Thursday, February 28, 2008

Fairy Tales Are True

My children have asked me to draw fairytale pictures for them, so I have done it. Children have a genuine experience of the fight between good and evil. This picture shows that I also believe in fairy tales. It appears that I am drowning in the stream of life, as all the pictures I have made are continuously rolling into my consciousness.

Identifiers: Fairy tale

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Here Today

Right at this moment I am sitting at my computer in my library. And of course, there are paintings all around me. It is February, 2008. I turned 77 on the 6^th of this month.

Identifiers: Study

Icons

In 2005 I felt it was necessary for me to paint icons of people close to me. And then I was sitting sheltered by them like some rabbi. Religious buildings, church art, music and literature are all among my favourite hobbies. Unfortunately, they do not belong to modern times.

Identifiers: Icons

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

A Blue Moment in Oulu

After finishing film making in 1994, I returned to my old love, painting. I wanted to make an eulogy to the northern light and, why not, to its peculiar darkness as well.

www.ouka.fi/100kuvaa

Identifiers: Oulu

Descriptions of Misery

In 1965-94 I made documentaries for the Finnish TV-2 channel. I did not paint much, but I never gave up drawing. The topics changed as I was travelling around with my film crew.

Identifiers: Misery

Monday, February 25, 2008

Old Kastelli Neighbourhood in Oulu

We were living at Kastelli from 1954 to 1969. It was a painter's paradise. I just needed to step out of the door, and a theme ready to be painted was there in front of my eyes. Luckily, I was smart enough to use the opportunity, so I painted a lot. In all ways, it was the happiest time of my life.

36000 days in Oulu

Identifiers: Oulu

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Airi at Fifty

Ever since the early days of our marriage, Airi has made it possible for me to do art. In those times I made small, intimate paintings. The times favoured large non-figurative pictures. There was not much point in offering my work for exhibitions, so I made them for Airi. She became my manager and sympathiser.

Identifiers: Airi

Self-Portrait, 1960

Look in the mirror, this is what people say to those who criticise others! Making a self-portrait is an excellent form of soul-searching. You can easily lie in your memoirs – or at least choose what you want to remember. A picture, and an artist's self-portrait in particular, never lies. The most famous self-portraits of world art say more than what the artist himself is. They are capable of interpreting the human being on the whole.

Identifiers: Self-portrait

Friday, February 22, 2008

C-G. Mannerheim

I drew a picture of the Field Marshal in 1956 as a protest against the criticism levelled at him, which was very strong from the left. It was also a protest against the non-figurative trend in art, which was arriving in Finland at full speed. Anyone could make – and made – an abstract picture.

Identifiers: Field marshal

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Author Friends

I made a pencil drawing of Paavo Rintala in 1957. We were childhood friends. He kept in touch with me until his death, visiting Oulu and finally by phone. We had lots of discussions about the experience of beauty.

Identifiers: Rintala

Art as a Private Matter

My study has always been located in my house. In the early days I sold my art, later on I made my living by making TV films, writing articles and teaching. Drawing and painting became my private matter. I did not ask for or need anyone's advice.

Identifiers: Study

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Nudes

Without a basic classic training, it is impossible to draw controlled, quick brush and croquis drawings. To make a model who is lying truly lie with a few brush strokes, or a standing model stand in balance is not one of the easiest things in drawing. Just try!

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Identifiers: nudes, classic drawing

Nudes

Classic drawing does not aim to make art but to copy nature. You learn to make observations, see the whole and details of the model. Usually, you draw with coal on a large piece of paper. The sessions can last several hours a day for up to two weeks. When the draughtsman gets it all right, the result is very solid and beautiful in its own way. Your hand gets used to obey you, and to put the observations on paper.

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Identifiers: nudes, classic drawing

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

After All, They Do Play Classic Music

For some reason, art schools do not teach classic drawing any more. It would be hard to imagine that playing an instrument was not taught in music any more. Classic drawing, design and mastery of colour means professional skill, the acquisition of which requires a lot of work – quite as it does with musicians. The postmodern trend has neglected these basic skills.

Identifiers: classic drawing

Sunday, February 17, 2008

I Portray What I See

I have always considered abstract expression odd. Or should I say, making a picture is something abstract as such. There is not anything true really anywhere but in our conceptions. I try to think with my eyes.

In this photo which must be 50 years old I am painting a view in the back of our garden.

Identifiers: Study