I am sorry

It all happened super quickly! The gallery, Stogis – Aulagalleria, is located in the lobby of the building where my studio is. The gallerist approached me three weeks ago and asked if I’d like to take over the space for March. And I was like: Yes! Let’s go. I have plenty of art in my studio and they (the paintings) love to go out to freshen up empty walls.

This exhibition feels like an extension of the window exhibitions I used to have at my previous studio-showroom space, which I moved from a year ago. I love coming up with new collections within the works I’ve already created. For show, I’m repurposing paintings from a series called Flourishing, which was on show for five months last summer in a care home in Porvoo.

Did you know the human eye distinguishes more shades of green than any other color? It’s a hue that lowers our stress and fuels our creativity. These lush paintings were perfect for a care home, but they are also perfect for any wall to inspire and hopefully ease the nervous system. Like nature. The selection was also inspired by March—the time of year when Spring in Finland finally feels like it’s actually going to happen after a looooooooong winter.

I have most of the paintings listed here if you are interested in seeing them online.

While it’s too late to invite you to the opening held last night (thank you to everyone who came!), the exhibition is open until the 29th of March. I will also host an in-person Artist Talk at the venue on Sunday, March 15th at 3 pm, and one week later on the 22nd, an IG Live artist talk on my account @ellimaanpaa at 3 pm. If you have questions, please send them by commenting, email, or DM on Instagram.

As you are reading this, you might have already noticed that I changed the newsletter platform from Mailchimp to Substack. You don’t need to do a thing—you’ll keep receiving my updates in your inbox just like before. Of course, I’m keeping this free, as this is an intimate way to connect the ideas I have around my artistry and creative entrepreneurship through words.

However, on this new platform, the newsletter also doubles as a blog, meaning you can browse through all my past posts whenever you like. I thought this was a good time-management improvement! Also, from now on, you can leave public comments and chat about my work right here on the platform.

I also need to learn to use this platform for an artwork coming to The Well-Fed Artist exhibition next spring at the Hotel and Restaurant Museum in Helsinki. The best way to learn is by doing and trying. That means there might be some stylistic hiccups, but bear with me. Thank you for your understanding and support!

I was inspired by a speech at the opening of the Tove Jansson Gallery at the HAM Helsinki Art Museum a couple of weeks ago. The charismatic Sophia Jansson—niece of the late, world-famous Finnish artist and writer Tove Jansson—gave a speech in three languages: Finnish, Swedish, and English.

Instead of repeating herself, she moved seamlessly from one language to the next. I was mesmerized—not just by her ability to do it, but by the audience’s ability to follow along. While I’m not fluent enough to speak Swedish, I can understand it, especially with the right context.

The very next day, I was on a bus with 15 daycare children. They were speaking Finnish to their teacher, who replied in Swedish. Impressive, right?

So, long story short: I’ve decided not to worry so much about translating the exact same text for my Finnish and English newsletters. Instead, I’ll share information in the language that feels most natural for that specific topic. Don’t worry, though—I’ll still keep everyone in every language updated on all the important art news and exhibitions! Sometimes maybe a little later than “perfect”—but hey: imperfection is way more interesting, as it’s as human as only a human can be.

Thank you for tuning in. Have the most amazing March!

Warmly,

Elli Maanpää