In the borderlands (Rajamailla) solo exhibition

I'm about to have my first ever solo exhibiton next week. 

Here is info about it in finnish: 

 Rajamailla-näyttely 

Näyttelyni käsittelee rajamailla olemista - tilaa kahden seikan välissä. Rajatilat voivat olla fyysisiä, kuten kaksi erilaista ympäristöä, mutta myös henkisiä, kuten unen ja valvetilan rajat, hämärän sekä mielen rajat. Tämä näyttely tutkii erilaisia rajatiloja, joita voimme kohdata elämämme aikana. Viime vuosina koko maailma on ollut jatkuvan muutoksen kourissa, ja jokainen meistä on joutunut kohtaamaan omat pelkonsa ja haasteensa. Me olemme kaikki käyneet omilla rajoillamme, ja tämä näyttely heijastaa tätä kokemusta visuaalisina mielenmaisemina. Näyttelyn teokset ovat pääasiassa maisemia, synkkiä metsiä, heijastuksia vedessä, sadetta ja usvaa - ne kuvastavat liikkumista oman mielen syvyyksien rajamailla. Käytän maisemia ja luontoa symbolisesti kuvastamaan tunteita, joita rajatilojen kohtaaminen voi herättää. Itselleni luonto on tärkeää ja sen merkitys on viime vuosikymmenen aikana korostunut vielä enemmän sen ollessa uhattuna. Oman seesteisyyden ja tyynen mielentilan löydän parhaiten metsässä liikkuessa. 

 here is my translation: 

In the borderlands exhibition 

My exhibition deals with being on the borderlands - the space between two things. Boundary states can be physical, such as two different environments, but also mental, such as the boundaries of sleep and wakefulness, the boundaries of twilight and the mind. This exhibition explores the different boundaries we can encounter in our lifetime. In recent years, the whole world has been in the grip of constant change, and each of us has had to face our own fears and challenges. We've all been at our own limits and boundaries, and this exhibition reflects that experience as visual mindscapes. The works in the exhibition are mainly landscapes, dark forests, reflections in water, rain and fog - they reflect movement in the borderlands of the depths of one's own mind. I use landscapes and nature symbolically to reflect the feelings that encountering borderlands can evoke. Nature is important to me and its importance has been emphasized even more during the last decade when it is threatened. I find my own serenity and peaceful state of mind best when moving in the forest. 

Sorry, the english translation is a bit clumsy. Originally "Rajamailla" is a bit of a word game in my languge. It means being on the edge of something as well as being in borderlands. Translations are a tricky thing!

Art during lockdown

The covid years were difficult time for me. I had a new job as an IT consultant and several customers and demanding projects. A global pandemic and some isolation from the rest of the world and difficulties with this and that. 

BUT! despite that I managed to do art and had some exhibitions and sold several paintings. Art is always the best getaway :)

Below iis a pic of me and my daugther at Galleria Fogga Veden Varassa exhibition in Sptember 2021

and this drawing of a tired baby bird describes my covid feelings the best :D 

Back to painting!

It was great to have an exhibition again! It was of course weird in these weird times as well. There was no exhibition opening like usually because of covid-19. For me this exhibition was however a great motivation to get back to painting. I've had an almost 3 years break in painting. 

When my daughter was born I was very inspired to do paintings' and I created some of my best work. When she grew up a bit more life became however so busy that I rather started to do drawings than paintings. Paintings make a mess and take several hours. Drawings are much easier and less messy. You can work on a drawing for 30min and put it aside and continue later. 

So due to the busy life with my wonderful daughter my paintings have been a bit on a break. Now she is however bigger and we can even paint together. She often does her drawings or own little paintings while I am painting :)

Thank you everybody who came to the exhibition and I'm very happy that some of my work found a new home! Thank you once again Galleria Fogga! See upcoming exhibitions at: www.fogga.fi 

Exhibition at the Fogga Gallery

I'm participating in a group show again! The theme is "symbolism of water".

Opening hours and more info about the gallery: https://fogga.fi/

Art book publication: Black and White: vol 5

I'm very proud that my art is featured in the "Black and White: Volume 5" book by Out Of Step Books. The book features some of the best black and white artwork/line drawings from artists from around the world. I'm so happy to be among such a bunch of amazing artists! 

Shout it out for Hobos vol.4

This year I'm participating again in this rescue dog charity auction. You can see the auctioned items here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ShoutitOutvol.4/

Rescue dogs and animals in general are close to my heart 😻 
I have donated some art prints for the auction. 

more about Kulkurit ry: https://kulkurit.fi/

Twin Peaks UK festival 2019 art gallery

"Where we're from, the birds sing a pretty song and there's always music in the air"

I'm very happy to announce that my Twin Peaks bird trilogy drawings will be on display next weekend 5th & 6th October 2019 at the Twin Peaks UK Festival in London at the Stoke Newington Town Hall. The event has a whole art gallery dedicated to Twin Peaks inspired art. The Twin Peaks UK Festival is officially licensed by Twin Peaks Productions.

I'm a big Twin Peaks fan myself. Have been since I was 13 years old and the series came out originally. This is also the first time that my art is on display in the United Kingdom, so this is awesome to me on many levels :)

https://www.twinpeaksukfestival.com/

Garden of death

Hemulen in the garden of death.

Combining two of my favorit artists in this picture; Tove Jansson and Hugo Simberg.

Tove Jansson (1914 -2001) is one of the best known artist from Finland.
She was a multi-talented artist and author who is mostly remembered as a creator of the Moomins.
The weird and friendly garden enthusiastic Hemulen is one of my favorit characters.

Hugo Simberg (1873 -1917) was a significant symbolic painter and graphic artist from Finland.
Angels, demons and death played a big role in his art. His tender and humorous images of death invites the viewer to consider mortality in a new light.

Animal skull mandala

Lately I've been doing some animal skull mandalas. Here is a sample, a bird skull mandala. There will be lots more. I upload my art usually first on Instagram on my new digital account: https://www.instagram.com/nadja_digi/

Small update on my previous post :) I've already sold a lot of prints and several originals at the Mikä-art store in the beautiful Fiskars village! Fiskars village is one of my favorite places in South Finland. It's full of interesting stores and the location is historical and absolutely beautiful.

One day and two gallery openings

Today was a super art day! I had two gallery openings on one day! I've been doing a lot of animal ink drawings these past two years and now most of them are on display at the library of Nummela. There is also a new art store at the beautiful Fiskars village called Mikä Art. There are now original paintings and drawing for sale and a few prints as well. I'm so happy for all these opportunities to show my art!

Working for Wacom

Last week I worked at the camera fare in Helsinki for Wacom. What a fun job opportunity, since it was sort of a combination of my skills. I have apart from art also a degree in information technology. Wacom products are high end technology products for creative people. I also have my own Wacom pen display at home and lately I've been working on digital art with both Photoshop and Illustrator.

New digital art is in progress!

Nordic Noir

A few months ago I purchased a Wacom tablet. When it comes to art I've always preferred traditional tools, but then again I'm a graphic designer and I work with digital graphics on a daily basis. I've done a lot of digital children's illustration in the past, but since those were the customers commissioned work, I've never displayed those illustrations on my website. 

Now I tried a new approach on digital illustration and I'm actually quite happy with the result! I'm already working on new ones in similar style. Why this gloomy pic? I'm very much into Twin Peaks and Nordic Noir, so that's why 😊 the model is my friend Ulrika.

whale drawing

So, my first drawing this year is a whale!
A few years ago I saw a whale for the first timne in my life. It was not a humpback whale but a sperm whale at Andenes/Norway. To see a real whale was a very special moment for me. A dream come true! Obviously I'm going to draw a sperm whale at some point too 😊

37 drawings

I've been busy last year! I did 37 drawings in total! I didn't realize I've done so many drawings. There are also several drawings that I never finalized, so I've been pretty much drawing every week. I have also done a lot of work you'll never see here. During my maternity leave from work I did freelance graphic design for several different companies. I've done some brochures, advertising and rollups and I even did a user interface design for a Windows software and I illustrated a whole information technology related book. I'm proud to be so effective! 😊

However I didn't manage to do everything I wanted to 😐 I wanted to do a 2019 bird calendar or calendar with fable animals. I guess it's 2020 for the calendars then.

Caravan trip with a 1 year old

Last summer we had a wonderful 3 week caravan vacation to Sweden and Norway. We had a borrowed mobile car and traveled with our 1 year old daughter. We did several small hikes in the mountains and had a lot of photoshoots. Hiking was easy when our girl was travelling in her backpack.

These kind of vacations are so inspiring! I love big majestic mountains, but I also like exploring all the tiny plants that grow in the mountains. I took photos of all kind of animals we encountered and I even managed to do a drawing while travelling.

Below are some pics from our trip.