Is Your Painting Introvert or Extrovert?
This week, I talk about the personality of paintings. Some are extroverts, some introverts!
This oil painting, “Kotona Plutossa – At Home in Pluto,” is a part of my series Linnunrata – Milky Way, where I explore planets and outer space. (See previous work: the Earth here, Venus here, and the Sun here!)
Many Inspiration Sources
Earlier this year, I saw a documentary about Pluto, and it felt more familiar than many other planets that I have only read about. In the series, I imagine how the Milky Way could bloom and only take a small dose of the facts about the Planet.
Pluto’s ice volcanoes started the painting, but then I brought in more ideas. The central idea for this painting was home decor. I love mid-century modern houses and furniture, and many of the shapes have a similar feel.
Tricia Guild’s fabrics were another inspiration source. I have been her fan for decades and don’t even have to look at her photos to know what kind of florals she would like to bring to the painting.
Introvert or Extrovert? – Changing the Approach
Even if Pluto is a dwarf planet, this is my biggest painting so far. My style is detailed, and there’s a lot of space in 90 x 140 cm (about 35,5 x 55 inches). There were moments when I felt very unsure about how to proceed because when I asked the painting, it stayed quiet. “Can you hear me, Pluto?” I whispered several times. No response.
This painting clearly was an introvert. I felt like I wanted to quit.
I recognize this syndrome – what I call Big Picture Syndrome – by its signs:
- You feel the need to look at the piece only from the big picture perspective, as a quick stroke here and another there would magically make everything work. In truth, you don’t yet have a clue what the carrying theme for the piece is, and should discover it by making the details more inspiring.
- You feel negative about your potential as an artist but try to convince yourself that the piece is good enough. That someone will like it. And at the same time, you know it’s only an excuse for quitting. The truth is that some pieces are harder than others. Some paintings are extroverts that begin to speak to you right away. And some are introverts that need more time to open up. No need to blame yourself for that. Just keep working and trying to figure out what the piece wants!
“Can you hear me, Pluto?” I asked after bringing in new ideas and adjusting colors and shapes. I was relieved when she answered shyly “Pluto hears.” And when I finished the painting, it felt like coming home.
Listening to an introvert painting is always helpful for learning new things about yourself. I became more aware of how much textiles and fabrics inspire me and I want to show that more later too. If you only accept extrovert art, moving forward is more difficult.
Childhood of an Introvert
Another thing that came to my mind was this small crayon piece from about 40 years ago. ( Read more about this one here!)
When I put it here, I am astonished at how similar these two pieces look. No wonder she was so shy, there are a lot of years between us!
Everything has changed, and nothing has changed over the years, isn’t that so? Introvert or extrovert – try it!
Preparing For the Solo Show
My first solo show Linnunrata will be in June, and it’s keeping me super busy! I still have a couple of paintings that are not finished, and there are lots of edges to paint, hanging wires to attach, and varnishing to do. My current plan is to show 18 paintings, and every single one still has something that I need to do before the show. And there are posters to design, marketing to do, a lot of work!
Linnunrata will be at Gallery K, Tikkurila, Vantaa in June 3-19, 2022.
Art Inspiration from Period Dramas
This week, I am sharing art inspiration impacted by period dramas.
Visual Deliciousness of Period Dramas
I am a fan of period dramas. Recently, I have been watching Gilded Age and Bridgerton. Both of them have beautiful outdoor and indoor scenes, and dresses too, of course! My eyes like the delicious visual world they illustrate and my heart always feels a bit lighter after an episode or two.
Even if the dramas have historical settings, their colors are not dull at all. A picnic in the forest looks vibrant and is full of sunlight.
I like how flowery everything is, and how the jewelry frames the faces of young ladies.
Being so inspired by period dramas, it’s no wonder that my art is full of romantic and old-fashioned elements. They speak fantasy to me.
Fantastic Old-World Impact
I think that every artist needs to find their approach to fantasy and fairytales – how to use imagination and what to express with it?
I am fascinated by the power of the inner world and all my pieces are inner sceneries in one way or another.
Pablo Picasso has said: “Art is a lie that tells the truth.” Similarly, I would say that art is a fantasy that gives us what we need.
Bringing Fantasy to Life
I often talk about seeing art as a story or a collection rather than a single piece. In the new class, Fun Botanicum, we create a set of illustrations that are all unique but still a part of the series. This is a great project for setting a style and bringing different coloring techniques together.
Plants are a fun theme to explore what you can do with colored pencils and imagination!
>> Sign up here!
Before and After – Which Painting Style Do You Prefer?
This week, I share a revamp of a small painting and talk about painting style.
Here’s my newest piece that I am quite fond of. But wait! This isn’t totally new, but a revamped one.
Husband Didn’t Approve
Earlier this month, I made a small painting that didn’t get approval from my husband.
– “Unfinished,” he said.
– “No, it’s just loose and abstract,” I claimed.
But soon after, I considered adjusting something a little. My husband has good taste, and I appreciate his opinion. Like most Finns, he is brutally honest, and often that’s what I want to hear, even if it would hurt a bit.
But what to do with this one? Maybe just make a couple of clumsy shapes a bit curvier. But after having a wonderful conversation about conventionality with a friend who is also an artist, I felt that I could do it – go from one extreme to another.
Several Levels of Style
During the last couple of months, I have been trying to define my approach to art as levels of some sort – when should I go abstract, when do I want to make illustrations, and when my style needs to be decorative or design-oriented.
I have always thought that these levels are connected to what supplies I use. Like this:
If I paint, I am more abstract.
If I draw, I go in the illustrative direction.
And if I embroider, it’s just decorative work for relaxation.
But it shouldn’t always have to be like that. The opposite could happen too.
Untraditional Use of Supplies – Mixing Levels of Style
Last summer, I started to do slow stitching – random simple stitches on fabric. Surprisingly, what first felt like decorative needlecraft started to produce abstract art. This piece is not traditionally decorative at all.
And many of my recent images in colored pencils have been quite abstract and painterly, like this spread from my colored pencil journal.
The art world is full of presumptions based on supplies.
Colored pencil artists replicate photos.
Watercolorists throw water on the paper and wait for the landscape to appear.
Abstract painters do it for interior design.
Decorative is reserved for folk artists.
And so on!
But I have come to the conclusion that supplies don’t define the levels of my style. I can freely choose how much I want to show each level of style in one piece.
So, we can break what’s expected and do what we want!
Inspiration from Many Styles
The same unrestricted approach applies to inspiration.
I went to Sinebrychoff Art Museum to see floral paintings, but the most inspiring piece was a traditional textile – what??? When I looked at the photos taken from the exhibition, it felt like a dirty secret.
There were many old masterpieces in oil, but a small traditional textile captivated me.
“How can I be so inspired by that?
I shouldn’t think about that anymore.
At least, don’t tell anyone!”
But my creativity has a mind of her own when it comes to inspiration. If I look at my Instagram saves, sometimes I like to see old palaces or churches, and other times I find simple and rural terribly inviting. I love old portraits, but I am not particularly fond of painting humans myself. I consume all kinds of kitsch – banal florals, round-eyed dolls, plastic horses – like crazy, but I also love modern and straightforward that’s not similarly pretty at all.
And now, my creativity told me to revamp that abstract painting and go wild with decorative strokes.
“Take it to the Kitsch goddess,” she shouted.
“No one will like it,” I heard myself saying. But then it hit me that maybe we could do it together. I asked my inner Kandinsky: “Would you go decorative with me?” He nodded quietly but without hesitation.
And so it happened that Mrs. Decorative, Mr. Abstract, and Miss Illustrative all painted together. It was a lot of fun!
Which One Do You Like Best – Before or After?
Which painting style do you prefer? It would be interesting to hear, leave a comment!
I have no regrets and my husband approved too. While I am waiting for the painting to dry, I glance at it frequently, smiling.
The painting follows a tradition but still feels like a breakthrough. I can now see further and wider. I could mix different painting styles in one big piece and bring a wider variety of inspiration into one work. So often, I have tried to move to the next level in technique, but now it feels that I need to level up artistic thinking!
News from My Little Studio
I have lots of painting work to be done in April. My private exhibition in June is still half-empty, but that’s partly a happy problem. My paintings have sold well, and I have a new prestigious gallery representation. The gallery is called Gumbostrand Konst och Form. I think it’s a great fit for my art because they also sell design pieces. Here’s my page on their website.
My home feels like a work in progress.
The little studio space has unfinished paintings, and big blank canvases are waiting in the library room.
I also have a new online class going on – Fun Botanicum!
It’s so wonderful to see work from the students and have conversations about art. It makes all the other work less lonely, and I feel blessed to lead the lovely community. Especially now, when most of my spare time is spent worrying over the world situation, it feels good to be connected and also, serve others.
You can still hop in, sign up here!
Creating Hope – Artist’s Mission
This week, I show three small paintings and talk about my mission of creating hope.
Even if we have had some winter wonderland sceneries recently, the weather hasn’t been so great in Finland – icy roads, rain, darkness … And now, the horrendous news came about the war in Ukraine.
But this post is not about war, but the opposite. Namely, a long time ago, I realized that my word is “hope”. Here’s the story:
I visited a hospital to see my old ant, and another old woman grabbed my hand. She wanted me to say something that would take her pain away.
I still remember her desperate eyes begging for consolation.
We discussed shortly but then I ended the conversation by saying that I am quite young and I don’t have all the wisdom. She nodded, turning off the glimpse of hope she had got when I entered the room. At that moment, I knew that I wanted to do more of that hope thing, but how.
Nowadays, I try to transfer hope to every painting, and to every class as well. Yesterday I dug out small canvases that looked quite hopeless. I had started them last year and used leftover paint from bigger paintings. Then they had looked just ugly paintings that might not ever get finished. But now, all they missed was some hope!
So I painted hope: saturated colors over muted ones, light glow over heavy shapes, rising wings on the top of descending petals – signs of life.
I wanted to remove the harshness and replace it with gentleness.
I also added the much-needed drop of utopia as well.
After leaving the hospital, I cursed myself for not giving the old woman what I called false hope. But now I think that the correct word is fantasy.
We all need fantasy to keep going.
Fantasy didn’t come to my young engineer’s mind, and it would have required the kind of bravery I didn’t have. But now, when I paint, I can do brave too.
The qualities that don’t seem to be a part of me, can still exist in my art.
It gives me hope as a human.
Whether I use oils and canvases or colored pencils in a journal, all I create is hope. A gift that was initiated by a stranger in a hospital bed.
I am looking for March when the new class will begin!