All The Reasons To Love The Thunder

acrylics on canvas
100 x 120 cm

sold // now 474 € (orig. 790 €)

(incl. VAT 10% for European customers)

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the air glints around you,
condensed, intense,
I walk past and
sparkles burst where we touch

I feel the weight radiating from you,
the heat,
air pressure climbing higher
the clouds towering higher -
the light in our horizon
glowing a storm

it’s windy
in this house…!

for a moment
we are hailstorms and downpour
gales and flashes of light

you, a lightning
me, a hurricane

but the light is never as beautiful
as before a storm
as after a storm.

the clouds shining
with everything that binds us:

in this house
feelings are true
and that truth
is loved

and when the clouds have gone
we are
a sunset,
the softness of a night at the sea.

the truth of us
is that we go through every storm
hand in hand.

// kaisa vanhala

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One of the things I have really wanted to teach my kids is that feelings are always ok. No emotion should be feared or hid away, no feeling should cause shame - if you don’t face your feelings, they’ll cocoon inside of you, only to cause pain afterwards. It’s better to bravely feel them, face them, and accept them - no matter how confusing they might be. They start to unfold and make sense only if you sit calmly with them.

Sure, we need to be mindful of how we treat our feelings and how we treat others around us. Feelings might not be the truest interpretation of truth, but they are still true to us - and we need to learn to live in peace with them, maintaining peace with each other. 

It takes some manouvering, this thing. Confusing, strong, powerful feelings might cause anxiety or fear, or shame; teaching and coaching kids to speak of their feelings instead of pushing others away sure takes some effort and time - but is absolutely rewarding and precious. Kids have an unique capacity to show love, and affection, and joy; I want them to be free in those feelings - but to get there we need to learn to be ok with the more challenging emotions too.

And it’s not just the kids. Isn’t this true for us adults too…? We’ve maybe just learned to hide our emotions, and yes, sometimes that is necessary - but not always. Being disconnected from your feelings might unconsciously become a habit, if you’re not careful.

So - this is a house where it sometimes gets windy. Most of us living here are stormy by nature, sparkling with emotion - like clouds on a heatwave, like bunches of living lighting. The journey from tears to laughter is sometimes really short…! We have gales of emotion rushing through this house, and often we might not even know what caused the feelings. Life feels very real, with its softness and roughness alike.

All The Reasons To Love The Thunder is a painting I painted for this house, as a reminder of the many faces of love. Sometimes love looks like longing, sometimes like the need for attention, sometimes it might look like anger, sometimes it looks like cuddles - but sometimes it might look like plain thunder (especially when kids are in question but if I think of an adult relationship - well, it’s not too different, is it?).

But then again, sometimes love looks like sunsets, like gentle morning light. Like the light after a storm.

I’ve always loved the thunder. It washes everything bright, and reminds you of how precious the world is. For me this painting is the high summer clouds, the whisper of storms in the horizon, the intensity in the air - and the freshness of the wind after a storm, the feeling of a rinsed mind and heart, of a fresh love. This painting is my appreciation of realness and openness in love and in emotion, the welcoming of truth. Simultaneously it speaks to me of the need to harness our storms, to ride them carefully, to keep everyone safe even when it gets windy. It reminds me of the beauty of the storms.

All The Reasons To Love Thunder lives in our living room now, but - if it speaks to you, just contact me, and let’s chat! <3