Sept 27,07 Helsinki
I drove a car in Finland for the first time! I drowe to recycle cardboard and to my studio. A bit scary as it has been a while since getting the licence in Illinois!
Sept 12, 07 New York
I delivered three paintings to NY city to my exhibition. It is always wonderful to see what's going on, even if for just a couple of days. Love it!
Aug 15,07 Helsinki
I just found the perfect work space! I was one of those things that seem to be too much to be a coincidence. One Saturday in a bar in Helsinki I overheard a stranger talk about being an artist. I talked to him and he mentioned he knew someone was looking for a partner to share a studio. The next Monday I had a great space to work in! I'm sharing it with another artist Taira Tiger. It's still a mess, but it's going to be fabulous!
May 22, 07 Chicago
Today I was advised not to talk to anyone on the streets. I was amazed by this - if you don't follow the unspoken rule - people will advise you of how it is. I was talking to a nice young man who was studying music at a university close by. The lady had good intentions - she was maybe trying to protect me and thought I was a tourist who obvously needed to be instructed on how we behave here in Chicago. Maybe I'm naive to think that people are good and you can trust your judgement on the situation and people. I know for sure I will never want to be so scared and cynical not to talk to anyone or reach out to the world.
May 5, 07 Washington DC
I fell in love with the huge Motherwell at the National Gallery! It is so controlled but at the same time a combination of really free marks when you get up close.
April 12, 07 Chicago
I have moved forward again during this semester at the SAIC. So much so, that I have been so absorbed in art making and therefore too busy to write to my blog! I have also been travelling like crazy. I have a truly wonderful life!
It truly is amazing to talk about your art with people who understand. I have tried some new technical things, like screening. I got some great tips on how to manifest my ideas and how other people experience my art.
My paintings have become even larger, so I needed the extra work space too. Plus it is a wonderfull opportunity to get real messy! ;) Here's a picture of me painting at the SAIC.
February 3, 07 Chicago
Isn't paint delicious?! Sometimes I feel like a kid when mixing paint with sand and making all sorts of colourful pastes.
October 27, 06 Chicago
My paintings are getting more personal. I'm expressing my inner feelings in them more directly and depict the situations in everyday life. It seems I never get used to the homeless people begging for money at the streets, or stop wondering how common and accepted it is to cut yourself for beauty.
October 20, 06 Chicago
I started to use my hair as the color element in my paintings. It looks really bright red against the black and white colors.
October 14, 06 New York
I was so inspired by the City again when I was there for my opening - the museums, galleries and feeling is like nothing else! I also feel like my paintings belong there.
I saw many interesting and inspiring shows - like the one at the New Museum. I was influenced by Jean Miotte's paintings, very much so. There was also a video showing how he works, and I felt a strong connection with him. I also work very intuitively and use bold marks. Go ahead and Google him, if you want to see his work - I highly recommend it!! Wonderful!
September 14, 06 Chicago
It was so nice to talk to people about art during the Around the Coyote arts festival - even though it is not always that easy. I wonder what makes it different when it comes to your own art, because as an art historian there should be no problems talking about art! But it is so rewarding when you meet someone who truly understands what you're trying to accomplish.
I have made the observation that people with far eastern origins, like China, usually seem to have a connection with my work. Maybe they are used to seeing strong marks, thinking about calligraphy for example. I had a wonderful conversation about this with a man who truly appreciated strong marks as the sole content of a painting. It can be very meditative and spiritual.
The biggest piece I exhibited there "I'm pretty sure I heard something" aroused several different discussions. I heard a holocaust survivor say he found a connection with many of my paintings. One comment was about the lines of dripping paint going through the painting vertically and how they seem to form a musical element, like notation lines. I was also invited to take part in this exhibition arranged by World can't wait - Drive out the Bush regime. They also felt my work relates to the political themes, like eavesdropping on American citizens. I think this is just wonderful how many different powerful connotations my work brings up!
August 12, 06 Chicago
I love my new tattoo designed by my 80 year old grandma! We had an assignment at the School of the Art Institute to think about different self portraits, and I chose a tattoo which would represent me perfectly. My grandma has always been creative - she writes poems and uses old calligraphy to make them into beautiful rolls. She told me she learned the old font from an old bible! The letter S looks like G, and I love the fact that it is not clearly representational. The tattoo is a tribute to my roots - and it is pretty cool too!
May 30, 06, Chicago
Referring to what I wrote on May 12th: I finished five paintings today!
I also finished my very first series of abstractions - a set of three again, I might ad. I tried my best not to think of a figure this time. I worked with mixed media and a bit smaller scale this time: 20 X 24". Go ahead, take a look at the series from here
May 29, 06, Chicago
My teachers at the School of the Art Institute would be very happy to hear that I have been very experimental with techniques lately! I have glued some materials on the canvases, painted over them - and teared some of that out again! It leaves powerful stenciled marks that I like very much. Some other recent marks, too, remind me of graffiti.
I also used safety pins, tape measurer and found pieces of warning tape in my paintings! Since I have been using text in my paintings, I started to name them, instead of using dates. I'm also using a small stamp instead of signature, which I think often disturbs the image.
May 12, 06, Chicago
I noticed I often work with sets of three. When ever there is a new idea or interest, it takes three paintings to fully go through it. It's something I haven't decided, but just happens.
There seems to be times that are more productive, if you just look at the dates they were finished. I work with many pieces at the same time, paint something on one of them and switch to another, as most of them have several layers. Then there can be a day when I finish several of them.
May 9, 06, Chicago
I have started using text again in my paintings. I gives a story to the picture and the narrative definitely adds more meaning. The text also allows me to leave the picture more abstract, as the stenciled letters give the picture the structure needed. Seems to me like there is a series of these new paintings to be made! The School of the Art Institute clearly gave me the push to renew my work!
May 1,06 Boston
I got really excited and inspired after visiting some wonderful museums in Boston. Especially several exquisite Kline paintings and the most wonderful Rothko I've ever seen at the Fogg Art Museum in Harvard.
April 26, 06, School of the Art Institute, Chicago
My final critique at the Artists Identity class made me realize that I really have achieved some of the things that I wanted - adding more layers without losing the freshness, going towards abstraction without losing the subject completely and using bolder and looser brush strokes.
April 22 06, School of the Art Institute, Chicago
I received a couple of interesting comments at my final critique with my advisor Susan. I brought some of my older pictures and some very recent ones too to see how they have changed. The goal was to figure out what I wanted to achieve in the School of Art Institute, and if I had done it by now or still need to work some things out. One woman saw a rib cage in one of my paintings depicting a face, and she suggested moving from the face to other parts of the body, and another man felt like one of my pictures was about 9/11. We really see totally different things in the same picture, which is also a bit scary. I also had to point out where the face was in one of my paintings, and that tells me I've succeeded in moving to a more abstract direction!
April 14 06, Up-Gallery, Chicago
The opening night of my new exhibition went really well and I was surprised to see so many local friends there! I even had my brother Joonas there from Finland! I was also happy to talk to the gallery visitors. I heard many comments about my paintings. One lady said she saw her dog in one of the more abstract parts of my painting. That was not my intention, but I'm always glad if the paintings are experienced very subjectively. I want my paintings to be inspiring and let the viewer decide what is pictured there.
Mar 1.06 Chicago
We worked in a large scale today at school - and that suits me well! The smaller collages were more challenging. But there is no progress if you don't step out of your comfort zone. I used one of my earlier paintings as a base and added some pieces of canvas, some text and more paint for more layers. I want to experiment with this kind of techniques now. View the painting before and after
Feb 28 06 Chicago
I started to think like the teachers at the School of the Art Institute have encouraged us to do. I look at materials around the house and available at different stores. I even picked out something that I found at the street today. You never know what gives you inspiration!
Feb 25 06 Chicago
After a tour at the River North galleries I felt like experimenting with gold leaf. I've used gold and silver paints and gold powder, but this would give me a different kind of shimmer and add layers to my paintings.
Feb 22 06 Chicago
We were talking with a couple of class mates about art and they made some interesting notions. There is a recent study that found that mise reacted quicker to an exaggerated picture than the normally proportioned original picture. That's the same effect I'm looking for with my BIG eyes, I guess. The other notion was about the cropping of the eyes, which is also used by several different cultures when women wear veils for different reasons. These ideas brings all kinds of new ideas to my mind...
Feb 16 06 Chicago
I had a MASSIVE inspiration boost yesterday after spending the day at the School of Art Institute. I'm learning to use different materials in my work, to push my style forward and getting great feedback from my class mates and teachers. For example, I could try to paint my pictures more abstract or use text and different elements in them.
Feb 12 06 Chicago
I had several visitors at the Around the Coyote exhibition and I really enjoyed talking to them. I found it enchanting watching people's reactions viewing my paintings. Many felt like backing up and some of them almost fell down because of the shock caused by the large scale and extreme close-ups pictured. Some went to view the pictures really close, so they could see how they were done.
I heard several different ideas and interpretations of my pieces. For example, one gentleman saw a forest reflecting in one of my large eyes, some other saw a city-scape. This brings a totally new perspective to my work! You can imagine what the person is feeling, and also what the person is looking at!
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