Anna Rubingh - Ottosson Färgmakeri

Photography & words: © Anna Rubingh

Publication NL SEASONS 07-2021

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In Skåne, in the south of Sweden, a pure and environmentally safe paint is made; Ottosson linseed oil paint.

In early summer the flax fields of Skåne colour blue. Thousands of flax flowers produce linseed from which in a slow process linseed oil is cold pressed, drop by drop. From there the Swedish linseed oil finds its way to the Ottosson factory in Genarp. Together with natural pigments a pure linseed oil paint with highly protective qualities is made and distributed throughout Sweden and finding its way into Europe.

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In the village of Genarp in Skåne, Gunnar Ottosson founded his company in the late 8o-ties.
The factory is just a short bicycle rideaway at the edge of the village overseeing the plains that surround Genarp In the workshop special colours get mixed, this is all done by hand by a very
experienced staff. A large cabinet is filled with cardboard boxes containing samples & recipes of all the special mixed colours.

In the local Ottosson shop customers can purchase Ottosson paint. Of course the paint is distributed throughout Sweden and Europe but having their own shop helps them to keep in close contact with private customers explains Gunnar.

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In the Ottosson factory in Genarp the locally produced linseed oil and natural pigments are made into linseed oil paint by a dedicated and experienced staff.

Making linseed oil paint is a craft dating back centuries. By using modern techniques Ottosson makes a durable paint that is environmentally safe and protects wood thoroughly from the inside out. Because both the ingredients as the paint itself are completely safe no special protection is required when making Ottosson linseed oil paint.

For its energy the Ottosson factory iscompletely self sufficient using wind and solar energy from its own sources. Heating comes from a geothermal plant which is located in a field behind the factory.

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I was in luck when I visited Ottosson Färgmakeri; The flax which is grown to produce linseed was just about to bloom. Fields full of small blue flowers as far as the eye can see is something spectacular to see.

Flax for Ottosson’s linseed oil products is grown locally in Skåne in the South of Sweden. Flax has been grown and used all over Europe for centuries, using the seeds (linseed) for making linseed oiland linseed oil products and the fibre of the plants to make linen.

After harvesting the linseed, linseed oil is cold pressed at the Skåne farm. In that slow process oil is pressed out of the seeds drop by drop at the time. After that the cold pressed linseed oil is used to make Ottosson paint in the Ottosson factory in Genarp.