Mataleena burns a log, MPK6

Painting 6. Mataleena burns a log, MPK6

According to Ilman Impi's instructions, Mataleena burns a log on a July summer night with the moonlight shining on the surface of Lake Koitere. Mataleena, sooted, eagerly awaits the fire to go out from the stump, so that she can search for the seeds of words and the roots of a song at its root.

Mateli series paintings “SUOMEN MUUSA” project

At the end of 2003, I heard about a project that followed in the footsteps of Elias Lönnrot in eastern Finland. I became interested in the matter and by chance got involved in the topic “Mateli through the eyes of today’s artists”. I learned about the history of the events. I became interested in the life of Mateli Kuivalainen. I myself have lived my youth in eastern Finland, so Mateli’s environment was familiar.

I started developing a chronicle and let my imagination run wild. The chronicle was gradually completed. It told in fiction how Mateli perhaps collected the seeds of words and the roots of songs in his dreams. I picked up passages from the chronicle as painting subjects, from which I painted pictures. Initially, there were supposed to be a little more paintings, but time set the limits and 15 paintings were created.

At the same time, I had a project related to the events at the end of the Continuation War in Hattuvaara, Ilomantsi. The exhibition venue for the “Mateli” paintings was the Makkola Museum House’s riihi in Hattuvaara, Ilomantsi. The frames for the paintings were created from material that had been reserved for the riiku fence. I think it suited the museum environment well.

The paintings were painted in the cold riihi for four years, summers and winters. The subjects of the paintings reflect many of my hobbies. My interest in sailing, fishing, walking in the forest, astronomy, and my long-time seagull friend can also be found among them.

The paintings are made on jute canvas, which is stretched on a wedge frame. The paintings are primed using a technique that I have had since the sixties. The model was a traditional semi-oil primer, which I have applied with fillers to the sparsely structured jute canvas, modern materials and my painting technique. The paintings are painted under the pseudonym Antero Bärholm. Taisto Pärepalo

Presentation of the paintings

The folk poems composed and sung by Mateli Kuivalainen, a poetess born in Siitari on the banks of the Koitere River in Ilomantsi, are an important part of our country's national poetry treasure. Elias Lönnrot had Mateli sing for two days in September 1838 and received a wealth of material. On his eighth poetry-collecting trip, Lönnrot had to redo the editing of Kantelettare in order to include the 94 poems composed and sung by Mateli. Lönnrot called Mateli "the Muse of Finland".

Mateli Kuivalainen was born in 1771. He was perhaps the last poetess who actively created and sang poems. Poets are rarely poets and singers; Mateli was both. Mateli did not marry until he was 21. His life was, as was common at the time, meager and difficult. Infant mortality was high. Of Mateli's 11 children, five died very young, six grew to adulthood. Mateli's husband, Antinpoika Ikonen, was a rather poor man, and he did not want to become anything from housekeeping. This added to the bleakness of life. Mateli received her first inspiration for singing from her own mother. Mateli's songs reflect the joys and sorrows of the time very lyrically. Mateli lived the last years of her life with one of her daughters and died in 1846.

This Chronicle and paintings are the artist's tribute to a person whose creative ability was unparalleled. The fictional chronicle tells how Mateli, or Mataleena, perhaps got the seeds of words for her poems and the roots of the melodies for her songs. The paintings depict some of the events in the chronicle, inspired by the artist's imagination.

Painting 1. Mataleena's house, MKT1

The building group in the painting is taken from a photograph taken by Samuli Paulaharju in the early 1900s. The buildings no longer exist in their original location.

Painting 2. Mataleena and Veden Ahti, MVA2

Mataleena meets Veden Ahti, cures her gout from Veden Ahti's feet and receives a little advice as a reward on where to find what she is looking for.

Painting 3. Mataleena and the pike, MHK3

Mataleena meets a pike roosting in the reeds and receives advice that it is worth asking the whitefish for further instructions.

Painting 4. Mataleena sailing in a storm, MPM4

Mataleena continues her search and bravely sets off on a raft to the great water, to be carried away by the wind, even though she has never seen or experienced the sea, perhaps only heard of it.

Painting 5. Mataleena and Ilman Impi, MII5

Mataleena is caught in the fury of the sea. The raft breaks up and she is drowned. Ilman Impi notices her plight and saves her.

Painting 6. Mataleena burns a log, MPK6

According to Ilman Impi's instructions, Mataleena burns a log on a July summer night with the moonlight shining on the surface of Lake Koitere. Mataleena, sooted, eagerly awaits the fire to go out from the stump, so that she can search for the seeds of words and the roots of a song at its root.

Painting 7. Mataleena and love in the moonlight, MAK7

Mataleena has met her future husband and the passion of youth and the full moon carry love with them into a hidden red-hot cloud.

Painting 8. Mataleena and the child, MLP8

Mataleena has had her first child, who did not live long, however. In the picture, a happy mother cradles her child in a mystical landscape. Flame in the rings of Saturn.

Painting 9. Mataleena strives for Manala, MPM9

Mataleena was going through a very difficult time in her life. Overwhelmed by grief, she wanted to die and therefore strived for Manala through the gate in the Orion nebula. The guard bluntly says that it is not yet Mateli's time and encourages the singer to continue her life's work, that is, to write more songs.

Painting 10. Mataleena and the soothsayer, MTT10

During her space journey on a mystical planet, Mateli meets a soothsayer who encourages her to look at the beautiful Karelian landscapes around her on Earth and draw strength and enthusiasm from them to compose songs.

Painting 11. Mataleena and Mother Earth, MME11

After returning from space, Mataleena meets Mother Earth. In conversations with her, she realizes that the country has the power to grow, both for its people and for its culture.

Painting 12. Mataleena Wanders to Escape the Wolves, MVSP12

Mataleena has received what she needs, namely the seeds of words and the roots of songs. She wanders along the banks of the Koitere in a winter landscape, with wolves howling and following her. Tired and wet, this little person wanders in the midst of vast nature and hopes to soon reach the warm clearings of her husband.

Painting 13. Mataleena and the Song Garden, MLP13

Mataleena is tending her abundant poetry and song garden. From this garden, Elias Lönnrot picked beautiful flowers and shrubs for his Kantelettare. The Flower Path to the Distance is the floral splendors that have spread from Lönnrot's "tree container" and Kantelettare to Finland and the rest of the world.

Painting 14. Mataleena Turns into a Seagull, MML14

Mataleena is old and tired. Finally, Tuonen Kalastaja came from the foggy Koitere and asked Mataleena to come with him. As she glided along the calm surface of the water, Mataleena wanted to take flight, and so she turned into a seagull and soared to the heights in joy.

Painting 15. Mataleena flies on Koitere, MLK15

“She flew onto the back of an island, a small, red-haired one, under the sunny sky. There she is everywhere, in beautiful Karelia” On summer evenings, when the setting sun reddens the islands of Koitere, a beautifully shimmering seagull flies near a red-hot island, which, reddened by the evening sun, clearly stands out from the other seagulls. It is worth going to see it, if you can see it.

Artist introduction

Artist A. Bärholm, Taisto Pärepalo was born on 01.03.1945 in Elimäki. Kitee was the playground of my childhood and youth, when my interest in painting arose. My first textbook was “The History of Classical Painting”. Watercolor painting since 1960. Painting with oil paints began in 1961, when I got my hands on a book from which I learned the secrets of oil painting.

I soon switched from purchased colors to oil paints that I made myself. At that time, I could get linseed oil and beeswax from the pharmacy, and I got color powders and turpentine from the hardware store. The finished colors kept well in glass jars under wax paper and water. Sketches were made with charcoal at that time. From 1972, ink sketches and drawings began to appear.

The strong watercolor period was from 1974 to 1977. The next creative period has been from 1987 and continues to this day. During this time, drawings, watercolors and oil paintings have been completed. I studied to be a master builder from 1975 to 1979.

Art studies: self-study from various textbooks and art exhibitions, by studying the working techniques of various artists. The goal is to adopt the proven methods of the old masters, both in terms of quality and durability, and to apply this knowledge to today's materials. The studies are still ongoing. I have not received a single hour of art instruction, because I want to develop myself in my own way.

Exhibitions I have participated in

1963 Student exhibition at Kitee Middle School. Group exhibition where I had watercolors and oil paintings.

1991 Book Café Amanda Porvoo. Private exhibition, with watercolors, drawings and oil paintings.

1990 - 1992 Hakka headquarters. Private exhibition, with watercolors, drawings and oil paintings.

1995 Art Hall Porvoo. Art Association amateur exhibition, with four oil paintings made with a palette knife.

1997 Art Hall Porvoo. Art Association amateur exhibition, with an oil painting.

1998 Art Hall Porvoo. Art Association amateur exhibition, with an oil painting.

1999 Art Hall Porvoo. Art Association amateur exhibition, with two resin oil paintings.

2000 Art Hall Porvoo. Art Association amateur exhibition, with one resin oil painting.

2004 - 2005 Ilomantsi Hattuvaara. Makkola art collection, oil paintings, fictions about the 1944 war events in Ilomantsi. A series of cards for the Fighters' House related to the events.

2005 - 2008 Hattuvaara in Ilomantsi. Makkola House war museum, with the exhibition Mateli Kuivalainen "Finnish Muse"