What Tsubaki Stationery Store Taught Me About Making Art
I listened to a wonderful book. It was like a refreshing rain pouring straight into my heart.
The book is new and by the Japanese author Ito Ogawa. Its Finnish title is Paperikauppa Tsubaki, and it is also being released in English as Tsubaki Stationery Store (Amazon – affiliate link, Goodreads)
Tsubaki Stationery Store
The book tells the story of Hatoko, who has inherited a small paper shop from her late grandmother. It isn’t a sticker shop, but a very minimalistic one. Additionally, Hatoko offers handwriting services. For Hatoko, “beautiful” isn’t a static concept. Case by case, she carefully considers not only the message itself, but also the shape of the letters, the paper she chooses, the writing instrument, the envelope, and even the postage stamps.
You absolutely must read this book.
Refreshing Rain
I loved the book so much that I wanted to make a drawing about its impact. It started by spraying some ink.
I got the idea of spraying ink when browsing the pages of my sketchbook. See this blog post from 2019: 10 Black and White Art Techniques with Personal Stories
I then made the drawing with pencils and ink pens (Copic brand).
I started with graphite pencils.
And then introduced black ink pens.
When I wanted to have something darker or more clearly outlined, I used the ink pens. The pencils were for softer greys and shadowing.
A piece of paper under the hand protects the drawing.
I wanted the drawing to grow freely and express the impact that the book had on me. The last step was to add a little color to the central flower.
Here’s the finished piece again. I had so much fun drawing the waves. When I draw, I try to follow the principle: “Draw what you love.”
This is about my inner world getting the refreshing rain from Ito Ogawa’s wonderful book.
Simple and Small Can Lead to Better
Tsubaki Stationery Store made me think about how simple things can become when we stop ignoring the basic truth.
You see, this spring I have been thinking a lot about how I could make better paintings. It has felt like a complicated question. Just breaking down what “better” means takes time. The choices feel big, as if I were standing at a highway junction in the middle of this constantly changing, chaotic world.
But Ito Ogawa’s book brought me back to a small street. A series of small decisions that naturally follow each other can overcome grand choices. At its best, that is exactly what drawing is about, too. One thing leads to another, and only small adjustments are needed to take the drawing to the next level.
Tiny Things in Practice
Instead of this week’s small drawing project, I was actually planning to show you a much bigger one – a painting called Ikigai. I have been working on it for a couple of months now. But after listening to the first few chapters of the book, I realized that the painting isn’t finished yet. The book helped me to see small fixes that would make the painting “better.”
Now, Ikigai needs to dry before I photograph it. You will see it in a week or two.
But in the meantime, let’s keep drawing!
Inside the Creative Process: Art, Words, and Morning Robes
I often find that the bridge between painting and words is a difficult one to cross – especially when your latest work decides to speak a language of its own.
Even though I’ve always loved writing, being a visual artist often brings moments inside the creative process where words simply disappear.
Lately, I’ve been painting a lot. The more I paint, the harder it feels to write all those applications and descriptions that an artist is constantly expected to produce. It’s just as difficult to read what other artists write about their work—and even harder to read a critic’s take on anyone’s paintings.
It feels like words just bounce off the surface of a painting without ever sinking in. When you paint, you are inside the artwork, living between wordless layers. It’s a good place to be. At least until you make the mistake of asking yourself: “Hey, what exactly are you painting right now? Tell the camera! Write it down! Share it with the world!”
When that happens, my confident grip on the brush vanishes, and I start to stutter: “I’m just… putting some green here… and a little bit of red. Just a tiny bit …”
Inside the Creative Process: When the Painting Speaks First
As a painting gets closer to being finished, the words come more easily. Or rather, it feels like I don’t have to go looking for them because the painting has something to say for itself. Even though I don’t speak French, I feel like my latest work speaks the language. I call her Boheme. She is like a woman opening her front door in a morning robe, with everything in her life a bit scattered and messy.
In my own life, I think I’ve only opened the door in a morning robe once when a surprise package arrived. Back then, the postman certainly didn’t see a mess behind me — everything was in its place. So, it’s a mystery why this opposite creature appeared on my canvas. I knew from the start that I couldn’t control her with a heavy hand. Not because Boheme would be afraid of orders, but because I have no desire to fight that kind of energy. I’d rather let her grow, be free, and express her own kind of beauty.
Dreams I Didn’t Know I Had
Maybe that’s where the conflict lies. My own world is small, and I find myself quite uninteresting as a person. Yet, my paintings reach further and bring out things I didn’t even realize I was thinking about. That’s my favorite part of this job—seeing your dreams come true, especially the dreams you didn’t even remember having.
Despite all this “unconsciousness,” it’s still good to recognize the words, music, scents, and moods that belong to your artistic vision.
Finding the Right Mood
A few weeks ago, my husband told me about a record review he had read. He hadn’t heard the album yet, but the description stuck with him. Just from his brief explanation, I got a strong feeling it could be interesting for my art. We searched for the article to find the singer’s name. It was the album LUX by the Spanish artist Rosalía, and it felt familiar from the very first notes. I love her track Bergheim. It mixes different styles with classical music, creating a luxurious, grand, and slightly mystical atmosphere.
Boheme and I have been listening to the song together. Through her, I’ve realized that when it comes to morning robes, the mint-green terry cloth one my mother once bought me has nothing to do with the luxurious creations Boheme has in her closet. And those are the kind of closets you actually want to leave open when you answer the door.
And that’s the true beauty of art: it always gives you a better view.
The annual major painting event, the Sales Event of the Finnish Painters’ Union, takes place in March at the Cable Factory, Helsinki. I am participating in the event with this painting, along with a few others.
Building a Mystical Course with Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia
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 is called Mystical Minis. We will create abstract art with colored pencils.
We will make small drawings, and each takes only about an hour to create. At the same time, we see our inner world in a new light and build a self-feeding process for creating art. This course will bring both excitement and depth to your art-making. I believe it will leave a permanent mark on you, and I hope you carry the influence of it with you for a long time what ever art you make after the course.
Mystical Trio: Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia
With Mystical Minis, I honor three women from about 100 years ago. Two of them are pioneers in abstract art: Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) and Georgiana Houghton (1814-1884). The third one is the modernist author Virginia Woolf (1882-1941). You can’t find another course similar to this one, I promise!
Mystical Flow
I have been super-motivated to create the new course. So far, I have also enjoyed making it immensely. Some courses are born with intention, while others come out naturally, and those love children need to be born without too much forcing. It’s the very same thing as in the art-making! This course wants to come out, and I will help it.
I usually question the course idea many times before I start making the course. I especially think about whether anyone will buy it and what kind of people would. But here, it feels like Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia do not care. They just want the course to be born. They want their voice to be combined with mine, and that brings an extraordinary meaning to this work that truly feels mystical.
If you have been in my courses, you know that I am not a secretive person. I always try to explain everything as openly as I can, and I can’t help smiling. And when I asked Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia, why they picked me, they said: we need somebody like you to complement us, just be you and everything will go fine. And I have trusted them and followed my inner voice to gather all of us together, not only Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia, but also you who want to create a new kind of connection to your inner world.
Mystical Minis – When?
I am currently editing the videos. I don’t have the exact publishing date yet, but I expect releasing this mystical course late this year or early next year.
About Music and Painting
This week, I share a painting that had a big goal: to achieve a similar effect to uplifting music.
I think that all painters envy musicians because music can make great emotions flow in an instant. Music can make us feel that the world is expanding into the universe and at the same time, shrinking to the size of a heart.
When I listen to Luciano Pavarotti sing Nessun Dorma, his complete self-confidence makes me, who is a mere listener, feel almighty too. And Avicii’s Levels is often my choice when I want to celebrate an achievement, for example, a newly completed painting.
But even if we painters envy musicians, I also think that musicians also envy painters. Music is experienced in a fleeting moment, but a painting can capture that more permanently.
Music I Listen to While Painting
When I start a new painting, I often listen to Kaija Saariaho‘s music. It is art music, and I don’t find it entertaining at all. But it helps me to think more spatially and paint a 3-dimensional space instead of a 2-dimensional surface. (See the video of my first encounter to Kaija Saariaho’s music from 2015!)
I try to avoid letting the music leak ideas into my paintings. I don’t want the music to create the illusion that the unfinished painting is better than it is. The music’ should mainly’s main function is to entertain my impatient side while my patient side paints.
As the painting progresses, I gradually move to lighter music. First classical piano and violin concerts, then entertaining music television shows that play pop and rock.
When the painting is in the finishing stage, I listen to dry talk programs such as political analysis.
Music helps me to keep going. It takes many sessions to finish a big painting.
I painted this painting in 7 parts and as you can see from the pictures, it changed quite a lot over the months. I started in early August and the painting was finished in late November.
My painting called Cosmos is a flower arrangement, but at the same time, I was aiming for much more. I wanted to express both meanings of the word cosmos – both the flower and the universe. So I was aiming for the same thing that music can give: the expansion into a larger whole and the contraction into a single moment.
Details of Cosmos
The blue flower was the most difficult to paint because I wanted it to be modest and small and still refer to the universe. It had to be simple and delicate, but still strong enough. I rarely use Cobalt Blue this much. It’s my most expensive pigment and not very good with historical pigments that I mostly have. But in this piece, I think it perfectly represents the universe.
One of my favorite details is the flying orange petals. I think they look like a little melody playing in the background as the song slows down.
Some areas come more easily than others. The top right corner was finished early, and it was a lot of fun to paint. I prefer dark backgrounds over light ones, but dark paintings can be difficult to sell, so I try to be moderate with dark colors.
The red spot is both a supernova and a flower.
I love painting bowls and vases, especially when I can just freely compose them from strokes and shapes.
I also love to paint water. Here, the vase disappears under the waterline.
I often paint a flower so that it’s partly quite sharp and partly blurry or invisible.
Music can use echoes as an effect, while visuals can have mirror images. The echoes and mirror images can differ slightly. I played with this idea when painting the red flower and its dark echo.
Ornaments and ornamental strokes inspire me a lot. I think that when you have found out how you want to draw a single line, you are really close to finding your style.
Lines are like musical notes that a mind can interpret and sing. They have the painter’s voice.
What kind of music do you listen to when you paint or draw?