Anne Lofthus Valla (29 February 1932 – 6 October 2003) was a Norwegian ceramic artist and art teacher. Her artistic style was influenced by the folk-culture of rural Norway, in particular the cultural traditions from

Telemark Telemark () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway. Telemark borders the counties of Vestfold, Buskerud, Vestland, Rogaland and Agder. In 2020, Telemark merged with the county of Vestfold to form the county o ...

, where she was born and grew up.

Background

Anne Lofthus was born at the Lofthus Farm in

Vinje Municipality Vinje is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vest-Telemark which is part of Øvre Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Åmot. Other villages in the munic ...

county, and died in

Hemnes Municipality Hemnes is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Korgen ...

in Nordland County, Norway. From 1954 to 1957 she was educated as a

ceramist Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take varied forms, including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is a visual art. While ...

at the

Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry The National College of Art and Design () was established in 1818. In 1996, the National College of Art and Design became part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts (''Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo'', KHiO), along with the Norwegian National Academy of ...

in Oslo, with Jens von der Lippe as supervisor. She was employed in von der Lippe's workshop as a ceramist from 1958 to 1959. She married the teacher and farmer Torbjørn Valla in 1967 and moved to

Korgen Korgen is the administrative centre of Hemnes Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village located along the river Røssåga, about south of the village of Bjerka. Korgen is connected by the European route E6 highway to the nearby town ...

. There, she continued teaching and also accepted many freelance assignments.

Artistic career

From 1959 to 1963 she was engaged as a designer at the

Stavangerflint AS Stavangerflint AS was an earthenware factory that was in operation from 1949 until 1979 in Stavanger, Norway. Company history Production of pottery tableware for households and for the professional market started in 1949 under the name of ''St ...

earthenware factory in

Stavanger Stavanger, officially the Stavanger Municipality, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the third largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the ...

, Norway where she served as a member of the company's artistic staff under the directorship of Kåre Berven Fjeldsaa. While employed at Stavangerflint, Anne Lofthus created designs for ceramic tableware and items for decoration or special occasions. She also made many souvenir objects for cities and tourist sites in Norway and abroad. Her most famous designs for tableware are ''Tiril'', ''Vinge'' and the children's set ''Du som metter liten fugl'' (Lord you feed the little bird). She left Stavangerflint in 1963 and in 1963/64 she continued her education at the National School for Teaching of Woodwork and Drawing in

Notodden is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Aust-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Notodden. Other population centres include the villages of Bolkesjø, G ...

, Norway. In subsequent years she worked as a teacher, giving lessons in

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

while continuing to work as a ceramist. Anne Lofthus created the coat of arms of Hemnes Municipality, in Norway, and established her own ceramic workshop at Valla, Norway where she was active until 1996. Her style as an artist is usually easily recognizable by her references to Norwegian Folk Art, such as the décor-objects ''Stolt Margit'' and ''Folklore'' both of which are based on inspiration from the cultural heritage of the Telemark region.

References

Other sources

*Gjerde, Jan (2007) ''Glimt Fra Stavangerflints Historie'' (Stavanger: Stavangerflint AS) {{DEFAULTSORT:Lofthus, Anne 1932 births 2003 deaths People from Vinje Norwegian women ceramists 20th-century Norwegian ceramists