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When I was around 17 years old and went to high school in Denmark, my parents had their old four-length twin farm restored in Blirup outside of Horsens. By chance, the process ended up in the arms of one of the country's most talented restoration architects, Nikolaj Hyllestad, who really understood how to protect the life and soul of the old farm. I was allowed to attend the constructionmeetings and with great interest I was located on the sideline throughout the whole restorationprocess, eventhough it meant that I sometimes had to skip school.
Once the plan was fixed and the prices for the project were estimated, the craftsmen started the restoration. They were of a very different kind than the usual craftsmen of that time. They possessed great professional qualities and could impressively work with their hands. Based on instructions drawn by the architect on different walls and wooden blocks over the lunch break, the farm was slowly and gently being renovated.
In the construction there wasn't used any cement above ground level. Everything that was taken out of the building was carefully numbered so that it could subsequently end up in the exact same place. This also applied to the old windows, where the oldest was from around 1780. None of the windows were discarded, but they were repaired, thoroughly cleaned. The numbered glass was inserted in exactly the same place as it sat before they began the task.
Fireplaces were built, and among them the old baking oven was rebuilt. It covers a plot area of approx. 4-5 m2, and when it gets throughly hot, it keeps "á bagers" and the kitchen warm for several days because of the size of the oven.
The walls were whitewashed nine times with lime that had been stored for 11 years. Interior woodwork was painted with Linseed Paint and Tempera. The painter let me help with the cleaning and some small painting tasks. I still recall the scent of linseed oil and tobacco - a scent that gives me great peace today.
One day the artisans and I sat in front of the crackling fire and ate our lunch. My mother prepared and packed lunch for the whole team every day for the 3 years that the restoration was going on. The talented painter and color consultant, Simon Kinch, had moved away from the art painting, and my parents' farm became his apprenticeship project with the craft of painting with linseed paint. He suggested that we would visit the small factory where all of the linseed paint were made from old traditions.
"The visit completely cut out my legs from under me"
The visit completely cut out my legs from under me. Pigment and oil were stroked through the tree roller, and were transformed from the driest dust to the softest paste. I was more than fascinated, and only in a way that an outspoken 17-year-old can come up with, I asked directly if I could buy the factory when it some day went on sale.
After ten years I had finished my studies as a buildingdesigner, and was working in a restorationdesign office in Haderslev, I received a very interesting phone call.
The colour production was now for sale, and with my eternal desire to preserve the good values, I did not have to think about it many times before I jumped the chance. There was an immediate love for the pure products and the old craft. Today I run Linolie & Pigment, where we produce original linseed paint according to old recipes and proud craft traditions. One can safely say that we go across the stream and live modern in an ancient universe. We manufacture products from the time when things were allowed to take time, because it is exactly the time that creates the best results.
AMALIENBORG
THE OLD TOWN IN AARHUS
BESPOKE CEILING IN PRIVATE HOME