Transitioning from a career as a flight attendant to an artist is quite a shift. How did this change affect your outlook on creativity and life?

When working on the plane I often thought about the sceneries and the different people I saw every day. In many occasions I thought about how certain things would look in a photograph or a painting.

Somehow making art was constantly in the back of my head. Making art is, of course, now easier since I don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night and I can stay in one time zone. But aviation will always stay close to my heart and I keep looking at the sky. At the moment also I’m thinking of painting airport/travel related scenes.

Your journey from Finland to Kraków is fascinating. How have the cultural and architectural contrasts between the two places influenced your art?

TI have lived in many cities and countries, but Kraków is definitely one of my favourites. I love looking at buildings here and how people feel home in an old, beautiful, human sized city that is proud of its history and culture. Urban landscapes are interesting to me because they are always in movement, people coming and going, new things happening and buildings being torn down and built again.

Your art for Echoes mirrors daily life. How do you choose the subject of your pieces? How do you choose which still life events are worthy of a piece?

It’s hard to say exactly. It has something to do with composition and lighting. For example the “Travellers resting “ piece came to being by just looking at people on the Kraków main square. I pause to think where they might be from and how long they are on the road. Sometimes I also see myself in travellers thanks to my own experiences in touring the world for the past 15 years.

Are there specific themes or projects you are excited to explore next?

I’m thinking of concentrating on people in nightlife settings. Pubs, clubs and hotel bars for example. And travel related themes as mentioned before. Is also love history and I think It’s interesting to look at people doing their thing in this moment and time. Maybe one of my paintings will survive a long time and someone in the future might wonder how life was in that particular city back in the day.

What do you hope viewers take away when they see your work?

I hope they’ll stop for a moment and feel they are in some other setting in an other part of the world for a while. A bit of escapism perhaps. When it comes Kraków city scapes, I hope people might want to come and visit one day. It’s worth it.

What advice would you give other artists starting out on their journey?

Just give it a try and see how it feels. Don’t take it too seriously in the beginning. Don’t judge yourself too much, everyone always has new things to learn. Try different themes, styles and techniques and see what you like the most. Go see different art and check artists’ social media accounts, too.