Norwegian Folk Art · Northern Minnesota

Hand-painted rosemaling, made to be handed down.

I'm Michelle Carlson. For many years I've carried on the Norwegian tradition of rosemaling — painting flowing flowers and scrollwork onto bowls, stools, and heirloom pieces in the old regional styles.

View the Gallery Meet the Artist

Close-up of a hand-painted plate with flowing rosemaling flowers and scrolls in slate blue, cream, and gold on a deep barn-red ground.

Telemark · Os · Hallingdal · Rogaland · Valdres

Selected Work

A gallery of hand-painted pieces

Every piece is painted by hand, one brushstroke at a time. No two are ever exactly alike — each carries its own flowers, colors, and character.

Dome-top trunk painted barn red with blue marbled trim and flowing rosemaling scrolls — Dome-Top Trunk

Round plate with a barn-red ground and a symmetrical rosette of blue, white, and gold flowers — Plate · Barn Red

Close-up of a layered rosemaling flower in blue, rust, and cream on a black ground — Flower Study on Black

Four hand-painted tine boxes with horse-head handles in orange, blue, and black — Tine Boxes

Round plate with flowing rosemaling scrollwork in blue, gold, and rust on a black ground — Plate · Scrollwork on Black

Navy platter filled with a full bouquet of blue, cream, and gold rosemaling flowers — Bouquet Platter

Folk flower motif in green, gold, and blue painted on a gray ground — Folk Flower Study

Round navy plate with a symmetrical rosemaling rosette in green, red, and blue — Plate · Nordic Blues

Single flowing acanthus scroll brushstroke in golds and browns on a teal ground — Scrollwork Detail

Painted bouquet of blue, gold, and rust flowers on a soft blue round — Floral Detail

Click any piece to view it larger · New work added regularly.

Michelle Carlson holding a large hand-painted cabinet with dark green ground and rosemaling scrollwork.

The Artist

Meet Michelle Carlson

I live in northern Minnesota, where the winters are long and the Norwegian roots run deep. Rosemaling found me years ago, and I've been painting ever since — learning the old regional styles one flower and scroll at a time.

I love that rosemaling is never finished being learned. Each tradition has its own rhythm, its own palette, its own way of turning a plain wooden object into something a family keeps for generations. I'm always taking on new techniques and styles, and every piece teaches me something.

When I paint a bowl, a stool, or a mangle board, I'm not just decorating it — I'm passing along a craft that traveled here from Norway and took root on the prairie.

Telemark Os Hallingdal Rogaland Valdres

— Michelle

The Tradition

What is Rosemaling?

Rosemaling — literally “rose painting” — is the traditional Norwegian folk art of decorative painting. Born in the rural valleys of Norway in the 1700s, it fills wood with flowing flowers, scrolls, and scenes in rich, earthy color.

A Norwegian craft

It began in the 18th century as painters carried Baroque and Rococo flourishes from the churches into ordinary farm homes, painting walls, chests, and everyday objects with color and life.

Regional styles

Each Norwegian region grew its own voice — the flowing scrolls of Telemark, the bold blooms of Os, the symmetry of Hallingdal or Rogaland, and the refined vines of Valdres.

Flowers & scrollwork

The language of rosemaling is the C- and S-scroll, the teardrop petal, and the flowing leaf — layered with fine linework and warm accents of gold, red, and blue.

Carried to America

Norwegian immigrants brought rosemaling to the Upper Midwest, where it was lovingly revived. Today artists like Michelle keep the brushstrokes — and the heritage — alive.

“Every scroll and flower carries a little of Norway with it — painted by hand, meant to be kept.”

Nordic Gal Designs

Bring a piece home

Available in the shop

Select hand-painted pieces are available for purchase. Follow along or shop the current collection — new work is added throughout the year.

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Commissions & Inquiries

Have a piece in mind?

I take on commissions throughout the year — a family heirloom you'd like painted, a bowl or trunk in a particular style, or a gift made to be handed down. Tell me a little about your idea and I'll get back to you.

Prefer email? Write to me at Hello@nordicgaldesigns.com