Norwegian Folk Art · Northern Minnesota

Hand-painted rosemaling, made to be handed down.

I'm Michelle Carlson. I paint rosemaling, the Norwegian folk art of flowers and scrollwork, on bowls, stools, trunks, and other wooden 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, so no two come out the same.

Lefse Box — Telemark style rosemaling — Lefse Box · Telemark

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 a lot of us have Norwegian roots. I started rosemaling years ago and have been painting ever since.

There is always more to learn. Each regional style has its own rhythm and its own colors, and every piece teaches me something new about the brushwork.

Most of what I paint is wood: bowls, stools, mangle boards, trunks. The craft came over from Norway with the immigrants, and I like keeping it going.

Telemark Os Hallingdal Rogaland Valdres

— Michelle

The Tradition

What is Rosemaling?

Rosemaling means “rose painting” in Norwegian. It is the traditional Norwegian folk art of decorative painting: flowers, scrolls, and leaves painted on wood in deep, earthy colors. It began in the rural valleys of Norway in the 1700s.

A Norwegian craft

In the 1700s, painters brought the flourishes of Baroque and Rococo church decoration into farm homes, painting walls, chests, and everyday objects.

Regional styles

Each region developed its own look: flowing scrolls in Telemark, bold flowers in Os, symmetry in Hallingdal and Rogaland, and finer vines in Valdres.

Flowers & scrollwork

The basic shapes are the C-scroll and S-scroll, the teardrop petal, and the flowing leaf, with fine linework and touches of gold, red, and blue on top.

Carried to America

Norwegian immigrants brought rosemaling to the Upper Midwest, where it was revived and is still taught and painted today.

From the studio

News & upcoming events

Where to find me this season, and a few things worth a look.

Coming up

Sep19

45th Annual Scandinavian Festival

Saturday, September 19, 2026 · 9:00am–3:00pm
St. Luke’s Sports & Event Center, 704 Kirkus Street, Proctor, MN

Twin Ports Rosemaling Society. Admission $5, children 12 and under free.
Sep26

Hytta Autumn Market Celebration

Saturday, September 26, 2026
Red Lake Falls, MN
Jan’27

Rosemaling classes

January 2027 · Marine on St. Croix and Norway House, Minneapolis

Dates and sign-up details coming soon.

Worth a look

On TV
Artist shares the art of rosemaling at Fjord Folk Fest

KFYR-TV stopped by my table at Fjord Fest in August.
Video
A quick look at the brushwork

A short reel from the Fjord Fest weekend.

Bring a piece home

Available in the shop

Some finished pieces are for sale in my Etsy shop. New work goes up through the year.

Shop on Etsy →

Commissions & Inquiries

Have a piece in mind?

I take commissions through the year: a family piece you'd like painted, a bowl or trunk in a particular style, a gift. Tell me a little about what you have in mind and I'll get back to you.

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