Soon I'm going to make a two-week vacation and I think I deserve it. The first half of this year has been productive. I've done three solo shows: Closing Borders at Serlachius Museums (the most important of my exhibitions till date), White Trash Blues at Galerie Forsblom (my biggest painting show until now) and My Austrian Friends at Collectors Agenda (an improvised small show). The museum show included also a hard-cover book which needed lots of editing work during the spring.

After the big shows in the beginning of the year, I felt totally empty and exhausted but got soon back to the studio. I've done a series of 40 pink monochrome paintings, six figurative paintings, two big works on paper and 22 A4 size drawings.

Now I'm going to begin one more large painting and next week I'm off to Finland with the family. I'll try to stay sane for a couple of weeks without working. It's challenging.