For evigt og altid: Louise Gaarmann om kærlighed, keramik og naturen som inspiration

Forever and always: Louise Gaarmann on love, ceramics and nature as inspiration

May 23, 2025

I Mols Bjerge, ceramicist Louise Gaarmann lives. Here she lives in harmony with nature and has her studio, where she makes ceramics. She has always dreamed of living in the countryside, and seven years ago she took the plunge and moved into the wooden house out in the woods.

“It turned out to be even cooler to live in the countryside than I had dreamed of,” she says and continues: “There is something so sensory about being close to nature all year round. The transition between outside and inside is not very big, and I love that.”

For Louise, it has given her a foothold to be connected to nature, where you can feel the changing seasons, the light outside the window, and the very special peace that arises when you closely follow the rhythm of the day. It gives her energy, peace, and a sense of gratitude in everyday life.

When hands tell stories

She has been making ceramics since her high school days and later graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Her hands have always been Louise's most important tool. Once, her works were about being beautiful and decorative, but today her work is not just about aesthetics – it is about creating something that can be felt.

“For me, the works have a strength if they can bring a little bit of something. If they can bring hope or light or be a comfort. Objects can hold love and care. They can be an anchor in all that is constantly in motion.”

Especially the love for her children, Gustav and Vigga, is a constant she returns to again and again. This is seen, among other things, in her iconic platters with texts such as “for ever and ever” and “nothing compares to you”.

It is precisely that unconditional love she also tries to shape in the clay. The one that does not need an explanation. The one that lies in the body as a fundamental tone.

“The love for one's children is without question marks. It is just there. It is a joyful and very heartfelt feeling to know that the bond will always be there.”

The love for the children is not only shown in the ceramics – it is also physically close to the heart. Around her neck, she wears a necklace from Line Rossau with Gustav and Vigga's initials, and she never takes it off. The children, now 24 and 20 years old, have moved out of the home, but the bond and the love between them are unchangeable.

“It reminds me that they are always in my heart. I like to touch it – it is a little comforting.”

“They can always count on me – and I can count on them. It is a nice feeling that you can still be something for each other. That you are connected.”

Grandma's platter and the blue from Royal Copenhagen

However, the love for family is not only something she uses in her creative process when she creates ceramics. The platters are actually impressions of some of her grandmother's old porcelain. They are the platters that were used for cakes and roast duck in her childhood. A declaration of love to the family's traditions – and to the women who came before. Over time, more tributes to the family from Vendsyssel have crept into the art.

Some years ago, she was invited by the Danish Arts Foundation to Northern Italy to create a solo exhibition at a large ceramics museum and at the University of Turin. She was to represent Danish ceramics, and it became the starting point for her work with cobalt blue decorations – a playful and exploratory reference to Royal Copenhagen and Danish ceramic history, which she is still unfolding today.

“When I suddenly stood abroad and had to bring Danishness into my ceramics, I was immediately drawn back to grandma's platter and the classic blue that I have seen in so many homes.”

Symbolism in every form

Every object she makes carries something more than just its form. A mussel shell is not just a beautiful surface – it is a home.

“For me, it is interesting to ask, with what I make: Where do I belong? Sometimes we have the house on our backs, and the waves push us around. It is about finding a foothold – grounding yourself.”

Other times it is about endings and new chapters. She makes knots and bows in clay, which are often given as gifts when something is over – an education, a board position, a student era. But they also hold grief.

“I had a customer who stood crying with a knot in her hand and said that it marked the end of a course of illness. When someone can see it in a piece of ceramics – then I cry too. It makes it alive.”

A collaboration bound by authenticity

Louise's ceramics are sold in a few selected places, and when Line Rossau asked if she would like to sell some pieces in her shop, it was a clear yes.

“It felt completely natural that some of my works are at Line's. We both have a respect for the materials and the craftsmanship behind them.”

What Louise loves about Line Rossau's jewelry is the unpolished look, and the raw minimalism that shines through the simple jewelry. It is the same approach she has to her own craftsmanship.

“I like that you can see my fingerprint in the clay. That you can feel it is handmade. It is the same with Line's jewelry. It is the authenticity and the aesthetic in the craftsmanship that makes it beautiful.”