Peony and Parakeet

Fly to Your Inner World and Color the Emotion

Color the Emotion

Pick a few colors and create without stiffness.

Category: Artistic Identity

Magical Cat and Its Many Lives in Art

Posted on Posted in Animals, Artistic Identity, CraftsTagged , 4 Comments on Magical Cat and Its Many Lives in Art

This week, I present a new cross-stitch pattern based on my drawings, and ponder about my word for the year: “integrate.”

Paivi Eerola and her cross stitch pattern Magical Cat

It’s finally time to release the cross-stitch pattern that you, my dear blog readers, voted for in April. The pattern is based on the cats drawn for the course Magical Inkdom.

Magical Cats, hand-drawn by Paivi Eerola, for the online art course Magical Inkdom.

Magical Inkdom is one of my most popular courses, so no wonder so many suggested choosing a cat for the cross-stitch design.

Magical Cat Cross Stitch Pattern

The pattern is called Magical Cat. It features a soft and cute cat with sparkling eyes. I like to decorate, so I did that for the cat too. I have taken inspiration from fabrics and jewelry. The color scheme is sweet and happy, and gray serves as a good background for all the pinks, greens, and yellows.

Magical Cat - cute cross stitch pattern

The pattern is now available for digital purchase in my little Etsy shop Needle and Peony. In addition, you need embroidery threads, suitable fabric for embroidery, and of course scissors and a needle. Information about thread colors is on the pattern page.

Magical Cat framed in a hoop. Designing a cross stitch pattern

I have embroidered the design on 14ct aida fabric and it measures approximately 10 x 10 inches. You can embroider just the cat if you want a smaller model. And when it comes to cross stitches, choosing the higher density of the fabric makes the model smaller.

Integrate!

When taking photos of Magical Cat, I have been thinking about what I want to give to the world as an artist. My word this year has been “Integrate” and I have allowed myself to try all kinds of things as much as I could combine them with what I have created before.

Paivi Eerola and her cross stitch pattern Primavera.
My first cross stitch pattern Primavera

I’ve created many different things, for example, motion art based on my paintings.

A screenshot of Paivi Eerola's video artwork "Ornamental Land"
A screenshot of my video artwork “Ornamental Land”

And my latest course Joyful Coloring combines watercolor pencils and modular thinking, where the picture is built piece by piece.

Paivi Eerola holding her watercolor pencil art.

Now, when I look back on the year, not only “integrate,” but also additional words come to mind.

Repeating Themes

One is “design,” because I’ve been using things that I learned in the industrial design degree.

The second is “techniques” because I have learned a lot of new ways to create.

Creating virtual reality artworks, using Meta Guest 3 glasses.
Wearing virtual glasses and testing the virtual reality artwork “Unknown Land”

The third is maybe “confidence” because even though I’ve been in the discomfort zone many times, I’ve stubbornly convinced myself that I can do it all. That has led to new confidence – I can finish and publish all kinds of things and not just leave them as experiments. Finishing gives me a lot of satisfaction.

Paivi Eerola and her oil painting Turning Point.
“Turning point” – oil on canvas. My first white painting. Read more about painting this!
Purchase this painting from a Finnish online art store Taiko!

Maybe the fourth word is “joyful” because most of what I’ve done has brought me joy, even though it’s been hard work. I hope that the variety of projects that I have presented in this blog has brought joy to you too. My magical cat has had many lives indeed!

But today when I look at my results, I see them as scratching the surface in many directions. I want a new strategic word for next year. I haven’t decided on the word yet, but candidates are at least “elevate,” “expand” and “deepen.”

What do you think?

From Painting to Digital 3D Art – Part 2

Posted on Posted in Artistic Identity, Big Projects, Digital, OtherTagged 6 Comments on From Painting to Digital 3D Art – Part 2

September is the last month of the grant I received from The Finnish Cultural Foundation. It’s time to show you the final virtual reality artwork and share more about my journey from painting to creating digital 3D art.

Unknown Land - a screenshot of virtual reality art, created by Paivi Eerola, Finland.

This week’s video is a sequel to the video “From Painting to Digital 3D Art” which was published in April this year.

Finished Virtual Reality Artwork – Watch the video!

In this second video, you continue to see how I transferred the visual and expressive language of my paintings into a 3-dimensional digital format. All this includes adding movement, sounds, and interaction. It’s a pity that you can’t experience my VR artwork with virtual glasses and hand controllers, but I have made all kinds of recordings to deliver the experience at least partly.

I hope you enjoy this video that not only presents the VR artwork called “Unknown Land,” but also talks about painting and developing a stronger artistic vision.

This is one of the biggest projects that I have had, and it feels sad that it’s now coming to an end. I seek opportunities to display my virtual reality artwork, and hope to have a private exhibition in the near future that has both my paintings and digital motion art.

Integrate!

My word for this year has been “Integrate.” As I said in the video: I will continue to draw, paint, model, code, and compose. One activity doesn’t exclude another. I hope you will continue following my journey no matter what I create, and I hope to inspire you in one way or another. In art, we are always heading to an unknown land – you never know what comes up next and how it will change your life! And while we go to new areas, it’s also good to integrate – to save and not abandon – everything we have created so far.

From Painting to Digital 3D Art

Posted on Posted in Artistic Identity, Big Projects, DigitalTagged 2 Comments on From Painting to Digital 3D Art

This week I have a video that is made for all who love art and love creating art. It’s about my artistic journey from painting to digital 3D art. My new digital creations move and change color on screen and in virtual reality.

3D Art – Watch the Video!

I am currently making digital artwork in a three-dimensional world. I have received a grant for it from The Finnish Cultural Foundation. The project will continue until September 2024, but it has progressed to the extent that it is good to gather thoughts and show some results on a video.

The main programs I mentioned in the video are Nomad Sculpt, Blender, and Unity. My virtual glasses are Meta Quest 3.

The artwork is not finished yet. The most important thing that I need to do is the interaction with the viewer. I will also include sounds. Fortunately, the project still has five months left. The project is part-time, but on the other hand, breaks are good, because the ideas have time to grow.

Traditional 2D Meets Digital 3D

I understand that I am only at the beginning of everything that technologies make possible and where my artistic thinking can go. It’s exciting. For a long time, I have envied how the students of my painting and drawing courses have great enthusiasm to learn new things. Now I have this situation with digital art.

I am grateful to have been born in an era where all this is possible. With digital art, we have something Rubens and Kandinsky would envy. It would be wonderful to show them all this, even if it would be only just this video. I think a certain da Vinci would like to join Rubens and Kandinsky! There have always been artists who have wanted to see into the future and go on a journey to an unknown land. I think this attitude doesn’t break the tradition but keeps it alive.

What do you think?

Belonging Somewhere as an Artist

Posted on Posted in Artistic Identity, Flowers & Plants, Going Beyond the ConventionalTagged , 8 Comments on Belonging Somewhere as an Artist

This week, I share my word for 2024 and thoughts about the good and bad in the sense of belonging. I also have a new finished painting!

Muutosvoima - Driving Force, acrylics on canvas, 2024. An abstract floral painting by Paivi Eerola, Finland.
Muutosvoima – Driving Force, acrylics on canvas, 2024.
See more pics at the Taiko art store!

I haven’t used acrylic paints on a canvas for a long time. But now I wanted to paint faster and not wait for the layers to dry.

Painting Freely

This painting took me a couple of long evenings and I deliberately left it abstract, because the subject of the painting is not about the flowers, but about the power rising from the ground.

Here’s how the painting started: loose strokes and juicy colors.

An abstract acrylic painting in progress. Read thoughts about the sense of belonging by Peony and Parakeet.

It’s easy to fall in love with colors, but when you want depth, you also need muddy colors: browns and greys.

Creating abstract art. Adding muddy colors to bring attention to the other parts.

I like to use several different brushes in one painting, and my favorite brushes are very thin.

Abstract art. Painting details with a thin brush.

The title “Muutosvoima – Driving Force” sums up what I want to tell with this painting. Muutosvoima could also be translated as “power of change.”

Paivi Eerola and her painting Muutosvoima - Driving Force.

I believe that the best power of change is not the hype created by others, but the inner enthusiasm that has a grounded tone. Because isn’t it so that flowers only bloom when the earth warms up? Sunlight alone is not enough.

Belonging Somewhere – The Good and The Bad

I’ve been thinking about togetherness lately. It’s a wonderful feeling. For example, last week when many people commented on my post, I felt happy that this blog brings us together. One of the best things that has come with the internet is that you can be pretty weird and still find like-minded people.

Abstract florals, a detail of a bigger painting.

However, the sense of belonging has its danger. Art is about walking your own path. Encounters are important, but you also need to go in the other direction to create something unique. As a teacher, I have often thought about how I could better guide people in their own direction.

Brush strokes on canvas. Painting loosely and in an abstract style. Pondering about the sense of belonging.

Art is like a pot that you have to break first and then put together again. The pot can be broken in many ways and at best, you find your own way to put it together. You need a driving force to break the pot and then persistence to rebuild it.

Finding Your Places in the Art World

In my career as an artist, I have often wanted to be like someone else. I have envied popular artists and then later realized that I wouldn’t want to create the kind of art that they do. I realized that I would like to be popular in creating something else and somewhere else.

Signature on a canvas painting. Pondering about the artistic identity and the sense of belonging.

With experience, the art world opens up. Instead of one hall, you begin to see numerous smaller rooms. What is popular in one room can be overlooked in another. Being an artist requires a lot of self-esteem and the power to move from one room to another.

Holding a painting in the spring garden.

When you find one room that feels like your own, the sense of belonging is at its greatest. However, it’s better to move between several rooms and find many groups. At best, the artist acts as a bridge between different things.

My Word of the Year – Do You Have One?

My word for 2024 is Integrate. This year I have allowed myself to do more diverse things, but on the other hand, I have tied all the pieces together so that one benefits the other.

Have you chosen a word for this year? How has it been realized?

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