I followed in the footsteps of my ancestors in Åland in June 2025, and captured Geta Church in an oil painting.
This place means a lot to me, because my great-grandfather moved to Finland from St Petersburg as an orphan and at some point ended up in Åland, in the municipality of Geta, in the late 19th century.
I thought it would be wonderful to visit a place where my great-grandfather must surely have been in his time.
In this painting I also wanted to bring out the plants around the church. It felt natural to depict blossoming life. In the foreground is a Japanese quince, which, as its name suggests, originally comes from Japan.
I started this painting in January 2026 by sketching the background. At this stage the church was the most important part of the painting.
In the picture below, the painting had already come quite a long way. According to the timestamps on the photos, it took three days to get to this stage. I’d estimate I spent two or three hours a day painting. In my opinion the church is already almost finished.
The painting was left to dry for a couple of months, after which I started sketching the plants in the foreground…
In April the Japanese quinces got their first form.
I thought the painting was already finished, and the oil painting did hang on the wall for a long time… Still, it felt as if something needed more work. I decided to strengthen the contrast in the foreground, since it was in the shade of the trees. I also wanted the church itself to stand out better.
The painting was finished on 8 October. Here is Geta Church. A tribute to the generations that came before.
