25 May, 2021
Two of my city-themed paintings were accepted into the annual exhibition of the Finnish Watercolor Art Association, which had the theme of the city this time. I submitted three works for the jury, one depicting a Finnish cityscape and two inspired by foreign locations. The foreign scenes won this time, as they were the ones accepted into the exhibition.
One of the paintings selected for the exhibition, titled “Floral Alley,” portrays a sunny view from Izmir, while the other artwork is from Oslo. I have only seen the former in pictures, but I painted the latter based on a photograph I took. The inspiration for the painting was a moment captured in the photo as I walked the streets of Oslo on a cold evening in March. The city lights dimly illuminated the dark night. A solitary walker moved forward, wrapped in the warmth of a coat, and their footsteps echoed in the silence. In the midst of darkness, a glowing yellow old building turned out to be a traditional restaurant called Stortorvets Gjæstgiveri.
The exhibition took place from May 18 to June 6, 2021, at the Cable Factory’s Valssaamo in Helsinki. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I couldn’t attend the exhibition in person, but fortunately, I received pictures of the event.
See my other watercolor paintings.