Altered art book: page 14 Helsinki not ducked nor flinched from

 

 

 

 

page-14-altered art book helsinki

‘Helsinki’

‘And they’d duck and flinch’

This page really stumped me!  Why had I chosen those words?  What did I know about Helsinki?  Why was I attracted by this word?  I had no alternative but to bite the bullet and follow the words I had chosen a couple of years ago.  When I chose the words originally, I thought of ships sinking, probably the Titanic.  I think the stamped star was going to be a ships wheel.  However, I looked at some Google images and painted a small water colour of HELSINKI!  I then decided to research some Finnish artists: I found a few.  

aalto-paimio-chair

 One of them, that some call the  Father of Modernism is Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto, b. 1898 – 1976, a Finnish architect whose work incuded glassware, painting, architecture and furniture.  He liked to experiment with materials: bending wood to form his famous Paimio cantilevered chair, originally designed for tuberculosis suffers.

 

 

 

 

_schjerfbeck

Another Finnish artist, Helene Schjerfbeck (b.1862 -1946), was known mostly for her self portraits, painting 36 of them during her lifetime.  This one is from 1939 the year war broke out.

 

 

 

 

tapio-wirkkala-designer-scuptor

Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala (b. 1915 -1985) worked as a graphic designer and sculpter and was also an industrialised designer.  His organic vase designs look like sculpture.  His hand blown vase with flared rim, called ‘Kanterelli’ was made for Littala who produced various models of these vases from 1947 – 1960.  These small bowls, silver plate over brass with incised design are by Wirkkala.

Well I still don’t know where Helsinki came from, BUT I didn’t duck it and I didn’t flinch, lol!

 

 

 

 

page-13-and-14-helsinki

The finished pages 13 and 14, which proved the most difficult to do.  I wonder what lies ahead……..

 Media used: ink, watercolour, paper, rubber stamp