Young composer

"Young composer"
60 x 65cm

Oil on linen canvas

2013

It was such a joy to paint this!
I have always admired people who can sing or play any instrument.

Pekka Halonen´s studio

"Sauna at Halosenniemi"

Oil on canvas 2013

Here is a work in progress shot.

As you can see I had some help from my new friend!

Oona add some of the finishing brushwork to this one.

Today we went to paint with the group of plein air painters in Pekka Halonen´s studio.

Pekka Halonen was one of the great "Golden era" painters in Finnish art.

more info:

http://web.tuusula.fi/halosenniemimuseum/

Last light

"Last light"

It was a great evening to paint! Timing could not have been better.

Gladly, my friend Mauri joined me and he did couple of pencil sketches.

Blue shadows

"Blue shadows"

Oil on panel, 2013

Its was a beautiful day today. 

We went out with the whole family to enjoy the nearby nature.

Here is a work in progress shot. As you can see the contrast was very high because of that pure white snow and it was difficult to see the colors laid on the palette while painting.

Body Worlds

I went to see this new exhibition in the science museum Heureka.

My kids loved it and they learned a lot about human anatomy. 

I had my sketchbook with me to use this as an learning opportunity.

I encourage everybody to use the possibility to go see this if you are near Tikkurila.

Photography was not allowed in there, so please seek out more info from:

http://www.heureka.fi/fi/bodyworlds 

One man show in Oulainen

Total 63 paintings in the show :)

I am huge fan of classical music and to have live music in the beginning of the exhibition was an honor. 

Thanks to the wonderful artist´s for making this an reality. Absolutely wonderful!

Photographer: Ari Vilminko
Photographer in the photo is my friend Mirko Grönroos.

I had an amazing opportunity to have an one man show in the city where I am from, Oulainen.

 I was too busy to take pictures, but the Taidetalo Väinölä was fully packed of wonderfull people!

Thank´s for everyone who made this event possible!

Press: Seutumajakka

Press: Pyhäjokiseutu

Korkeasaari swimming beach

"Swimming beach of Korkeasaari"

2012

 "New song"

 "Avanto"

"Brothers"

Plein air painting in Berlin.


I just came back from Berlin. What an wonderful city it is.
Food was great (Paris Bar, highly recommended) and the people had a good sense of humor.

My one man show is coming soon and I am super busy
 just to wrap things up.

Here is a couple of paintings that I painted last year.

Studio - Plein air

"1st of december"

Oil on linen canvas

This is the studio version that you can see evolve,
in the youtube link below.

Here is the original pleinair sketch that I painted with my daughter. 

Yes, she painted like 50% of this and we had super fun!



This is the way I usually paint winter landscapes.

Ray of light

"Ray of light"

Oil on linen canvas

2012

Today I was painting with Mauri and Arto.  We got lucky and got this beautiful winter sunset.

Here is a work-in-progress shot.

"Barn in the sunlight"

 40 x 35 cm

Oil on linen canvas

2012

Piggies

"Piggies"

100 x 60 cm

Oil on linen canvas

2012

BIG eyes

"Big eyes"

 Oil on linen canvas

2012

And here is the making of photos.

"Serenity"

34 x 41 cm,

Oil on linen canvas

What an great day to paint! I was painting with my friend Mauri today and guess what, I forgot my paints at the studio. I only had a tubes of yellow ochre, permanent red and ultramarine blue with me. I always keep them in my bag as an emergency paints if something like this happens. I almost instantly run out of white paint, left over from a last plein air session.

Anyhow, we had a nice time painting and chatting with people!

Here is a couple of work-in-progress shots.

"Discovery"

Oil on linen canvas 2012

Three princesses

"Three princesses"

73 x 90 cm

Oil on linen canvas, 2012

"Bubbles"

Oil on canvas

2012

Vilnius, Lithuania

I am now in Vilnius, Lithuania.
We are actually here to photoshoot this tv commercial for the German client. We have had a great time!
As you can see I have also found some spare time just to relax and paint plein air. I love all the old buildings and churches in here.
People are also polite and the food is good!

Building stuff..

 "Fallen tree"

Oil on panel

 Here is the lightweight setup that i built, just so that i can easily walk or go to places with a bicycle and do some plein air painting. I saw Marc Dalessio use this kind of setup in the Ireland.

That box can also hold one wet panel.

We had this family picnic in the nearby forest and I found this setup super easy to carry around.

 The palette.

Took me like 30 minutes to build the box itself. It is just clamped  on to this 40euro´s easel.

I originally planned to have only three colors, but since the light is so green in finnish forests (filtered thrue all those pine tree needles and foliage) I added lemon yellow and viridian for this trip.

15 minute panel carrier.

I built this so that I can have up to 6 wet paintings with me.

Its made from cardboard, tape and couple of straws taped together.

Its lightweight, ugly and cheap.  :)

Oh, btw..I tested this very limited pallette for this setup:

Ultramarine blue, permanent red, yellow ochre 

and white.

This color scheme will be fun to test in the landscape too.

Back to Finland

"Park, Enniscorthy"

Oil on linen canvas, 2012

"Hook Head"

Oil on linen canvas, 2012

"Sunday"

Oil on linen canvas, 2012

Original park painting got totally destroyed in the transportation and I wanted to repaint it as soon as possible. I also painted it straight into this frame that I had ready in my studio.

Hook Head was something I could not do, timewise, on the location so its based on couple of drawings and mental notes.

"Sunday" is painted here in Finland and it was a fun to be painting back in the familiar landscapes.