Author of the week - Interview

When did you start to be interested in art? Why did you choose to draw? I have been interesteed in art so long I can remember. My both parents and two uncles and a cousin were painters and I used to observe and imitate them. I didn't choose to draw but I painted in watercolours since having three years old. I ever could not see any other way of life. Do you remember your first artwork, what was it like?   I cannot remember my first artwork, but some of the earliest ones still exist. They are paintings, soft, dark and abstract ones. What are your favourite topics and why? Is there anything you would not depict?  What are your favourite topics and why? Is there anything you would not depict? It's a bit more complicated issue. The nature, the wonder of life itself are essential subjects. Iґm interested in the relationship between the man and the nature. The wild nature is shrinking by the effects of man. There are threats like pollution, deforestation, global warming and so on and on. I would like to take stand for the nature and environment and animals. How education has influenced your creativity and changed your professional way?   Those days painters used to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Finland. It was wery useful. We learned to draw and paint the life model. We got the professional skills to draw and paint. This allows me to paint what I like, even portraits. From which authors do you get inspiration?   There are so many favorite artists. I admire Greek statues, renaissance painters, e.g. Leonardo da Vinci, Piero della Francesca, Giotto. Also many others, Rembrandt, William Turner, John Singer Sargent, and of course the Impressionists. What, do you think is the place of visual arts in today's life? Do you think art can influence the public life? Our world has become very visual. The problem is, that our urban environment doesnґt look usually very good. There is the place of arts today. Human beings who like visual arts also take care of the appearance of their surroundings. I think art can influence the mind of a human being and consequently the surroundings of us. Having more public art and beautiful cities and views, the life would be better and there were less psychological illnesses. Human beings are stressed, they have lost their values and dreams. Art can deal with these abstract issues and give us hope. Do you think that nationality has its place in art? Yes I do. Different nations have various traditions and habits and they can give their own contributions into art. Are there any projects you are working on at the moment?   Yes there is. I'll have my next exhibition in Helsinki next october. It will be my 31th solo exhibition. Then I'm going to show new paintings which deal with the human mind, the greed, the values and how they are in relation to the natural world. How do you see your future? I would like to see it positively. I think that till today I have become more mature and learned from my mistakes, I hope. I know what I want to say and why. I think that I have some skills to execute those ideas. Here, as always, the problem is that it is so hard to get ones work known. The economical situation of artists in Finland is difficult. I have been working at the University of Art and Design, today the Aalto University, as a teacher of drawing and painting. I have also been painting portraits all these years. Would you say in one sentence what is the art for you? Art is the most substantial content and meaning of my life.