THE KALEVALA, A MUSICAL TOY

In 1835 was published the first version of the Finnish national epic, Kalevala. It is a story about the creation of the world and adventure of witches and nature, collected and compiled from oral folklore by physician and philologist Elias Lönnrot.

He made eleven field trips to collect the stories from people. Väinämöinen is one of the main characters of the epic, singing magically and playing a kantele that he built of the jawbones of a pike. There are also a bear, a swan, boats, the god of the sky Ukko, singing contests, a magical talisman and many great journeys.

In 2010 my friends Oliver Blank and Kalle Karjalainen had the idea about making a small musical toy and interactive painting about this great story. It took a little while. This summer we received a small fund for it, thank you for that Kalevala Korun Kulttuurisäätiö! Today you can finally see the app and download it for free for your iPhone or iPad.

Hopefully you enjoy it! 

Happy melodies of a rainy day. ♥

The Kalevala, an interactive painting and musical toy

Concept and music by Oliver Blank

Illustrations by Anna Emilia Laitinen

Programming by Kalle Karjalainen

(The photos are by Mr. Oliver Blank.)

...

Heippa! 

Pieni sovelmamme, The Kalevala, on viimein saatavilla täältä.

Onnellista sateenropinaa!

POLAR SUMMER POSTCARDS II

It is the sky that gives all that space to breath. Those trees that are not there, making everything to look like all is very close to you. The roots of mountains, their tops and the valleys in between them.

Then you see a small rock and think that it is very far and very big when you reach it. But it is just very close and very small.

There are the stones that hide secrets inside. Forty to sixty million years old secrets of plants that were hiding under a glacier all this time. Plants that grew there when it was very warm. Now it is all in permafrost.

The village that naps in sunlight during night time. The long shadows. The wind that does not reach anything, and comes from the sea or the glaciers. The moment when the wind stops.

The line between the known and unknown. The touchable.

The clouds that can travel to see it all as long as they do not get stuck on mountain tops. Some of them were hanging in the same place for three days.

The colours that sometimes were there and then it all could turn to black and white.

Summer continues. In Finland it is very green and warm, compared to the polar images above. The thunder storm of last night did not come. More boat trips, statue museum, bicycling, swimming. The starry nights are here. Still I continue to think of those landscapes. 

Have a beautiful weekend!

POLAR SUMMER POSTCARDS

The mining village that was abandoned, and looked after by the glacier. The light on the glacier that coloured the whites, the greys and the turquoises. The sea that had white peaks on waves once in a while. 

A walk to pass mountains. To a valley with a lake and a red house. Tea water boiling, a greeting message on the table from the previous visitor. Beds to sleep. Small glacier streams close by. Reindeers on the moss. All so silent. The thought about the backyards of mountains, what lies there?

Mountain Avens, a hint of blue sky. Peeking glaciers on all directions. The sound of running water in the glacial streams.

A night boat trip. The light at midnight. The reflections of the glacier so alive. By boat, going around small ice floes. Curvy water road. Puffins, Little Auks.

The silence with songs of birds. Searching for the deepest turquoise. Secrets for sure.

A night floater, brushing his/her beard.

Water roads

Night boat trip adventures. ♥

Happy August, have a calm weekend!

♥

Polar summer holiday greetings. 

My heart, I think, was left somewhere there in the middle of glaciers, mountains, Greenland Sea, Arctic Ocean, blue sky, fossils, long rubber boat rides, fog, puffins, seals, arctic foxes, reindeers, cool breezes of the wind and the sun that shone all the nights through. With 3000 polar bears.

♥

SUMMER PATHS

Wild strawberries and strawberries from the fields of my parents.

Ferry rides and curvy forest roads. After a summer storm checking if the tall trees survived.

Warm glimmering waters inside those tall trees.

Warm and sweet, pine scents and first blueberries. The scent of lake water. Could stay in the water until evening.

Birch trees. Last night, Patti Smith told in her concert here, a story how birch trees are girls that danced so long that they turned to birch trees. Dancing forests.

Shadows on silver meadows.

Sunset.

Ninety years old sauna. The cosiest one. Watching as shadows grow taller. A few steps behind to pick a few handfuls of strawberries.

Strawberry fields forever.

AN ISLAND, A LIGHTHOUSE, ROOTS

Night train towards the North. A bus and a ferry to the landscapes of mist and rain. A small trip to see where my grandfather's mother was born. The thick clouds disappearing from the island, the sun tickling, wind calming down. Beautiful music festival just by the lighthouse. Sunset by the beach listening to the waves.

Middle of the island a village with kind people, good food, tiny piglet and a goat that became a mother for an orphan calf. Light violet harebell meadows everywhere. Sunshine on shoulders, a birch branch to keep the insects away.

Traditional houses painted with Falu red, flea markets and the scent of bent-in-the-wind Scots pines in sunshine.

Afternoon walk in the warm sea.

With a friend. With sun tan.

Evening walk.

Sunset and the songs of seagulls and terns. The horizon disappearing.

Sleeping next to the lighthouse and dreaming of the times when my grandfather's mother lived here. Maybe now I understand why I dream of islands and the blinking towers.

Summer trips with never setting sun.

Greetings from the island!

And warm and sunny July to you!

SAILING AROUND ISLANDS

Cloudy sky and rain far-away. As we depart from the dock, a few raindrops caress. Two rainbows and the sunshine arrives. 

Birch trees everywhere, bowing towards the mainland. Wind is low, but the sails take us further for a while.

The fortress is in its summer dress. (And in its winter dress.)

There, far-away in the horizon, a ferry and the lighthouse Harmajan majakka. Rain and sun. The patchwork quilt of the waves, the sound of them.

The beautiful wooden sailing boat, starting to understand how wonderfully human beings have learnt to use the wind, to built and to sew the sails. To navigate. Sailing dreams came true.

At home, bicycle trips around curvy forest roads. Lupine meadows.

Lakes that are patched with yellow water-lilies and reflections from the forests and sky. A moment of mist.

Have a calm Midsummer with a little bit of magic and dreams, small expeditions!