Guest Book
Artists staying in Story Villa Heinävaara:
Kane Karrol
UK
2024
I’m so grateful to Sirpa and her son Aapo for their warmth and hospitality during my residency in March 2024. Story Villa is a place where time seemed to stand still for me. A gorgeous and unique space filled with history and character. It was the perfect place to reflect, plan, experiment, and find new focus away from life’s usual distractions. The abundance of space and light, coupled with a sense of cozy homeyness, made the experience truly special. I will always treasure the ways in which this unique environment allowed me to unfold and observe new and different sides to both myself and my ongoing work.
Pauliina Kainulainen
Finland
2024
Vietin Story Villassa maaliskuisen viikon kirjoittaen. Kiehtova talo oli mitä rauhallisin, olin ainoa asukas. Heinävaarantieltä avautuvat siniset vaaramaisemat, ja tien varrella on upeasti säilynyt vanhan rakennuskulttuurin helmiä, muun muassa lukuisia vanhoja riihiä.
Kuljin hankiaisilla ja näin esimerkiksi ilveksen jälkiä. Illan pimetessä ei ollut valosaastetta vaan tähtitaivas sai lumota. Kaiken kaikkiaan Story Villa tarjosi poikkeuksellisen levollisen paikan keskittyä työhön. Kirjoitan esseeteosta, jonka teemat liittyvät ekologiseen kriisiin, aktivismiin, riitteihin ja luonnosta lumoutumiseen.
Lämmin kiitos Story Villa, kiitos vieraanvarainen Sirpa!
I spent one peaceful week in March in Story Villa, writing. The house and the surrounding nature are most beautiful and inspiring!
Rie Akaguma
Japan
2023-2024
Thanks to the owner of the Story Villa Sirpa’s support, I was able to concentrate on creating art and hold an exhibition and a workshop while enjoying snowtime in Heinävaara about for a month between December 2023 and January 2024. She lent me hand-knit socks and gloves, and paid attention to make the rooms warm. Hospitality in winter by Finnish people made my heart warm. She gave a rich dinner on Christmas Eve, and we enjoyed Finnish music together. She took me her cottage and her son Appo taught me lake fishing on another day.
Because the residence was very calm and peaceful, I featured and the story about marine mammals’ vocalizations living in close association with sea ice which I usually didn’t pay attention to. And then I expressed them with ice and snow crystals with origami. I made Ilmatar in the Kalevala appear with the Northern Lights and tried to unite a fairy tale, humanity and ecology. I could create the artwork fitting in the snowy landscape in Heinävaara. In my exhibition and workshop, twenty people visited the studio and enjoyed my artwork even though it was less than -20℃.
I steadily kept making ices with buckets, which I learned in the first day of Heinävaara, every day and made the installation art of ice candles in the greenhouse in the last day of the artist residence. The residence owner couple and I appreciated the installation art while drinking hot wine. The owner couple will make it an annual winter event from now on. I created the installation art of ice candles based on the image of the voices of the marine mammals living in close association with sea ice resonating together, however, I’m happy to imagine the voices of the owner couple and their friends gathering around the installation art of ice candles.
Julia Imish
Ukraine
2023
Heinävaara residency. The main outcome of my work was a series of watercolors and a mural at Botania Joensuu. I want to talk about three important features of this place.
Firstly, the villa belonged to an artist. The interior space and the courtyard are infused with a creative atmosphere, making it easy for an artist to find inspiration and a comfortable place to work.
Secondly, the nature of Karelia is powerful, pristine, and peaceful. It provides a lot of energy and strength to feel replenished. I especially recommend visiting during the berry and mushroom seasons to experience the abundance of this land.
And thirdly, the exceptional hospitality of the hosts who made sure that our daily life was easy and uncomplicated, allowing the artist to focus on their project. The hosts also took care to introduce us to the cultural life of the region, showing us galleries, exhibitions, and museums in the vicinity. My colleagues and I felt the warmth of their hospitality and received a lot of assistance in realizing our final exhibition.
I highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a productive creative environment and to those seeking a place to rejuvenate their artistic energies. I am infinitely grateful to life for the gift of knowing this place and this wonderful family.
Mariia Litovka
Ukraine
2023
Hi, I’m Masha Litovka, an artist from Kyiv, Ukraine. Residency in Story Villa, Heinävaara was my first and I haven’t dreamt about such a warm welcome, as it was.
I came there at the season of wild strawberries and peonies — my favorites. Before residency I had a huge problem with concentration, war started to overwhelm my mind.
But here, in this peaceful place, I found strength in myself. I read Kalevala — the Finnish-Karelian poetic epic and it gave me a lot of inspiration, as well as nature and all the tiny and not so, artsy and not so, objects at this house.
But the best is my new long-distance friendship with Sirpa and Timo. After knowing them I’ve started to believe in humanity again. I hope it won’t sound too pathetic, because it’s real things that warm my heart.
***
About Suonetar
Suonetar is a Lady of Veins, a magic healer. She spins veins into her yarns. If someone is wounded or has wounds, she brings with her a bundle of new veins and replaces the broken veins with new ones. Healers can summon her to help close wounds.
The Lemminkäinen’s mother (one of the characters) first asked her for help in reviving her son. With the help of praying to Suonetar and then to other mythical creatures, Lemminkäinen came to life.
I dreamt about asking her to reanimated our heroes from Armed Force of Ukraine and from civilians when I read Kalevala.
So I made series of three images of Suonetar. On an exhibition I added the runa (name of poetic parts in Kalevala) with praying to her.
And other thing is that her images that I found was scary (she’s mostly like a horrific skeleton), but I wanted to show her like not horrific, but like a beautiful part of nature that is about to come alive.
Eva holts
Ukraine
2023
Sirpa Sutinen — the best thing that could have happened during the residency. Because the best thing is always people (yes, the other resident artists are also very good people!) I am grateful to Sirpa for her help and support.
She decorated the house beautifully – very cosy and inspiring, as well as the nature around the house.
During the residency, I was able to feel inner balance, thanks to the opportunity to be free in nature and… sleep well at night. At the same time, realizing that I wanted to return to Ukraine because I missed home, I had to look for things that would help me maintain inner peace and harmony. At a time when you will be nervous about the missiles/events on the front. And I think that the presence of nature, which literally surrounds me from all sides, helped me the most in this. I felt her soul. I want to keep these memories inside me as well as Sirpa’s love and affection for us.
Daniela Markush-diadusha
Ukraine
2023
My son and I have lived in Story Villa for a month now, and I am overwhelmed by the feeling of how much this place has given us. Here we could rest, paint, be under the peaceful sky and exhale before moving on. I will miss the tranquility of Story Villa. There, life flows in harmony with nature, hours spent in the workshop, walks in nature, trips to the city, to the museum or to local cultural events to which the hosts always tried to take us. This artist residency in Heinävaara was truly unforgettable, and I sincerely thank Arja for creating it, and Sirpa and her family for developing this extraordinary space.
Marian
Ukraine
2023
In May and June, I visited the Story Villa residence with my mother. I have many interesting moments to tell about them. The house was very big and beautiful compared to what I imagined. We had a great time fishing with Aapo. I had fun playing frisbee golf with Sirpa. And I also visited Timo’s motor yacht. I had a great time in Heinävaara.
Viktoriia Taraban
Ukraine
2023
It was my first acquaintance with Finland! I really liked the country, people, nature! Heinävaara is love at first sight! Wonderful place! I was very relaxed and creative. I hope that the artists who will work there will be as happy as I am!
KAR
Ukraine
2023
In June, I continued the project about the war in Heinävaara, a village in Finland, and created a new series [I love Kherson and Kherson loves me] with graphics on textile.
Series [I love Kherson and Kherson loves me]
[2023]
