Inside the Creative Process: Art, Words, and Morning Robes
I often find that the bridge between painting and words is a difficult one to cross – especially when your latest work decides to speak a language of its own.
Even though I’ve always loved writing, being a visual artist often brings moments inside the creative process where words simply disappear.
Lately, I’ve been painting a lot. The more I paint, the harder it feels to write all those applications and descriptions that an artist is constantly expected to produce. It’s just as difficult to read what other artists write about their work—and even harder to read a critic’s take on anyone’s paintings.
It feels like words just bounce off the surface of a painting without ever sinking in. When you paint, you are inside the artwork, living between wordless layers. It’s a good place to be. At least until you make the mistake of asking yourself: “Hey, what exactly are you painting right now? Tell the camera! Write it down! Share it with the world!”
When that happens, my confident grip on the brush vanishes, and I start to stutter: “I’m just… putting some green here… and a little bit of red. Just a tiny bit …”
Inside the Creative Process: When the Painting Speaks First
As a painting gets closer to being finished, the words come more easily. Or rather, it feels like I don’t have to go looking for them because the painting has something to say for itself. Even though I don’t speak French, I feel like my latest work speaks the language. I call her Boheme. She is like a woman opening her front door in a morning robe, with everything in her life a bit scattered and messy.
In my own life, I think I’ve only opened the door in a morning robe once when a surprise package arrived. Back then, the postman certainly didn’t see a mess behind me — everything was in its place. So, it’s a mystery why this opposite creature appeared on my canvas. I knew from the start that I couldn’t control her with a heavy hand. Not because Boheme would be afraid of orders, but because I have no desire to fight that kind of energy. I’d rather let her grow, be free, and express her own kind of beauty.
Dreams I Didn’t Know I Had
Maybe that’s where the conflict lies. My own world is small, and I find myself quite uninteresting as a person. Yet, my paintings reach further and bring out things I didn’t even realize I was thinking about. That’s my favorite part of this job—seeing your dreams come true, especially the dreams you didn’t even remember having.
Despite all this “unconsciousness,” it’s still good to recognize the words, music, scents, and moods that belong to your artistic vision.
Finding the Right Mood
A few weeks ago, my husband told me about a record review he had read. He hadn’t heard the album yet, but the description stuck with him. Just from his brief explanation, I got a strong feeling it could be interesting for my art. We searched for the article to find the singer’s name. It was the album LUX by the Spanish artist Rosalía, and it felt familiar from the very first notes. I love her track Bergheim. It mixes different styles with classical music, creating a luxurious, grand, and slightly mystical atmosphere.
Boheme and I have been listening to the song together. Through her, I’ve realized that when it comes to morning robes, the mint-green terry cloth one my mother once bought me has nothing to do with the luxurious creations Boheme has in her closet. And those are the kind of closets you actually want to leave open when you answer the door.
And that’s the true beauty of art: it always gives you a better view.
The annual major painting event, the Sales Event of the Finnish Painters’ Union, takes place in March at the Cable Factory, Helsinki. I am participating in the event with this painting, along with a few others.
Making a Creative Impact – My Words for 2025 and 2026
I like to choose a word for the year that guides my actions. In 2025, it was “Release”. This year, it’s “Impact”.
I think that Impact is a natural continuum of the word Release. Once you have learned to release a lot, it’s time to learn more about making a creative impact.
Have You Chosen Your Word?
Tips for choosing your word from last year’s blog post:
>> Choosing the Word for 2025
Discover your word through art journaling from 2019:
>> Guiding Word – Choosing and Visualizing Your Word of the Year
How Did My Word Work in 2025?
In 2025, I released a lot. It was not only because I wanted to, but also because I had to. The year was very challenging financially, and the world events have been depressing. It has meant bad things for the Finnish economy as well.
My art year could be divided into three sections: oil painting, watercolor painting, and drawing/art journaling.
Reflections on 2025: Exhibition + The Best Painting
In February 2025, I had a solo exhibition at the gallery Gumbostrand Konst & Form, where I presented not only my paintings, but also my virtual reality artwork, Unknown Land, which I completed the previous year.
Here’s a video about preparing for the exhibition.
Another highlight of the year was a visit to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
In 2025, I painted five oil paintings and a couple of acrylic paintings. It is usually difficult to choose the best painting, because they are all unique, but I think I am most proud of this painting called Elixir. It has already been sold, because I had to, but I have looked at the image of it many times since then.
See how Elixir was made: Following the Inner Color
Watercolor Painting in 2025: Wild Garden
One of the biggest projects of 2025 was making the course Wild Garden. I made a lot of recordings for it, some of them from our garden. Before Wild Garden, I had made a course called Freely Grown, where you also paint flowers freely. But in Wild Garden, I wanted to go deeper and expand the subject. Wild Garden is a tribute to flower gardens, where we paint flower greeting cards and larger garden views.
>> Wild Garden – Flower cards and garden scenes in watercolor – Buy Now!
I love painting flowers freely with watercolors. I painted several flower watercolors in addition to the pieces for the Wild Garden course.
>> See how this painting was made: Let’s paint Like Emily Wrote
Happened in Drawing/Art Journaling: Fun & Mystical
In 2025, I pulled together everything I’ve done over the recent years in art journaling. In spring, I made a course called Hearts and Stories, where you make small drawings and use them as collages on the journal pages.
>> Hearts and Stories – Draw hearts and characters – Buy Now!
In summer, I went through my art supplies (Art Supplies I Should Not Use Anymore) and donated the supplies I no longer needed to a person who had just started an art hobby. In the fall, I went through all my art journals (Half-Empty Art Journals I Should Fill Up) and combined or discarded some. I also finished one of my art journals and made a video about it.
In December 2025, I released a course called Mystical Minis, where you draw abstract art with colored pencils. This course really captures the essence of the word Release. When I got the idea for the course, I decided to just follow my own lead – the words “Intuitive Power” – and let my creative engine run at full speed. I was in a flow state, and making the course felt exciting. I hope Mystical Minis is also an exciting and mind-opening experience for you, too!
>> Mystical Minis – Draw abstract art with colored pencils – Buy Now!
Word for 2026: Impact
I have been thinking about the impact the outside world has on me and how I can positively influence it. Even if creative ideas arise naturally and intuitively, I also want to think about what kind of impact they make.
For example, when finishing a freely-born painting, highlighting one detail above the others increases the impact. In the painting Cosmos, it was important to paint a small blue flower so that it connects the universe in the upper right corner and the beautifully rising vase.
>> See how this painting was made: About Music and Painting
In my work, whether it’s creating or teaching, I want to adjust small things to achieve even greater impact and connect many kinds of things in an impactful way.
The word Impact is not only directed outward, but also inward. We can ask whether all inspiration has to come from the outside. We are exposed to a large amount of information and external events anyway. So, could now be the time to give more space to inner inspiration that will have a more creative impact? I want you to start this kind of process with my course Mystical Minis, and in 2026, I aim to support you on this path.
I think that the biggest threat to art is that people give responsibility for their own thinking and entertainment to others. Then there are no paintings at home, only screens. Then moments become fragmented, and there is never enough time for yourself and your art.
Smilingly: Tell me, am I getting old? Or am I just too Finnish with these thoughts?
Anyway, I hope to remain relevant to you and make a positive creative impact on your art-making in 2026.
Building a Mystical Course with Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia
Usually, after making a course, I think: never again! It takes time to get new ideas and energy. But this time, after finishing Wild Garden, I had a new idea right away, and it felt like someone was talking to me: “You must do this, Päivi. If you don’t, nobody else will.”
The upcoming course is called Mystical Minis. We will create abstract art with colored pencils.
We will make small drawings, and each takes only about an hour to create. At the same time, we see our inner world in a new light and build a self-feeding process for creating art. This course will bring both excitement and depth to your art-making. I believe it will leave a permanent mark on you, and I hope you carry the influence of it with you for a long time what ever art you make after the course.
Mystical Trio: Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia
With Mystical Minis, I honor three women from about 100 years ago. Two of them are pioneers in abstract art: Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) and Georgiana Houghton (1814-1884). The third one is the modernist author Virginia Woolf (1882-1941). You can’t find another course similar to this one, I promise!
Mystical Flow
I have been super-motivated to create the new course. So far, I have also enjoyed making it immensely. Some courses are born with intention, while others come out naturally, and those love children need to be born without too much forcing. It’s the very same thing as in the art-making! This course wants to come out, and I will help it.
I usually question the course idea many times before I start making the course. I especially think about whether anyone will buy it and what kind of people would. But here, it feels like Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia do not care. They just want the course to be born. They want their voice to be combined with mine, and that brings an extraordinary meaning to this work that truly feels mystical.
If you have been in my courses, you know that I am not a secretive person. I always try to explain everything as openly as I can, and I can’t help smiling. And when I asked Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia, why they picked me, they said: we need somebody like you to complement us, just be you and everything will go fine. And I have trusted them and followed my inner voice to gather all of us together, not only Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia, but also you who want to create a new kind of connection to your inner world.
Mystical Minis – When?
I am currently editing the videos. I don’t have the exact publishing date yet, but I expect releasing this mystical course late this year or early next year.
Flower Painting Comes to Life – Watch the Video!
This week you get to paint with me in my little studio. We follow the birth of this flower painting from blank canvas to an exhibition.
In the video, you see me painting and chatting, and also get to visit my current exhibition at the gallery Gumbostrand Konst & Form. The exhibition is from Feb 12 to March 9, 2025 in Sipoo, Finland.
From Blank Canvas to Exhibition Piece – Watch the Video!
While I paint the flower painting, I talk about making art, becoming an artist, and what it’s like to paint freely and not use any reference photos. This is a longer video than usually because I have collected the material for it many months.
In the video, I talk not only about painting but drawing too. I love to play by drawing, and that play affects my paintings. Never underestimate the effect of play, and always keep playing and drawing, no matter how high you want to reach!
Hearts and Stories – Sign Up Now!
Let’s draw for your inner child and make the most out of simple shapes!
Hearts and Stories will begin on March 17, 2025. >> Sign Up Now!