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Cards are also being sent to Iittala's naive summer exhibition. The A5-sized cards feature this summer's mixed media works: Pispala Ridge, moon, clouds, sky, birds and fish in the water. The square-shaped folding cards feature lots of cats. And cards from previous years are also being sent. The cards were printed in Tamkopio in Tampere. The exhibition Naivë Artists at Iittala: Homecoming is open from 18.5. - 30.8.2026.
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A few new towel designs are also caming to Iittala. The summer exhibition Naivë Artists at Iittala: Homecoming is open from 18.5.- 30.8.2026. These towels feature motifs from Pispala and a large lantern fish/monkfish. Older towel designs are also coming along. The towels are made in Finland by the Printscorpio company, the material is good: half linen and half cotton and the size is a suitable 44 x 64 cm.
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A pretty big pile of smaller linocuts, monotypes and pastels will be going to the Iittala summer exhibition, Naïve Artists at Iittala 2026: Homecoming. Framed, these can be found in sizes 40 x 40 cm, 30 x 30 cm, 20 x 20 cm or 15 x 15 cm. There are also many sizes in passepartouts: 40 x 40 cm, 30 x 30 cm, 20 x 20 cm or A4. And the subjects include: cats, fish, butterflies, birds and Pispala. The exhibition is open from 18.5.-30.8.2026 at Iittala's old wooden school.
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The studio wall is filled with mixed media works, linocuts and pastels. It's time to take them to be framed, as the summer exhibitions are approaching. The first thing to do is to send the works to next summer's Naïve Atists at Iittala exhibition. Iittala's summer exhibition is open from 18.5. -30.8.2026, every day from 10 am to 6 pm (also during Midsummer).
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What a wicked grin in the cat's eyes and face! The painting by German Michael Sowa (b. 1945) is called "Brunch". And this meal is not the cat's only one today, judging by his plump form and big belly. After brunch, there are mouse and bird skeletons, bones, feathers and eggshells on the floor. The cat still has a live bird in his clutches.
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Ready! The Milky Way rises above Pispala - reminiscent of some celestial explosion. The sky is full of stars and a few dragonflies are flying there. The shot tower on the Pispala ridge has been colored red with a marker. The lower part and the dragonflies are linocuts, the sky is soft pastel. The size of the picture is 88 x 39 cm. The picture got its name from Juice Leskinen's song Aphrodite's son: "The night recedes from the rooftops and I can see the light, when I stare out alone".
Linnunradan ympärille alkoi nyt tulla tähtiä, isompia ja paljon pienempiä. Tähdetkin ovat pastellia, mutta joukossa on myös tussilla tehtyjä. Oikealla reunalla paistaa pienen pieni kuunsirppi.
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Stars began to appear around the Milky Way, larger and much smaller. The stars are also pastel, but there are also some made with markers. A tiny crescent moon shines on the right edge.
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The Milky Way is now starting to form over the Pispala ridge in pastel chalk. There are certainly stars coming into the sky too, yellow, blue, purple.
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A white cat has one eye yellow and the other blue. The cat looks self-consciously, calmly and proudly with the tail sheltered under its front paw. There is reason to be wary, because a fiercely looking yellow-striped cat like a tiger rushes into the picture from the left. It has already knocked over a table, broken a flower vase and is grimacing with a desire to fight. The picture was painted by the American Marc Burchardt (b. 1962). The picture could be a card, but it is actually the cover of a CD. The music was composed by Mitski (Mitsuki Miyawaki), an American female singer/songwriter.
