A few words about me and Omalainen:
Sometimes I do wonder, what so very odd could a 3-year-old have done to get her grandfather to call her his extraordinary one? Maybe nothing too special. But for the very short time that the two of us knew each other, I was always called Grandfather's Extraordinary one (In Finnish:Ukin Omalainen).
Years and decades passed and somehow, unintentionally, I slipped closer and closer to becoming an artist. I had even the little quirks of an artist, like working on the floor, delighting in rhymed poetry and drinking tea while everyone around me made the natural choice for the darker brew.
I started to think of myself as a bit elfish. I fell in love with long forest walks and swimming in the less than warm Baltic Sea. Nothing has ever granted me a higher pleasure than giving just the right gift to a loved one.
At some point I remembered my grandfather, now already more than 20 years gone.
The rarely used form for extraordinary “omalainen” just so happens to rhyme with the Finnish word for a fairy “keijukainen” and goblin “menninkäinen”. What a better name then for my artistic journey than this fitting appellation given to me so very long ago?
So, welcome to my explorations, friend and stranger. I hope you find in these pages something of interest to you, something magical and extraordinary. Or if not, I hope you find it elsewhere, preferably today.
With the greatest respect and love for detail,
Jenna Arjas
P.S.
Please understand these pages are a constant, developing work in progress and I'm a busy person in search of my own weird path, like most seem to be.