Portraiture|The mayor of Espoo, Jukka Mäkelä, chose Markku Järvelin, an artist from Vantaa, to paint his portraits.
Espoo the city has decided to hire a retired city manager Jukka Mäkelä two portrait works. The works cost a total of 14,850 euros. In addition to portraits, costs arise from framing the works.
The portraits are painted by an artist from Vantaa Markku Järvelin. Mäkelä chose him to do the works himself.
There will be two versions of the portrait, official and private. The official portrait will be placed in the premises of the city of Espoo, the private one will be given to Mäkelä as a retirement gift.
Mäkelä has announced that he will retire at the turn of 2025.
Lake says that his own style is realistic and follows the style of the golden age. For him, it is important that Mäkelä is recognizable in his portraits both in appearance and in character and atmosphere.
“The goal is for experts and the general public to accept. It’s very pleasant if that happens,” says Järvelin.
Järvelin and Mäkelä have met once and discussed portraits. According to Järvelin, Mäkelä told about his close relationship with Espoo and Tapiola at the time.
Järvelin believes that they will tour Espoo in the fall, and are thinking about a place that could possibly appear in the background of the picture. Objects, symbols and, for example, pins that may appear in the portrait are also thought about.
Mayor Mäkelä himself had chosen Järvelin to paint his portrait. According to Järvelin, in 2021 they met with the director of Omnia, the Espoo region’s association of education municipalities Sampo Suihkon in connection with the publication of the portrait. Järvelin painted Suihko’s portrait.
“He said he liked my style, took down my contact information and mentioned his interest,” Järvelin remembers the meeting with Mäkelä.
This year, Järvelin was contacted in March and told that painting a portrait would soon become topical. He says that he met Mäkelä at lunch at the end of April.
Lake you can see that the portraits of the leaders still belong to this day. It is good for him to continue the tradition.
“The manager is then at the peak of his career, and it is recognition or some kind of recognition for a job well done to the manager. It preserves something permanent that can still be seen in a couple of hundred years.”
In his opinion, portraits also spark discussions about what the person in the picture is or was like. At the same time, it is also a decorative element that he hopes will bring joy to the viewers.
He points out that a portrait is a genuine craft, and that the world is full of photographs.
Mark Järvelin has been making commissioned portraits since 1999, his website says.
He says that he made 28 official portraits. Works on two other mayors have also been ordered from him.
“It’s a job I’m good at”, he says as the reason for painting portraits.
“It’s very interesting that you get to meet people in person who you wouldn’t be able to meet otherwise. And to learn something from them.”
He says that artists in the art field have historically made their living with portraits.
Portraits is supposed to be ready next spring according to the preliminary plan, says Järvelin.
The intention is that Järvelin and Mäkelä will have joint meetings in the fall, when the work on the portraits will officially begin. Drafting will probably start in the fall and continue into the next half of the year.
According to Järvelin, the painting itself is half of the project, and it may take weeks.
As the work progresses, Järvelin and Mäkelä decide whether the larger official portrait and the smaller private portrait are the same or different.
According to Järvelin, there are members of the Mäkelä family whose portraits have been made. In them, the delineation has been in the main and shoulder lines.
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