Veikko Halmetoja

Happiness is a daily choice


Happiness is a daily choice stands for the duality of life and how we are exposed to it. Despite what goes inside of us, we have to choose happiness, every day. Who you are and who you become is the sub-product of our daily choices. Inside: apparent calm and balance. Male and female energies on right and left sides. The curtains are also balanced, peaceful and the sheer fabric suggests that, despite the open window, there is no winds to disturb the cat’s sleep. On the floor level there is a bit of confusion of all things left unattended. On the left side of the painting a book dictates what we all should obey: the declaration of human rights. Perhaps the happy childhood outside is not by chance, but because of humanitarian and societal rules that should guide life and humanity. Outside: we are all allowed to play, to laugh, to hurt, to dare, to exist. No violence is allowed. Between the two sides, on the window screen lays a plate with a slice of watermelon. We must feed our hopes with justice and equality. But it is also there to remind us all that not everyone is allowed to a sovereign existence. On the other side, the key. The right to return, the right to a home, the right to belong and feel safe.

Luciana Mariano ©

This painting is being exhibited at Maksla XO Gallery in Riga, Latvia, from June 4 till July 11, 2026.

The Maze

Life is a maze, an amazing trip. A sure destination without a timetable, just a limited, unpredictable time to go across. Dead ends, swirls and turns. Sweet meetings and sad farewells. You can walk bare feet or fly, but you can’t escape. You may as well enjoy the ride and pay attention to the signs along the way. Beauty and poetry is not always given, but can always be found there. Serendipity, chances, possibilities on every corner, though it depends on your deliberate intention to find those. There is no right or wrong ways, every walk will bring you forward, even if you feel stuck, even when you walk in circles or if you don’t walk at all. Time drives the way and takes you to what you need to see, learn, live. Happiness it is definitely a choice, an intent and decision to be perceived and found throughout the way.

A vida é um labirinto, uma viagem incrível. Um destino seguro sem horário, apenas com um tempo limitado e imprevisível para atravessar. Becos sem saída, redemoinhos e reviravoltas. Doces encontros e tristes despedidas. Você pode andar descalço ou voar, mas não pode escapar. Você também pode aproveitar o passeio e prestar atenção às placas ao longo do caminho. A beleza e a poesia nem sempre são dadas, mas sempre podem ser encontradas ali. O acaso, as chances, as possibilidades estão em cada esquina, embora dependa da sua intenção deliberada de encontrá-las. Não existem caminhos certos ou errados, cada caminhada o levará adiante, mesmo que você se sinta preso, mesmo quando ande em círculos ou nem ande. O tempo conduz o caminho e te leva ao que você precisa ver, aprender, viver. A felicidade é definitivamente uma escolha, uma intenção e uma decisão a ser percebida e encontrada ao longo do caminho.


The Maze of Life is in exhibition at Malva Museum, Lehti, Finland. In the collective exhibition “Destinations”, curated by Veikko Halmetoja, until November 2024.

Old Times
Good old days - 30x40 - 2023

Often we meet and greet people on automatic gear. There is no eye contact, no hugs, not even a hand shake. We talk but it’s all rhetorical speech, we have no intention to really know how the person is doing, what is making him/her happy or miserable. We blame it on our scarsety of time, not without it being true; the age of information has sucked our lifes to the scary times described by the genius Charles Chaplin on Modern Times. We live mechanically, working to surviving and surviving to work. Social Media have very little to do with socializing and even less on being a media, it is more like a dead end burden we feel obliged to attend and respond to. We are being slaved by our cepllphones. Special moments have been neglected to second or third priority, if at all a priority. We now get emotional by watching tiny videos on tiny screens, just before continuing all the meaningless compulsory activities that took over our days and lifes. It feels like we have no choice. We are exhausted and it feels like everyone else is living a better life that the one we are. It is difficult to choose what we want when we have to do what we must. The new phone, the new car, the new next thing that will grant us the new debt, but not the peace we should be gaining. Most of us are not even struggling about the fancy things, the majority of humanity is still trying to figure out where they will sleep tonight or what their next meal will be, if it will at all be. Where did we go wrong?
And how to step out of this madness?
Few of us have the luxury to plan ahead. Only for today I know what to do: I will paint. And tonight, for sure, I will watch Modern Times. It seems that the fella knew what he was playing about. Art has the answer, and hopefully it will redeem us.

Art: Goof old days – 30×40 – 2023 – In exhibition at Naivistit Iittalassa.

Luciana Mariano ©