About

Can a painting change the way a home feels?

I'm Zhanna Vääränen. I create textured, semi-abstract nature landscape and wildlife paintings in Espoo, Finland, where nature, light, colour and inner landscape come together.

In Finland, the forest is never very far away. Perhaps that is why it has become a place I return to again and again in my paintings.

A landscape is more than a place

For me, a landscape is not only a place. It is a feeling, a memory and an inner space. Sometimes a colour, a light or a shadow brings back a moment we cannot fully explain, but instantly recognise. In the body. In memory. In the atmosphere.

The language of colour

Colour is one of the most important ways I speak about feeling. I believe colours affect us deeply, but never in exactly the same way. We all carry our own memories, landscapes and experiences within us.

That is why I do not believe one painting can be right for everyone. A painting needs to find the right person, and the person needs to recognise something in the painting. When colour, light and feeling meet the viewer's own memory, a quiet connection appears. It is not always something that can be explained. In that moment, the painting is no longer just an image on the wall. It becomes part of the home.

How I paint

I do not try to paint nature only as it looks. I paint it as it feels: through light, colour, layers and memory.

High-quality acrylic paints on linen canvas support colour, light and living texture. Acrylic suits my process because of its vivid palette, layered possibilities and its ability to hold the marks of the palette knife. Layer by layer, the surface begins to carry movement, depth and a physical presence. The texture helps nature feel closer, almost as if it is breathing on the canvas.

Nature and animals

Nature calms me. Animals bring tenderness, care and quiet life into my work. They often feel like guides, leading the viewer into the landscape.

Behind every painting, there is time, searching, thought and many cups of coffee. I paint places I would want to be in. Landscapes I would want to live with.

My works have found their way into homes in Finland and abroad.

Welcome to my world.

With warmth,
Zhanna ❤️