Carving Stories in Wood: Chip Carving and Kolrosing Traditions

Since the beginning of time, humans have marked the world around them—carving, painting, and etching patterns that connect us to one another and to our histories. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll step into that long tradition by exploring two beautiful decorative techniques from Northern and Western Europe: chip carving and kolrosing.

We’ll begin with chip carving, a method found in many cultures but celebrated in the geometric Swiss style and the flowing, organic patterns of Scandinavia. You’ll start by carving a series of holiday ornaments, each one a little more intricate than the last. Along the way, you’ll learn how to hold and guide your knife for clean, confident cuts, how to read the direction of the grain, and how to let light and shadow bring your designs to life.

Once you’ve gotten the feel for carving, we’ll turn to the more delicate art of kolrosing—a Norwegian word meaning “writing with coal.” Like tattooing for wood, kolrosing involves incising fine lines and brushing pigment into the design so it becomes part of the surface itself. You’ll create your own primstav, a traditional calendar board once used to mark agricultural seasons and saints’ days. Today, a primstav can become a personal timeline—a way to celebrate family milestones, note the rhythms of your year, or simply create something beautiful to hang on the wall.

Throughout the workshop, you’ll explore the tactile joy of working with wood:

• how a knife’s angle changes the play of light and shadow
• how pigment settles into the grain
• how burnishing and oiling bring your designs to life

Materials Fee: $30 paid directly to the instructor. Fee covers tool use, a printed chip carving practice board, two ornaments for chip carving, and a shellacked primstav. Extra ornaments are available for $5 each.

Special Tools or Equipment to bring: All tools provided by the instructor.