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Marianna Raikkala

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Our special guest on this week’s edition of "Portfolio of the Week" is a Finnish artist, Marianna Raikkala.

As a self-taught artist, Marianna expresses her personality through her work. She has a personal and sentimental connection with each and every piece and is not bound by any limitations. By placing brush to canvas without prior thought or planning, it is Marianna’s mindset that each individual will see her work in a unique way and believes by doing this, her piece will convey the purest of emotions. Nevertheless, every single piece of art produced by Marianna captures her feelings, thoughts and emotions of that particular moment in time and is nothing short of spectacular.

So, without any further ado, let’s find out a little bit more about Marianna, why her work holds a special relationship with her personality and why she has come to love Portfoliobox!

Q: Hi Marianna, first of all, I am so glad to hear that you would like to be our Portfoliobox of the Week. I am truly impressed by your work. First of all, can you tell me more about yourself?

A: Hey, thank you so much and of course! I’m a self-taught artist living in Helsinki, Finland. My regular day is a combination of painting, creating and spending time with my friends and family. My perfect day starts with a long run or walk with my dog Waldo and blasting music in the background, drinking a cup of coffee while I get ready for the day.

Q: There are so many amazing paintings in your portfolio. Which one is your favourite? What were you trying to communicate with this piece of painting?

A: I guess I have a special connection to all my paintings and they all have a personal meaning for me. But I’d say that my current favorite is a piece called ’Heaven on Earth”. The name can be a bit confusing considering the style and color palette of the artwork. Yet the backstory is something that gets me smiling every time. The piece was literally inspired by a piece of rock I found on a secluded beach in a small town called Orivesi, here in Finland. I just couldn’t leave it there so I picked it up and carried the stone in my pocket back to Helsinki. When I came to my studio I was really inspired by the texture and emotion the simple piece of nature held so I decided to paint inspired by this very piece of rock. I loved the end result and so did my followers. I can’t think of a better way to respect the nature than by painting it.


A piece of rock that she found on a secluded beach in Orivesi, Finland inspired her to create her recent favourite painting, "Heaven on Earth".


"Heaven on Earth"

Q: What are your thoughts about learning how to paint in an art school vs. self-learning? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each way?

A: I think educating yourself in any way is always valuable, respectful and worth the time. When it comes to art I have only experience in learning myself by searching and trying out different materials and techniques over time. For me the advantage is that I have the freedom to create what I want and how I want, with only inspiration as my guidance. Would an art school education limit me more than inspire me? That’s a question I have asked myself many times. Regardless of what your background is I recommend everyone to do what they love.

Q: Have you ever experienced “artist block”, a period that you seemed to have no inspiration? If yes, how did you overcome it?

A: I have noticed that stress or the lack of natural light has an immediate effect on my inspiration. Therefore the long and dark Finnish winter is always a challenging time for me. I think the key is to not get too stressed about it and just keep going, maybe keep a day off and spend it doing other things you love and try again later. You can’t really force inspiration.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: I’m working on a new collection of medium and mini sized paintings I will release on the opening of my web shop.

Q: What is / are your goal(s) in 2020?

A: My main goals for the year is to open my own web shop and challenging myself to step out of my comfort zone more often artistically speaking. Trying out new methods is scary and exciting at the same time.

Q: I really like your website, by the way. It is so minimalistic. It makes your artworks stand out. Why do you choose Portfoliobox to build your portfolio website?

A: Thank you! My friend who is a photographer recommended Portfoliobox to me after I was frustrated with my previous website. It didn’t take long to notice that Porfoliobox is the best fit for me since it’s so quick and easy to use. Updating my site takes only a second and I get the simplistic look I want.


We would like to thank Marianna for taking the time to answer our questions, and we do hope that you gained an incredible insight in to her work. Not to mention the unique methodology she uses to produce some simply stunning work. If you would like to know more about Marianna, or check out some of her work, head to her online portfolio!

We will see you next week with another Portfolio of the Week. Who will it be?

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