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I printed all four forest cat linocuts together, and it became of course Cat Forest. What a tree that is when it has different sized and shaped leaves, but in the cat forest everything is possible. The size of the picture is 40 x 60 cm.
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In Talli building at Haihara Art Centre there was an exhibition of several groups experimenting different materials and techniques. The wittiest part was a wall full of rather small Finnish rugs. There were a lion, tiger and many more. Fine colours anf textures! Open for the last day today.
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I took a new lino/pastel work instead a sold one to Interi`s summer shop in Riuneberg´s cottage. We also stopped at Haihara Art Centre´s main building at Haiharan parat sculpture exhibition. Jaakko Tornberg´s characters made from scrap metal, different parts and plants were hilarious. They must have been fun to make! Also Ilari Lehto´s installation on a whole wall of discarded soft toys was touching. The view between sculptures by a large window was really beautiful.
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The series of four linocuts of forest cats is now ready. The last one is Tikru, perhaps because the fur of the cat reminds me a bit of a tiger. There is also a character in Winnie-The-Pooh books called Tigger, translated in Finnish Tikru. This is one lazy cat, hanging loosely on a tree branch. A woodbecker is flying in the sky, and I coloured its head red. Next I will combine these four forest cats together with each other.
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The fourth linocut of forest cats is now carved. The summer in Finland has been hot, and a lot of time has been spent at the summer cottage, on the beach and pier. There I was carving also this forest cat, and linocutting doesn't require so much of the working conditions. Here the view and atmosphere are the main points, and maybe something of them will be seen also in this forest cat, at least she feels to be drowsy.
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The third linocut in four forest cats series is called Misu. Misu the cat is hiding in the shelter of quite big-leaved tree branches.
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The third forest cat is enjoyably stretching out against a tree branch. Her fur is reminding me a bit of some wild animal, small details were fun to carve. In the background there are now quite large leaves.
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Janice Thompson, Canadian born but living in England from her student days, has painted these kind of nostalgic, sweet scenes full of details. The wallpaper, vases, jugs, pots and the chest of drawers are decorated with small flower and bird patterns. The potted plants and fruits, even a fun looking pumpkin, add domesticity. And
you can say the same of two white cats, the other one is standing sturdy on the table, the other has conquered the wicker basket.
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This summer´s Naive Art exhibition in Varkaus at Väinölä Art Center is still open till August 20, 2022 - hurry up! Visiting this exhibition you can also buy at the same time a new book, a register of Naive Art: "Describers of Life, Openers of Worlds" (Elämän kuvaajat, maailmojen avaajat"). This book is published by Suomen Naivistit ry, and there is thirty Finnish Naive artists included in this book. Each one of them is presented on one spread, and another opening is for pictures of works. Marja-Muusa Hämäläinen has the main responsibility of the birth of this book, and she has created a story for every artists based on a questionnaire. I remember when I got the questions for the book, and they were really exciting, no standard questions but views of one´s own artwork and turning points of life. I can really say based on the book that there really are many kind of Naive artists, unique and original. You can not bundle Naive Art into just one style direction, but making Naive Art brings joy to every maker and also viewer. It´s just so nice to belong to this group!
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A small linocut of a small dog is now pulled. The name for this picture is Button Eye. The inspiration is a photo by a friend, and this lino is one in my series of small cats and dogs. The size is only 15 x 10 cm. It´s really nice to carve these as "snacks".
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The linocut of a small dog might be now ready. I had to blacken the lino with Sharpie marker pen, so that I could see the carved lines. The picture is made with thin lines / dog´s hair and with the lines I will make the lighter and darker areas. Because the lino sheet is light gray, it was hard to see the lines, but with marker pen I can see mo clearly the places which are left raised ie. black spots.
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Between carving cats I made a small linocut of a dog. The inspiration for this picture is a photo taken by my friend. A small hairy dog is there staring straight to the camera.
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Leevi is the second linocut in my series of four forest cats. Leevi is sitting on a trunk of the tree and almost at the top of the tree. There is an owl flying in the sky and also a small cloud. What a brave cat!
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"Time spent with cats is never wasted". So Sigmund Freud said according this card. And it is true! You can observe infinitely cats´ doings, cuddle, play or chatter. This cat is in a typical cat posture, the tail beautifully curled in the front of the paws, and ready to spend some time with a human. This card is printed with letterpress so that the patterns are visible as dents.
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The second forest cat linocut is a spotted cat sitting on the branch of a tree. The cat is high on the top of the tree. There are an owl flying and and a cloud gliding in the sky.
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Three new works are now in the place of a sold work at Art Pispala gallery on my regular wall by the door. Two black and white linocuts are from my series of Pispala houses. IN the middle is a lino & pastel of Pispala shot tower. I´m so glad and proud that I can keep that kind of "own" wall. THe price is 150 € each and the size of the picture is A4.
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First of my four forest cat linocuts got her hame: Viiru (Stripy) - I guess because of those stripes. For the first time I used printing this linocut my new tool, plastic rolling pin. I bought it at the Haihara yard sale for two euros and filled it with sand - works just fine!
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Cats, an eternal subject! Now I started a series of four forest cats as A4-sized linocuts, which I even might combine as a bigger picture. The meaning is that all the cats are in a tree, on a branch. The first forest cat is lying down on a branch and looking straight ahead. The three has some kind of needles or sharp leaves.
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British cartoonist Rubert Fawcett (b. 1957) has made this card in the style of a comic strip in two frames. He really is hear at the heart of understanding cats. The Truth About Cat´s Purrs. What we hear: "Darling mummy, I love you so much! Please give me one of your beautiful cuddles, purr, purr". What they are saying: "Gimme food now or I´ll go find someone else to feed me and never come back!"
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I printed small linocuts of birds only over the rainbow, like in their own world. I also found the name for this work from a song "Salty Rain" by a group called Eppu Normaali : "The Sun Between the Clouds, the World in Its Own". At the bottom there are two linocuts of Pispala side by side, and the upper side of the picture, clouds and rainbow are linocuts. I almost drove to a ditch couple of days ago while admiring a rainbow like this over Iidesjärvi lake. Perhaps I captured some of that feeling in this picture. This lino & pastel is quite large: 50 x 60 cm.
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When the pastel sky seems to be OK, I place in the sky for a model some small linocut birds, stamps. I arrange the birds only outside the rainbow.
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I popped in the Naïve Artists in Iittala exhibition again when delivering an extra order. I was stuck in the lobby shop, which is full of everything in addition to pictures, cards and tea towels: ceramics, jewelry, wall rug and what else... The exhibition is open till August, 28, 2022.
