helsinki

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Train passengers, Helsinki 2009



Sketchbook_Helsinki_2009_018, originally uploaded by Brin d’Acier.

I started sketching during my daily commute once more.



Sketchbook_helsinki_2009_019, originally uploaded by Brin d’Acier.


Sketchbook_2009_025, originally uploaded by Brin d’Acier.


Sketchbook_Helsinki_2009_024, originally uploaded by Brin d’Acier.

Train doodles 2009:

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Helsinki sketchbook: Sunny Windowsill full of Cacti

As my day job grew more and more demanding, I had no time to paint. I realised I had to start sketching once more, simply to keep my artist self alive.

Inspired by Danny Gregory’s “Creative Licence”, I started drawing objects around me. It’s something I had done before, but not as a conscious exercise.

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The domestic tourist, Helsinki 1991



Sketchbook_Helsinki_1991_131, originally uploaded by Brin d’Acier.

I kept drawing almost everyday, recording everything around me. I was living part of the year in Paris, so I felt like a traveler in both countries.



Sketchbook_Helsinki_1991_129, originally uploaded by Brin d’Acier.


Sketchbook_Helsinki_1991_128, originally uploaded by Brin d’Acier.

Rosanne painting ceramic sculptures.



Sketchbook_Helsinki_1991_140, originally uploaded by Brin d’Acier.
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Weather studies, Helsinki 1989-90

When I moved back to Finland after ten years abroad, I found myself a stranger in my own country. I started exploring it, keeping a travel journal. I recorded the changes in light and weather, studied once familiar landmarks that had become exotic.

These watercolour sketches were done from the seaside at the southernmost tip of Helsinki, and show the 18th century fortress island of Suomenlinna, often called Gibraltar of the North. It is a just a ferry ride away from downtown, but in many ways remains a small village. In the summer it is overrun by tourists and picnickers, but when the last ferry has left, it returns to a slower rhythm. I lived on the island as a child, and came to school by ferry. In the winter, when the sea froze, I walked to school over the ice. Yes, it was safe, they even ran a road for cars over the sea, and there was a wooden sidewalk running alongside it.