Friday, September 30, 2011
Children's Room
They are both sleeping, mother and child. One can only see a hint of both, with the babycare table at the fore. I painted on small pieces of hardboard intimate pictures of themes which seemed important. They were too intimate for me to put them on display. It is a paradox to display these pictures on the Internet now. But no matter how disturbed the world is, there is a corner somewhere where mother and child can sleep undisturbed.
Identifiers: Children's room
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The Deeper Essence of Being Old
I painted this self-portrait when I had turned seventy in 2001. It looks like I am peeking into the future, into this day. At least ten years have passed since everything in my case. I am one of those to whom nothing ever happens. If I complained about something, I'd complain because God has forgotten me here. But I don't complain about it or anything else. Every day and moment contains everything. A single present moment is eternity, because it's timeless.
Identifiers: Self-portrait
Power of Life
Time and again the power of life, or the blind will of life like Schopenhauer put it, takes by surprise. It may even push through the chimney flue in the form of a birch seedling. I have taken away the seedling many times, but it always wants to be born again. It says something about the stupendous power of life, the will to exist. It says something about the meaning of life, the only real one.
Identifiers: Power of life
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Exhibition at Oulunlahti School, 2005
Teachers have been my best online audience. In 2005 the teachers at the Oulunlahti School wanted to see my works “for real”. So, a small collection of my paintings and printed online drawings were hung on display in the school refectory. They fit there perfectly.
Identifiers: School exhibition, exhibition
Monday, September 26, 2011
New Windows
To keep our house in a livable condition it needs to be renovated all the time. We bought the house more than 40 years ago. This year it's time for a window renovation. Double glazed windows gave way to triple glazed ones. There are lots of professional renovators available in this region. Finnish architecture and construction have fallen into decay due to the rapid urbanisation. Poor supervision and too much subcontracting lead to substandard results.
Identifiers: What I'm going to do now, renovation
Sunday, September 25, 2011
What I'm Going to Do Now
It is true that when a man gets old, he returns back to square one. Although I have decided that I will not paint a single picture any more, secretly from myself I find myself in the middle of paintings and painting tools. The harder I try to get rid of them, the more tightly they stick to me.
Identifiers: What I'm going to do now
Back to the 50's
It was long, more than sixty years ago that I shot a photo through my mother-in-law's window in Saaristonkatu in Oulu. The street looked very attractive. Not all of the centre had been destroyed in the great bombings. What the war did not destroy was broken by the peace. Or changed, modernised. This is what happens to everything whether we want it or not.
Identifiers: 1950's, Saaristonkatu
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
An Hour of Happiness
It sometimes – well, seldom happens that you already bump into a super talent as a child. I was this lucky. I knew Anna-Leena Härkönen before she had written even the first of her books. She wanted me to tell her everything possible about film making and art. I told her that good art and literature require unconditional, ruthless honesty. Without doubt, Anna-Leena was hard to keep in control at home and school in a small village community. In those years she wrote her unbelievable “Häräntappoase”. I have all the books that Anna-Leena has written by this day in my bookshelf. Her most recent book is called “Onnen tunti” [An Hour of Happiness]. It includes a stabbing description of the placement of two children in a foster home. The difficulty of life and human cruelty need not be sought far away. That's what “An Hour of Happiness” is all about.
Identifiers: Anna-Leena Härkönen, An Hour of Happiness
Sunday, September 18, 2011
The World Is Open to an Artist as Well
"Dear Eeli,
Recently, we were familiarized with your work. After reviewing it online, we would like to discuss with you an opportunity of a solo exhibition. Shall you decide that our space is an appropriate venue for your exhibition, we certainly would be pleased to host it..."
Pleasant messages come from different parts of the world. This one came from New York, the previous one from China – Italy, Germany... Art is wanted as an investment all over the world, like gold or diamonds.
Identifiers: letter, exhibition
Saturday, September 10, 2011
All My Father's Cars
My father was both a tailor and a taxi driver. He was kitted up accordingly in an outfit of the latest fashion. The car was a Studebaker in the 1930's, and Mercedes after the wars. I also had to be so well-dressed that I felt ashamed. A small pocket watch in my vest pocket caused bad blood among my schoolmates. At puberty I raged in my mind when polishing the Mercedes. Not a single dust particle was to be seen. What effects did the maintenance of such luxury have on me, what traces did it leave? Well yes, I have a Mercedes in my garage and I keep on polishing it!
Monday, September 5, 2011
The Use of a Photo in Visual Arts
It would have been impossible for me to paint this scene, if I hadn't shot a photo of it first. When I was making the “100 Pictures of Oulu” collection in 1993-98, I shot at least a thousand photos or more in selected locations. I wanted to combine documentary credibility with my own mental pictures. Technology came to my assistance. I could not have anchored a boat in the narrow shipping channel, or erect the easel in the middle of a street. Photography superseded realistic painting in the 19th century. It became an annoying thorn in the artist's side. So impressionism, cubism, non-figurative art and, finally, the nonsensical conceptual art was devised. Currently, photography has come closer to painting. A picture can be manipulated infinitely by means of digital technology. I wanted to paint in a credible manner the views of Oulu that already had a meaning to me as a child. To express my feelings, a photo only was not enough. I used the photo to support credibility.
Identifiers: Oulu pictures
Saturday, September 3, 2011
International Cultural Exchange
The Internet is offering me some great cultural exchange with people in different parts of the world.
My paintings and photos seem to appear quite exotic when viewed at a distance.
All That Was Needed
In the early 1960's, there were a little more than 50,000 inhabitants in Oulu. The advent of the university and incorporations quickly raised the figure to 70,000. Department stores were making their entry, but the Aino Hirvonen store close to the market square had everything you could want in your household. For a long time, it had been sufficient for its part to satisfy people's needs for a good life. The 60's was such a dynamic time of general development in Finland that president Kekkonen gave his book the portending title “Onko maallamme malttia vauraustua” [Does Our Country Have the Patience to Become Prosperous].
Identifiers: 1960's
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