Art from the Heart of the Arctic Wilderness
Welcome to a world where northern silence, raw nature, and arctic light are transformed into art. I’m Hennu Käki, an artist living deep in Finnish Lapland, surrounded by the vast wilderness that inspires everything I create.
Nature is my home, my muse, and my storyteller. Through pyrography, acrylics, and oil painting, I bring its moods to life – sometimes in abstract motion, other times in delicate detail. Each piece is a quiet message from the forest, a glimpse into the cycles and stillness of the wild.
Whether you’re looking for a thoughtful gift, a piece to warm your walls, or simply something to connect you to the North, you might just find it here.
My Story
I have always loved drawing. But for a long time, I believed those cynical voices saying that no one can make a living from art. Still, I held on to my beloved hobby, using drawing as a kind of therapy to help me get through difficult times.
When I realized that city life was all wrong for my nature-loving soul, I moved in with my grandmother, right on the edge of a deep forest. I clearly needed a pause — time to rest and recover, to hear the voice of my soul again.
And it began to speak the moment I returned to the arms of nature.
Every day my feet carried me into that forest, just as they had when I was little. In fact, my earliest memory is seeing the forest for the first time — and falling in love with it instantly. My days passed among the trees, and one day, I saw a Ural owl flying over a forest path. It landed on a nearby branch, and I just stood there, staring at it. It stared back. That moment, that gaze — I will never forget it.
When I returned home, I asked my grandmother if I could saw off a branch from her basket willow. She said yes. I cut the branch into small pieces and began carving tiny owls out of them on the cold floor of her old sauna. Then I painted them with acrylics. From that moment on, working with wood completely captivated me.
Some time later, I met a man I fell in love with wholeheartedly. I soon moved in with him. Our home stood at the edge of a forest, and together we started reviving an old, overgrown garden. Beneath the wild growth, we uncovered stunning old flowers, and we took joy in giving them a better life.
One day, we were burning old trash, and he was about to toss a piece of wood into the fire. But to me, it wasn’t trash — it was a canvas. I shouted, “NOT THAT ONE! I’m making a painting from it!” And that’s how my first wood painting was born: Two wolves guided by a raven.
But our happiness was cut tragically short.
Not long after, my partner died in a sudden work accident. Everything collapsed.
I lived in a fog for six months. Then, one night — in the quietest hour before dawn — I woke up and made a decision: I would move to Lapland with my cat. I settled by the river where his ashes had been scattered. Somehow, I had to survive. And I did — because I chose to.
Here in the north, I’m still inspired by nature, animals, the wild and beautiful rollercoaster of life with all its joy and sorrow — and by the thought that maybe my story can inspire others who carry their own scars.
You can continue to follow my art and story on Instagram.
Come along on my journey through the fells, rivers, lakes, and the ever-changing seasons of the beautiful northern valleys
Thank you for existing.
