Hannu’s Rocking Chair

I have an old inherited rocking chair, which is my favourite place to relax at home. That is where the idea came to show pictures in a new way.
You can browse the pictures by rocking. When you want to look at a picture for a longer time, you can do that by pausing the movement.

ARTIST JUHANI HONKANEN

One day the phone rang. It was artist Juhani Honkanen who called:
“I want to paint your portrait”.
“Well, well”, I thought about the surprising offer.
“I actually don’t need a portrait of myself”, I started.
“I don’t even have money to pay for it”.
“And I don’t have money to pay you for modeling”, he answered.

But we decided that money was irrelevant.
Jussi came to visit. We thought long and hard about the best place to make the painting. We decided that I would sit in my old inherited rocking chair in front of the office window.
We had one meeting for sketching, and then after a few weeks the sketch developed into a painting during one day.
I liked it very much. It was later revealed at Juhani’s exhibition in Kuusamo Hall’s Kaamos gallery. On May 27th 2017 Juhani Honkanen donated the painting for the nature photography centre, and it was hung here on the wall. I think it suits the place very well.
Juhani Honkanen is also well-known for his sculptures. His Susi-Kalle statue of the world champion Kalevi Oikarainen can be admired at the edge of Ruka square.
There is a statue of the Olympic winner Sulo Nurmela in Hamina, a memorial for war orphans in Lappeenranta and a statue of the Olympic winner Heikki Hasu in Anjalankoski.
His gallery Honkalinna is in Lahti.

Hannu Hautala