Ruth Vilmi | Espoo FINLAND
Painting has always been a passion for me, and even more so during the last ten years. At school, my art teacher told me that my work was naive and reminded her of the English painter L.S.Lowry. I’m not good at drawing, so my work is probably still rather naive, but also quite impressionistic or post-impressionistic. I spent my childhood in England, and I also worked in France and Nigeria as a young adult, before settling in Finland. I believe that my early experiences in these countries still influence my choice of colours, which are bright and more cheerful than those used by most of the artists around me. I didn’t paint much during my marriage, but in the summer of 1999, after my divorce, I started painting again, this time in gouache and oils, first outside on a beautiful Finnish island, and then at the botanical gardens, Helsinki. These paintings were very impressionistic and emotional, in strong bright colours.
In the autumn of 1999, I joined a local art class, which I still attend, now with Marja Mali as my teacher, as well as several others. I still paint in oils and with bright colours, but also enjoy doing large, sometimes pseudo-abstract paintings in acrylics. I also regularly paint in watercolours, and greatly enjoy watercolour landscape painting in the open air every spring and summer. I sometimes paint alone but have been guided by two Finnish teachers, Marjukka Paunila and Marja Mali, and also by Russian, Georgian and Estonian teachers. People admire my wet-on-wet watercolours and say that this is my strongest area. My watercolour painting is rather impressionistic and romantic, and very colourful.
I’m now retired, and currently in my final year of a 3-year Basic Art Course at Espoo Adult Education Centre. This course gives us the opportunity to try a wide variety of art-related subjects, such as ceramics, sculpture, woodcuts, installations, embroidery, photography, and environmental art. For my final work I’ve chosen painting and ceramics, with an environmental theme. People say that they can recognise my style anywhere, and my fellow-students talk about “Ruthism”. They also say that my work is cheerful.
In 2006, I gave the proceeds of my exhibition at Helsinki University of Technology to the intensive care unit of the children’s hospital in Helsinki. In 2010 I plan to have an exhibition in aid of ‘Sight First’ to combat child blindness. It’s rewarding to know that others might benefit from my passion. Painting makes both myself and those who see my paintings feel happy, and this is the main reason why I paint.
