LINSEED OIL
Thor Grabow’s interest in painting with linseed oil was aroused while he was in upper secondary school, when his childhood home, an old farmhouse, was gently
renovated from cellar to attic.
Thor enjoyed help-ing the builders out, especially the painters, who used pigment suspended in linseed oil. One day, he was invited to come along on a trip to pick up new supplies from an elderly artist who, alongside his artistic practice, had a limited production of linseed oil paint.
From HÅNDVÆRK bookazine no. 4 the plant-based issue – buy your copy here
Thor Grabow,
Trained constructing architect
Owner of Linolie & Pigment (Linseed Oil & Pigment)
FACTS
Linseed oil paint has been known for more than 300 years and should not be confused with alkyd paint (‘oil paint’), which contains turpentine. Linseed oil paint consists exclusively of linseed oil mixed with pigment. Linseed oil paint is non-toxic and eco-friendly.
Flax is grown for two main purposes: for yarn and for oil. Linseed oil is used for cooking, in the pharmaceutical industry and in paint.
Flax is grown in many places around the world; the Danish production is quite limited.
Most of the oil Linolie & Pigment uses is imported from Belgium.
The production of linseed oil paint differs significantly from the production of emulsion paint.
Emulsion paint is produced as a base, and subsequently colour is added and stirred in; with linseed oil paint, the process is the opposite. First, a paste is made by mixing pigment with linseed oil in a big electric mixer. The paste is left to rest overnight to allow the oil to permeate the pigments; if this part of the process is rushed, the result is a dull colour. Next, the paste is ‘shredded’ by being passed in between closely spaced rollers. This treatment crushes the pigments and saturates the pigment with oil. The process is repeated three to five times. On a small scale, the process can be done manually using a mortar or a spatula on a glass plate, as some artists do.
In either case, the result is a coloured paste that is turned into paint by adding oil until it has the desired consistency. Experienced linseed oil painters can handle this last step themselves. Linolie & Pigment also offers ready-to-use paint and, as a new feature, oil-based wall paint that can be applied with a spray or a roller.
Linolie & Pigment uses a mix of natural and synthetic or semi-synthetic pigments.
Based on 31 different pigments, Linolie & Pigment has an extensive colour catalogue that goes far beyond the traditional muted range of colours typically associated with linseed oil seed paint.
COLOUR (pigment) is the stuff of dreams
‘If you ever want to sell your business, give me a ring,’ said the young Thor spontaneously, excited at the sight of the old machines, intoxicated on the smell of linseed oil, and with no thought for what the realities of such a trade might look like. During the following years, he continued not giving that any thought. He completed upper secondary school, trained to be a constructing architect, got a taste of architecture school and landed a good job in a firm specializing in renovation. He started a family and bought a former countryside inn and grocery store in South Jutland. One day, the phone rang; it was the artist who wanted to sell his machines, his inventory and his know-how.
ON THE ONE HAND, ON THE OTHER HAND
‘I had a good job, and I had my hands full. On the other hand, if I turned down the offer, the opportunity would either go to someone else or, even worse, the company would simply close down,’ Thor explains over a cup of coffee in his office at Linolie & Pigment, then adds, ‘And that was 14 years ago …’
‘I decided to go for it. Without having any idea about what it would take to manufacture paint or how to run a company. The seller was of little assistance, he had long since turned his attention to other things.
So there I was, 27 years old, one week into my paternity leave with our second child and the happy owner of a small collection of machinery and 15 pallets of pigments and linseed oil.’
‘The previous owner had run the company from his garage and mainly sold to restoration workers and private clients in his neighbourhood. People would stop by with an empty jam jar for a refill when they needed some paint. I wondered if the demand might rely on the unique atmosphere surrounding the artist and his studio, and to be completely honest with you, I was anxious to see if the clients would follow the paint or simply stop coming. After all, I was just me – passionate about the quality but without the artistic context. Of course, it was also going to be interesting to see if I could figure out how to mix colours. The recipes I took over turned out to be out of step with reality, so I started over from scratch.
The clients stuck with me, and they were both patient and helpful. It took me three years to master the production process completely. It was a steep learning curve.’
THE VISION
What did you expect? I ask rhetorically – and I can tell that simply is not the way Thor’s mind works or, at least, he is aware that at the time, he had no specific expectations.
‘My focus was on spreading awareness of a type of paint that I found was completely amazing,’ he replies. ‘Also, I enjoyed immersing myself in the low-tech, craft-driven manufacturing process.’
THE DREAM
‘Working with colour seems like a dream to many people, but sadly, I have seen many crash and burn in similar adventures,’ he says with a sigh. ‘The reality is that being an entrepreneur is really tough. Running a company is about much more than the core product or service. Regulations and economics, for example. I have had times when I had my back to the wall; that forced me to take the business side seriously.
Today, I have a thriving business, and last year it was converted to a jointstock company with a professional board. I recently brought in a works manager, which lets me focus on development, purchasing, marketing and sales. Passion and the dream of spreading awareness of this wholesome, fragrant, durable paint still drives what I do; I am living my dream.’
In the meantime, Linolie & Pigment has become a brand, I point out. ‘Yes, a few years ago, Hans Peter Dinesen – who was featured in your booka bookazine no. 3 – stopped by together with his colleague Mikkel Vestergaard. They wanted help to dye some wooden cutting boards. It didn’t work out, but as a result of the meeting, instead, I developed a series of coloured oils for Dinesen’s floor planks. That put my company on the map for designers and architects, and the oil is not just used for flooring but is also a popular choice for furniture.
Back then, the company name was Original Linoliemaling (Original Linseed Oil Paint), but that was too retro, according to Hans Peter, who is an art director.
I have great faith in his professional opinion and asked him to design a new corporate identity for my company, which he did in collaboration with communication designer Ditte Gjøde. As a result, we changed our name to Linolie & Pigment. That describes our ingredients. In that connection, we developed a new website and a new logo. Our use of photos is “handheld”, I manage it from day to day.
Apropos visual communication: many of our new clients find us via Instagram. The colour business is Instagram-friendly. The path from thought to action is short – if I post a photo where we use linseed oil to dye a Wegner chair, others are inspired to follow suit.’
You rely on just a few distributors, I comment. ‘That’s right. We have a couple of distributors in Denmark, but many Danish clients prefer to come all the way out here, to the countryside, where they can get advice when they shop. We also have a distributor in England, who is about to bring the paint to the United States, and we have distributors in the Netherlands and Germany. We also produce “private label” paint for a couple of companies.’
And that does not put you in a position where you are competing with yourselves, I wonder. ‘I don’t care,’ says Thor. ‘The more vendors there are selling high-quality linseed oil paint, the more people will have access to good paint.’
Hans interesse for at male med linolie blev vakt i gymnasietiden, hvor barndomshjemmet, en gammel gård, nænsomt blev gennemrenoveret. Thor kunne lide at gå til hånde blandt håndværkerne, navnlig var han optaget af malerne, som malede med pigment rørt op i linolie. Han blev derfor inviteret med en dag, hvor der skulle hentes ny forsyning hos en ældre kunstmaler, som parallelt med sin kunstneriske virksomhed havde en mindre produktion af linoliemaling.
FAKTA
Linoliemaling har været kendt i mere end 300 år og må ikke forveksles med alkydmaling (‘oliemaling’), som indeholder terpentin. Linoliemaling består udelukkende af linolie blandet med pigment. Linoliemaling er ugiftig og miljøvenlig.
Hør dyrkes med to hovedformål: til fremstilling af garner og til fremstilling af olie. Hørfrøenes olie kaldes linolie. Linolie anvendes som spiseolie, i medicinalindustrien og til malingsfremstilling.
Hør dyrkes mange steder i verden, i Danmark dog kun i begrænset omfang.
Den olie, som anvendes hos Linolie & Pigment, importeres fortrinsvis fra Belgien.
Produktionen af linoliemaling adskiller sig væsentligt fra produktionen af plastikmaling.
Hvor plastikmaling fremstilles som en base, der tilsættes farve og omrøres, så fungerer det her lige modsat.
Man fremstiller en pasta ved først at røre farvepigment med linolie på en stor røremaskine. Pastaen hviler natten over, hvorefter den ‘rives’. Hvilen, for at olien når at trænge ind i pigmenterne; går man for hurtigt frem, bliver farven mat. Den efterfølgende rivning foregår på en valse.
I rivningen knuses pigmenterne, mens de ledes gennem de hårdt sammenspændte valseruller, og samtidig mættes pigmenten af olie. Processen gentages 3-5 gange.
Man kan i lille skala lave processen manuelt med en morter eller en spatel på en glasplade, sådan ses nogle kunstmalere fremstille deres farve.
Resultatet er i begge tilfælde en farvet pasta, som for at blive til maling skal røres op med yderligere olie, til den har den ønskede konsistens. Dette kan den rutinerede linoliemaler gøre selv. Linolie & Pigment tilbyder også en rørt maling. Ligesom de som noget nyt tilbyder en linoliebaseret vægmaling, som kan påføres med sprøjte eller rulle.
De pigmenter, som anvendes hos Linolie & Pigment, er en blanding af naturlige og hel- og halvsyntetiske pigmenter.
Linolie & Pigment tager afsæt i 31 forskellige pigmenter og blander herefter til et farvekatalog, som er omfattende og langt ud over den almueskala, som man traditionelt forbinder med linoliemaling. Der er også mulighed for at dukke op på fabriksudsalget med en farveprøve, og så blander de dygtige medarbejdere efter gehør
FARVE
(pigment) er det stof, drømme er gjort af “Hvis du en dag vil sælge virksomheden, så ring”, sagde den unge Thor begejstret over synet af de gamle maskiner og beruset af duften fra linolien, spontant og uden at gøre sig forestilling om, hvordan realiteterne ved en sådan handel kunne tage sig ud. Ej heller tænkte han over det i årene, som fulgte. Han afsluttede gymnasiet, uddannede sig til bygningskonstruktør, snusede til arkitektskolen og fik et godt job på en tegnestue, som beskæftigede sig med renovering. Han stiftede familie og købte en nedlagt kro og købmandsbutik på landet i Sønderjylland. En dag ringede telefonen, det var kunstmaleren, han ville sælge sine maskiner, sine råvarer og sin knowhow.
PÅ DEN ENE SIDE OG PÅ DEN ANDEN SIDE
“Jeg havde et godt job og hænderne fulde. På den anden side, hvis jeg takkede nej, ville muligheden enten gå til en anden eller endnu værre, virksomheden ville lukke ned”, fortæller Thor over en kop kaffe på kontoret i virksomheden Linolie & Pigment, “det er 14 år siden.”
“Jeg købte. Købte katten i sækken uden at ane, hvad der var op og ned i forholdet til at producere maling og i forholdet til at drive virksomhed, og der var ikke meget hjælp at hente hos sælgeren, han var for længst optaget af andre gøremål.
Der stod jeg, 27 år gammel, en uge inde i barselsorlov med mit barn nummer to og lykkelig ejer af en lille maskinpark og 15 paller med farvepigmenter og linolie.”
“Den virksomhed, jeg havde overtaget, var en garagevirksomhed, som primært solgte til restaureringshåndværkere og til private fra nabolaget. Kunderne kom med deres syltetøjsglas og fik en påfyldning, når de manglede maling. Salget var, kunne jeg frygte, båret af den særlige stemning, som var omkring kunstmaleren og hans atelier, og for at være helt ærlig så var jeg ret spændt på, om kunder ville følge malingen, eller om de ville falde af i svinget. Jeg var jo bare mig, vildt optaget af kvaliteten, men jeg havde ikke nogen iscenesættelse at tilbyde. I øvrigt var det også ret spændende at finde ud af, om jeg kunne blande farve. De recepter, jeg havde fået med, viste sig at være ude af trit med virkeligheden, så jeg startede helt forfra. Kunderne blev, og de var både tålmodige og hjælpsomme. Det tog mig tre år at få fuldstændig styr på fremstillingsprocessen. Læringskurven var stejl.”
VISIONEN
Hvad havde du forestillet dig? spørger jeg retorisk – og kan se, at Thor slet ikke tænker på den måde, eller at han i hvert fald ved, at dengang tænkte han ikke på at forestille sig noget. “Jeg var optaget af at udbrede kendskabet til den maling, som jeg selv fandt helt uforlignelig”, svarer han, “og så kunne jeg lide den fordybelse, der ligger i den lavteknologiske, håndværksbårne fremstillingsproces.”
DRØMMEN
“Omgangen med farver ligner en drøm, sådan er det for mange, jeg har desværre set flere knække halsen på tilsvarende eventyr”, sukker han. “Virkeligheden er jo, at det er super barskt at være iværksætter. At drive virksomhed handler om meget andet end kerneydelsen. Myndighedsforordninger og økonomi, for eksempel. Jeg har prøvet at være helt i knæ, det tvang mig til at tage forretningen alvorligt. Nu har jeg en sund virksomhed, som sidste år blev til et aktieselskab med en professionel bestyrelse. Jeg har netop ansat en driftschef for selv at fordybe mig i udvikling, indkøb, markedsføring og salg. Det er stadig lysten og drømmen om at udbrede kendskabet til den sunde, velduftende, holdbare maling, som driver værket; jeg lever min drøm.”
I mellemtiden er Linolie & Pigment blevet til et brand, konstaterer jeg.
“Ja, for nogle år siden kom Hans Peter Dinesen, som jeg ved, du skrev om i bookazine no. 3, forbi sammen med sin kollega Mikkel Vestergaard, de ville have hjælp til indfarvning af nogle træskærebrætter. Det kom der ikke noget ud af, til gengæld resulterede mødet i, at jeg udviklede en serie farvede olier til Dinesens plankegulve, og det samarbejde har sat min virksomhed på designernes og arkitekternes verdenskort, og olien bruges ikke bare til gulve, men i høj grad til møbler.
Dengang hed vi Original Linoliemaling, det var for tilbageskuende, mente Hans Peter, som er Art Director. Jeg fik stor tillid til hans faglighed og bad ham lave en ny visuel identitet til min virksomhed.
Opgaven løste han i samarbejde med kommunikationsdesigner Ditte Gjøde. Det resulterede i, at vi ændrede navn til Linolie & Pigment. Linolie & Pigment beskriver helt præcist, hvad der er vores ingredienser.
Vi fik i den forbindelse ny hjemmeside og nyt logo. Vores billedkommunikation, den er ‘håndholdt’, den styrer jeg fra dag til dag. Apropos billedkommunikation: Vores nye kunder finder os langt hen ad vejen på Instagram. Farvebranchen er Instagram-venlig. Der er kort fra tanke til handling – lægger jeg et foto ud af, at vi er i gang med at farve en af Wegners Y-stole med linolie og pigmenter, såer der flere, som får lyst til at følge trop.”
I har bare få forhandlere, konstaterer jeg spørgende. “Ja, vi har et par forhandlere i Danmark, men mange danske kunder foretrækker at tage turen hele vejen herud på landet for at handle og for at blive vejledt.
Vi har desuden en distributør i England, som er på vej til USA med malingen, og vi har forhandlere i Holland og Tyskland. Desuden laver vi maling ‘private label’ til et par virksomheder”. Og I konkurrerer ikke på den måde med jer selv?, funderer jeg.
“Det er jeg helt ligeglad med”, svarer Thor, “jo flere, som sælger linoliemaling af høj kvalitet, jo flere får glæde af at have god maling til rådighed.”
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