The exhibition opening/poetry book launch party was really lovely and I had so much fun once my nerves settled down. Some 650 photos were taken during the evening, which was first narrowed down to 399, then 226, so it's safe to say I've still got a lot of work ahead of me deciding which ones to share with you. I can already promise several posts about the event later this week and a steady flow of new-to-you mixed media pieces later in February. What's still unsold come March will be listed on Etsy during the spring months.

Tonight I'm showing you how my paper chandelier turned out. Pretty fabulous, right? It looks perfectly at home in its new home (so, yes, it's going to keep on looking fabulous at my favourite bar in the future, too). It's made out of 6000+ one inch paper circles (darling V punched out like 95% of them to save my poor wrists, which are, by the way, doing much better already), wooden hoops, twine and thread. To give you a better idea of the scale, the bottom hoop has a 58,5cm / 23" diameter. The paper used is, unsurprisingly, vintage book pages, from the first half of 20th century. There are two shades of paper used here (can't really see it in the photos, though): the lighter coloured pages are from a western, while the darker pages are from a book that reads like a romance novel that has replaced the steamy romance bits with religious fervour. I read neither thoroughly before destroying them, but I feel no guilt since it looked like they had been untouched since 1940's, or longer, and they bore no significant cultural value. I really am quite picky about the things I ruin (=turn into something much more awesome). If you're about to make some artsy stuff from old books, google the titles first, for heaven's sake! I've seen some things I'd like to unsee...

If you happen to find yourself in Jyväskylä in February, don't forget my Historioita (Histories) exhibition is open daily (mon-sat 14-02, sun 18-02) at Bar Vakiopaine!

Photos by Minna & Kyösti Vilkuna