Helmer Osslund was a northerner who remained faithful to his home area but found inspiration far beyond Sweden's borders. During his lifetime, he came to be called "the uncrowned king of the northern expanses" for his obvious ability to capture the essence of the beautiful and slightly exotic Swedish nature in the north.

Helmer was born in Medelpad with a surname that was then spelled Åslund, and grew up in an artistically gifted family as the eldest of several siblings. His father Daniel Åslund was a surveyor but, in addition to his profession, devoted himself to painting and was also a diligent writer. Helmer's younger siblings also came to work in creative professions and within the family, culture and history were important elements during their upbringing.

Despite a clear attraction to painting, the path to a career as an artist was not obvious to Helmer, who longed for the world and was curious about what it could offer him. After technical studies in Sweden, Helmer was finally able to embark on his first journey, which took him to America for further studies as an engineer. It was in the USA that the young Åslund changed his surname to the more viable Osslund, Where Paul Gauguin was inspired by exotic environments in Haiti, Osslund instead found his calling in the windswept expanses of his beloved Norrland.

When he traveled back to Sweden, he was filled with a newfound creative desire and longing to go out to immortalize what he knew so well from his childhood years. The powerful nature of Lapland became Helmer Osslund's main source of inspiration and he was captivated by the changing landscape with massive mountains and flowing rapids. It has been said that autumn was Osslund's absolute favorite among the seasons.

Both the ground and the leaves were intensely colored orange and yellow, bluish mountains in contrast with traces of snow drifts that have not yet laid the mountain to winter rest. Osslund could go on months of long hikes and always carried brushes with him, paints and greaseproof paper to quickly reproduce places he saw. The times of the day changed nature every day before his eyes and he returned with a variety of motives after each trip in the wilderness.

The work on greaseproof paper was sometimes later attached to tablecloths or panels, but the material was expensive and also heavy to carry, so greaseproof paper was always preferable. The long walks showed him the whole of Norrland and he discovered and was richly inspired by nature at Torne swamp in Lapland.