History Archives - Peony and Parakeet

Semi-Abstract Floral Still Life: A Painting Inspired by Dutch Masters

Päivi — Thu, 05 Mar 2026 12:54:42 +0000

This week, I want to show you a piece called Damask. It is a dark, semi-abstract floral painting. I often try to create lighter works because they sell faster, but if it were up to me, I would paint almost only dark pieces. There is something valuable and very private about dark tones. The painting […]

The post Semi-Abstract Floral Still Life: A Painting Inspired by Dutch Masters appeared first on Peony and Parakeet.

Building a Mystical Course with Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia

Päivi — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:26:49 +0000

Usually, after making a course, I think: never again! It takes time to get new ideas and energy. But this time, after finishing Wild Garden, I had a new idea right away, and it felt like someone was talking to me: “You must do this, Päivi. If you don’t, nobody else will.” The upcoming course […]

The post Building a Mystical Course with Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia appeared first on Peony and Parakeet.

Following the Inner Color

Päivi — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 12:37:38 +0000

Here is my latest completed oil painting “Elixir.” I start my abstract paintings with the idea that I follow an inner color. Color Chooses Color The inner color is the color I feel drawn to, so I tend to pick and mix the first colors intuitively. And then, they wish for other colors to accompany […]

The post Following the Inner Color appeared first on Peony and Parakeet.

Painting a Mystery

Päivi — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 15:03:06 +0000

This week is about painting a mystery and entering another world through art-making. My paintings are in an art journal and made with a loose touch. It All Started from a Withering Bouquet “The Midsummer bouquet has withered. I have to throw it in the trash,” I said. “But the setting is just like those […]

The post Painting a Mystery appeared first on Peony and Parakeet.

Flower Paintings at Rijksmuseum

Päivi — Fri, 16 May 2025 13:13:49 +0000

Charming and necessary for any artist. Let’s admire the flower paintings at Rijksmuseum! This week, I had a lovely time in the Netherlands, where my husband and I spent a few nights. The highlight of the trip was the visit to Rijksmuseum. It’s a huge museum in Amsterdam, and it takes many hours to see […]

The post Flower Paintings at Rijksmuseum appeared first on Peony and Parakeet.

Vermeer Girl With Heart – Draw With Me!

Päivi — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 12:52:06 +0000

Draw a Vermeer girl by following my formula! This drawing is a modern version of the painting “Girl with a Pearl Earring” by Johannes Vermeer. Here, the earring is not the center of the attention, but a heart and flowers steal the show. I have made a simple formula to draw and color the girl’s […]

The post Vermeer Girl With Heart – Draw With Me! appeared first on Peony and Parakeet.

Watercolor Flower Obsession

Päivi — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 15:28:41 +0000

This week, I have a fun video for you. In the video, I create a watercolor greeting card and talk about my obsession of painting flowers. The card is A5 in size, so about 6 x 8 inches and I have painted it on watercolor paper. My smallest brush is very narrow and I could […]

The post Watercolor Flower Obsession appeared first on Peony and Parakeet.

Painting by Programming – Modern Vanitas

Päivi — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 14:34:38 +0000

Happy Halloween! This year’s Halloween artwork combines painting and programming. This week, I have a video that has excerpts from the artwork I programmed. The program picks four of my paintings at a time and forms a Vanitas-type arrangement with a skull, fallen crown, extinguished candles, and withering flowers – symbols of our transience. The […]

The post Painting by Programming – Modern Vanitas appeared first on Peony and Parakeet.

Autumn Watercolor Flowers

Päivi — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 12:04:22 +0000

This week I share an autumnal painting and talk about how dreams and everyday events get mixed in my art. Autumn Moments Although I usually aim for a grandiose atmosphere, my art is a lot about insignificant everyday moments. For example, when I … Or when I smiled at the hopefulness of the roses in […]

The post Autumn Watercolor Flowers appeared first on Peony and Parakeet.

Artist’s Life – Starting New Media Art

Päivi — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 13:07:12 +0000

This week, I share my latest new media art and thoughts about my career as an artist. This is a sequel to the blog post called Beginner’s Video Art that was published last month. Unstill Still Life – Video Art The video above is my latest artwork “Unstill Still Life.” I have done this largely […]

The post Artist’s Life – Starting New Media Art appeared first on Peony and Parakeet.

Liberated Inspiration – Painting Freely

Päivi — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 15:09:42 +0000

This week, I talk about liberated inspiration and share what I discovered about 8 years ago. Liberated Inspiration from 2015-2016 Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the years 2015 and 2016. Then I combined watercolors, acrylic paints, and colored pencils for intuitive still lives. At the same time, I thought about how complex […]

The post Liberated Inspiration – Painting Freely appeared first on Peony and Parakeet.

Pleasures of Watercolor Painting

Päivi — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 13:16:42 +0000

This week is about watercolor painting and the pleasures that can be found there! Getting Inspiration Now I’ve been busy with a lot of different things – a new big art project, the new course Freely Grown, commissioned work, etc. Despite that, I stole some time and went to look at old paintings online – […]

The post Pleasures of Watercolor Painting appeared first on Peony and Parakeet.