I paint and while painting I absorb myself in old memories of Nature. I almost reach them and then they slip away. I try to revisit playful, comforting and unlogic memories. Could it be like this again? For a moment I am almost there. In these key memories of Nature and vegetation a shielded but strong world glitters and gleams.

I am either alone or in the company of a significant person in these memories. We are surrounded by an imagined or concrete vegetation. No persons can be seen in the paintings instead vegetation, organic matter and different fragments create the atmosphere. My way of painting moves from the implied to more preciseness and from movement over to stillness and therefore reminds of memories.

I relish a memory where I am alone with my imagination, although I am surrounded by a whole class of other children. There I heard for the first time of the hanging gardens, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. I was oblivious of everything else and imagined flowers and plants swaying almost directly from heaven with little or none upholding constructions. I built a world of my own and it made me happy. I flourished in that unlogic world.

In another revisited memory from my childhood, I am lifted up on an enormous stone by a grown-up. There, a world of its own exists, full of moss, twinflowers, and fern. I feel completely understood. The outside world and the big lorry on the road cannot reach me.

In the third memory I am an adult, but the atmosphere of the situation reminds me of the other memories. We, my partner, and I are travelling and there on the journey I feel deep joyfulness over the special vegetation, the light and the sounds of birds and other animals. Nothing else exists for a moment but the surrounding lushness we are in. We are almost one.

I relish the colour of the canvas and the colour of the handmade paper. Therefore, I prepare the canvas with glue only. This way the colour of the canvas plays a significant role and creates opportunities and space. I paint with oil colours and then I change to crayons or ink. I start with canvas and later I switch to paper. But I always cherish touch throughout the process. I want to build a breathable space for the viewer.

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Carla Lundell, a painter graduated from The Free Art School, has held several exhibitions throughout Finland. Lundell values an expanding room, material experiments and the unlogic. Certain memories of nature and vegetation, where a shielded but strong world gleams, act as starting points. The colour of the canvas, which is prepared with glue only and the colour of the handmade paper are central and provide possibilities and space. Touch throughout the process is important for her.

^{Photo: Carla Lundell, Tapestry (part of the artwork), mixed media on canvas, 64 x 80 cm}