Learn to make your own natural paint out of egg yolks in the style of folk paints from Southern Sweden! Historically paints were mixed from many different easily accessible bases, including egg yolks. In this intro level class, students will work alongside contemporary folk artist Pieper Bloomquist to mix multiple colors of paints and use them to paint some typical flowers found in older folk paintings in Southern Sweden. Suitable for any skill level, ages 12+. This program is presented in coordination with Nordic Echoes: Tradition in Contemporary Art, the first major traveling exhibition of contemporary Nordic folk arts and cultural traditions from the Upper Midwest.
ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR
Pieper Fleck Bloomquist, a Minnesota native and current Grand Forks, North Dakota resident, has been painting in the Scandinavian and Austrian styles of folk art since 1993. She has studied Swedish Dalmålning (Kurbits) and Bonadsmålning with master artists Karen Jenson of Milan, MN and Judith Kjenstad of Minneapolis, MN. Pieper has been active in programs sponsored by the North Dakota Council on the Arts (NDCA) as Master Artist teaching Swedish Dalmålning. In 2018 she was granted a Folk Arts Fellowship through the American Scandinavian Foundation, studying folk painting of Sweden and helping to perpetuate that tradition across North Dakota and Minnesota. Pieper loves the art of storytelling. She creates art that reflects the cultural life of a community that shares a common heritage, bringing to life memories from her childhood where she depicts her grandparents as they were, her siblings as small children, and her home as she envisions it. Her paintings often depict scenes that, while personal to her, portray universal human experiences and daily activities of growing up in the upper Midwest. She enjoys placing playful, contemporary scenes in the context of traditional Swedish flower and scroll formations. When she is not painting, Pieper works as an Oncology nurse at Altru Cancer Center in Grand Forks. Pieper enjoys going out to see live music and drinking coffee with her husband.