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Now I think this test version of fish under the water on Tahmela beach is ready. Just by the shore I added still glitter and brighter light stripes. I might make another one almost the same but without those glitters, a bit calmer perhaps. The name for this version is from a song by Kari Peitsamo: "Plant Rising From Water". The size of the picture is 53 x 30 cm.
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In this naïve art painting " Evening Coffee" by Anu Pellinen a large black and white cat sits on the snow with a cup of coffee and a bun in front of her. There is a sugared smile on her face, like cats especially would like coffee. In the background you can see many subjects familiar in naïve art; old houses (these remind some old Central European town), full moon, angel and sky full of stars. Even the green and golden frame has been painted in the picture.
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I added to the picture of the underwater world on the beach of Pispala some tiny fish, which are linocuts or actually stamps. Fish at the right side I printed first with white ink and sprinkled on top of them some glitter. The white ink didn't separate from its background enough, so I printed fish black on the glitter. Now it works better. Still a bit unfinished...
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There is emerging bubbles to the pastel water, perhaps one of the fish has flatulence. Twiggy grass was made with pastel pen as also bubbles. Still going on...
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Behind the lino fish there starts to be pastel to depict water. At the bottom of the picture there are stones under a few lino shells.
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This might be exiting, at least for me! I started to make two almost identical pictures of the underwater world. The other one will be like a test piece and the other one will then be a better one - hopefully. ON both of these pictures there is a linocut at the upper part, both are different, and at the lower part there are linocuts of fish and shells. The water will be soft pastel.
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"I don't need a therapist. I talk to my cat." But how might the talking proceed in the picture, the sound will drown in the thick pillow. and the cat seems to be more interested in food. But it is a known truth, talking to a cat is strangely calming.
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The 13th linocut for my frind Ulla Hakulinen´s children's book or story about Saana trying to find her mother is now ready. Here Saana and her mother are sitting on dad´s knees, and in the background there is a boot shaped red house. So the story has a happy ending: Saana finds her mother and they return home together. This story about Saana is not perhaps for the very smallest children, and even the adults can enjoy it. There is about 60 pages of text. Saana leaves her boot shaped home with a teddy bear and meet during her travels new friends, the Boy, Muuan Muu and many perhaps a bit strange characters and places. The book tells about friendship, surprises & accepting them and many other things, and you can use own imagination, too. For the illustrations of Saana book I have got my inspiration from illustrations in old Finnish children's books, woodcuts and quite gritty expression. The idea in the påictures was that there is colour only on a small detail or part. The book will be published next year, and we don't even now the name yet.
Iittalan talvi - näyttelyn aukioloaikoja jatketaan koulujen talvilomien ajaksi viikoilla 8. ja 9. ke-su 22.-26.2023 klo 11-17 ja ke-su 1.-5.3.2023 klo 11-17. Tätä ennen näyttelyt ovat auki pe-su klo 11-17.
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1 Sini Aalto
2 Mia Bergqvist
3 Marit Björnegran
4 Stina Engvall
5 Margit Hakanen
6 Petra Heikkilä
7 Sinikka Hurskainen
8 Merja Hämäläinen
9 Minna Iso-Lähteenmäki
10 Kirsi Jalava
11 Stig Jansson
12 Maija Kanerva
13 Aimo Katajainen
14 Ulla Kauhanen
15 Elina Kautto
16 Riitta Kolari
17 Antti Kuikka
18 Kåira
19 Lauri Lahtinen
20 Matti Laine
21 Esa Leppänen
22 Anna Luostarinen
23 Talvikki Lusa
24 Salla Lylynoja
25 Mikko Jalmari Maijala
26 Luciana Mariano
27 Marke Martsola
28 Kati Mikola
29 Anu Mykrä
30 Saija Mäki-Nevala
31 Raija Männistö-Koski
32 Raija Nokkala
33 Marjaana Orkoneva
34 Tiina Paju
35 Anna Pekkala
36 Terho Peltoniemi
37 Tiitus Petäjäniemi
38 Tarja Rinta
39 Katja Saario
40 Aleksiina Salmi
41 Päivi Salminen
42 Pekka Salminen
43 Sirkku Salo
44 Elsa Sysser
45 Lydia Toivanen
46 Pirjo Uimonen
47 Suvi Vasama
48 Eino Viikilä
49 Aimo Vuorinen
50 Pertti Ylinen
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This charming and happy exhibition is still open only a couple of days at Gallery Saskia. This joint exhibition by three artists is so compatible, that you could almost believe that there is only one maker. The vibrations and messages of the works are so parallel, even as subjects can be found in every artist's works, children, nature, animals. When you watch more closely, also the makers differ. Laura Pohjonen uses interesting combinations of different graphic methods, metal graphics and wood carving, subjects are butterflies and nature. Terhi Kaakinen makes colourful wooden sculptures, most of them soulful and expressive children. I think I admired most Suvi Suikki's drawings, mostly ink, which had details or patterns crocheted with yarn. Often the embroidery was glittering, so you had to look at the works from different angles, they like seemed to live.
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In this series of Susan Herbert's (1945-2014) versions of famous paintings is here now Renoir's Umbrellas. The colours are almost identical, rainy bluish. The round faces of the women in Renoir's painting fit fine as cat faces. The small cat girl with her hoop in the lower right corner is especially cute.
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A new linocut for my friend Ulla Hakulinen´s children´s book about Saana trying to find her mother. Now Saana has found her mother pole fishing by the lake. Mother ties same kind of braid for Saana that she has herself. Saana sits on her mother´s knee and they are pole fishing together. It feels like they have been together like this forever.
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Two cats in a tree and an owl & woodpecker in the sky. And over the cats can be seen a full rainbow, a bit of double rainbows plus a quite dramatic sky, even small white birds over the rainbow. Well, this work became rather colourful when I coloured by hand even the cats. At the bottom of the picture there are two linocuts of cats and birds. The birds over the rainbow are small lino stamps. The sky and rainbow were done with soft pastels. This lino & pastel work got its name after Eino Leino´s poem Rainbow: "The Arch Rose So High, And That´s What Cats Are Admiring". This work is quite big: 50 x 60 cm. And guess, was is fun to make, oh yes!
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Here is a new linocut as illustration for a children's book written by my friend Ulla Hakulinen about Saana trying to find her mother. Now the teddy bear who has been along in the search has found another teddy bear on the highest floor of a tower house, and he is intending to stay there. The house is so high that it seems to fall on Saana and the boy watching the happy teddy bears.
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Pirkko Pullinen-Valtonen (s. 1950), familiar also from the Naïve art exhibitions in Iittala, has painted many of there small cat portraits, and they seem to be done quite fast. The brush strokes are clearly visible, at least the thick whiskers and eye hairs. The eyes are the most important point in a cat painting, and here they are staring attentively towards. The paws are alert on the back of a chair. The painting is called "The Phantom / Mustanaamio" after that common pattern on the face of black and white cats and the famous comics character by Lee Falk. The pink colour in the background is delicious, like some berry juice.
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Over the rainbow there are now pale white birds - linocut stamps. The colour of the rainbow starts to be alright. The head of a woodpecker is red. And then I coloured the cats - brown and orange.
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The pastel with a rainbow requires some birds. I will print them pale white just above the rainbow. And the rainbow also has some colour already.
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In my linocut of cats in a tree I outlined earlier the shape of a rainbow in the sky. Now I started to fill the sky and add clouds with soft pastels, coming along quite dramatic.
