The month went fast. The weather changed from cold and rainy and layers of clothes under the blankets at night to long warm sunny days where the beautiful, enormous lake tempted me and drew me into its fresh waters every day. I swam with watchful swans and jumping frogs, and out far away from the large green lilly pads skirting the banks . Every evening revealed ever-changing wide skies as I lay on my back and paddled. Pine and birch tree hugged the lake and hid families of deer and huge quick running hares. lush tones of green and brown everywhere. Was this paradise?

What was to come would then onwards be a discovery. I had stuffed paper and paints and pastels of every nature, pencils and carving tools, charcoal and winter clothes (and strangely), a pair of high-heeled shoes in my over-weight baggage.

I had no plan, only that I wanted to dedicate as much time as I could possibly dedicate to artistic creation. I thought I would go on little excursions and explore a section of this incredible country I had never even imagined visiting but my determination to create as much as possible prevented that from happening fully.

On the evening of July 1st, I stepped off a bus in a practically desolate train station with pine trees in one direction and a few modern looking supermarkets across the tracks. I tried to imagine where the town could be hidden as my eyes and legs dragged me and my two suitcases full of art materials to the familiar " Lidl", a supermarket I would later, on regular occasions venture to on an old blue bike with a pedal brake not unlike the ones I used to ride as a child, compliments of Hub Feenix.

What a wonderfully surprising and rewarding experience!
As a recent MFA graduate and early career artist, I found Hub Feenix to be welcoming and inspiring. The Hub offers so much for the creative mind to work, play and rest.

During my two month stay, I felt like I was able to have a taste of the Finnish culture, engaging with the local art community in Helsinki and Fiskar. I also centered myself in the quiet of nature that is so readily accessible from home base.

As a multidisciplinary artist, I was excited to find a great deal of freedom provided by the facilities, especially the wood shop! Their vision for the future maker’s space and studios is inspiring and something I will be keeping a close eye on moving forward.

I am wildly grateful for my time at the Hub and especially to the warm, welcoming and energizing members who work hard to make this place a reality.

Hi there, My name is Dymphie Kies and I am living in The Netherlands. As a visual artist and a systemic coach I guide people to understand their life stories and the underlaying emotions which gave direction. Light influences people and life by its colors, its intensity, its warmth. In Finland I found an overwhelming nature with pure blue sky, pure light and real silence. Two years ago I got the opportunity to continue working this theme as an AiR at HUB Feenix in Meltola. Thanks to the international open minded environment and the diversity of artists was working here a very refreshing and stimulating period for me. Nevertheless I have the feeling that the theme “Light in Finland” is not completed yet, it needs a further, perhaps deeper investigation which is my objective for the coming weeks. If you are interested in the results of the earlier AiR periods then have a look at the blogs on my website www.dymphiekies.nl
Warm greetings!!

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.

during my time at the residency, I did some dyeing with local mushrooms like cortinarius and sarcodon squamosus. it was really fun to walk around in the forest surrounding the area during the end of mushroom season with my basket and picking the best looking mushrooms! i ended up with four skeins of lettlopi icelandic yarn.
while at hub feenix, i worked on some small handsewn patchwork quilts and sketched out some new ideas for the next ones! apart from the artistic work done there, i had a great time going to the sauna each week, playing games with all the volunteers, eating piparkakku, talking to the sheep and building a snow woman!!

What a lovely sharing session with other resident artists at Hub Feenix! I talked about my art journey starting 4 years ago, what I have been through, my signature “My Wonderland” series, and the art piece I am working on now — inspired by the nature here and Finnish nature-loving lifestyle.

The resident artists at Hub Feenix come from different countries. Their expertise ranges from painting, animation, comics, improvised music, digital art to film making! I have learned a lot from them. Hub Feenix is a centre of creativity and well-being. Many of its staff and volunteers are also artists. Thanks for listening to my sharing and your comments and encouragement!

What a lovely sharing session with other resident artists at Hub Feenix! I talked about my art journey starting 4 years ago, what I have been through, my signature “My Wonderland” series, and the art piece I am working on now — inspired by the nature here and Finnish nature-loving lifestyle.

The resident artists at Hub Feenix come from different countries. Their expertise ranges from painting, animation, comics, improvised music, digital art to film making! I have learned a lot from them. Hub Feenix is a centre of creativity and well-being. Many of its staff and volunteers are also artists. Thanks for listening to my sharing and your comments and encouragement!

Photo by fellow resident artist Lisa Labracio

My first self-made stretcher bars! (and first time to do woodworks since my DT lesson back in secondary school!)

I always paint on stretched canvas but it’s difficult (and stupid) to bring them from Hong Kong to Finland by plane. So I brought a canvas roll instead. But it felt a bit different to paint on unstretched “soft canvas piece”. Thanks to Clint, another resident artist at Hub Feenix. He suggested me doing the stretcher bars here, and gave me a step-by-step workshop: cutting the bars into desired lengths, sanding the edges, combining them into a frame with drill, and stretching the canvas over the frame.
Now I can paint on a stretched canvas!

Woodwork can be fun, when having the right teacher and tools!

I had three very intense and very productive weeks at Hub Feenix in May 2024. I loved the stillness, the woods, the lake, the simplicity of a daily life being able to fully concentrate on my work, what I felt and wanted to do in every moment. I was able to dive deeply into myself and bring out the best of what I am able to perform literary. I ran and ran along the forest roads, not seeing anyone, only a deer or a hare or listening to a cuckoo bird in the distance. I ate simple and healthy food, happy to have no temptations available. I read a lot. And when it turned out there was a sewing machine available for my use, it couldn't be a more perfect stay for me. I felt healthier and richer after these three weeks, and I hope sincerely I will be able to come back - preferably every year!

I have been playing flute and making recordings in different places at Hub Feenix. I have a background playing many styles of music, but in recent years I primarily improvise on the flute as a way into music composition and sound design. In general I love improvising because, not only does it help me to be more present, but its fleeting nature reminds us that status quos are not inevitable, and are changeable.

I'm also playing with the idea of proximity and distance in the spaces of Hub Feenix. I've been interested in how closeness can imply a range of colours from confinement to intimacy, kinship, love, family and solidarity. Similarly, distance can invoke aloneness, separation, to silence/the unknown, to dreaming and space. This led me to creatively questioning how I could follow these concepts in my audio work and I got interested in combining different spaces, and using natural and simulated reverb.

It has been a week since I've arrived at Hub Feenix. The first weekend was a hint that winter had not yet fully relinquished his grip on the land. Like the last remnants of a retreating army, heaps of snow still lay on the ground. The mornings had a chill that had your tropical writer burrow into the nest of blankets. Now already it seems a memory. The earth is quickening into life. In ever widening gyres, I find paths into the woods and fields that surround the centre. I see hares, and once, a particularly handsome cat, yesterday there were deer disporting on the football field. The writing goes slowly, but that is to be expected. Sometimes, improving the empty page is the hardest thing there is.

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 vaki, which was calling to me from the lake...

Hi there, my name is Dymphie Kies and I am living in the Netherlands.

As a visual artist and a systemic coach I guide people to understand their life stories and the underlaying emotions which gave direction.
In my artworks I prefer smooth materials like textiles, cotton, silk and wool, preferably recycled so the material in itself is already telling a story.
For the next 4.5 weeks I will continue to search for and to investigate the theme “Light in Finland”, which I initiated back in 2016 at an AiR in Hauho.
People are influenced by the colors of the light, every second of the day, over and over again. This time I’ll use my camera to give even more expression to the fabric works.

If you are interested in the results of 2016 look at my blog on my website www.dymphiekies.nl

Warm greetings !!

I arrived at Hub Feenix 10 days ago and so far have been settling in and picking up where I left off with two digital art projects. It is beautiful here - colorful, peaceful, full of friendly people.

The first project I've been focusing on is part of a series called 'Come Home,' a digital collage project about an othered person searching for belonging. I am also beginning to draft the concept for a follow-up to 'are ex - i,' a digital collage project I completed last year based on some photos, journals, dreams, and musings about life with multiple sclerosis. I did not realize there could be more to this project until I arrived here, but after a year of taking a very unconventional path to living with this disability, it turns out there are more reflections that want to come through.