To the crown a tattoo shop is hidden in the vestibule of a sturdy Art Nouveau building, whose new premises are striking. You can’t see the movement from the street, because Krunika’s stamp doesn’t have a shop window.
The word tatoointiliike brings to mind a tiny room where tattoo artists do their work cramped.
This place is anything but. A business is like a mansion. There is more than 200 square meters of space.
Spacious study rooms open along the tall and dim corridor. Each room has its own special feature. Their walls are painted to show different stories from the Kalevala.
One room is dedicated to the Kalma flower, another to the Tuonela swan, and the third to the bee.
However, one mural is in a class of its own in terms of size and details.
“Everything here is built around Lemminkäinen’s mother,” says the shop’s tattoo artist and founder Ilari Lehtosalo.
Anna-Kaisa Lajunen gives Heidi Vesalo a tattoo at Krunika Leima. Lemminkäinen’s mother can be seen through the room’s doorway.
When open the doors of the study rooms, you can see a huge wall painting from the farthest room, the subject of which is familiar to every Finn.
Lemminkäinen is lying lifeless by the Tuonela stream, and Lemminkäinen’s mother is sitting with her hand on his chest, looking up.
When you go through the study rooms to the farthest room to look, you notice that in this version Lemminkäinen’s mother is tattooing her son.
Lehtosalo and his spouse, responsible for customer service organization and marketing Sanni Levosaari laugh when you ask them how many working hours have gone into the painting.
“We have been working 12-hour days here for eight weeks. Sometimes I wonder if anyone wants to paint anything after this,” says Levosaari.
The entire staff of the store has been painting, i.e. about ten people.
Why was the Kalevala chosen as the topic?
According to Lehtosalo, everything connects. According to him, Jugend and Art Nouveau styles have had a great influence on tattoo art. The styles take place at the same time Akseli Gallen Kallela with.
“We have set out to build a brand around Art Nouveau,” he says.
Lemminkäinen’s mother was selected as the reference work for the mural for another reason as well.
Just as Lemminkäinen’s mother is worried about her son, the mothers of those applying to the tattoo industry are often worried about their own children, especially about their employment, says Lehtosalo.
The store’s red toilet is also particularly impressive, with a large Tuonela swan on the wall.
According to Levosaari and Lehtosalo, the toilet has been almost the most laborious part of the entire project.
“Vessa left the glove,” says Levosaari.
On the wall of the toilet of Krunika Leima, a tattoo shop, a large Tuonela swan is exciting.
Juvenile style can also be seen in the shop’s details. The furniture has been chosen to match the style. They are wooden, dark and heavy.
Many of them have a history.
Sanni Levosaari enthusiastically presents his sturdy desk.
“This is Fiskars Ruukki’s payroll desk. It feels like the stories are pouring in through the doors here, when these pieces of furniture already have their own lived life.”
In the corner of one of the study rooms, there is an old-fashioned, attractive fireplace.
According to Levosaari, it was discovered by chance, when the previous occupant of the premises, Sukututkimusseura, had dismantled its bookshelves in front of it.
The big ones in addition to the offices, the premises have a lobby, a staff room and a small secret room.
Small stairs that look aimed at children lead to the secret room on the upper floor. There, Ilari Lehtosalo is building a room intended for playing and relaxing.
Other small things are still in progress.
Some of the paintings require finishing. Next to Lemminkäinen’s mother will be Kalevala-themed calligraphy made by the artist. The intention is to tune the lobby space and light up the exhibition space, where the work of tattoo artists can be displayed.
According to Lehtosalo, the actual deadline for everything to be completed is the Kalevala day, February 28.
Then you can already dare to introduce the space to international tattoo artists, who, according to Lehtosalo, visit Krunika’s stamp a lot.
“We want to give visitors a really good experience. We also want them to experience Helsinki. We have made a map that presents interesting destinations for tattoo artists.”
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