The Nature of Nature 2 oil on plywood 2025

In this painting, a destructive giant rises above the forest and the meadow together with his strange companions. Just like Shiva – a devastating force without personal intention or guilt. At the same time, there is a kind of playful beauty in this chaotic movement: a reminder that decay clears the ground for a new order and a new birth.

Being a man is, of course, more familiar to me. I’ve felt the pressure that is placed on men myself, and I know how easily the “cork could fly off” sometimes and something ugly could happen. Luckily, over the years I’ve consciously worked on myself and tried to maintain mental balance. We’re not some kind of Terminators – we’re also caretakers and builders. There is a feminine side in men as well; without it, things would be very bad.

Living with three women, I learn the language of feminine energy every day. It is gentle and at the same time powerful – it creates and sustains, but when needed, it strikes like lightning. To me, women are mystics by nature: shamans, witches, magicians, seers. Something that remains beyond the grasp of reason – exactly like nature.

My own partner has strong “witchy traits”: a strong intuition, high sensitivity to energies, a strong connection with nature. On top of that, an excellent sense of smell and hearing. When we walk in nature, she often knows where an animal has recently passed through or whether someone is currently nearby.

The Nature of Nature 1 oil on plywood 2025

This artwork was not originally meant to be about women, but that’s how it turned out. From the abstract underpainting – the traces of smoke, paint drips and splashes – a figure slowly started to emerge, and around it a mood and a setting.

It became a portrait and a manifesto of the union between nature and feminine power.

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Mysticism in Estonian Art

I have been called one of the mystics of Estonian art. Perhaps this is an exaggeration, but the mystical dimension is not so difficult to notice. It lives within us constantly, waiting for a quiet moment of stillness to be discovered. Mysticism is also all around us — perhaps most clearly visible in the endless cycles of nature, where creation and disappearance follow one another without end.

My Painting Series: Ravitsejad ja pealtnägijad

This mystical approach is also the foundation of my latest painting series, “Ravitsejad ja pealtnägijad” (“Healers and Eyewitnesses”), created in 2025. The series consists of twelve mixed media oil paintings, completed in my countryside studio in Finland.

These works bring together mystical figures — healers, seers, forest beings, and other archetypal characters — who exist on the threshold between worlds. Each painting invites the viewer to pause, step into another dimension, and rediscover the mystery within themselves.

Why Mysticism Matters Today

In today’s fast-paced and chaotic world, the mystical dimension reminds us of silence, depth, and timelessness. It offers us a doorway to connect with something greater than ourselves — something that nourishes creativity, inner peace, and imagination.

Art as a Channel of Mystery

I do not force mysticism into my art; rather, it expresses itself through me. Each painting becomes a meeting point between the inner world and the outer world — a place where mystery takes form. Through textures, symbols, and atmosphere, my works invite the viewer to pause, reflect, and experience more than just visual beauty.

Discover the New Series

The exhibition week for “Healers and Eyewitnesses” will take place from September 27 – October 5, 2025, exclusively on my website pajosart.com.
You can join my priority list here: https://forms.gle/BvuJdW3Z4YoQQ2e37 to get early access.

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I will talk a little about one of my last oilpaintings born at the beginning of 2024, which I named “By the mountain lake”

Of course, we could talk more about the relationship between the paintings and their titles. This is always a bit of a problem for me personally. Sometimes giving a name to a painting is easy and the title even seems to be the only option, but often enough it is just the opposite. 

It has become a tradition that every child has a name, and of course it is also a practical matter. Who would bother memorizing everything, for example, according to the numbers in the order of birth.

The painting in question was named after the principle – less is more. Because the characters, forms and colors of the work were quite varied, the name arose from the central landscape image of the painting – a portrait of a meditating man against a mountain lake.

I actually don’t really like to explain the the subjects of paintings very much, and that’s why all the titles seem a bit redundant.

If my usual painting practice has always been, so to speak, from the central image towards the sides, here things went in the opposite direction.

First, the surrounding less important figures were born during the plywood burning practice, and only then did the central balancing and summarizing core of the painting begin to emerge.

I have to mention again in this article how excited I am about the new possibilities I discovered for myself when I started using the burning technique. hurray!

Since I myself have been experimenting with various meditation practices for many years and am deeply interested in the deepest secrets of consciousness, so the characters meditating and reflecting on life are also natural guests in my paintings.

As difficult as it is to talk about the experience of meditation, it is also difficult to put it into language of painting. Besides, every experience tends to be different. One thing is certain, that anyone who has tried to observe the mind will very quickly meet personal “demons”. “Demon” is, of course, a figurative word. A corresponding non-religious term could be “mental noise” or “compulsive thinking”.

The public response to the painting in question has been very impressive. It seems that no one is left cold “By the mountain lake” – which is of course a good thing. I really appreciate the feedback I receive on my art and I always observe with great interest the self-reflections of viewers standing in front of the works.

The painting is currently exhibited in the personal exhibition PuuSüü in the Tartu Art House Estonia

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It has been fourteen years (!) since the last personal exhibition in Estonia

After such a long break, one could feel uncertain about coming back to the Estonian art scene. Moreover, the opportunity to make the exhibition came unexpectedly, barely four weeks before the deadline. However, the feeling is quite strong. The Small gallery of the former hometown Tartu Art House is a familiar place and easy to manage due to its size of only 56m2. Rather, the anticipation is to see the entire existing new painting set as a whole in one room. In addition, I plan to approach the design of the hall in an innovative way for myself and expand the dimensions of the paintings slightly outside the frames.

Let`s see how this gonna turn out

The new approach to the painting technique has also brought new ideas in terms of exhibiting the artworks. However, you shouldn’t expect anything very experimental – I think that the paintings themselves must carry the exhibition by themselves and everything else should be in the role of a supporter.

The name of the exhibition is PuuSüü (Woodgrain). I’m sure you get the hint, I’ve collected my works painted on wood, or mainly plywood, for the exhibition. I probably started using plywood as a base material between 1998 and 2000. I fell in love with wood patterns for the first time when I painted the piece “Drunken Buddha”. At that time, one did not realize or could not see anything but a beautiful background pattern in these shapes. It is interesting that they remained haunted as a potential in the subconscious until today, when I have found an opportunity to “work” the woodgrain more concretely in my favor.

I also borrowed “Drunken Buddha” painted in 2000 from the Tartu Art Museum for the purpose of the exhibition. Respect to the person who at that time decided in favor of the purchase of this work. At the time, I didn’t think very much of this painting. By the way, in my opinion, the artwork has also gotten better over time. The background has been drawn a little darker and the patterns therefore show themselves more forcefully. Moreover, the Buddha has only been displayed at exhibitions a few times.

But come and have a look and I hope I can offer you an experience in any case.

Be happy,

Priit

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Every artist knows how much the material on which the work is created means to the experience of creation.

It is a completely different feeling to paint on white fabric or on natural plywood already full of patterns and shapes.

Plywood as a base material has been used in my paintings throughout my time as an artist. Although I have used it very sporadically, I can still call it my favorite material.

I consciously stopped painting on canvas a few years ago when I started experimenting with the possibilities of fire and tree cooperation. 

Of course, these are not equal partners, and so the wood does not have the slightest chance against fire. As a cautious negotiator, I try to tame the stronger party to avoid total chaos.

It was my practice to make preparatory sketches before starting the paintings on the burnt plywood boards. I used to plan the compositions of the artworks quite precisely before starting to paint. However, I’ve always understood that the process of painting itself is just as important as the result. Surprises during the workprocess and at the end are the ones that give the matter a special pleasure and excitement.

By burning wooden boards, I have almost completely given up planning paintings. I found that the paintings have started to compose themselves. Some of the images that emerged from the heat are even so disturbingly obvious and aggressive that it seems impossible to ignore them. It’s even like giving away part of your artistic freedom.

For example, before any color was added, the tree and the forest had already established themselves as one main character in the two pieces from the exhibition, In the Woods and The Wild Ones.

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