VIA KARELIA CRAFTS
Via Karelia Crafts was born from the shared desire of three friends – Miina, Emilia and Ella – to create handicrafts together and bring forward their art. All the artists and craftsmen here at VKC are all creating products very different from each other, but what unites them all is the element of earth, responsibility and recycling.
The name Via Karelia Crafts comes from ‘Via Karelia’, a road that follows the eastern border of Finland all the way from the Gulf of Finland to Lapland. To the founding members of VKC it represents home and roots. However, we don’t create traditional Karelian handicrafts – rather, our inspiration flows from multiple sources such as nature, mythology and folklores of different regions. Most of the materials we use come directly from nature and/or have been recycled. A vision shared by all of us is that the love with which we create our products will carry its energy all the way to the user.
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Welcome to the boutique!
IAMYOUBOTIQUE
Emilia Fearnley
Emilia creates art and handicrafts using a variety of different techniques and materials. She draws her inspiration from forests and fields, fairytales and things weathered by time.
The Nordic nature represents home for Emilia, which is the underlying theme in the aesthetics of her creations. She has also traveled in various parts of the world, and as a consequence has been inspired by many different cultures. Buying any materials for work is a rare occasion - instead, they come to her in forests, secondhand shops, streets and trash bins (with hygiene in mind always!).
For Emilia art is a lifestyle and a means of survival, but also a tool for inner and outer exploration. With her art, she also wishes to inspire others on their journeys of exploration.
UUNILINTU
Miina Mustonen
Since she was a child, Miina has been making ceramics at the Pekkala manor art school, a place where she still goes to every week. Miina is from North Karelia and makes handicrafts at her home in Joensuu. As a material, she finds clay particularly fascinating because of its versatility, rough feel and earthiness.
Miina's style of making ceramics emphasizes beauty, practicality and responsibility. Her strength is in molding clay by hand, where one can work both very broadly but also with detailed decorations. Miina can immerse herself in molding clay for hours, losing track of time and place. Her art exudes imagination, stories and exploring the new.
Uunilintu (“oven bird”) is the old name for the willow bird. It is the most common bird in Finland, and its beautiful song is familiar to everyone. The name Uunilintu comes from the bird’s habit of building an oven-like nest in the ground, and the oven being an important part of the production of ceramics.
You can order individual items and tablewares, as well as customized works and various sets. All works are handmade.
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ELLANKA
Ella Häkkinen
Making handicrafts is a part of Ella's heritage. As a child she loved to play with yarns and make tiny handicrafts out of them. Her enthusiasm in crafting stopped for years until one day she was inspired to learn the macramé-technique, sparkling the inspiration for crafting again.
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Ella makes key ribbons, wall decorations and hanging baskets by using the macramé-technique. She has also started to make earrings. Along with beautiful and classical pieces she has expanded her work towards a more colourful and experimental style. Some of these works have revealed themselves to her in advance, telling their name and colour. Ella does not want to limit her inspiration, but rather surrenders to a process in which the materials command the pace and style.
Ella's key ribbons arose from her own need as a teacher. She was wondering where one could get beautiful and practical ribbons from, and then started to make them by herself. Secondhand beads make the ribbons jewellery-like giving them colour and personality.
Ella loves to dive in crafting because of it´s flow-state, aesthetics and creative problemsolving. While making handicrafts she feels completely present in the here and now.
