Best cookbook cover in Finland

The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards has awarded
The King Nosmo Cookbook the title “Best Cookbook in Finland”.

Kasper is very pleased with the award – and even more pleased that noone else from Finland seems to have sent in their own cookbooks.

The King Nosmo Cookbook was published earlier this year by Napa Books, and is available to browse through at www.kingnosmo.com.

Open letter to Santa

Dear Santa, this year I have only one wish. It's Kasper's new book about a wolf that wanted to become famous.

I do realize it's been previously published in black and white, but Santa, come on, black and white? It was only tiny in its A5 format as well, so this is definitely the one to own.

Yes Santa, it's in Swedish, but so what? I will only be looking at the brilliant, lush pictures anyhow. Especially as the artistic standard is so outstanding.

Santa, you know I have been good all year, so should we say it's a deal then? That's what I thought.

Oh, and can I have a pony as well?

Okay, never mind the pony, the book will do just fine. Thanks Santa, you're the best!

PS. In case your little helpers are really busy it's available in quality bookshops as well. Or why not head directly to the Napa Gallery, I know they have other nice stuff too!

Zines

Jaakko has two new zines out
It'll End In Tears, a small comics zine, published by Cafe Royal



and A Collaborative Project zine with Henna Hyvärinen,
published by Editions Kaugummi

Tietoviidakko in Turku

Tietoviidakko (Data Jungle) mosaic by Jukka Pylväs and Jenni Tuominen is revealed in entrance hall of ICT House in Turku. ICT House locates in Turku Science Park. Building offers working facilities and laboratories for three universities. Some 3000 students and 700 researchers and teachers operate in the fields of computer science, information technology and e-media. Building is constructed in 2006 and it is designed by architects Lahdelma&Mahlamäki.

Jaakko's exhibition

Another practical decision by Jaakko Pallasvuo.
In Detroit Gallery, Stockholm, 6-15th November 2009

Osaka exhibition

Kasper is exhibiting in Osaka at the moment as part of
the Personal Circles -exhibiton at the OOO Gallery.

Since you can't all possibly go, here's what on display,
complete with handy explanations if you can't figure
out what exactly is happening in the pictures:



Our daughter Stella is now one year old. She likes it when
we read books to her, preferrably with pictures of cuddly
farm animals. I have however illustrated a few children's
books myself, and whenever Stella wants me to read to her
she always brings me one of those. I'm always very flattered,
but lately I've come to realize it's probably not because she
loves the illustrations, but more because I'm never too busy
to eye through one of these books, so it's a guaranteed way
of making daddy read.



We don't own a car so Stella is not that used to travelling
in one. She usually gets sick, so it's good to bring a set of
clean clothes whenever you go somewhere.

Last time we borrowed a car was to go to my grandmother's
birthday. My lady partner Maija was very hungover – as was I,
but not to the same extent – and was complaing silently in
the backseat that she was not sure she was going to manage
the two hour drive without being sick.

Everything went fine, and we made it in time. My mother
greated us on the steps on the building and her first question
was ”so, you managed to drive all the way here without anyone
throwing up”. I was a bit startled; did we really look that
hungover? It took me about ten seconds to figure out she
actually ment our daughter Stella.



This cot is borrowed from a friend, and it has a cool
rainbow-sticker on it. However, Stella's has used it perhaps
4 hours in total during her first year because she tends to
sleep between us. I would probably do the same if I was a child.



I love second hand stuff. There's this big flea market every
weekend close to where we live, and I always try to go.
Often I end up buying a coffee mug with some funny text ,
like ”I love Florida”. Last time I counted we had over 70
mugs at home, which is a bit much considering there's only
the two of us using them.



The keyboard is my dad's, but I'm borrowing it for an indefinite
time. It's an early 90's model and has these really plastic sounds
and separate buttons for ”rain”, ”thunder” and ”train
approaching” which you can press at any time. I try to play it
at night when I'm done with everything else. This spring I've
taught myself to play the theme tune to Super Mario Bros.



When you flick through interior design mags it always strikes
me how people obiously always has gone to great lengths to
clean up before the photographer came, so it always looks like
they just moved in. I'd be much more interested in seeing what
the homes look like when they have laundry drying on the back
of chairs and old newspapers laying around. Maybe there
already are magazines like that?



When I buy toys for Stella I always try to pick out stuff that
was around in my childhood. I realize this is a bit sad and she
won't probably care much for these things once she gets older.
Right now though she's too young to complain so I'll probably
have another year or so before she starts forming her own
opinions. We've also mutually agreed on not buying Stella any
Disney-products, but I'm not even actually sure why? Maybe
becuase they're lame?



Most buses that come in from the north and east of Helsinki
pass the bus stop which is ten minutes from our home, and
there's also a metro station. I don't really have to use the metro
in my daily life, but I try to whenever I have the opportunity,
just because I love the smell of an underground train. I do realize
the smell of pee, damp concrete and recycled air is probably not
to everyone's tastes... but I find it an enchanting scent. I almost
whish I had to commute on a daily basis so I could smell it more
often, but obviously the novelty would wear off pretty soon.

Yume Modern Art 19.10.-7.11.2009

Napa has an exhibition in Yume restaurant! Yume is
a modern Japanese restaurant located in Palace Kämp,
Helsinki. In this exhibition you will see works by:
Anna Virtanen, Jenni Rope and Jenni Tuominen. It's
also the very first exhibition by Napa's new Japanese
illustrators Kozue Himi, Takeru Toyokura and
Romi Watanabe. See photos here.

Luxurious online shopping

Kasper is happy to announce the launch of the
Kasper Stromman Exclusive Webshop, a new
luxurious concept for online shopping.

”We are a premium webshop specializing in unique
products” says Kasper, ”finally there's an outlet for
the most distinctive of products, acquired from all
over the globe”.

The Kasper Stromman Exclusive Webshop is open
as from today on www.kasperstromman.com.

Kasper @ the Pecha Kucha Night (Sep 9th)

Kasper gave an excellent speech at the Helsinki
Design Week's Pecha Kucha Night (Sep 9th)!
Pecha Kucha is a forum for creative people to talk
about creative things. Kasper's performance was
by far the best!! Read more here.

Illusive. Contemporary Illustration Part 3

Ilja is really happy to be among the world-class illustrators
featured in the third volume of Illusive, a series published
by the Die Gestalten Verlag. According to Gestalten, Illusive.
Contemporary Illustration Part 3 is “a definitive reference
and veritable guide to the best in illustration today”. The book
features a nice selection of Iljas illustrations that are originally
published in HUB (Helsinki University Bulletin).
Illusive. Contemporary Illustration Part 3 is available now.
For details visit www.gestalten.com

Exhibition: Keksijä Punainen ja Hatun varjo

Ilja Karsikas' exhibition of the illustrations for the children's book.
Keksijä Punainen ja hatun varjo (Inventor Red and the Shadow of
a Hat) is in Napa Gallery from September 30th to October 25th. In
the exhibition there's guache paintings and wooden figures of the
characters. The book is written by Heimo Hatakka and it's
published by publishing house Tammi. The book is available in
Tammi webshop and in bookstores around Finland. See some
example spreads in www.iljakarsikas.com.

Jenni Rope: My Forest

This little catalogue shows Rope's new paintings made for the
My Forest exhibition touring in Chicago, Berlin and Tokyo in
2009 - 2010. It also works as an intimate documentary
introducing us to her studio, ways of working and inspirations.
Available at Napa webshop www.napabooks.com

El Esteban wins Helsinki Comic Festival Independent Publishing Allstars -prize

Kasper's self published El Esteban -magazine has won the
non-prestigious Independent Publishing Allstars -price at
the Helsinki Comics Festival this weekend.



The jury found El Esteban to be ”Brilliant, clever and fun”
which made the editor blush a bit.



The jury also thought El Esteban is ”on it's way to become
a real classic” which made the editor blush some more.



El Esteban is not really available anywhere, but if you really
want to you can have a look here. Sorry, Finnish only.

Illustrator Hippo found at charity shop

How happy was I to find this illustrator hippopotamus
wearing a wrestling suit at a local charity shop?
”But wait a minute” I hear you ask, ”what on earth
makes you think this little fellow is an illustrator?”



That, my friends, is of course a real no-brainer: why else would
he be carrying around a pen in his back pocket? Oh, and nice
buttocks by the way.

Jaakko Pallasvuo: How you should make cement for mending stones

This beautiful 120 page book includes the essence of
Jaakko’s numerous zines: Pegasus Dwarf Irregular Galaxy
(Kaugummi Books, 2008), Sans Toit Ni Loi
(Kaugummi Books, 2008) Kievan Rus (DIY zine, 2009).
Also includes lots of previously unreleased material!
Available from Napa Books webshop. www.napabooks.com

The coolest comic shop of Western Europe

“I went to Pitkamies and all I designed was this canvas bag”
Available through Pitkamies, www.pitkamies.net.

Hörselhunden Hasse

Kasper's been busy this spring illustrating a children's book
for Svenska Hörselförbundet, an organization for the hearing
impaired. The story is about Hasse the Hearing Dog, who helps
out his master Boris.



The story is set in a zoo. And a zoo without big fat snakes
would hardly be a zoo, now would it?



There's even a romantic twist to the story. And that goes
for both men and canines.



Happy ending alert: all is well in the end.

The book is available through Svenska Hörselförbundet.
(Print nerds will be happy to know that the book is printed
in three spot colours throughout.)

Arrrr!

He's a couch driver, but really he'd like to be a pirate somewhere
off the coast of Somalia, hijacking oil tankers instead of ferrying
old people between Hyvinkää and Porvoo. Never give up
dreaming though!

RETREAT / Jaakko Pallasvuo and Elina Minn collaborate

Jaakko Pallasvuo and Elina Minn of Tuhru make collaborative
drawings. Their Retreat zine comes out in 2009 on Milano Chow's
small press Medium Rare. The images were briefly exhibited in
Milano Chow's hallway in New York.







----------------------------

The expo is part of the B-home project by B-galleria where
people are asked to curate and make art shows in their
immediate surroundings.

Jenni Rope's paintings at Jangva

Jenni Rope:
Iloinen tehdas ja Kiipeilypuu
Maalauksia ja animaatio
13.5 - 31.5.2009

Galleria Jangva
Uudenmaankatu 4-6, sisäpiha
Avoinna ti–pe 11-19, la-su 11-17

www.jennirope.com

Amazing hair salon

So, how great is the design of this window? Also gets an approving
nod for being called ”The Headmaster”.

Jenni Tuominen: Timanttiapina / NAPA gallery

Jenni Tuominen's exhibition Timanttiapina (Diamond Monkey)
in Napa gallery! Open until 24.5. Address:
Eerikinkatu 18, 00100 Helsinki. Wed-Fri 12-18, Sat-Sun 12-16.
Meet Jenni and agent Marjo at the gallery on the 15th of May,
when Napa takes part in Design District Helsinki's Odd Week.
Welcome!

Fantastic tattoo

Wow, it's centaur Patrick Swayze! I want one too!

Comics Jam at Ikuinen Galleria

Terhi Ekebom, Jaakko Pallasvuo and Ville Pirinen
were asked to start drawings/comics on the wall
that visitors to the gallery could continue. So if you're
in Tampere go draw over our work!

Go and see Terhi Ekebom's, Jenni Rope's and Pauliina Mäkelä's works in Tampere!

10X-exhibition at Tampere Public Library Metso 10.-22.3.2009
Open: Mon-Fri 10.00-20.00
Sat 10.00-16.00

The exhibition is based on Suomi-Québec comic anthology.
Artists: Terhi Ekebom, Caroline Fréchette, Line Gamache,
Pauliina Mäkelä, Christian Quesnel, Jenni Rope, Siris,
Amanda Vähämäki, Danièle Vallée, Mikko Väyrynen,
Stanley Wany

Listen Terhi's interview about the exhibition on Wednesday
17.3. at 16.05 pm from Radio Moreemi (98,4/101,5 MHz).

Stairway to heaven

Kasper is exhibiting some photographs at Liberté on 3. linja, Helsinki.

”Sometimes you don't have to travel to exotic places for
interesting photographs. And it's definitely a lot cheaper
staying home, too.”

Kasper Stromman spent last summer meticulously documenting
the urban townsfolk often gathering under his window to spend
some time in the sun and having heated discussions, often
revolving around alcoholic beverages. Come autumn they were
all gone. Where did they all go?

Club Liberté
3. linja 34
Open daily 4pm–2am

Exhibition on until end of March.

See Tuhru animations at Tampere Film Festival 2009

Death in the Yellow House by Anna Virtanen
in the Finnish competition of Tampere Film Festival:

Friday 6.3 at 18.00 Plevna
Saturday 7.3. at 20.00 Plevna



The Year I Cut My Hear by Ami Lindholm
at Tampere Film Festival:

Saturday 7.3. at 12.00 Plevna



Oops, the screening of Stage Fright by Elina Minn passed...