Drawing and painting were always Tiina’s passion but she took a long route to get to where she is today. She was born in Finland but immigrated to New Zealand 1991 with her Kiwi husband, whom she met and married in Scotland where they lived as members of the Findhorn Foundation spiritual community. She gained a Master’s degree in Ecology and Botany in Helsinki University in Finland (1987),and later trained as a Psychotherapist at AUT in New Zealand. It was through working with art therapy that she was led to painting again 20+ years ago. She recently retired with her husband (and adult son) from 17 years on a lifestyle block in Puhoi to beach side living in Algies Bay.

Over the years she has worked with both acrylic and oil painting as well as pastel drawing. Her bird and other nature themed paintings spring from a life-long love of nature and desire to protect and conserve our natural environment. When she first came to New Zealand she was thrilled by the uniqueness of New Zealand nature, but as a trained Ecologist also acutely aware of its vulnerability. With her bird paintings she wished to bring the beauty and preciousness of NZ birds, both common and the endangered, to people’s homes and awareness.

Lately she has branched out to painting “Tonalist” landscapes. What appeals to her in “Tonalism” is the focus on expressing mood/feeling, atmosphere and only an illusion of detail with a limited palette of colours. She likes playing with the light and shadow and expressing her own moods and feelings on canvas.