterjente who resided and worked on Himmelgård (Himmel Farm).  It is believed that she was trampled by kuer (cows) after she revealed her magnificent cow call.

There are many versions of the story and Kristi is not a very well known Saint, but artists, poets, and musicians alike have been influenced by her.  One of Gustav Vigelands sculptures is thought to be a recreation of Kristi.  The famous poet Rolf Jacobsen wrote about her and the music group A-Ha sang about her.

I wish I could dig up more information on Kristi Himmelfart because her story seems very inriguing.  Perhaps I need to make a trip up to the St. Olaf Library or the Norwegian department to see what more I can uncover about this woman.

In the meantime, I will be jealous of all of the Norwegians who are heading to their hytter for the long weekend!

Norwegian Woodcarving

Posted by kari No Comments
May 14 2011

17. mai (syttende mai), the 17th of May, Norway´s Constitution Day is approaching.  This coming Tuesday Norwegians will celebrate the day their Constitution was signed in 1814.  It is a day to celebrate together with family and friends by enjoying delicious food, attending parades and parties, and appreciating Norwegian traditions.  A tradition that I don´t know much about, but am highly interested in is woodcarving.

I am not a very creative individual when it comes to my artistic abilities.  In fact, I would venture to say that I have no artistic abilities.  I can design and make beaded earrings which I suppose takes some sort of creative talent, but other than that, I´m out.  However, if I were to attempt another artform, I think it would be woodcarving.

In Norway, woodcarving is everywhere.  Many homes I´ve spent time in have figurines or wooden furniture that have intricate designs on them.  Stave churches, homes, and other older buildings are adorned with this beautiful artform.  Woodcarving is a very old Norwegian tradition dating back to the Viking Age.  Wooden sculptures have been found in burial mounds and are so intricate that is nearly impossible for modern woodcarvers to replicate them.

In the 17th century, woodcarving was mostly limited to church decor, such as on altarpieces or pulpits.  The 18th century was the Golden Age of woodcarving in Norway.  Master artisans began to produce designs inspired by the Acanthus plant, a plant from the Mediterranean that resembles the common thistle.  The first appearance of this design in Norway was on an altarpiece designed by a Dutchman in 1669 and was placed in the Oslo Cathedral.

In the early 19th century, woodcarving became very common  in the interior of homes.  The acanthus pattern was the most popular and eventually was used on smaller home furniture items such as cupboards, clock cabinets, framed artwork and photos, and jewelry boxes.  In the late 1800s, a formal education program was established to train craftspeople in this artform.  Lars Kinsarvik developed a new style called the Dragon Style, which became very popular, especially in western Norway.

Rosemaling, the floral-like Norwegian painting style was inspired by acanthus style woodcarvings.  As woodcarving is an extremely intricate style of artwork, many people who do not want to take up the task of woodcarving will attempt to paint the design instead.  It may be my favorite artistic design.  My next tatoo is going to be some sort of acanthus design.

Wenche Foss-one of Norway´s pioneering actresses

Posted by kari No Comments
Mar 31 2011

Just 2 days ago, one of Norway´s leading actresses, Eva Wenche Steenfeldt-Foss, more commonly known as Wenche Foss, passed away.  Foss was born in 1917 in Kristiania (the old name for Oslo), Norway to her mother, Alfhild and father, Christian (an engineer).  Foss made her debut on the stage in her early 20s in an operetta called Taterblod.  Two of the theaters she was a part of were Carl Johan Teater and Centralteateret.

In addition to acting in theater, film, and on television, Foss was also a remarkable singer.  She was a mezzo-soprano who starred in several major theater performances, including Kiss Me Kate, Hello, Dolly and Cabaret.  As part of her on-screen roles, Foss combined her acting and her vocal talent into voice acting!  She was the voice of Enkefru Stengelføhn-Glad in the 1975 film, Flåklypa Grand Prix.  Commencing in the 1940s, Foss became very involved with Nationalteateret and the Oslo Nye Teater, for whom she played roles in several of Ibsen´s plays including Hedda Gabler, Rosmersholm and Peer Gynt.

Perhaps because she was so well-loved for her acting roles, Wenche Foss had quite strong political opinions, especially for a woman during that time.  She completely supported gay rights and actually spoke out against the Christian Democratic Party for their opposition to gay marriage and gay rights.  A progressive thinker indeed, Foss once said that the Christian Democratic Party should never have developed in the first place as religion and state should not mix.  She was very influential in encouraging openness in the Norwegian people, despite her own personal struggles.  Foss gave birth to a child with Down´s Syndrome and later in life suffered from breast cancer.

Wenche Foss received several prestigious awards for her excellent work as an actress and her integrity as a brilliant individual.  An award held by few other Norwegian civilians, in 1972, Foss was named Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav (a Norwegian Order of Chivalry) and 16 years later in 1988 she was promoted to Commander with a Star.

The Star of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav

Another award she received was the Order of Dannebrog, an Order of Denmark, which resulted in a campaign by Christian V of Denmark to break the absolutism of the monarchy.

Order of Dannebrog Star

Yet another award that Foss received was the Red Cross Badge of Honor.  And to top it all, an artist named Per Ung created a statue of Foss, which Queen Sonja presented outside of Nationalteateret in 2007!

Please see here for a beautiful article depicting Foss´life.

And here is a link to a blog written in Norwegian about Foss.

Tattoos & Norway

Posted by kari 4 Comments
Feb 2 2011

When you think about fashion in Norway, do you kind of group it in with “the rest of Europe” in terms and styles and trends?  I typically do.  The only fashion stereotypes that I have heard before about Europe are that there are a lot of gothic dressers in Germany and in the Netherlands the girls where t-shirts and belts.  I am most likely way out of the fashion loop when it comes to all of this, but I’m interested in it anyways.  If you have any stereotypes that you would like to share, or just fashion trends in Norway you have noticed, please do!

From the time I’ve spent in Norway, I remember seeing a lot of leggings, modern-days mullets & faux-hawks, and last but not least a lot of tattoos.  I think almost every person I know in Norway in their mid-20s has at least one tattoo.  Most have several, and they are typically quite visible.  A couple of my good friends have full sleeves and imagine this-they don’t get disapproving stares from passersby.  Not only are this but many employers don’t have restrictive rules about tattoos either.  I know that in a lot of bigger cities here in the U.S. tattoos are more common and it is more acceptable if they are visible, but that is not so much the case where I live in the upper midwest.

I got a tattoo in Norway the last time I was there and because I live in the U.S. I got it on my ribcage (a location I like, no doubt); I never would get a tattoo this big in a visible place.  I would like to personally highly recommend the tattoo artist that designed my tattoo and executed it perfectly.  I literally gave him a vague idea of what I wanted: a nautical star with a rope around it and then the latitude of Tromsø, where I lived for a few months, tattooed above it.

The tattoo shop I went to is called Second Skin Tattoo and it is located in Finnsnes, in northern Norway.  The artist is a Scottish man named James.  He is amazing.  He drew on me a vague outline of what he was envisioning and then began to work.  His wife, who works in the shop with him, stood above me and stretched my skin out while James tattooed for an hour and a half.  The finished product, I told him, was “exactly what I wanted without knowing that that’s what I wanted.”

Click here to see the website for Second Skin Tattoo:

It’s probably unlikely that you will be in Finnsnes, Norway for something, and even more unlikely that you will be there and find yourself desiring a tattoo, but if you do–go to James!

Back to the Top