Katja Tukiainen at Lönnström Museum in Rauma

It‘s been a long time since I've been in an art show. I‘ve always loved-and-hated art fairs (last time Lille Art Fair this spring), because it‘s so easy to find TONS of inspiration and leave with overdose of ideas and never get to process it all. That's why a one-artist-show is welcome from time to time, though you never know, if there will be something interesting and appealing to you. 

Katja Tukiainen show at Lönnström Musem was definitely of that „never know“-category after I‘ve seen the short description of the event including words girly, love, pink - in my opinion not that ground-breaking. I‘m not that much into pink, or girly, and love in that context could be nothing else as profaned – so far as for expectations.

I was smitten. It took a bit to let all the candy-bonbon-coloured pictures unfold. There was LOTS of pink. Girly, yes. Love – well, may be, but these are so NOT the words I would have taken to speak about what I've seen at her solo-show.

It‘s subtle, and strong at the same time, it‘s sensible and tender, and quirky. It all has a very special sense of colour. It‘s skillful and expressive, yes, it‘s very expressive. And well-considered - consciously or not - but it feels strange and right. The pictures give insight in sort of parallel world filled with more or less imaginable constructs immerged in that surreal light with neon flashes here and there. Her works are authentic and plausible.

Internet searching does not bring it up (Google image search swarms with quirky doodles and really girly girls or tatoos ). And that‘s not what I‘m talking about here. So it's about taking time and going to see the real painted works: with gloss of oil paints, with all the nuances, that no photo can ever catch, with canvas texture and paint layers shining through, all the brush strokes smudged to create a hint of a shape that is just right in place. My favorite is „The white house“   and there is so much to see in it. In the real picture, not on the photo. 

Great work. Chapeau!

I‘m SO inspired and finally got a sence of research direction for another project that has been haunting in my mind since awhile.

In the meantime – my work in progress for new layout of greeting cards.

Another product, another idea, even more drawings

And the new linocut hand printed bookmarks are available in my shop – check them out.

On this occasion I‘ve decided to change the design of the greeting cards, that I‘ve had in my shop. That‘s why I‘ve deactivated them on Etsy and am currently working on another idea – it will be similar theme, similar designs, but completely new layout and this time I‘m gonna take advantage of that expressiveness and other new details, that I tried and liked a lot in bookmarks. Stay tuned.

Besides, here are my new anemone drawings. My first serie, that I've posted on the blog, had something missing and it was bugging me. This time I‘ve got pale anemones and changed the background colour – and it came out nicely – I love them!

Print fever

Another post about printing in progress – ode to flowers - if I'm not outside drawing them, I'm lino carving them. If I'm not lino carving them, I'm painting or stenciling them on fabric. If not this, I'll cut them to make appliqué motifs - flowers,flowers,flowers - am I that obsessed?

The second day, spent mostly lino carving, printing, correcting, printing, correcting/re-starting with a new lino board, printing, cutting and making bookmarks. No way to make another inside project, because of that viscous typography ink and fresh prints all over my studio. And it has been a grey rainy day – just a perfect match for emerging into printing. My little girl has made beautiful mess with my supplies playing nearby, but I‘m done - the prints just need a couple of hours to dry.

And as always, it has taught me – lino carving needs patience and endurace, like a LOT of patience and endurance, and staying power (even more if there is a playing child around who needs your attention here and there). And stubborness to not give up after it fails, and not once. This time the linocuts are a bit more expressive and not so controlled as then the greeting cards, because this time I‘ve accepted to work on what seemed like mistakes on the first sight, but were later used as opportunities to try something new and try to turn them into those expresive details I‘d rather not imagined first to use/cut consciously. And it worked. I now understand that material a bit better.

Work in progress - lino carved hand printed bookmarks

Well, as much unsatisfied as I was with my printing session, I just felt I should re-start again with that failure. This morning I‘ ve been sketching and analysing what actually went wrong yesterday, and after lots of trials, failures and more trials I‘ve finally got the result I'm almost (as always) pleased with. I've captured that B&W-balance that determines whether it all works or not. It‘s difficult, but the satisfying result worths all the work. Those who has ever tried to carve lino knows what I‘m talking about. I‘m making new bookmarks for my shop.

Sketching, sketching, sketching

Actually these days I‘ve been busy lino carving, but the motifs just came out badly after being printed. Disappointment. Well, we can still cut, rip and make a collage with the failed prints with my little girl, and now I‘ve started all over again and making new sketches. I‘m still exploring this flower theme by using that surface design technique I‘ve talked about recently. 

During these months that I‘ve spent constantly sketching and painting and photo shooting flowers, I‘ve acquired a considerable picture library. I‘m not only talking about pictures themselves, but also about acquiring this ability to draw, compile and re-interpret so many different flower forms, that it‘s finally getting fun and easy elaborating flower designs – something that I‘ve been afraid of before. I‘m also using kind of simplified firebird being inspired by slavic folklore and painted wooden panels from Russia and Hungary. They will be transformed later in linocuts or used for appliqué designs. I'll post them up soon.

New drawings – rose dahlia

Another serie, that was a bit too short, because this gorgeous dahlia was broken the next day because of wind. It will still have a couple of flowers, but maybe they‘ll not come out that big.

Speaking of flowers, I‘m seriously thinking about finally starting exposing my works again. My latest project dates from 2010 (!), and it was in France, Saint-Malo (Bretagne).  At that time I‘ve been painting landscapes (seascapes), but also made lots of figure drawings at the local University of fine arts and ink drafts of flowers from my garden.

This time the exposition will be about summer flowers and it'll be held in september at the public library of the town Rauma. I‘ll keep you posted on details.

On weekend I‘m gonna catch up on what has been neglected lately because of my sewing projects – lino carving, ink sketching for affirmations, teddy bear knitting.

Have a nice weekend!

New mug rugs - finally in shop

Here are the mug rugs, that were supposed to go straight to my Etsy-shop, but there is sort of technical problem with uploading photos. I think I’ll have to wait a bit, that’s why I’m posting them here first and try to restart later with the shop. 

And it is in my shop now, huge thanks to Etsy-support folks, you can go check it out. The second one will come in the next days.