Open the door! It's summer!

Actually it's the end of September just now but I will recall summer 2008! You can see my wife sitting on the door of our summer cottage in Central Finland in this colour-pen drawing. The door is not broken (it was only my imagination) but we had a feeling that it was a real summer, in the beginning of June, and we were extraordinary happy!

This summer (2015) began not so tempting because the cold and rainy weather. It continues with a dry late July - beginning of August which caused us a lack of mushrooms.  

There are still two days left to visit my exhibition in Petäjävesi Library. Be hurry! Next exhibition will be hung 1.10.2015!

"More drawing", says everybody!

Very many friends have encouraged me to continue drawing, and I agree!

I have now tried several techniques from pencils to oil (not water colors - I was frightening them already during my school years!) and I think that it is time to focus on pencils. "Life is too short to learn painting". Maybe I will have an opposite opinion later, but just now....

I will thank my friends for their comments - especially Liisa! We went to my exhibition in Petäjävesi and she wrote in the guest book: "Draw, Juha, Draw"!

Water-soluble colour pencils are a novel method for me and I start practicing with them. I'll send some results here soon....

"Colour My World!" sang PETULA CLARK on sixties! I am listening her and still miss colours....

Some harmful defects in drawings.

Harmful errors and accidents can spoil your drawings - be careful!

The drawing on the left side was drawn by me in the middle of sixties, during my art class in Imatran Yhteislyseo (Imatra High School). We went to the Imatrankoski Rapids (beneath Imatrankoski Power Plant, the waters of rapids are therefore dammed). Marker felt pens were a novel tool on those days, and I used two of them, both black, when doing this work.

But! After 50 years it seems that another dye has got a new, brownish appearance! I really do not know if it is a bad or good transformation, but originally it was intended to be all B&W! 

Be careful, use only one pencil!

The right drawing has got an absolutely bad treatment by a leak of some kind diluting agent. The passepartout can be replaced but the corrections of the drawing are very hard to perform. 

Be careful when using diluting agents! 

More photos of my exhibition in Petäjävesi Library, September 2015

Photo 1. Three techniques: colour pencils, acrylic colours and oil colours.

Photo 2. B&W drawings made with calligraphy felt-tip pens (1,2 and 3 mm). Upper work: The Old Church of Petäjävesi, an UNESCO Heritage target.

Photo 3. Calligraphy felt-tip pens with colour pencils.

Photo 4. Works with acrylic colours. The landscape on the right bases on a photo from the island of Karpathos, Greece, and shows the oldest building which I have ever visited!

Photo 5. Entrance of Petäjävesi Library.

Art Exhibition in Petäjävesi Library, Vol. 2: Two ladies helping to install the works!

Thank You, Sanni (first photo, 1.9.-15) and Arja (second photo, 2.9.2015)! All your advices helped significantly. Special tanks to Arja who removed old soft tapes from the wall!

More photos soon in new posts.

Art Exhibition in Petäjävesi Library, Central Finland, Vol. 1!

You are Very Welcome to my first private exhibition in Petäjävesi, Central Finland (some 40 km from Jyväskylä towards the city of Keuruu)! Opening times 1.-30.Sept.2015: Mon,Tue&Thu 12-19, Wed&Fri 11-16. 

More photos & experiences from the exhibition in next posts!

Nearly one thousand visitors in KOPRU summer exhibition!

Summer 2015 has been relatively busy: staying on the countryside out of the reach of "modern civilization" (= Internet) has prevnted the updating of this blog! Gardening is, however, a perfect alternative for spending time with PC in the city.

Sorry to say: I have been very inactive in arts from May to August. But the construction of the annual KOPRU exhibition woke me to select five works of my own, one of them even from the year 2000!

Wanha Woimala ("Old Power Plant") served as our exhibition hall again. I cannot image a better site for our works - silent, big windows, not too hot or cool - and all the environment on the Vaajakoski channel area is most interesting.

Hanging of the paintings and drawings usually lasts only 2..3 hours. First to find the works which fit together, then hanging them in the right positions - and that's all. We used numbered stickers beneath the works which refer the printed lists available; this method is easier than to add all information on the works themselves. Thank you, Maija, for this invention!

This Friday, 28.8.2015, was the last day of the exhibition. Well over 900 visitors during August made us very happy. It seems that it isn't too complicated for pedestrians and bikers to step some stairs downwards to the 1st floor of Wanha Woimala and see our works!

- Next, very soon: the retrospective exhibition in Petäjävesi library in September! See you soon...