Andrée Laurier
"I am Andrée Laurier, and I stayed nearly a month at Hub Feenix as part of its Artist Residency Program in June 2023. I left Québec, Canada, headed for Finland, hoping to find the quiet and inspiration I needed to start writing of my tenth book of fiction. (I write poetic prose in French.)
I have come to call the Hub “the magic hill of Meltola,” for it sits on a slight incline, surrounded by woods that harbour a unique variety of trees. And where birds seem more numerous than people. It is near a large lake called “Long-Legs” (Högbensjön) since it is shallow enough to be crossed by long-legged people, according to the local legend.
The lake, the trees, the numerous and vivid June flowers and the wild animals make for a unique encounter with nature and tranquility. As you walk along the forest paths, you might come across deer, fawns, hares and the occasional elk, curious to see you coming. There, silence is only broken by the sound of the wind in the high branches and the song of birds. From your room or studio, you see the very top of the trees moving against endless, pure blue sky.
I am sensitive to the atmosphere of places, as an artist, and was immediately convinced that this soft hill and the huge building on its clearing were like no other location I had seen in my travels across the world. You might feel the same, as you arrive. The space is immense, the colours alive and invigorating. It has to do with the natural location, and the creativity deployed by Raisa and Torsten, the founders, to renovate and decorate an immense sunlit building that was once a sanatorium, then an immigration centre, an important crossroads for people seeking strength, respite, peace, and renewal. It is a transformative place. And transformation breeds creativity.
If you wish for tranquility, you can find a quiet space in the vast building or choose to work in a silent studio. If you wish to be with people, you head for the common rooms, kitchens and terraces. Events happen in summer and get-togethers are easily organized.
The Hub works on you in subtle ways. You might arrive tense, city-ridden, and when you leave, you have become so quiet and mindful that you can no longer understand what could have stressed you or burdened you so much before. You cannot fully understand who you were, exactly. Because you have somewhat changed. And you wish to remain with the quietness and fulfilment you have experienced there.
As you can imagine, I have found the life source and inspiration to write. I have set down about a third of my novel manuscript, which is more than I had hoped for. Everybody cared about my work, and how it was enfolding, and I met a brilliant visual artist that became my neighbour and friend. Look for Melinda Cross’s work and you will see how she was inspired by the Hub. I arrived with a somewhat sombre project dealing with metempsychosis and transformative migration, and ended up with a manuscript teaming with trees, birds, nature, song and life. The forest is everywhere you look at from the room and studios. Melinda was also creating green spaces in her marbling work. The Hub Feenix effect.
There are names to the kindness and respect that people show the artists at Hub Feenix: the unforgettable Hanna, and Mari (the artists who coordinate the residencies), along with Maija, Dave, Markus, Pape, those I have known best. These are people you might already miss the very day you leave. The program is recent, and the coordinators and owners are giving it all their dedication. This, you can feel strongly.
Hub Feenix is Torsten Ruger and Raisa Kaipainen’s dream of a better, fairer, more sustainable and respectful place for life to thrive and for joy to happen. They are furthering the century-old tradition of sheltering and nurturing freedom, peace, health, renewal and creativity on the “magic hill.” The people who work and live full time at the Hub believe in the best they can give to those they cross paths with, or those that visit for a time. More artists will no doubt be amazed by this as I was, and as I remain, now that I have left the residency. And, mostly, I cannot remember having been this relaxed. Ever.
As I wait in Helsinki for my flight to leave Finland and return to Canada, I know I have lived something quite extraordinary in my life, this June, at Hub Feenix. An experience that will inspire me for the months to come… And no doubt longer."
Andrée Laurier, June 2023
http://andreelaurier.com
@andreelaurier
Corazon Higgins
"I came back from a month at Hub Feenix with my heart and mind full to the brim with ideas and information. More importantly, I felt a sense of healing and belonging that had been missing. After a year of despair, something about the loving environment at "The Hub" helped me feel safe enough to process and speak about trauma and sadness with no fear.
When I arrived back in the US, even though I had to immediately jump into a very packed and hectic teaching schedule, I still found time to paint the final water väki*, which was calling to me from the lake..."
Corazon Higgins, USA, August 2023
https://corazonhiggins.weebly.com
@corazonhiggins1313
*In Finnish folklore, väki is the life force that flows in every single living creature and being. Väki literally means a group. It describes the power / group or spirits that reside in a certain idea/concept/element or being. Everything has their own väki; nature, trees, animals and all the elements.
Hyun-Jeong Jeon
"I stayed in Hub Feenix for a month in February. For a month I had a very special experience as a writer and just as a human being. I was able to concentrate on my rest and develop my thoughts in the center of nature without any disturbance. Nature that I couldn't feel in the city turned me into a natural human being again.
Walking on the frozen lake at night, I felt the silence of darkness. And just looking at the snow through the window I could regain my own speed. I could hear the sound of the wind, the sound of trees, and the melting of ice that I inadvertently passed by.
While staying in the simple Hub Feenix atmosphere of eating healthily, spending less, and walking a lot, I realized how I was surrounded by meaningless things. I felt a sense of solidarity while enjoying the sauna with good people, talking to each other, and eating food. And I realized that I forgot the most important value. Maybe it's a relationship between humans and humans. A month at Hub Feenix was a precious time to discover a new me."
Hyun-Jeong Jeon, Children books writer, South Korea, February 2023
https://shorturl.at/RPTNN
@giraffemom2024
Tanya Scott
"October was a wonderful and peaceful time that feels like a dream now. I would wander the forest almost every day, admiring the huge variety of mushrooms and breathing in the fresh pine air. Some days I'd get up and sit by the lake and watch the sunrise, listening to the birds wake up. I imagined Baba Yaga coming through the trees to meet me while the mossy rocks huddled together in conversation. I drew loads of mushrooms on paper with ink and began to remember that creating things should be fun and therapeutic.
It was the perfect place for me to find my creative spirit once again. The people were so friendly and the ethos of Hub Feenix is truly inspirational."
Tanya Scott, October 2023
Animation director, writer, illustrator, UK
https://tanyajscott.com
@tanyajscott
Photo: Tanya Scott
Tebogo Boikanyo Matshana
The winter landscape in Meltola has left an impression on my subconscious mind. December’s darkness and elongated blue hours created a space for me that fostered deep-set introspection. These conditions, though severe, were both formative as well as restorative, offering me the frame of mind for reflection and course correction. The quietude of the snow, absorbing sound cloaked the earth in a silence I’ve never beheld before, it made me reverent.
My time at the Hub Feenix led me to a place of resolve both personally and professionally, encouraging me to embrace a new path forward as both a human being and as well as a creative. Surrounded by a community filled with compassion and warmth, I found not only a home away from home but also a space for internal alignment.
Tebogo Boikanyo Matshana, Visual artist and writer, South Africa, December 2024
https://www.birdhouseinteractive.com
@blackbirdmakesasound
Olena Kayinska
In Hub Feenix I was able to fully concentrate of the process of my artistic creation with no distractions. At the same time I had enough time for long walks in the forest, for solitary meditations by the lake, for swimming and sunbathing, for cooking tasty vegan food and sharing it with others and for reading books from awesome Hub Feenix library.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to the people of Hub Feenix, all coordinators and amazing team of volunteers. I want to thank bright and inspiring Raisa for our sincere and deep talks, for her kindness and honesty and her loving heart. I want to thank Torsten for his immediate help and amazing sense of humor. I want to thank a beautiful soul Hanna, who is the heart of art residency, who is supportive and kind, and so nice to be with and speak to, and amazing artist. I want to thank my colleagues – resident artists - for our common dinners, talks in the kitchen while cooking, walks in the forest, all the joy and laughter we had together and every happy moment we shared.
I will remember cozy Finnish sauna every Wednesday, where we had so many deep meaningful conversations, listening to the wood cracking in the sauna oven and to the strong wind and rain outside. I will remember wonderful dinners, which Raisa cooked for us, and we ate them in the sunny terrace all together, laughing and being full of joy. I gladly explored the full new world of vegan cuisine, so rich in tastes and so healthy. I will remember my morning meditations near the lake at the wooden peer, where I was listening to the wind and the sounds of water, looking at the tender pair of white swans. I will remember my daily yoga sessions in my cozy room, which gave me so much calmness and tranquility. I will remember amazing and rich world of mushrooms, their captivating aroma and tasty dishes and my weekly pot of mushroom soup. The abundance of forest gifts! I will remember forest berries, which I was collecting every day and baking apple-berry pie for our residents.
In my artistic work in Hub Feenix I was inspired by lush nature surrounding the art residency. Forests, full of autumn smells of mushrooms and pines, deers, hares and otters, the lake, full of friendly mermaids and water spirits, warm wind, sounds of the birds, soft moss, yellow and orange fallen leaves, dark nights and beautiful mornings. I was also inspired by our meaningful conversations about healing, about forest spirits, about art, about yoga and meditation, about our lives and our dreams.
I will miss Hub Feenix so much. Everything there: a big building with fairy-tale decorations, an autumn-smelling forest, a clean and tranquil lake, tons of mushrooms, my daily long walks and long hours in the sunny studio.
I was able to deeply dive into myself and find my inner core – loving kindness. I arrived to Hub Feenix tense and tired. After these six weeks in Hub Feenix I’m feeling healthier, renewed, healed. Day by day, week by week my state changed from tension to relaxation and happiness, connectedness to nature, inner peace and tranquility. I finally found my natural rhythm. I found myself. I believe, being here in Hub Feenix was a precious gift, my chance to heal and renew myself, to create, to be, to live.
Olena Kayinska, visual artist, Ukraine, September-October 2024
https://en.olena-kayinska.com
@olena_kayinska_art
