"Professor Kari Suomalainen was in many ways an amazing person. A multitalented and charismatic artist, who without doubt belongs to the same group of very gifted Finns like Jean Sibelius, Alvar Aalto and the Marshal of Finland C. G. E. Mannerheim, only few to mention.
Kari's family was, and still is, very talented, too. His daughter, Lilli Earl has inherited her father's artistic genes in many ways, but especially in writing. "Memories of my father" is very emotionally touching part of this book - Funtastic Kari!
Kari Suomalainen was, and still is, the King of Cartoons. His dateless perceptions on human nature and politics, implemented with apt lines and words, impess deeply also present-day readers.
As a person, he was not only a skilful cartoonist but he also possessed an ability to see complicated human life simple and clear, with a warm sense of humour. The reader can experience the same feeling when enjoying this marvellous book where Kari's fine art is visible page by page."

On our way to the Tampere Convention I took two of our foreign visitors to see Visavuori. I thought they would like to read this book, but it's rather heavy to carry. Perhaps they will read the highlights in the car on our way back to Helsinki.

Pic: Oops, it went sideways, but here is an oven from Emil Wikström's ateljé. It's made to look like the Tower of London. Not something you would normally see in the Finnish countryside.

Kirjakko lent me this book on the journey from Tampere back to Helsinki - I was very happy to read about Kari Suomalainen and appreciate his humour as the cartoons were translated into English. It was also such a pleasure to see the gallery devoted to him at the wonderful house his grandfather built at Visavuori, often political commentary drawn with irony but never vulgar. One of the things I will remember from this first visit to Finland is discovering the Finnish sense of humour. I took some photos of Kari's cartoons and will post one later when I've sorted them out.
As I left the book with kirjakko I'm not sure what status to put here.

Image: observatory of Wikström's house

I have to make several journal entries in order to post a couple more images relating to Kari Suomalainen.
This is a large panel in the gallery and shows his two beloved cats as angels. Apparently they followed him everywhere.
People used to look forward to seeing Kari's cartoon in the newspaper every day, which makes me think of our local Swiss cartoonists Burki and Chapatte, who have sometimes been censored for their political comments.
Kari always portrayed himself as a little gnome-like figure in black.

This second panel in the gallery is a reminder of the snow and wind and bitter cold we encountered in Helsinki and especially Tallinn, Estonia where I chickened out of the 2-hour guided tour over slippery cobblestones (and which also involved some climbing) and spent a lot of time trying to keep warm in no fewer than 5 different cafés (lovely soup in the first one, next to the tourist office) in between exploring narrow streets, bookshops and some very nice gift shops. I survived it all, including blustery walks from and to the ferry, only to fall over outside the door of my hotel in Helsinki. We suggested to the receptionists that they should put down gravel, and a guy waiting there said, oh but we Finns are used to it. But we foreigners are not!

Back to kirjakko.

By the way, there are (or will be) a lot more photos on my facebook page where you can find me as Barbara Ender Jones

It was a pity that the lower floor of the Kari Pavillion was closed (they were putting together a new exhibition), because they have some fun things on show there, like this self portret, made out of his gallstones and a gold tooth which had fallen out.

This, by the way, is how the ateljé looks like in summer...

Also the garden is more inviting at summertime.

Visavuori is nearby our last summer cottage and when Mom bought the cottage, she also got the old guest book. Well, look who has dropped by in 1954... Kari thanks for coffee and wishes his hostess well.