2D or not 2D? that is the question!

Last summer I had a quick look at the work of Finnish artist Pauno Pohjolainen in the Turku Art Museum. The painter transformed from being a traditional artist at an early stage of his career to making more 3-dimensional work in the way of painted sculptures and textured forms such as chipped wooden surfaces. The artist still prefers to be called a painter though. 

Pauno Pohjolainen: 

Pyhä Yrjö surmaa lohikäärmeen, yksityiskohta, 

2008

Born in Kuopio, Finland in 1949 Pauno Pohjolainen held his first solo exhibition in Kuopio Art Museum in 1981. His art is visually pleasing and consists of many natural textures and colours. Some of his work extends to interior and exterior building facades.

Pauno Pohjolainen, the Virgin Mary, 1996, Kuopio Art Museum Collection

Thanks for reading my blog and feel free to share it with your friends.

-Alan

Songs for the Snow

With the early arrival of snow to Finland last November, I've had the ongoing job of clearing snow at my humble residence. Constant shovelling has proved to be good exercise for me and my Finnish snow experience came in handy this Christmas when I visited my parents home in Ireland. I was a very surprised with the amount of snow that fell over there this Christmas. It wasn't easy to help with the clearup given the lack of proper snow shovels, but you make do with what you have.
And while the snow quickly melted away in Ireland I could then only think of spring, sunshine and good times ahead.


Unfortunately I'll have to wait a bit longer for spring to reach Finland as I was greeted with a snow storm on my return to Helsinki airport. Time to get the snow shovels out again!


To make the shovelling go a little easier I find it helps to listen to some tunes on my mp3 player. 
Here's my Top 5 Snow shovelling songs at the moment. Maybe you might know another, please add it in the comment box below!

No.1
Guru Josh - Infinity
........because there's no sign of the snow ever ending!  :(

No.2
John Lennon - Clean-up Time
.....because it has to be done!

No. 3
Death in Vegas - Aisha
.... great tune for building some rhythm to your shovelling.

No. 4
Snow Patrol - Take Back the City
.... and hope to overcome the elements.

No. 5 
The Seven Dwarfs - Hi! Ho!
..... simply to get outside the door to the freezing cold. Get past this step and the jobs half-done!

Happy Shovelling!!

Thanks for reading my blog and feel free to share it with your friends.

-Alan

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Autumn on the Nature channel!

'The Nature Channel!'

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It's autumn on the 'real' Nature channel and here's a few photo's I wanted to share with you all on my blog. 
I took these photos while out walking in Karis, Finland. 
There are still plenty of leaves left on the trees here, but with the first of the autumn storms arriving last night these nice autumn colours will soon begin to disappear. 

There have been reports of early snow on it's way to this area of Finland, so I'm making the most of the nice autumn colours or 'Ruska' as it's called here in Finland. I haven't seen any real evidence of snow here just yet. It's certainly getting cold enough, with daily temperatures getting quite low. It's presently +1C outside my window. I reckon it's about time to dig out my winter jacket and gloves. 

Look! Even my cat is starting to feel the chill!

Thanks for reading my blog and please share with your friends.

- Alan

ps.- I'll be dreaming of Finnish summer for the next few months!!

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