"This blog is not necessarily for lovers of art, it includes a variety of topics and whatever. I'm a painter who likes to know what's really going on in the world today. So you might find anything from Shamrocks to Salmiakki mentioned here on my blog. There will of course be some boring, factual and informational posts, but I'll keep them to a minimum, I promise!
I just realised I'll have a chance to pick up a few boxes of my favourite dessert soon. I have a short visit to Ireland planned next month, where I will have the honour of becoming godfather to my brother's baby girl. Looking forward to a great day in Dublin.
I hope to pick up a few items to take back to Finland with me. And Bird's Trifle is top of the list!
I'd better pick up a few extra packets of jelly too. They never give you enough in the boxes. Unlike this one here, I prefer my trifle bowls to be filled right up to the brim.
It’s amazing how many art-related websites are on the world wide web today. With the world economy being the way it is nowadays, it has become ever-increasingly difficult for any artist to sell his or her's original work.
However, there are numerous websites available which allow artists to sell their work as high quality prints. This extra selling service offered by such sites can often be availed for a small annual fee and sometimes for free. Of course the artist only gets a small percentage of any sales, but if enough prints are sold it can add up nicely.
One such site is Fine Art America. It’s an easy site for artists to join and apart from offering a platform to show off artwork, it also allows artists to meet and see the art of other like-minded artists from all around the world.
Since joining Fine Art America and similar sites, I have met a variety of artists from places near and far. Finland, Ireland, England, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Peru and plenty more.
I recently met one such artist online from New York named Erika Love who shared her work with me.
'The Fox'
by Erika Love.
Prismacolor pencil and india ink.
Painting has been part of Erika's life since the age of 7. Oil painting was her main medium for a long time, until the early 1990's when she turned her attention to coloured pencils. This was to be her favorite medium now, and it remains so.
'Summer Morning'
by Erika Love.
Mixed Media, Prismacolor pencil, India ink and acrylic paint
However, while running around with a camera as an inspirational tool in capturing images she accidentally discovered a hidden talent. After several positive comments about her photographs, she decided to give photography a try.
And it certainly proved to be a good move. Erika has worked as a professional photographer in advertising, portrait and event work for the past 15 years. Living in New York, she finds there's plenty of new and interesting subjects to photograph.
'Outside Radio City' by Erika Love.
Photograph
"I am always looking to try new things, to evolve the work that I'm doing or to just do something completely different. I tend to revisit the same subjects, but I like to think I do it a little bit differently each time."
Living in Finland for over two years now I am still amazed at just how large the country is. Finland has a similar population size to my home country Ireland, but is actually four times larger in area coverage.
Of course a large area of northern Finland is open to severe weather conditions in the winter months and therefore considered uninhabitable by some. Add to this the lack of daylight and it paints a grim picture of how anyone could survive winters in this northern region of Finland where temperatures can drop to between -45°C and -50°C.
I live in the most southerly area of Finland and winter here can be hard enough to bear. I honestly cannot understand how anybody can live in the north of Finland.
However this northern area of Finland we all know as Lapland has a large community with busy towns and modern infrastructure. And with a population of about 184,000 it seems that long cold winters hasn't deterred anyone from living there.
Of this quite large population living in Finnish Lapland around 7,000 belong to the Saami community. These are the people who most of us are used to seeing in photos and on TV wearing traditional red, blue and yellow lined clothing and usually occupied by reindeer herding and age-old crafts like carpentry and sowing.
However, nowadays you are more likely to see a Saami rushing around after reindeer on a turbo-quad vehicle with an iphone gps attached. And why not? These are people who welcome the use of modern devices where needed, yet they still maintain and respect old traditions.
I don't know much more about the Saami people and I'm not qualified to write any detailed information, but since moving to Finland I have discovered that they are very much a part of a detached culture to most Finnish people. They have their own language, they even have there own TV broadcasts I believe. You can read more about the Saami here.
What???....... What has she got to do with Finland you may ask?
Well, nothing really.
But I was a little surprised to see her photo on Wikipedia's page about some of Finland's most northerly inhabitants, the Saami. Well actually the Saami people live in the nordic area more commonly known as Lapland, which encompasses parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
And today, February 6th marks the Saami National Day.
I wonder if the Hollywood star has this date written in her diary, definately a day to toast a proud part of her heritage.
And finally a little bit of modern Sami music. I'm not familar too much with the Sami culture, I think it would be great to head up to Lapland one day and say hello to all the gang. Here's some music I found on YouTube which appealed to me.
You can find out more about the Saami people and Finnish weather at these interesting links.
This is a painting I made in 2009. It features a well-known landmark in Ireland called Mount Errigal. It was painted on stretched-canvas using a mixture of 'Daler-Rowney System 3' and 'Winsor & Newton' acrylic paints. It's difficult to describe the style I painted it in. It's a style which I started back in 2005. I suppose the closest description I can relate to it is Neo-Pointillism.
This beautiful mountain is located near the small town of Gweedore, in a mainly Irish-speaking area of County Donegal. Of course most people can speak English there also.
I can speak and understand some Irish myself, but I still have a little trouble figuring out the Irish language spolen in the north-west of Ireland. This is so because of the three main Irish dialect areas in Ireland. Ulster in the North, Connaught in the West and Munster in the South. These are known as the Gaeltacht regions. I learned my piece of Irish in the West, or Connemara as it is better known. It sounds totally different! I didn't enjoy learning the Irish language, but in a way I'm glad I did. It was the teaching methods which I could dispute. I was thought by the Christian Brothers, who were thorough in their teachings to say the least.
My painting of Mount Errigal was a special commission for a woman in Scotland. Her parents were originally from this area of Ireland.
Here's a short video clip of how the painting was constructed. I painted it at my home in Finland from a photograph.
'Mount Errigal' was a picture I really enjoyed painting and I was totally satisfied with the result! It was hard to see the painting leave, but I know it's in caring hands now on a wall in Scotland.
I received this photo of my painting from it's owner, who had it nicely double-framed recently. It must be about one metre wide with
this new frame. Excellent!
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