Henri’s first painting dates back to 1967, when he was just two years old. His mother gave him a set of watercolours to see what would happen, and he immediately splashed a large red flower on the paper. This kind of an impulsive act is still his favourite way of starting out a fresh painting.
Henri was taken to see Akseli Gallen-Kallelas work at the Serlachius museum in Mänttä when he was old enough to be impressed and still young enough not to properly understand. His mother felt this was the best way of giving the boy a feeling for art. Later in life, Henri found Albert Edelfelt, Gallen-Kallela, Anders Zorn, Ilya Repin and such masters on his own. The style of the era still appeals to him more than any other style. The early impression apparently stuck.
Henri’s early art education was cut short after the visit to the museum. He always liked to draw and paint, but any proper art schooling had to wait until he was an adult.
At the age of ten, Henri found Salvador Dalí’s work. It immediately tickled his imagination, and from then on he has always studied the relationship of the conscious and the subconscious through his art. The results are most often unexpected – even to himself.
In 1996, Henri felt his ideas were good enough. He found his way to art teachers. After a few years’ study besides work, Henri began getting commissions, mainly portraits. He sold a number of surrealistic oil paintings as well.
In 2002, Henri had to decide what to do: he could no longer divide his time between art and business. For financial reasons, he had to choose business. He didn’t paint or draw at all until 2009.
To date, Henri has painted around a dozen portraits (excluding sketches), more than a hundred landscapes, and more than a hundred surrealistic and fantasy paintings. He has also provided different kinds of illustration for websites. He previously worked mainly in oils. Only now has he found watercolours: “They always seemed too difficult to control”. He fell in love with the medium after understanding that watercolours are not about control but rather about chance, freedom, and fun.
The current selection of comedic, surrealistic and horror-inspired watercolours and drawings is a start of a fresh era in Henri’s career as an artist.