The Sketchbook Project

As I seem to live a very computerized life, I deciced to take part to the Sketchbook Project organized by Art House Co-op. The project collected over 28 000 sketchbooks so I was glad that somebody picked just my book at the opening - what are the odds?!

This was totally art therapy project for me, with no higher aims, but since I illustrated and wrote the whole story about A Little Witch Who Knits, I got more and more inspired. I'm waiting for the scanned view of the book - so I can get proper views from it too. Images on this posting are all from "in making" stage.

THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT ON TOUR:
Brooklyn Art Library February 19-27, 2011 / 103A N. 3rd St., Brooklyn, NY 11211 | Open Tue - Sun / Noon - 8pm / Closed Mondays (L train to edford Ave.)
Austin Museum of Art March 12th, 2011 (during the SXSW festival!) Austin, TX
SPACE Gallery March 30-April 2, 2011 Portland, ME
The Granite Room April 8-9, 2011 Atlanta, GA
Transformer Gallery April 11-30, 2011 Washington, DC
Form/Space Atelier June 10-12, 2011 Seattle, WA
111 Minna Gallery June 18, 2011 San Francisco, CA
Hyde Park Arts Center July 14-17, 2011 Chicago, IL
Full Sail University July 29-July 31, 2011 Winter Park, FL

Smashing Pumpkins - Siva

I did it - FINALLY - after so much time just planning! I now have a small shop in Etsy: colorianna.etsy.com where I'm selling my unique colouring pictures and later also some other stuff. Like those monsterous badges I wrote about earlier: I ordered some plastic snap-on badges and I'm planning to make them very soon, after I get some of the most critical jobs done.

I also made another shop in Etsy where I will sell my smaller non-limited edition prints - later. I'll open it after I've got my other shop well running.

...And after I've managed through August. Next week is a bit frightening: at least one meeting a day, three major deadlines, three-day (whole day) course to run and finally: finishing the invitations and posters to Lahti exhibition opening in September 1st. Hmmm.

But nothing feels so bad as long as there are those warm sunny days outside. :D

Cardinal - Dream Figure

Some time ago I got a little order for unique coloring pictures and finally I got the set ready to be sent to orderer. I'm hoping to get some more coloring images to be sold in Art Museum Bazaar. These images are drawn to a 200g acid free Fabriano drawing paper with water proof archival pigment ink Picma Micron 08 marker and each image is unique with signature. I've planned my colouring tip site for ages now... Maybe it's finally the time to realize some ideas. Soon...

Fleet Foxes - He Doesn't Know Why

www.taitoshop.fi/en
Just went online: Taito-Shop site also in English (selected content...) with a christmassy layout.

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And short advertisement is always a good thing: At December 13-14 there will be an "art bazaar" at the Art Museum of Jyväskylä where I'll sell (or try to) my prints and possibly some colour/dyeing related stuff. I have prints ok, but this dye thing (I had planned to make some dye example kits) is still unsure since I've been with flu for some weeks already and not very vital at the moment...

Come - Bell

I haven't been to Estonia since 1990 (for a few days in Talling in some strange rock / punk festival) when it was still part of Soviet Union. Except for a short drive through via Via Baltica in 2002 when Timppa and I drove with Sebastian B. to Vilnius, Lithuania in one day and then Timppa and I returned for about week later from Vilnius to Tallinn by bus in one night and then right across the sea back to Helsinki without seeing anything. So, the former is a whole different story and the latter doesn't really count.

When textile artist Ulla Lapiolahti told me last autumn about this potato print festival that she had heard of, I was ready to go right away. So, when the middle of the August finally came, we packed out bags and after one night stay in Helsinki we crossed over to Tallinn, took the train from Tallinn to Türi and continued from there to the Laupa mansion. The whole festival was organised very freely without any timetable stress or pressure to do everything in a strict way or order which suited me more than well. We even worked in my normal day schedule (breakfast in 10 or 11 ... or at 1 pm...).

Since I find myself sitting in the front of my computer monitor 24/7, the festival was really a refreshing break to my usual life. I found also the place, the Laupa mansion and its peaceful surroundings, to be absolute meditational heaven. The mansion, which works as a school these days, was under renovation and everything was piled and wrapped - the pianos for example were wrapped in plastic foil - which brought more of the surrealistic clang to the place. I enjoyed sitting around the building just feeling the atmosphere. There were many empty spaces and I was a bit frustated that I *didn't* pack Zoom (digital sound recorder) with me - there would have been many strange and beautiful voices and soundscapes to save...

Anyway, I really didn't get as much images done as I had planned but I got some new ideas to my future art work and other work projects too. I wrote many pages to my memo book after arriving home at Sunday night / Monday morning at about three/four am, before going to sleep. I'm absolutely enthusiastic right now! Ulla gave a lecture of natural dyes and pigments and for the first time I tried printing with natural dyes - I did most of my prints with soot black (which is pigment) and cochenille and madder tinctures mixed with gum arabic. This is the thing that I must continue to do. (I still have to find more detailed info about concentrating the natural dyes into inks and paints though.)

Sadly I noticed that I haven't got any images from the lecture of potatos (changing the world) by the director of London Print Studio, John Phillips, which I found really interesting and entertaining. Lecture by Phillips was not the only thing I didn't take pictures of. I'm quite angry with myself for not taking more images from the event generally, since there would have been so much to document. When I looked through my photo files I found mainly images from the Laupa mansion rooms and little details all over... Well, it's the organizers' fault really: why do they find such an interesting place to have the event... :)

Anyway: new ideas, new working methods, new techniques and most important: new, interesting contacts. People taking part to the festival were with various backgrounds which made the festival more interesting. I hope to be in contact with those people in future too.

More about the festival: www.printpotato.pri.ee Festival works will be exhibited in EKA Galerii (Eesti Kunstiakadeemia, Tallinn) September 3.-15, 2008.

Jeff Buckley - Lover You Should've Come Over

Taitosaari project www.aivia.fi/kadentaitajat [December 10 2007]

Last autumn I was teaching at Taitosaari project in Viitasaari and Saarijärvi on weekends. The courses / lectures were given to the craft makers of that area. The website above, published in December 07, was the final ending to the project. During last autumn I got to know some really nice and talented people and while I taught them about the digital possibilities, they got me inspirated of making things with my hands. I found myself drawing and cutting paper and making all kinds of small hobby crafts. And enjoying it.

My book making enthusianism has gone further: I've made lots of sketches and all kinds of notes about my following projects. I'll be also making I've ordered a paper cutter - which did cost quite much (can't be lazy now) - and I'm planning opening a webshop. Shop opening hoolaballoo will propably take place after we'll come back from Florence at the beginning of June... I'm very hopeful about this whole project and I wish that some day I could concentrate more on graphical designing (and *my kind* of graphical designing) but at the same time I know that work in the craft field can be quite devastating.

Because there are also some sad news: the web site for Eeva Ylönen got cancelled when Eeva decided to end making craftworks. That's quite sad because I was really waiting forward to publish the site - there were many new ideas and small visual effects that would have made the site very interesting (and of course the products themselves).