16x20. Acrylic on canvas board.  2007

An early painting of mine depicting my first car.  A used 1963 1/2 Ford Galaxie 500 given to me on my graduation from high school by my Grandfather Toivo Koyyka.  I painted the name and flag on it about 1972 or so.  I had lots of adventures in this car, running on Woodward Ave. with friends, working and cruising through McDonalds, etc.etc.  (By the way, the McDonalds sign in this painting is the exact same one in the Henry Ford Museum, it's from McDonalds in Madison Heights on John R., south of 12 Mile Rd.)  The police did not like this car, this was the end of the hippie era, and I was a hippie.  In the six months I had the car painted like this I got tickets amounting to 18 points and lost my license for one month.  The cops pulled me over for anything!  It got to where if I even saw a cop looking at me, I pulled over.  All kinds of trumped up charges.  I finally got a brain in my head and painted over the name and painted the flag black.  I did not get a single ticket for the next 32 years.  And I drove exactly the same.  Needless to say I lost a lot of respect for the police.  They had no sense of aesthetics and creativity!  And no sense of humor!        (See the category "Cool Stuff" for stories about other vehicles I owned and worked on.) Private collection, Philadelphia

Oil on Linen Panel, 14 x 11 , September 2021

A painting from an old black and white family photo. My three brothers and I in front of my Grandma’s sauna. Donnie, Jerry, Me, Freddie.

9 x 12, oil on canvas board

27 x 27 Oil on birch panel January 2019

An unfinished painting , maybe it is finished...

11x14.  Oil on raymar board?      2015?

There are 4 versions of this painting, all the same size, except one version has the name "The Half King" on the restaurant.  They are from an original photo I took in the middle of Manhattan when my son Jeff, and my wife Kaye, and I went here for dinner.  I was standing in the middle of the road when I took this.  

One version, (without the name) is in a private collection in Wolverine Lake Mi.  I have the other three, somewhere.

Lady Golfers

8 × 10 Oil on canvas mounted on wood. This is from a sketch I made in Mesa Arizona. The condo we were staying at was right at the third hole. We saw a lot of golfers go through here in 9 days , and a lot of them seemed to be hackers and whackers ( I called them! ) but these two ladies were REAL GOOD!

16x16. Oil on canvas board.  2016

This was a rework of an older painting and when I was done I realized it reminded me of my son Jeff and his fiancé Claire.  I presented it to them as a gift in 2017 for their new co-op apartment in Brooklyn.

Private collection:  Brooklyn New York

Oil on Linen, mounted on wood panel, 19 x 24, repainted on an older painting 2021

I just had to redo this painting, wasn’t happy with it. It’s a little better I think. The second painting here is the one I painted over.

27x27.  Oil on birch panel.     2017

There is not a photograph of my Dad, my brothers, and I together in one place as adults at the same time. So I created this painting.  My two sisters were 10 years younger than us boys so I included them in the painting on the wall with our mother.

Left to right, front to back;  Gerald, Arnold Sr.,  Donald,  Arnold Jr.  Ronald,  Jane,  Ruth,  Janet.

14x11 oil on canvas board

Image from an old family photograph - the artist's  mother - top left.

Private collection:  Bloomfield Hills Michigan

Got Coffee… 18×14 Acrylic on canvas panel (After Liepke ) 2007

16x20.  Oil on canvas board.    Frame made by Ron Maki.   2017

This is a painting, design and form, that came mostly out of my imagination.  It was inspired by Degas. Private collection, Philadelphia

Oil on linen, mounted on wood panel, 18 x 24, 2021

This is from a black and white family photo taken in 1940.

Left to right—My Mom, then Ruth Helen Koyyka when she was about 17 years old. My Grandpa, Toivo John Koykka, about 42 years old, and my Grandma, Tillie Emily Koykka, about 38 years old. The car is a 1939 Willy’s sedan. This was just north of the Tapiola Diner, which at that time was the Co-op store , I believe.

I Will Remember You….

Oil on wood panel 18 x 24 October 2021

This is a painting from my imagination about me and my three brothers, Arnie ( Freddie ), Jerry, and Donnie. The location is in the UP at Grandpa Koykka’s farm in Elo Michigan.

16x12. Oil on canvas board.      2014.  Frame made by Ron Maki

This is a painting of my wife from a photo taken years ago when she was a bridesmaid at a cousin's wedding.  One of my nicknames for her is Kitra,  and our last name in Finnish means "hill."  Also the Kanji symbol inside the circle on my artist signature means "hill."  I am also a fan of the old religious icon paintings with gold leaf.  Thus. St. Kitra of the Hills.

Oil on wood panel, 13x 18, Fall 2021

This is from an old black and white family photo. It depicts my Mom’s first cousins, the Kuopus kids. My Mom might be one of the girls on the hood I’m not sure. I originally did this image as a pencil drawing in 1988 and entered it in the Postal Life Magazine’s calendar contest for 1989. It won and was put in as the July image. I worked as a Postal clerk and Mail Processing Equipment Tech for 38 years.

20.5 X 20.5 inches, Oil on Linen, Mounted on Birch Panel, November 2019

I was experimenting with color in this painting using the CMY color wheel as opposed to the RGB color wheel. The RGB is the standard red, green, blue wheel that works best with pigment. The CMY wheel is cyan, magenta, yellow wheel that is used for blending light, not pigment. The theory is fairly complicated, but simply put, the CMY wheel is how your retina in your eye sees color. If you are a competent CMY “painter” then the colors will be more pleasing to your consciousness.

John Mellencamp is one of my favorite musicians and I just love the song “Cherry Bomb".” I love the video of it because of his violinist. My painting doesn’t represent her physically, but I believe it does emotionally.

16x20.  Oil on canvas board.    2014

This painting was inspired by a trip my wife and I took to the wonderful ghost town of Jerome Arizona.  We had drinks at the Jerome Grand Hotel which was built as a hospital in the 1930's.  It closed in 1950 and was empty for 44 years.  It became a hotel in 1994. What a view from these windows!

 I took a selfie there and decided to make a painting.  How the "housecat" got in the painting, I'm not quite sure.   They say the place is one of the most haunted places in America...

36 x 36 Oil on birch panel,  2016?

This painting is an homage to my Scandinavian ancestors (Finns and Swedes).  All the images and words have great meaning to me.

The second painting is an original sketch for the Viking ship,  16x16, oil on canvas panel.  Presented to my nephew Garrett as a gift.  A very intelligent young man who has inherited the Viking curiosity.

The first poem is one I wrote while pondering dreams and ancestors.

The second poem is by C.P.Cavafy, which one of my art instructors (Olga Constantine) at Wayne State University in Detroit  gave to all her students. It's especially appropriate for young artists setting out in life. My favorite lines are:  "Many be the summer mornings - When with what pleasure, with what delight - You enter harbors never seen before..."

The next image and short poem is representative  of the Zen mindset to me.  Misty cloudy, foggy, mystical landscape --which I love -- and a short Chinese poem:  "I asked the boy beneath the pines -- He said, 'The Master's gone alone -- Herb picking somewhere on the mount -- Cloud-hidden, whereabouts unknown'."  Poetry doesn't get any better than that!   It's by Chia Tao (777-841).    

The last image is of a larger painting that I did years ago called "Remembering" --since I was a child I've always had this feeling of lost connection, that somehow when you are born as a human you slowly begin to forget something extremely important.  It's hard to explain, but I guess that's why I call myself "An Independent Researcher Into Realms of Consciousness."  I've always been looking for that connection.

The Kiss 16×20 Oil on canvas panel May 2010

Private collection Empire, Michigan

Oil on canvas panel, 2015

This was painted in the studio at the BBAC from a live model.

Presented to Rachel as a gift as she began her college education at the SAIC, School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  

16x20 oil on canvas board. 2007

Collection: the artist

18x24.   Oil on canvas board.   2017

This painting is an homage to two of my favorite artists - Jean-Michel Basquiat and J.C Leyendecker.   Both of them had their personal battles. Basquiat died of a drug overdose at age 27.  Leyendecker lived to an old age but kept his private life private.  He was a gay man in an age, (the early twentieth century), when it was impossible to live such a life openly.  They both created the most wonderful art! Private collection, Franklin MI

11x14. Oil on canvas board.   2016.  Frame by Ron Maki

This painting came from my imagination and a phrase I saw on a building in Santa Fe NM.  "Nuevo Suenos y Milagros". ( New dreams and miracles). ( Private collection , Royal Oak MI )

Oil on canvas board.   10x16.  2008

A portrait of my son Jeff when he was 6 or 7, with his dog Buster (A Bichon Frise).

Private collection:  Jeff Maki.  Brooklyn NY

Belle Isle, 28x14 Acrylic and gold leaf on birch panel. Dec. 2018

This is a poster-style painting I did for my son Jeff and his wife Claire who were married at the old Boat House on Belle Isle in Detroit on May 12, 2018.

It is a wonderful place for a wedding, it’s in the process of being restored to it’s original appearance. It has an amazing interior with wonderful woodwork, staircases and rooms done in an age when great wood and great craftsmen were plentiful. It was a superb wedding and reception!

This painting was a Christmas present to them Christmas 2018.

Also there is another copy of this….my original acrylic sketch, approx. 12x8.

27x27. oil on birch panel

Won First Prize BBAC -January show, 2015

Private collection:  Franklin, Michigan

8x10.   Oil on canvas board.     2015 (?)

This is a painting from a photo of me and two of my best friends - (more like brothers really) - Bill, and Carl, and Carl's dog Lucy (A great fishing dog!).   The location is Elo Michigan on my property there. The little RV trailer behind us is one that I restored the year after I retired. (See story in Cool Stuff).  We've been going on dirt bike trips and fishing trips together forever.  Bill and I have known each other since grade school.  And I've known Carl since about 1970.  Both guys have great skills with making and building things themselves.  I think between the three of us we could build, repair or create anything. 

Private collection:  Rochester, Michigan

11x14 ?  Oil on canvas board.

The painting on the wall is by one of my favorite artists, Robert Henri.

Private collection:  Royal Oak MI

25 1/2 x 40.  Oil on birch panel.  2015

This painting is a concept painting about color and form.  Meaning that the shapes and forms, and the colors are what this painting is about. For example, the big flowing orange shape that encompasses all the dresses is one form.  Also the blue shape that surrounds the pics on the walls and continues as negative spaces between the dancers and their arms and bodies etc. ( Private collection, Empire MI )

The second painting is the original color sketch for the large painting.  16 x 11 ? Oil on canvas panel.  It was presented as a gift to my lovely niece Bella who is also a dancer.

20x16.  Oil on canvas panel.    2015

This is from a real tin type that my wife and I had taken in the 1970's.  I always liked this image.

Painted from a live model, Josie Herman at the BBAC. Private collection, Lake Orion MI

24x18. Oil on birch panel. May 2018

This is a painting I’m currently working on, I’d say it’s about half done.

I love painting people in cool poses and this qualifies. I’m thinking of making the 2 people on the right, into my wife and I. I have a photo of us when we were younger that is similar to this pose and she had a pink dress on in that pic. I always liked that photo. It was part of the inspiration for this painting.

16x20?    Oil on canvas board.  2014?  Private collection:  Rochester Hills Michigan

This painting was inspired by a trip to the Detroit Institute of Art.  I was very interested in the people watching a video artwork by Marina Abramovic, who's a well known performance artist in NYC.  The work was called "In the Kitchen 5, Carrying the Milk."  It was an endless loop of a woman (Marina?) standing in one spot not trying to spill a bowl of milk filled to the rim.  The only movement was in her hands which were slightly shaking.  It was like the observers were waiting to see if she spilt the milk -- she did not.  All this in a darkened room.  Very unique.

20x16.    Oil on canvas panel.     2017

20x16.  Acrylic on canvas panel.     2007

An early self portrait with our two cats, Sugar and Spice.

20x16   Oil on canvas panel.   2013

16x20.  Oil on canvas panel.   2011

This is a painting of my wife Kaye with our two cats when they were still kittens