oil paints Archives - Peony and Parakeet

Can Playful Art Be Serious?

Päivi — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 11:20:12 +0000

This week, I want to talk about my newly finished painting titled Fauna. This is one of my most peculiar pieces, filled with strange ideas. With this, I want to challenge us to ponder the question: Can playful art be serious? Ideas Have a Mental Age This painting combines many ideas. I tend to come […]

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Exploring Light and Mass When Creating Semi-Abstract Art

Päivi — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:16:43 +0000

This week, I show my latest painting and talk about creating semi-abstract art where some details are quite realistic, and others are more abstract. I also give five concrete ideas for creating semi-abstract drawings or paintings. For the past couple of months, I’ve been working on four “sisters.” They are all the same size, yet […]

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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 […]

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Inside the Creative Process: Art, Words, and Morning Robes

Päivi — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:51:55 +0000

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 […]

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Video: Artist’s Life and Inner Inspiration

Päivi — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 17:35:55 +0000

This week, I made a video blog post where I share what I have been working on lately. This watercolor piece is one of them. In the video, I also talk about the inner inspiration – that not everything has to come from outside, but there’s a lot within our inner world already. You get […]

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About Music and Painting

Päivi — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 15:08:53 +0000

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 […]

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50 Art Ideas in an Art Journal

Päivi — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 13:13:56 +0000

This week I have a special treat for you: a flip-through video of my full Dylusions Creative Journal. It has 50 art ideas, not only for art journaling but for art-making in general. The pages are mostly made with colored pencils, watercolors, and acrylic paints. I also have many that have hand-drawn collage pieces. I […]

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Making Florals More Modern

Päivi — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 14:36:47 +0000

This week, we are making florals more modern! So, when you want to get away from a botanical look, and draw and paint flowers that are more abstract and expressive, here are my tips for you! In my recent painting Gossamer, I have stretched my style to a modern direction. The painting was born much […]

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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 […]

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Half-Empty Art Journals I Should Fill Up

Päivi — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 16:04:43 +0000

Last month, I went through my art supplies and wrote a post about the supplies I shouldn’t use anymore. After the post, I gave most of those useless-to-me supplies away. Now I have reviewed my art journals and have come to the conclusion that I have too many half-empty ones. I should fill these up […]

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Painting Seascapes – Making The Scenery Look Bigger

Päivi — Thu, 07 Aug 2025 13:18:50 +0000

This week, we dive deeper into painting seascapes and other big sceneries. In spring, I thought my painting Atlantis was already finished, but after seeing the ship paintings in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam in May, I realized that I had made my seascape painting too simple and small-scale, and went back to working on it. […]

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How to Discover Yourself as an Artist

Päivi — Wed, 07 May 2025 14:40:27 +0000

This week I share deep thoughts about how to discover yourself as an artist and how to get discovered. I have a video for you and also, some photos of making a recent large oil painting called “Atlantis”. When I paint, I am an introvert, but after the session, I want to connect with the […]

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