I was about 7 years old, when my father began to teach me to paint landscapes from Lake Saimaa. I learned later still-life painting, portraiture and caricature. I worked years in Finland and Norway as a drafting geophysical and technical. Because of work and children I couldn’t paint as much as I wanted.
After returning to Finland I saw paintings of Martti Innanen and Lea Pihkala. Their paintings were full of humour, colour, joy and messages. I fell in love with Naïve Art.
After that my life changed drastically, I only wanted to paint and study more. I started painting my life experiences. Finnish summer dance and sauna culture as well as swimming in crystal bright waters; lakes and ponds are often the subject matter in my paintings. Some of my paintings are influenced by my volunteer work that I did for 30 years at the international winter sports events as an attache. Also ice swimming in the blue moment of wintertime is important to me. The topics of my paintings of the local history of Lahti supported my work as a guide and vice versa. Creating art has literally saved my life. Hard times have turned into good times.
I am still a development-oriented optimist.
I have taught Naïve painting with oil paints and washing techniques at several art workshops and Adult Colleges. The colour of gouache and ink changes the shape of the work greatly during the process. My washing technique is suitable e.g. for poetry book illustrations. In washing techniques the fast result is also fascinating.