Jarmo Karjalainen (pron. YAR-moh KAHR-yah-lie-nehn) is an artist and a designer born in Finland and his fine-art career spans over two continents and more than three decades. He lives and works in the New York City area. Mr. Karjalainen draws his subjects from the world around him — the people, places, and conditions of light he encounters, from the far north of Finland to the streets of Boston and the fields of Montana. His paintings are built in layers of paint, thin and thick, including textural qualities, resulting in depth and optical richness that only oil paintings can achieve. Rooted in classical training, his style has grown over the years toward a freer, more luminous way of seeing, while remaining firmly representational. He counts among his influences the great realist painters of the past, such as Rembrandt, Sargent, and Ilya Repin, as well as the late-19th-century “Nordic Luminists,” who sought to depict color the way the eye sees it. Light itself is often the true subject of his work. Jarmo Karjalainen   Mr. Karjalainen was admitted to the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki after a rigorous multi-week entrance examination. Though considered too young, he was accepted on condition of a successful first year, becoming the youngest artist to study there. He studied archival painting methods and classical academic drawing. He later moved west and earned a Diploma and the Fifth Year Certificate in Fine Arts from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston, and received a BFA from Tufts University. Mr. Karjalainen has received several awards and grants for his paintings, including the George Sugarman Foundation Award. He has exhibited at Dacia Gallery in New York City and in other international and national venues including the Salmagundi Club Gallery and the National Arts Club Gallery in New York, NY. Mr. Karjalainen's works are in both public and private collections in the United States and in Europe.