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More houses have now been added to the ridge in the linocut of the Pispala log-floating tunnel. The Ylä-Voima apartment building is still visible at the highest point. The other houses are small wooden ones typical of Pispala; some have only had their outlines carved so far. The block measures 30 x 40 cm, so carving such detailed houses was a slow process. Fortunately, the weather was good, and the carving could be done on the summer cottage balcony.
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There are old elms on the shore near the Pispala log-floating tunnel, and one of them found its way into my linocut. The tree appears black in the linoleum block because I colored it with a felt-tip pen. Sometimes, coloring with a pen helps—for instance, when carving thin branches—as it makes the uncarved areas stand out more clearly from the carved ones.
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Stairs have now appeared in the linocut of the Pispala log-floating tunnel. They lead from near the shore to the Ylä-Voima building at the highest point of the Pispala ridge. A few houses have already been carved onto the lakeshore, but the smaller houses on the ridge are missing. It looks as though there is a stairway to heaven.
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During the summer at the cottage, I started working on a new linocut featuring Pispala. The subject is a familiar sight from my walks: the old Pispala log-floating tunnel. I had often wondered about that strange opening on the Pispala hillside. I read a bit about its history online: the tunnel was built between 1966 and 1968 to float bundles of logs from Lake Näsijärvi to Lake Pyhäjärvi. However, it was never used and remained idle for 40 years. In 2013, the tunnel was finally opened, serving as a shortcut for pedestrians beneath the ridge and a transport route for moving boats between the lakes. It was a momentous occasion when one could finally walk through the tunnel. Well, now the tunnel is closed again. This linocut depicts the log-floating tunnel—with an opening I plan to color yellow—along with a stretch of the Pyhäjärvi shoreline, the highest house on the ridge, and the metal transport platform designed for the tunnel, which still stands on the shore.
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The sun is out again, and my Cobeana Scandens has enthusiastically started opening its flowers—pale yellow at first, gradually turning violet. There is still time to bloom!
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Frederick Hunter (1858–1943) created this charming mezzotint based on a painting by Henrietta Ronner. In the 19th century, Ronner frequently painted heartwarming scenes—usually featuring a family of cats—in which a mother cat watches over her kittens at play amidst textiles, furniture, and often musical instruments. In this print, three kittens are playing hide-and-seek; a white kitten is perhaps hiding inside a fur boa or a large hat, while the others try to catch it. Beautiful, soft textiles and a Japanese fan appear in this image as well, though the mother cat is nowhere to be seen.
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The calendar for 2026 of my linocuts and pastels has been printed in the traditional style again. The pictures are my linocuts and pastels. Timo has chosen Finnish proverbs to accompany the pictures. A-Print/ Printtaamo has made a good print.
The images feature plenty of Pispala, birds, fish, water, and sky. The month of January shows the rooftops of London. The calendar measures 42 x 21 cm.
You can order the calendar, but only to Finland via my Etsy shop (linokissa) for 24 euros. Due to its large size, it is shipped as an S-sized parcel (not as a letter).
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Will these Cobeana Scandens buds have time to open before the snow? One bud is hidden under the table on the balcony. This year the bell vines just sprouted wildly, even along the roof, and didn't bloom. Remember: the vines need to be cut so that they bloom and at some point you need to stop fertilizing. And one of the spruce trees needs to be cut down to prevent it from shading.
