People

Portraits

What's in a character? I've always been curious to see, understand, feel. Learn what makes a person tick, their purpose and aim in life. That includes myself - and the self-portraits that have been born through the years of change. As an artist, as a husband, as a father, as a traveller. I love to explore the same in those around me; find the core, discover the flame, the 'it' that makes them 'them'. A character in their natural surroundings is a particularly appealing theme for me: exploring their raison d'etre through colour and brushstrokes.

In the garden

Apple orchard changes by the seasons. Always an inspiration, never less than in springtime with blosoms greeting the sun, ready to welcome summer. Fnnish nature, Nordic summer scenery, with a promise of things to come. Paradise City? Well, for me that's been on the outskirts of Jyväskylä - for quite some time.

Midnight Sauna

Sauna and summer. Finnish sauna is something one must experience firsthand. Possibly by midnight, swimming in moonlight. It's hard to capture but impossible to not appreciate once you get there, fire crackling and the dawn already just hours away. Sauna is about recycling. The wood fired up gives the heat, the heat clears up our energy. This piece features secondhand mosaics for the frame. Beauty, recycled.

Pink smoke

As late summer arrives, dark nights appear. Starry skies suddenly visible after midnight sun. Apple trees bearing fruit, colours deepening by the day, Nordic nature scenery getting ready for the fall. Watching it all, observing in awe as the seasons change. Autumn colours appearing.

Portrait paintings by Paavo Stenius. Finnish contemporary art, character paintings. Oil paintings on canvas. Expressionism. Expressionist portrait paintings.