About Me And Making Art - Part One of an Ongoing Saga

Let me start by stating that although I like to write, I am not somebody who likes to write about my creative processes. Mainly because in my opinion this takes me away from making art and in my heart of hearts I hope that people will interpret my art in their own terms. But turns out that many people like to read about the art they see and artists who create it beyond the descriptions that most artists give in connection to the pieces they publish. So, I have decided to share about me and making art and this is the first blog I am writing in regard to this. So, read on, if you are interested. I will start with early memories. I think it is important that I share that first of all, to large degree and as long as I can remember, I have always felt like an outsider in this world, like a visitor everywhere. Do not get me wrong, I feel a deep connection to Mother Earth, but not to any particular part of her, more like the whole of her. The first thing ever I remember deeply connecting to and feeling a sense of belonging are the stars in the night sky and this was way before I knew that in reality we are stardust. I have never really felt like I belong to any one particular country or place, so, it was not difficult for me to leave my country of birth, Finland, when I felt compelled to do so. This happened, by the way, as an unexpected turn of events that involved my mother getting engaged to an American from Mountain View whom she met in Finland. My mother's plans to relocate to California compelled me to find my own reasons to come to the United States since at that point I was over 16 years old and could not come as a child of my mother due to this. I found out about art schools, since I knew I wanted to study art and eventually, after considering alternatives including Chicago Art Institute and California College of Arts and Crafts, ended up choosing San Francisco Art Institute. It was possible for me to attend an expensive art college because when I was only 10 years old my father had died in a car accident on a business trip and he was heavily insured, which left me with an inheritance which I received when I turned 20. I had graduated from high school one year and three months before I arrived in California. By this time my mother had decided that she could not leave Finland and had changed her mind about getting married to the American. Since I had been accepted to SFAI and had completed all preparations for the move, I decided that I was going to attend San Francisco Art Institute anyway and arrived here in August 1979. Had anybody told me years before this happened that I was going to end up living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I would not have believed them. It was a twist of fate that brought me here. If Bill had not shown up in my mother's life, I would not have thought any further than attending an art college in England. Life can take totally unexpected turns and I truly believe that destiny interfered in my life in this instance and many times since then. I also feel that art chose me. It is the creative expression that stems from deep within the core of my being and I would have a hard time imagining a life where I would not create art and design. Visual arts are my calling and making art and designing give me purpose. I have been painting and drawing and creating art for as long as I can remember and I received my BFA degree from the SFAI in December 1982, at which point I was recently married in November and in early 1983 I received my green card. Making the decision to marry and stay in the United States was a huge decision, even if I never felt like I truly belonged in Finland. I am certain that being an immigrant has only added to my sense of not belonging to any particular place and feeling more like a citizen of the world. I used to feel like I had one foot planted in Finland and the other in United States in California and my head was located somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean. But this does not mean that I felt like a giant. More like a child of the universe.