Ronnaug Petterssen THE ARTIST AND HER DOLLS - Softcover

Meleney, Ms Bodil P

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1939377005 ISBN 13: 9781939377005

Publisher: Green Kids Press, LLC, 2014

Synopsis

Rønnaug Petterssen - The Artist and Her Dolls is a book about the celebrated Norwegian doll artist Rønnaug Petterssen born in northern Norway in 1901 and died in Oslo in 1979. The book is written in three sections; the first section a short, but compelling story about the life of the artist, her marriage to Hans Kunze, a German painter and photographer, the very difficult years around WWII in occupied Norway and continues on to describe her later life. The second section is about the workshop; how it began, then grew to become a force to be reckoned with very early on also internationally, how it survived the war years and how Petterssen re-established the workshop in 1946 to make it flourish again and go on to gain even greater international recognition. In the words of Aslaug Kvernberg, Editor of Norsk Husflid (Norwegian Handcrafts) in her article for Norwegian American Commerce (Winter 1973), “Norway has a cultural tradition in costumed doll making, thanks to one person in particular; Rønnaug Petterssen. Her dolls are like small works of art, enchanting miniature people, who are so much alive that young and old alike can’t resist being fascinated by them”. The third section describes in detail the many dolls and doll types Rønnaug Petterssen created during her forty year career, some not seen till now and how each doll type were made. This information is accompanied by more than 300 photographs, many taken by her husband during the early years and not seen till now. This detailed description has been designed to aid collectors and others in identifying the dolls they own or may wish to collect.

About this title

About the Author:

Bodil Petterssen Meleney was born in Oslo, Norway in 1941. As daughter of celebrated doll artist Rønnaug Petterssen. The young Bodil spent a great deal of time in her mother’s workshop, observing as the treasured dolls were crafted. Later she helped with small projects, ran errands and for a period in her adult life even headed up the workshop for some months while her mother was on a much needed vacation. Bodil is an artist, writer and Professional Herbalist. She lives and works in Takoma Park, MD. She received her art education at the Art Institute in Chicago and at The Corcoran College of Art in Washington DC. As a Registered Nurse in Oslo Norway, Bodil’s love of helping people heal led her to study Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine. She has been lecturing and writing articles about health and wellness for more than a decade which currently includes a blog: Herbs, Food & Health. Bodil has authored several articles about her mother and the dolls as well as given in-depth interviews for articles written by others. Her articles have appeared in the Antique Doll Collector Magazine (2011) and Sortland’s Historic Society’s yearbook (2011-13). While touring Norway in recent years she gave talks about her mother at the Eidsfjord Herring Festival, Norway in 2011 the area where her mother was born and for the Shaker Doll Club, Albany, NY in 2010 when it visited Washington, DC.

About this edition

• Publisher: Green Kids Press, LLC
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1939377005
• ISBN 13: 9781939377005
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 188