New Studio

I am so happy to have my old studio room converted into more spacious form. Four walls torn down and new floor that one does not have to watch ones step. Old oven for baking bread removed. That one I thought a long time but decided that I am not going to become a one man bakery. I'll leave it to others more able.

The floor was constructed over years - or should I say over decades or centuries - since the house was built during 1840's. Nobody seems to know the exact year but they say it's one of the oldest buildings here that has been occupied ever since. There were couple of years late 1990s that no-one lived here, the place was a coffee house for those returning from service on Sundays.
As it was and still is, the building is after its long years not very geometrical. The best one can do is to avoid too straight lines - they would appear very peculiar, indeed. I know many people that would not be comfortable living in a house like this, but I am happy to be part of the continuum. One of the former owners was the town painter. He did decorative works for furniture and painted houses and anything that was necessary.
The floor was partly rotten and consisted of pieces of wood and some parts were ten or more centimeters lower or higher than other parts. So we decided to save what was there to be saved and construct it anew.
The result is that I now have a lovely and historical studio for art work. Love it. Only downside is that I feel it to be so nice that I only sit there and stare the fireplace.

Dreams vs. Reality

"Scenes tend to occur in waves of three. The first wave brings the few, the adventurous and the enlightened. The second wave brings more, it brings the avant garde. The third and final wave brings the masses. The masses tend to be asses and they murder the scene."
The above quote was from a text remembering Phuket before it became popular. Popularity also destroyed it. In some sense this tends to happen to Art movements as well - just think of Modern and what happened. There was a compact thinking why they did something they did. Mostly against academic painting - or should I say - against other dogmatic people that thought that painting was about brown color, copying Old Masters, avoiding life and pretending that everything could be approached through allegories?

Well, they got their counter attack. Color, wild compositions (if any), splitting the image in facets, experimenting and letting the color drip, drop and splash. Funnily though, the Modern Masters were educated in the atmosphere of the Tradition, so they knew perfectly well how to fight against it. The next generation was not that skillful or knowledge-wise. They simply stuck to the Modern cliches and forms and repeated them endlessly. So much that it finally became so much unlike Modern and they started to call it POSTmodernism - whatever that is. I think it's much of everything and nothing at the same time.

In my mind, Art is much to do with patterns but they need to be review at times to make sure they still are viable and not just repetition without meaning.

I sometimes feel that accomplishing to do an image of Art is like trying to make something very fragile to be stuck on 2-dimensional canvas forever - or that is the goal, very few get that far.

Buri Ram - The Pleasent City

It's been a while since I wrote anything. You know - the New Year in Thailand - it stops anything and gets on your way in every possible way. Thais like to celebrate and I've said before that everything seems to take three times longer than in Europe but they also have three New Years in a row. Yep, you heard correct, 'our' New Year, Chinese New Year and of course my favorite - Thai New Year - also known as Songkhran in April. I am born during those crazy days of Songkhran, the Water Festival, so I don't need to spend it alone. The whole country seems to go nuts.

Well, that's about that. I get excited so easily.
Buri Ram literally translates as Pleasentville, although Thais that I asked about it seemed rather confused about the meaning of the words so I guess they might be rather ancient and more prose than verse or the other way around.

I was there with my friends and climbing to the mountain was a task regarding that it was VERY hot day again. I always try to discourage people to make any accurate plans while traveling in Thailand since the schedule is very likely to change. And I myself am so lazy that any extra climbing and swetting is always wrecking my nerves. My favorite way of traveling is reading books. No sweat there and one can do it in the comfort of ones home.

So there was I looking these ancient ruins. And swetting... First question was why oh why this kind of things are always so difficult to enter. They are fortresses of course but still... Almost first thing that I heard was that someone has stolen the stone images carved above the exits. At least in one spot so those I saw were FAKES (!)Nice. I could have looked similar in any "antique" shop in Pattaya or Bangkok. They have these expensive things that they call antique. When I was young anything younger than 100 years was just old things but development develops so nowadays antique is something that was made a week ago.

When we finally came down and drove closer to town we stopped at another big temple. It was much nicer and much bigger than the one at the mountain top. They said it was a temple for water and rice (growth). More interesting and which was better, no other tourists around. I could've slept there all day in a nice Fisherman's net but as usual I didn't find any clues that they had thought of my comfort. My feeling is - regarding most of things in Art or Architecture or anything similar - that it should be looked from vertical position. Yes. More relaxed, more suitable and time to consider whether it is worth getting up from bed. Frankly said, most things aren't and you have seen them on National Geographic Channel already.

All in all, worth seeing but sitting in a car for 12 hours is not my idea of fun. It translates to back pain and I hate pain.

The Siamese Print Shop

Above picture was a trial print to see whether I could produce some graphic prints here. Why not? But it was very difficult to explain my goal to the print shop staff. They are very typical Asian what comes to work. They would require a 100% sample of what is needed. I am used to more lenient way of working where the printer has his opinion (as an expert) how the work should be done.
Many people seem to undervalue the importance of printmaking – mostly probably because they don’t have a clue how difficult it is. There are so many choices to be made and it all starts from cutting down the options. The choice of technique, methods used, colors to be mixed and all kinds of things varing from the choice of paper to the hangover of the artist may greatly affect the results. Normally, one can see quite easily what is a good print, but determining why is another, more difficult question.
I, myself, am part of the old European tradition that I actually can print my own images if I wish to do so. So many artists nowadays use someone else to come up with their graphic work. No wrong with that but it also makes them believe – wrongly – that printing is just shifting images to another media. This is a common mistake since so many don’t have a clue what is the printing process itself. We are used to using photoshop and digital printer. Okay, that’s fine what comes to our daily needs but I am talking about a bit more sophisticated thing here. European printmaking is well alive and has a very long history. Granted, normally the artists start to use the older machinery since they are cheaper but they do not necessarily lack of quality. The most expensive part of printing is the color – the pigment in color to be clear. Many new machines use very little color to save money. Simple as that and as a result we get more anorectic and bloodless images. Many modern (or should I say postmodern?) printmakers don’t even know what is a quality print. The schools are concentrating on commercial demands and forgetting that narrow margin of true quality.
Happily, though, I have seen very good quality stuff at local Asian expos. They really seem to have that customer niche that demands quality as well. I believe that it is actually easier to get your prints made here up to that maximum wanted. As long as you have that 100% example, of course...

LUX AETERNA

LUX AETERNA – Ikuinen valo

Tänä vuoden pimeimpänä aikana mieleen muistui alemman tutkintoni näyttely Gotiikan tematiikasta ja sen yksi käsite ikuisesta valosta, joka heijastuu kaikista luomakunnan kappaleista, niistä pienimmistäkin ja vaatimattomista.

Gotiikka – kuten niin monet muutkin ihmisen rakentamat ideologiset rakennelmat – oli itseasiassa yhtä suurta väärinkäsitystä (Pseudo-Dionysius), mutta aikaansai mahtavia uskonnollisia rakennelmia varsinkin Ranskanmaalla. Olin jossain välissä Ile-de-Francen alueella tutustumassa noihin katedraaleihin mm. Reims, Beauvais ja lukuisa määrä muita joita en nyt enää muista kuin mielikuvalta. Gotiikan ideologian mukaan kirkko oli kuin puun juuristo kääntyneenä kohti valoa ja sillä tuli olla seitsemän tornia vrt. opetuslasta. Johtuen tuon ajan rakennustekniikasta, enin määrä jonka näin, oli viisi tornia. Täydellisyyttä kun on vain kirjoissa ja unelmissa. Ja ehkä taiteessa, kun se ominaislaatunsa avulla lähestyy unelmia, satuja ja sellaista jota julma todellisuus halveksii.

Tästä huolimatta, ajatus ikuisesta valosta ja sen kaikkialle tunkeutuvasta hoivasta tuntui lohduttavalta. Myöhemmin sitten heräsi ajatus, onko sitä olemassa vaikka on pirun pimeää? Ihminen haluaa uskoa ikuiseen ja varmaan ja pysyvään. Ehkä juuri siksi, että niin harva asia on noita edellämainittuja. Elämme kuin olisimme ikuisia.

Tänään muistelin edesmennyttä ystävääni, joka poistui kaksi vuotta sitten oman käden kautta hyppäämällä junan eteen. Ostin tuona päivänä pienen muistoesineen, jota yhä kannan mukanani. Hän oli yksi niitä unohdettuja, joilla ei ollut paljoa ystäviä ja elämä oli mennyt muita palvellessa ja raskaita töitä tehden. Auringonvalo – tai mikään muukaan valo – ei tainnut lämmittää häntä hänen yksinäisyydessään.

Valo on maalaustaiteessa olennaista. Sitä on vaikea vangita kankaalle. Se on hankalasti toteutettavissa, luonto tekee sen upeammin kuin yksikään maalaus pystyy sitä matkimaan. Ilman valoa juuri mitään tuntemastamme ei olisi olemassa. Se muuttuu ja kimaltaa kaikessa mihin osuu.

Mitä mahtoivat vanhat kreikkalaiset tarkoittaa laulaessaan: “Niin kauan kuin elät, loista!” Ehkä he halusivat ihmisen olevan loistelias oma aurinkonsa, joka olemassaolollaan valaisee muita ympärillään. Nyt kun Valon Juhla lähestyy – samoin kuin vuoden pimeimmät hetket – voimme sytyttää oman valomme ja valaista ja lämmittää sillä muita.

Loistakaamme!

LUX AETERNA – The Eternal Light
This being the darkest period of the year, it somehow reminds me of my exhibition themed around Gothic. There was a basic concept that adored light. The light was reflecting from everyhting in the universe – even the most remote of beings and things.
Gothic period – as so many ideologies (I try to avoid the word religion since I see little difference) put up by humans – is a great misunderstanding (referring to Pseudo-Dionysios). But still it was able to achieve ‘miracles’ in architecture of its times, especially in France. I was going around Ile-de-France region and enjoying its friendly people and good food (compared to Parisiens which are ackward people!). And of course seeing those cathedrals in Reims, Beauvais and so on. Most I can remember as images and relate to the feeling and location but can’t really remember their names any more.
The basic structure is a basilica turned to heavens like a giant tree roots seeking the light of God. There should be seven towers as there were seven followers of Christ. Due to technical problems the most I saw were five towers. So as good as a theory it might be, it couldn’t be accomplished here on Earth. So sad. Reaching that level of pure perfectness – maybe it can be done only in our imagination or literature or fairy tales. Or art in general since arts really are closest what we come up with concerning living as a human being.
Somehow the idea of eternal light that was reaching allover was a comforting one. Later I wondered whether it really exists when it’s totally dark? We like to believe in something eternal, safe and stable. Perhaps because so many things are actually the opposite. We live like we are eternal, indeed.
Today I remembered my friend that took his own life two years ago. That day I bought a memento that I still carry with me every day. He was one of those people, whos life went working hard and serving the needs of others. Sunlight – or any other form of light – didn’t seem to warm him in his solitude.
Light in painting is a necessity. It is hard to capture by the means of the brush stroke. It almost futile to compete with nature. Mother nature outshines every and each one that even dares to challenge its shining glory. Without light almost everything that we know of would seeze to exist. It shines and glimmers in everything that it touches.
Sometimes I wonder what the ancient Greeks meant when they sang: “As long as you live, shine!” Maybe they wanted us to be shining beacons in our lives to shed light upon eachothers. Now, when the Celebration of Light is near, we all can lit our own lights and give warmth to the others.
Let’s shine!

Independent?

Sometimes, like now when it's Finnish National Day - 06.12.2008 - 90 years of "freedom", I wonder what on Earth is to be independent? Not an easy concept at all.

Artists are so dependent on many things, mostly connections and sometimes as something as unpredictable as luck or plain coincidence. That's life folks! You can never know and that requires that strange thing called coping up with the uncertainties. Uncertain, that's what an artists life and freedom and being independent is all about.
Ultimately, there is the question of money. You know, the thing that they say makes the World go around. Hmm...er...I guess that nobody would choose this profession based only on the facts of income. There was a study of Finnish artists and they claimed that at our 50's we MAY reach the level of income that our peers on other fields have enjoyed quite a long time. On the other hand, the same study suggested that we are far more happy in our profession than the average 'Joe - the plummer'.

Now when the uncertainties of economics are here again, I hope people to scan their beliefs of satisfieing life. It might be that there is something outside all that talk of profit and financial scams. In my profession the finances are the realities only as far we think them providing the possibilities, as I suppose in most cases, but would I change my profession and lifestyle because of just the cause of better gains. This, I suppose is the difference between large public and 'Joe - the plummer' types compared to artists. I would not change position just for a better deal. I have the best job in the World already.

Hope you all enjoy your independencies. Enjoy it, while it's yours.

The picture was taken on a journey to Koh Samed Island near Chon Buri. Nice place but I am not a big fan of islands. There might not be a boat available...

Kaukana Suomesta

Ajattelin tässä kirjoittaa muutaman sanan suomeksi, sitä kun pyydettiin. Henkisesti taiteilija tuntuu aina olevan hieman vereslihalla. Johtuu varmaan siitä, että on esillä joskus töidensä kautta, ne kun voivat olla aika henkilökohtaisia tunnustuksia tai fiiliksiä. Ulkopuolinen ei välttämättä näe niissä mitään intiimiä, mutta taiteilijalle ne ovat sitä. Joskus tuntuu, että nettikirjoittelukin on henkilökohtaista ja siksi aika paljastavaa. Kuka näitä mahtaa lukea? Ja miten kuvat sitten vaikuttavat katsojaansa vai onko meillä nyt jo sellainen informaatioähky ettemme pysty tai halua ottaa vastaan lisää ärsykkeitä?

Täällä olen joskus muutenkin aika kontaktissa erilaiseen kulttuuriin. Moni varmaan ajattelee sen olevan helppoa elää toisenlaisessa todellisuudessa, mutta se on ihmeellinen asia, miten omaa kulttuuriaan, kieltään, tapojaan ja jopa ilmastoa vuodenaikoineen joskus kaipaa. Kyllä – jopa Suomen ilmastoa. Täällä kaukana ei oikeastaan ole vuodenaikoja siinä mielessä kuin me suomalaiset sen ymmärrämme. On lämmintä ja lämpimämpää ja kuumaa ja kosteata ja kuivaa ja kuumaa, mutta sellaisia vuodenaikoja kuin syksy tai talvi tarjoavat ei täällä ole. Ei ehkä ole melankoliaakaan, joka jonkun mielestä kuulemma on luova tila valmistaessaan mielentilan muutosta.

Taiteilija on aina kulttuurinsa tuote. Otetaan häneltä pois kieli ja kosketus omaan kulttuuriin. Mitä jää jäljelle? En tiedä, sillä kulttuuriamme kannamme aina mukanamme. Sitten tosin voi alkaa ahdistaa, kun ei tapaa toista suomalaista vaikka pariin kuukauteen. Ehkä tämä on syy, miksi ulkomailla tavatut suomalaiset ovat tavallista ystävällisempiä, ottavat kontaktia ja puhuvat mielellään toistensa kanssa. Olen tavannut neljän vuoden aikana vain yhden suomalaisen, jonka kanssa en tullut toimeen ja siihen oli syynä puhtaasti henkilön runsas alkoholinkäyttö.

Nyt teen töitä tulevaa näyttelyä varten, kuten jo viimeiset toistakymmentä vuotta. Joskus kyllästyttää, mutta niin kai kaikissa hommissa joskus. Joku muuten kysyi minulta, odotanko inspiraatiota ennen kuin aloitan työt? Vastasin, että sitä odotellessa kyllä tulisi nälkä ja noutaja aika äkkiä. Mietin, odotetaanko muissa ammateissa inspiraatiota. Tuskin. Kyllä kaikissa hommissa on niitä tylsiä ja valmistavia hommia vaikka muille jakaa.

Hyvää itsenäisyyttä!