I was born in Finland and migrated to Australia at the age of three with my family. I grew up in what is called the melting pot of Sydney (western suburbs) and only learnt to speak English when I started school. It was my father, Veikko Malinen (1915 to 1992) the co-founder of the Kotka Art Society (Finland) who instilled in me the love of visual art and taught me the techniques of oil painting.

My love of our natural environment led me to painting seascapes and landscape. Using a  limited pallet of oils I always strive to capture the light, the mood of the scene and  keep my colours clean. A lot of my material is inspired by sailing the east coast of Australia over the years which has provided me rich inspiration from a perspective relatively few experience.

For over 20 years now I have been painting seascapes, landscape, native fauna and flora.   Through these I hope that people gain an increased appreciation of connection with our unique natural environment and respite from the busy urbanised lives that we lead. A reminder of how important nature is to our health and wellbeing. 

Occasionally now I am moved to paint portraits. A painting of loved ones is a precious thing and another reminder of what is important to us.