OCHRE AND WINE RED

Last spring before I went to France I quickly made this yellow ochre-coloured A-line skirt (like, the actual night before, because that is what insane people like me do in order to maintain a maximum stress level). I had had the fabric waiting in my to-do pile of fabrics for a few of years already and decided it would make a great and comfy travel skirt. With large pockets, of course.

Skirt-show-off walking, as one does.
Dark yellow is a strangely versatile colour that pairs well with many others, and I especially like it with wine red. Maximising the level of autumn-points.

Photos by my friend Asko Rantanen / Asko Jonathan Photography who takes amazingly creative pictures.

HAPPILY EVER AFTER

You recently saw a couple of the photos we took with AskoJonathan Photography for my Happily Ever After-act.

Because behind-the-scenes photos always make things better here's the set up for the series.

A lot can be, and is done by photoshop, but the more you can put into the set organically the better.

So I had the other photoshootees of the day functioning as ground for my rose bushes. As one does.

Obviously the raw shots where there's a faun peeking out under my elbow are the best ones.

Here are some shots of how the actual act looks on stage -

photo: Bernhard Miettinen

photo: Minna Jerrman

photo: Bernhard Miettinen

It's my most Burton-esque act, that even though it begins eerie and sad, sort of a too-late Sleeping Beauty scenario, actually is rather humorous. In a tragicomic Burton kind of way. It started out as an idea for a quick Halloween act for our own event, where I wanted to dance with, what I first just planned as a ghost out of fabric, but then came up with - a skeleton (that you could see me craft on the kitchen floor in October...).  And then of course other things happen, as they tend to do in burlesque.

Some acts I plan for years before I start working with them practically, and some I work on for a year or years before they're out, but sometimes I get the idea and song on spot at once and can get practical right away, which was the case in this one. This act got to jump ahead in the queue (I usually have several acts in the making in one stage or another at once) and was stage ready in a month. Is is a lot of fun to perform (and my bony friend here has a great smile), even though the beginning got so sad I always get a little moved by it myself. Haha.

photo: Asko Jonathan Photography

And tonight it's on at the last ever Pirates Pleasures club: Witch Please!

Sail with me onto dark water at Wäiski!

YOUR EASTER WITCH

Ok, perhaps not exactly. But suitably for a time of growth, flowers, resurrection and Easter witches Asko and I did a photoseries for my act Happily Ever After, which is something of a reversed Sleeping Beauty ghost story.

Photos by Asko Rantanen / Asko Jonathan Photography
Concept and muah by me.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Hi there! I am still around, believe it or not!
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Let's see if we'll see more of each other in 2018, perhaps?

Photo: Asko Rantanen / Asko Jonathan photography

SPACE OUT WITH US / DR. SKETCHY'S HELSINKI 23.4

It's time for the next Dr.Sketchy's Helsinki! This time we create you a little mini cosmos over at our studio, where the drawing takes place.

Dr.Sketchy's is an "anti-art school", a so called 'cabaret drawing'- event, where attendants can draw and paint croquis with a little different setting than the one you might be used to from art school. Usually with a specific theme, styled and set up according to that, and with great music.

Photos by Asko Rantanen, whose alter ego Johnny Moth also will serve as our model.
The space shuttle will be navigated by Tinker Bell and yours truly.

So, Sunday 23rd from 4pm onwards. Bring pencils papers and cash and see you at Shangri-La!

ONCE A CAT LADY, ALWAYS A CAT LADY

Some casual evening chilling with a book and my hang-around cats.

Photos by Asko Rantanen / Asko Jonathan Photography
(Actually part of another series, but Lulu was keen on doing some posing as well.)

WINTER WONDERLAND

After a weeks of rain and mush we got outselves a crisp white and sparkling winter! Here's an old postcard-inspired photo Asko Rantanen took and made of me in honour of that.

Well, two years ago actually. Today it's -20C, no one would go out and pose in the woods like that now, that'd be insane. Painfully insane. This was taken on a nice and snowy -1C day that was perfect for shooting, especially since we'd planned a snow queen shoot for weeks but it had kept on raining and we had decided on the date for the shoot and to just go with what the weather offered and ta-dah! In the morning everything was white and beautiful.

And now it's also breathtakingly beautiful. Quite literally, go beyond minus fifteen and it actually hurts to breath. (But to be honest I am enjoying it when it last three days or less. You got to have yourself a little winter every once in a while.)

CASUALLY HANING OUT ON THE FAINTING COUCH

Some time back we had a photoshoot at home with Asko Jonathan Rantanen. (It's convenient when you have a house that can double as a suitable set for a photoshoot. Although for the nearest future it cannot, as there are moving boxes everywhere)

Here are a couple of photos from the first series -

I've worked with different things with Asko and his partner Nadja for years and it's always fun to come up with new themes and settings to shoot!

PINUP SNAPS AND PAMPERING

Last weekend, just before I came down with a heavy fever that forced me to stay in bed for a couple of days, we threw a small pin-up worksop day over at our studio together with Foxy Vixens Beauty Parlour.

Later Asko Rantanen come over for a photoshoot, and we created a few simple but functioning sets together using props from our studio.

Fun!

The team of the day.

Sophisticated, well of course.

WHITE ON WHITE WITH SPARKLE; WINTER PHOTOSHOOT

Today I had a ice queen-themed shoot for my winter act with Asko Rantanen. We had been waiting for a suitable day with the right weather and amount of snow for some time already and today everything was just right! It was a productive day and the results will be great. The act itself has not been that special, one of my so called "dinner numbers" (i.e. one that you can easily do anywhere, mainly just an aesthetic act that perhaps has more surface than depth to it. Which is totally alright.), but I started been developing it bit by bit this year and also adding to the costume, making the whole thing evolve into something more one day. And well now I better work on it because I'm getting awesome pics, heh.

I only used part of my costume though; I had a modified sheet for the skirt instead of the actual sateen one (it will thank me later, I am sure).

A big part of shooting is just setting it up and preparing and, when outdoors especially, correcting the clothing and props and and and... This time we shot without an assistant so there was a lot of concentrating going on.


Everything is not serious business though, especially not after a couple of hours in the snow.

As you can see... well, who could resist not doing this anyway?
(Me, actually. I did learn some things as a kid.)



Our last location was just around the corner of our house. Dag joined us and we took the sledge there.
(Note my very gracious winter queen boots and xxx-layers of socks underneath.)

Behind the scenes shots also by Asko.

NOVEMBER ROSES

A few pictures from one of the shoots I had earlier this year with Asko Rantanen.
The dress is made by me, it's for one of my acts.

MAGPIE

Remember the photoshoot my friends had by our tree last summer? (And at the foot of our hedge too, as you can see in the photo above.)

It was a promo shoot for my friend and fellow performer Bent Van der Bleu's Magpie the Master Thief number. Asko Rantanen, who has taken many fabulous photos of me as well, took the photos of the magpie.

CHLORIS

One of my pictures from the shoot in our studio I had with Asko Jonathan some time ago.

The headpiece is the one Fiona Timantti made for me, which you could see her working on earlier this year (in this post). It is part of my flower nymph costume for my Chloris act.

SHOOTING

Our dance studio sometimes also doubles as an impromptu photography studio.
Some days ago I had a long shoot with Asko Rantanen (who shot in our tree a few weeks back :) in some of my stage costumes, the results to be seen at some point later!
Nadja Mikkilä took the backstage shots.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW

Have some friends come over to borrow our tree for a photoshoot. (It will turn out great, from the sneak peeks I saw!)

 

Meanwhile I'm snapping some photos for Eddi's farm business of the linen that is blooming.

And then we pick wild strawberries with Dag.

And then I whip together some home made peanut butter. Half of it will go into cookies but we can look at those another time.