Everyday Meets Heirloom: Liesl Chatman and the Department of Fierce Kolrosing, Pt. 1

By Thomas Harb

Liesl Chatman was the 2023 Artist-in-Residence as part of the Nordic Folklife Project. A Madison native, she returned to her hometown from Minneapolis for the duration of the Fall 2023 semester to showcase and teach her art of carving wooden spoons and kolrosing. She is one of very few artists in the country that practices kolrosing, and even fewer that do both spoon carving and kolrosing.

As a teacher, Liesl had mentioned how much she enjoys teaching her craft, especially to college students. Thus, a particular focus of her residency was student engagement, which included workshops, class visits, public talks, and a variety of outreach events. Her workshops included spoon carving and kolrosing, and she also gave demonstrations at different folklore classes. At every event along the progression of her residency, people were amazed at her art, and many of her students left inspired to continue carving.

One of the first events Liesl held was at the Bradley Learning Community. Here, she talked about how she came to be a spoon carver, and showcased a selection of her kolrosed spoons.

People kept coming to see Liesl’s spoons and learn about their historical significance.

Kolrosing

Kolrosing is a decorative wood-carving technique that developed in Scandinavia. Fine details are carved in wood using a small, sharp knife, and those carvings are then stained to contrast against the lighter wood. Liesl is one of few artists in the country that practice kolrosing, so, naturally, she incorporated it into her residency. She held two 3-week workshops at Wheelhouse Studios in which students learned this unique art form. Each student was given their own kit, which included a custom knife, cinnamon, walnut oil, and a burnisher.

The decorative carvings are dyed with cinnamon to make the design contrast against the lighter wood, sealed in with walnut oil, and burnished with an antler.

This was the first day that everyone received their kits and learned to kolros. They are practicing on popsicle sticks to learn the basic techniques, before moving on to making letters and basic shapes.

Demonstrating is often the most effective way to teach.

Liesl would kolros with her students, so the students could see and copy her technique.

Dinner

The culminating event of Liesl’s residency was a dinner. A small group of people that were important to the success of the residency came together for a dinner using Liesl’s spoons.

Everyone chose a spoon to eat with. Each one had a different kolrosed design and told a different story, so they were encouraged to choose one that they felt drawn to.

Some people brought homemade food for everyone. The point of this event was to share a meal and use Liesl’s spoons as they were designed to be used.

During the meal, everyone took turns briefly describing the design on the spoon they chose and their personal connection to it. This level of engagement with the art was very personal and with the final product, not necessarily with the creation process.

You can read more about the meal in our Dinner and a Spoon post.

Overall, this residency was a definite success. Liesl was a wonderful addition to our campus community by contributing to our understanding of Nordic folk art, and by engaging and encouraging students to also be creators.