humour
© Bizarro.com – scanned from Vancouver Sun Nov.26.2005
A little message to yours truly and her obsession with rock art?
by Marja-Leena
by Marja-Leena Finnish libraries
The Dome Hall, National Library of Finland
As I’ve mentioned before, I love reading Virtual Finland* for all kinds of interesting facts about my birth country. I knew that Finns have long led the world in reading and literacy. Here are some great articles to reveal their collective respect for literacy with their wonderful libraries, including an advanced library network called Library 10, a state-of-the-art library in the centre of Helsinki that acts as a living room and cultural and information centre open to all. This groundbreaking library opened in April 2005 and soon it was being lauded as an information centre the likes of which could not have been dreamed of by yesterday’s champions of popular education. Library 10 offers everyone a route to the information superhighway and the world of experiences, and library users can also create their own material.
Then there is the architectural gem The National Library, also in Helsinki, which we must try to visit our next time there. It exists to preserve printed treasures, ancient and modern. Its position, where east and west meet, make it unique. In its corridors and halls, old and new western and Finnish classics meet a comprehensive collection of 19th century Russian printed matter, including an exceptional assortment of works written in the eight minority languages of the empire. Read* about the many interesting historical collections preserved and displayed at this library.
Living out here on the very young west coast of Canada, I’m fascinated by the ancient history in Europe and other countries. Visitors from there, on the other hand, are enthralled with the young and modern here. I do like both, but here we must try to save more of the old for posterity, hmm? Certainly our libraries are not preserving history, yet.
* sadly Virtual Finland no longer exists, links removed
by Marja-Leena an installation photo
Installation photo of Silent Messengers: Connecting with D’Amico #1-5 (left to right)
Well, I’ve spent many hours getting intimate with the digital camera and an external flash trying to get some decent installation photos of my work. As I’m no expert with the finer points of this technology, it’s been rather frustrating. The conditions in the gallery are difficult to overcome with its different types of lights, bright spots, dark spots, a ceiling that is grey and textured that won’t reflect a bounce flash, and the art work that has a shiny mylar layer. The colours keep coming up wrong, such as the walls which are really a greyish white in real life. So, I’ve resigned myself to offering this pitiful photo of the group of prints called Silent Messengers: Connecting with D’Amico #1-5 in addition to the other one I posted recently.
As I’ve mentioned before, artist Karen D’Amico** of London, UK, and I met and corresponded through our respective artist blogs. She mailed me about a dozen close-ups of rocks that she had photographed. Karen offered these to me to use in my work as I wished. I chose five of them to create Silent Messengers: Connecting with D’Amico #1-5. Thus it became “a borderless collaboration of sorts”, as Karen commented.
I am going to arrange a photo session in the audiovisual centre of the library with proper lights and a high-end digital camera, maybe with a polarizing filter, to take proper photos of each of the new works. Usually I take slides with a regular camera, but more and more galleries are finally accepting digital images on CDs. It will save the step of scanning slides when I need digital files, like for this blog.
All going well, these will get posted here soon and archived in my portfolio under Printworks at the top left. (Then you will get a better look though never as good as the real thing!) If you haven’t already seen them, check out the first three Silent Messengers there. The last ten Nexus series prints, some of which were the first experiments with layering and with full digital printmaking, are also in the show. These are rather scattered in the Nexus portfolio, having been posted in the infancy of my blog.
** Reedited March 15th, 2013: Karen has not been at this blog address for some years, so link has been removed. I have now quite accidentally found her new eponymous website: Karen Ay
by Marja-Leena American Thanksgiving
Today’s view outside the window at my computer, just before the fog thickened…
What a foggy foggy week we are having though the sun is shining on the mountaintops, I’m told! Sometimes one can barely see more than half a block away. The fog is not only on the coast but even in the interior, as my daughter and partner found driving home on Sunday. I did get a lot of overdue fall gardening jobs done on Monday in the damp chill. I’m still struggling with getting better installation photos of my exhibition. Today’s results are a bit better, but I’m going to try another tactic tomorrow. I’m learning. I hope to post some more shots for your viewing pleasure tomorrow.
According to the stats, the majority of my readers are in the US, and I’ve noticed that activity on many of their blogs is rather quiet this week. Then I remembered, it is American Thanksgiving tomorrow, and a major long weekend holiday which many will extend even longer. Unlike the Canadian Thanksgiving in early October, this one becomes the start of the Christmas shopping and holiday season. Someone once told me that they put up the Christmas decorations at this time. What are the different traditions amongst my American readers, I wonder?
I wish a happy and safe Thanksgiving to all readers, friends and family in the US – don’t eat too much turkey and pie!
ADDENDUM: Friday, November 25th. Today is Black Friday in the US.
by Marja-Leena Exhibition Photo & Statement
Installation of Silent Messengers: Hoodoos I to V (left to right)
Artist’s Exhibition Statement
For some years now, my work has been informed by and engaged with the contrasts and tension between connections in the ancient marks made by early humans, (particularly in the areas of my ethnic roots in northern Europe), in Nature’s own mark-making and shape-making (such as the Hoodoos), and in my own use, as a modern human, of new technologies in image making.
The “Silent Messengers” series of prints are the most recent works, the culmination of experiments and research into combining traditional and digital printmaking techniques on paper and mylar as evidenced in the “Nexus” prints also shown here. I have desired to exploit the effect of layering transparent materials to embody a concept of time and continuity of humans and nature.
Referencing ancient rock art in a modern way is my way of acknowledging this long thread of connection with those humans and artists of long ago.
Much of my research is by way of the internet and books, virtual travel in the comfort of my chair. One of many inspiring researchers for me has been Pekka Kivikäs, a keen documenter and author of books on Finnish rock art aimed at readers interested in the ancient culture of Finno-Ugric regions. Kivikäs considers rock art “the silent message of man from behind the thousands of years”. Recently rereading about him and his work, I was struck by that phrase, considering that my current print series is titled “Silent Messengers”.
Silent Messengers
Studio Art Gallery at Capilano College
North Vancouver, BC, Canada
November 16th – December 7th, 2005
Note: In the archives under PrintWorks – Silent Messengers, you may view closer photos of Silent Messengers: Hoodoos I, Silent Messengers: Hoodoos II and Silent Messengers: Hoodoos III. Proper photos of Hoodoos IV and V will be posted later when I’ve taken slides of all the latest new work.
by Marja-Leena opening night
Here are just a few photos of the opening of Silent Messengers, my exhibition of mixed media prints which opened on Wednesday evening, November 16th. (I’m the one in the red shirt!) Though many friends did not make it that night, there were quite a few nice surprises amongst those who did. It was exciting to meet in person several people whom I’d met through my blog like Jason, and blogger Jill with Nola, and Linda and Brian who gave me a tiny book Petroglyphs of Quadra Island by Joy Inglis, a reprint of part of The Spirit in the Stone. That book, that is my post on it, was how they found my blog and wrote me about their own visits to the petroglyphs, so thank you for that special gift and for your presence that night!!
It was also great to see Michael Boxall, former editor of Arts Alive, who had done a fabulous interview of Bonnie Jordan and me about our show that was going to Finland back in 2002. He spent a long time looking at the group Silent Messengers: Connecting with D’Amico #1-5, saying those were his favourites.
Thank you everyone for all the great questions and conversations about my work and the very positive feedback. A special thank you to Peter, a fellow artist, for helping me install my work earlier that day. As I wrote earlier it was a very exciting day in more ways than just this opening!
I know these photos don’t show much of my work at all, but I will post some installation shots soon, though I will have to reshoot some of them later.
By the way, if you are in the Vancouver area, haven’t yet seen the show yet and would like to visit it, the exhibition continues to December 7th. If need be, I may be able to open the gallery outside the posted hours if you let me know by email.
by Marja-Leena post-vernissage
Thanks again to everyone for the wonderful comments and emails these past days, I love hearing from you all! You have told me that you are eagerly awaiting photos of the opening, and I promise they are coming very soon. Life is hectic these days as an artist and as a mother and grandmother, in a happy way. I’m slow because I need to try to correct most of the opening night photos that came out a ghastly green because of the digital camera’s interpretation of the strange mix of incandescent and mercury vapour lights in the gallery. On Friday, I also took some installation photos and have to download and likely colour correct some of these too. I might even have to reshoot some of these.
In the meantime, do read this excellent argument of conceptualist versus sensualist written by Mark Wladika of Newmark Confidential, from the view of “the patrons and supporters of art”. “Our task, our joy is the pure sensual relation to art. We get to simply look and feel and experience, with our brain put somewhere in the background.”
I can strongly identify with this argument as an artist, too. If I get too involved in “thinking” about what my work is about before I do it, I can get stuck with being too analytical or self-critical and not make the work. The key for me is to maintain the emotions and excitement of finding connections in ideas and images, that is, keeping the brain in the background. Later comes the critical analysis of the work and placing it in the context of a greater theme, and finding the right words to describe it. I guess that means that I’m not a conceptual artist, one who begins with the idea and the words.
P.S. Hey Chris/Zeke, if you are reading this – my email reply to you is being rejected as spam!! I want to let you know that I’m not ignoring your email. I tried to write that I love the word “vernissage” much more than “opening”, and yes, it went well, thanks!
by Marja-Leena Mappi & my etchings
Finnish blogger Maria emailed me recently to ask if she could present some of my etchings on her blog and of course, I was pleased to assent. There they are now, beautifully displayed on MAPPI*. Reading her very perceptive comments about my work in the Finnish language seems rather strange to me because it’s a rare event. I have been browsing through the archives of MAPPI which feature artists working in a variety of media, and they are all beautiful and moving works which attest to Maria’s keen interest and eye for art. I am pleased and honoured to be included – thank you, kiitos, Maria!
Finnish readers will also enjoy her regular blog Marian studio** where she writes about her art form of collaging journals, and about music, literature, art and life.
* this site no longer exists, link removed
** has changed to registered readers only
by Marja-Leena a birth day
Proudly announcing the birth of our second grandchild Niamh Eili, another grand-daughter, a little after midnight November 16th, 2005!
What an unforgettable day! A 12:45 am phone call announcing the birth added to my excitement level and lessened my sleep credit hours for the day ahead. The hanging of my show and having the opening in the evening had me running on adrenalin.
The opening went very well. I was excited to meet several new friends made through my blog, and our eldest daughter surprised us, coming from out-of-town and adding to the excitement.
Warmest thanks to everyone who came and everyone who sent me good wishes here and by email. I will write more about the opening once I’ve downloaded the pictures and gathered my thoughts in a coherent fashion.
Last but not least, of course after the opening we had to go and visit our tiniest, beautiful brand new family member. What a sense of regeneration and continuation I felt seeing her. Some years ago, I remember feeling a sense of loss as our family had shrunk with our parents gone. Now our daughters have partners and another generation is growing. Time to add another leaf to the dining room table this Christmas! Now I need a nap…
Addendum Nov.18th: Baby’s other granddad wrote this welcome!
by Marja-Leena flash drawing
You must watch this fascinating animated drawing of a skeleton coming to life! It’s been making the blog rounds, but I saw it first at Zeke’s Gallery. As Chris said, it’s “wicked cool”. The source appears to be a Russian site. Any readers out there who can read Russian? Try a drawing yourself!