About Birds and Art
This week is about observing birds and bringing them into our art.
These are from my online classes Animal Inkdom and Magical Inkdom.
Let’s start with a lonely budgie.
Last fall, the same sight always awaited me in the mornings – a lonely budgie in a big cage. The door was open, and I turned on the full-spectrum bird lamp, but nothing cheered her up. Ever since Primavera’s husband Leonardo had died unexpectedly, her world had been empty, and even the best YouTube budgies couldn’t fill it.
I have had budgies since 1991. My first budgie, Piuku, was also alone at first. Unlike 5-year-old Primavera, Piuku was a young bird. She adapted to being alone by taking me as her best friend. Later on, Piuku got other birds as companions.
Birds Bring Joy
The most enviable quality of birds is their ability to fly, but the more you get to know birds, the more you realize that their social life is very lively. A small flock of a few budgies can be like a soap opera. There will be arguments, gusts of affection, gossip, singing sessions, and all kinds of fun play. This way, the day flies by!
I have admired birds since swallows made their nest in the eaves of my childhood home. There were many other birds in the big yard too. I had bird books, and I dreamed about seeing kingfishers and other exotic birds.
Similarly, as wild birds make you look up, pet birds bring lightness to the home. Their vocals are clear and the flight sounds lighten the atmosphere. It is as if the world is not only lying down but also up in the air.
Birds and Flowers
At the beginning of my entrepreneurial career in 2008, I founded an Etsy shop to sell crafts and named it Kukkilintu.
Kukkilintu is a Karelian embroidered bird pattern that symbolizes happiness.
Karelia is a place in Eastern Finland, a part of it was lost in the war with Russia in 1940. I live in Southern Finland but was born in Northern Karelia.
Karelian people believed that the soul leaves the body in the form of a bird. Kukkilintu is a bit like the Finnish version of the peacock, which appears in the designs of other countries with the same meaning.
I thought the name “kukkilintu” was funny because it had the words “kukka” and “lintu” – “flower” and “bird.” When I was thinking about a name for my art blog a couple of years later in 2010, I thought that the flower could be a peony and the bird a budgie, so, a parakeet.
These two themes “flower” and “bird” have guided my creative process. I have wanted to learn the language of flowers and create beauty in the world, but also understand the life of birds and include their movement. Birds, flowers, and art belong together.
However, recently in my everyday life, it happened that the more I delved into the flowers, the more time they took away from the birds. I didn’t want to keep pet birds anymore, but felt that watching wild birds would be enough.
Magical Scene
Outdoors, one scene is above the rest – when a bird flies across the scenery. The bird then becomes kukkilintu – a flower bird. It takes over the landscape and erases all the sadness.
I came up with this when I was grieving the death of one of my dogs. Since then this very ordinary event has made me happy. It’s a message from the world that we always have inside of us, but that we don’t always remember, especially when we’re like a lonely budgie that has a hard time seeing ahead in life.
We must believe in our abilities, and happy endings as well. I found a new home for Primavera, where it has a spouse who was also widowed. I wish Primavera a long life. After all, it already has a long-lived name-sake, the famous painting by Botticelli born in the 15th century, which I have been to Florence to admire.
Do birds appear in your art?
Life After Death – Commissioned Art
This week, I have a commissioned art piece to show you. I have fewer words than I normally do – not only because the project is confidential, but also because this project went beyond words in many ways.
Last fall, I got a commission for this oil painting. It was ordered by a man in memory of his recently deceased spouse. We brought elements of the wife’s life and references to what she liked into the painting. The painting is, therefore, a secret portrait, from which loved ones recognize familiar things, but which do not need to be explained to strangers, unless they want to.
Commissioned Art – Sketch First
I started with a digital sketch. Here you can see the sketch and the final painting side by side.
I painted the sketch freely in the ProCreate app. The sketch is more abstract than the finished work and is more about the impression than the details.
Painting Process
After the sketch was approved, I ordered the canvas. The size of this piece is 50 x 40 cm (about 19.5 x 15.5 inches). Here are the first blurry layers.
I worked several sessions and let the painting dry for 1-2 weeks between the sessions.
The sketch helped with the painting process so that I could save my energy on the details.
Final Treatments
When the painting was finished, I photographed it outdoors. The natural light is wonderful now when Finland has a lot of snow, but the shoot had to be done quickly.
I varnished the painting with Gamvar after the photoshoot.
I like to think that varnishing was like giving a special blessing to the painting.
Spiritual Meaning
This project made my work as an artist feel even more meaningful than before. I learned more about what kind of artist I am.
I thought: “What could be a better assignment than building a bridge between life and death?”
What do you think?
Watercolor Greeting Card – Watch the Video!
The year is coming to an end, and it’s time to celebrate. Thank you for this year, my readers and students!
My gift to you comes in the form of a video. Let’s paint flower cards for everyone celebrating in the coming year! The following watercolor greeting card video is especially a bonus for all who have taken the latest course Freely Grown where I give more detailed advice.
Watercolor Greeting Card – Watch the Video!
In this video, I not only paint the greeting card but talk about art-making in general. I hope that the video inspires you to keep creating, and if you are not currently creating anything, there’s a short speech for you too!
The paper used for the card: Arches Hot Press watercolor paper, thickness 300 g/m2, 140 lb.
I mostly use three brushes: one flat, and two thin brushes for details. I also use a small and sturdy round brush for removing the paint. When you have a good-quality watercolor paper, you can rub it quite heavily. Use a cotton cloth to remove water after rubbing and then, let dry well before painting over.
In the video, I mention the botanical artist Marianne North. See her paintings here!
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
This is the last blog post of 2023. After a short break, we will meet again next year.
I hope you will have a wonderful time with your close ones, and of course, I hope you will spend some time with art-making as well!
Writing About Art
This week is dedicated to writing about art. I tell how I write these blog posts, and why it’s beneficial to write about art.
See more pics of this piece in the Taiko online art store!
How I Write a Blog Post
I have been writing these blog posts for years directly in English, so, in a language foreign to me. I wanted to develop my language skills and it seemed like the best method, even if the expression was sometimes limited. This year, I started to write these stories in Finnish first. Once the Finnish text is done, I translate it into English. I edit the translation 2-4 times before the story is finished.
You might imagine that this is a slow road, but I have developed as a writer in such a way that it feels natural to push the story out first and then edit it. When editing, the subject becomes more clear and the images and texts work better together.
I love the interaction between two languages.
When I write in Finnish, I’m already thinking about English. In Finnish, passive constructions and long expressions are used a lot. I’ll try to be more concise right at the beginning. Words and expressions also differ. In Finnish, I can easily get a relaxed and even humorous tone, but I can’t translate it into English, and neither can machine translators. However, I don’t mourn the matter, I think that the union of two languages is like a marriage: both have to give way.
Joyce Carol Oates talks about having a journal separate from the stories and novels. The journal could be more honest and raw, and use a little different style than what ends in the publication. For me, the Finnish script is a bit like that – a stream of thoughts that gets refined with edits.
The Relationship Between Images and Text
I used to enter the images into the post first and then write the texts directly between them. But these days I work in a word processor so that I only focus on the text. I can write more freely and the texts become more authentic and have more content. I can then fit the images between the text and add captions if needed.
Although I decide the topic of a blog post when I start writing it, most of the pictures exist before the text. I strive to always have new photos and I often plan the collection of images weeks in advance. Since this blog is about art and is aimed at visual people, I need lots of pictures. I want to inspire the reader to make art, so the pictures need also express the process, and not just finished works.
Writing Moves Art Forward
Nowadays, many have left blogging and moved to posting on Facebook or Instagram or uploading videos to YouTube. I too write regularly on my Facebook page and Instagram account. Every now and then I also make a video on YouTube.
But writing is magical. When you write a longer story, you don’t just write to others but to yourself too.
And I am not the only one who thinks that way. Last spring, I participated in an artist coaching program by the Finnish Art Agency, where the coach wanted us to write regularly about our art. She emphasized that working with words is important because visual artists often need to tell about their art.
Writing About Art is Almost Similar to Talking About Art
I believe that all who create art also want to talk about it. It’s just very difficult sometimes. Pictures go to the other side of the words and the ideas get mixed up.
Talking about your art can also feel like pompous boasting, even if the recipient would be interested. Long art stories can also bore the listener if she is not as deep in creating. The same applies to writing, you can feel pretentious or be afraid to bore someone, but when you write it’s easier to notice when you’re stuck and repeating yourself.
My art has not only developed by drawing and painting diligently. It evolves every time I write about it. It has developed by blog posts, manuscripts for classes, short video posts, and even description texts, where I have to briefly tell who I am or what inspired me to create a certain piece.
Writing brings out problems. You have to focus on what you really want to say and tell who you really are. There will be a temptation to find words that sound great but not say the truth. But if you can overcome the lure of meaningless words, creativity in you wakes up.
I have noticed that when I can put my wishes and ideas into words, they begin to appear in my paintings. Our creativity strives to fulfill our wishes if it can read them. So, that’s why I am writing about art weekly. Thank you for making me do that!
Do you write – or plan to write – about your art? Tell us more!