Introducing the Ruska Pattern Series

Section of detail from original pattern Ruska 2 v2 Pink.

When I lived on the East Coast of the US, the common refrain in the fall was “go to Vermont to see the fall colours”. Here in Finland, the common suggestion is to go to Lapland to experience ruska. Ruska is the Finnish word for autumnal colours. Ruska in Lapland is an exceptional experience, as the colours are bursting from the ground, not the tree canopy. Plus, reindeer. Reindeer are always a bonus.

Partial detail of painting Ruska 1 (acrylic on stretched canvas, 100 cm x 80 cm, 2023)

I created the Ruska pattern series from the markings and motifs derived from my abstracted paintings of the autumnal Lapland countryside, painted in 2022 - 2023. I paint abstracted compositions slowly in layers of small amorphous shapes. While painting, if a particular interplay of shapes and colours catches my eye, and I know I will be painting more layers over it later, I take photographs to preserve the compositional moment. I used these snapshots of the painted works-in-progress as building blocks for each pattern. The first iterations of the Ruska pattern keep closely with the original colour palette as painted on canvas, but with the subsequent pattern variations I decided to experiment with different colour palettes.

Section of detail from pattern Ruska 1

As I don’t have the resources for large-scale fabric pattern printing, I am trying out a release of the series as print-on-demand bags and accessories. The pattern is digitally printed on fabric which is then constructed into a bag or garment. It is an all-over-print which allows for each side of a bag or garment to show a different section of the pattern. As I don’t have a brand logo, my signature will be featured on every item.

Available in the website store, the Ruska 3 pattern on a handy tote bag with black handles.