​

​Knowing that my work has brought beauty, comfort, or inspiration to someone's life is the greatest reward I could ask for.

 

Art and creativity were woven into my childhood. My mother was an educated artist and painter, while my father was a biology professor who spent his free time carving wood sculptures.

 

Some of my earliest memories are of art museums. At the age of two, I wanted to stay until closing time, completely absorbed by the paintings around me.

 

By sixteen, I knew I wanted to become an artist.

​

Nature, structure, movement, and beauty have fascinated me for as long as I can remember.

​

I began my art studies in Finland and started my career as a designer before becoming a graphic designer, art director, and entrepreneur, running my own creative agency for many years. Looking back, every stage taught me something different about visual communication, composition, and storytelling.

 

More than twenty years ago, I began exhibiting my paintings professionally. About ten years ago, I made the decision to devote myself entirely to painting. Today my work has been exhibited across Europe, the United States, and Asia and is held in private collections around the world.

 

My paintings explore harmony, movement, emotion, and our connection with nature. I work with layered textures, organic forms, and subtle colour palettes because I want each painting to reveal something new every time it is viewed. Rather than telling a single story, I hope my work leaves space for the viewer to bring their own emotions, memories, and interpretations.

 

Although painting has always been my first language, there came a moment when one story refused to stay on a canvas.

 

It wanted characters.

It wanted dragons.

It wanted love, danger, impossible choices — and an entire world.

I had already seen it.

 

Like my paintings, the story appeared visually first. I could see the landscapes, the castles, the dragons, and the people long before I found the words to describe them. Every chapter begins as an image. I see the world first, and then I write it.

​

That world became Velmora.

​

Writing wasn't a change of direction. It felt like the natural next step after a lifetime of visual storytelling. My debut novel, Touched by Flame, is the first journey into Velmora and the beginning of a world I had carried in my imagination for years.

​​

Whether I paint or write, my purpose has never really changed.

 

I want to create moments that lift people out of everyday life and invite them into something beautiful, meaningful, and unforgettable. Whether through paint or words, I hope my work inspires people to pause, to dream, and to believe that there is always more beauty, wonder, and possibility waiting to be discovered.

​

Some stories become paintings. Others become worlds. My hope is that, whichever form they take, they invite people to step inside and stay with them long after they leave.

 

Every person who chooses to share that journey with me is a gift I never take for granted.

 

Thank you for visiting my world.

​

— Maiju Tirri