Kaija’s element is the outdoors. Her passions are art, running, skiing, gardening and rescuing animals. Born in Finland and raised in Sweden until she moved to Canada, she lived on a farm and had horses and dogs from her earliest childhood. When her parents immigrated to Thunder Bay in 1967, she had “a huge hole in my soul” caused by the lack of a horse. Her dad traded an old car that he fixed up for an emaciated yearling quarter horse. Kaija rode him bareback because they couldn’t afford a saddle. “Dad always taught me ‘If you have an animal, take care of it; be responsible from beginning to end.’”

The lesson stuck. Mountain has been adopting needy animals all her life. Since moving to her farm in Ramsay Township in 1989, she has rescued two more homeless horses, four dogs, countless cats, chickens, bunnies, cockatiels, budgies and is constantly caring for wild animals that get themselves into trouble. She also suffers from gardenitis, expanding her exuberant and delightfully naturalized gardens each year. It is a true blessing that her job as an art instructor for the Upper Canada School District at the TR Leger Campus in Smiths Falls leaves her with her summers “free”.

Mountain may not have much free time, but she has a free spirit. She left home in grade 10 and did a variety of jobs, eventually becoming the first female gardener for the Alberta government. Much to her co-workers’ surprise, she didn’t wreck any lawnmowers. She met her husband Jim Mountain when he delivered her run-away dog to her upon her return from a trip. Later, when he told her he was moving to Lethbridge, she asked him if she could come with him. After they got married she worked in a bank and in a factory, using her horse as her main mode of transportation.

One day a neighbour mentioned that her drawing class was short one person, and Kaija decided to give it a whirl. The instructor showed the class Van Gogh’s “Starry Night”, and “it was like somebody opened the door; I never looked back.” Five years later she finished her BFA at the University of Lethbridge, winning the President’s Medal as top student in the Faculty.

Shortly after Jim was transferred to Ottawa by Heritage Canada, the couple were expecting their second daughter, and decided to look for a place to buy. Kaija knew she wanted to live on the Canadian Shield, bought a map, circled the desired area, and started driving. In 1989 they found what they were looking for in Ramsay Township west of Almonte. The property had a barn that had not been severed off, and it reminded Kaija of parts of Europe that she missed terribly, right down to the vegetation.

As the girls began to grow, Kaija took up cross-country skiing with them, first helping to coach, and eventually becoming a competitor herself. She also took up competitive running, and is well-known in the area as the woman who “runs with the wolves”. Out for a run one day in 1998 with her two dogs, three very wolfish looking puppies appeared out of the bushes and started running after them. This happened for several days, and Kaija and her neighbours realized the youngsters had been abandoned and were hungry. After months of patient feeding and miles of running, the three dogs settled in at the farm, and Kaija acquired her running team. The team has been her mainstay during her battle over the past four years against two diagnoses of breast cancer, and grueling bouts of chemotherapy and radiation.

The Uplifting Power of Cranes

On a run one day in 2006, exhausted and discouraged, Kaija stopped at the edge of the Indian River to splash water on her hot face, and suddenly heard the fantastic sound of huge wings over her. Looking up, she saw four enormous sandhill cranes hovering over her, each with a wingspan of more than six feet. It was a transforming moment in her life and in her art. “They called me — paint us! We are here for you.” Her response is a stunning, emotionally compelling series of crane paintings titled “Sing My Spirit Home”.

Kaija paints entirely left-handedly to better tap into the instinctive, subconscious, non-rational energies supposedly emanating from the right hemisphere of the brain. In her hand, the technique succeeds. The spontaneity of the surface imagery is underpainted by Mountain’s deep familiarity with her subjects, and her profound appreciation for their complexity and promise. Her art invites her viewers to participate in her exultation of nature and life.

Her teaching invites her students to explore their artistic possibilities without fear. To Kaija’s great satisfaction, in grade 2 her younger daughter responded to an art teacher’s criticism by saying “My mommy doesn’t colour in the lines either, and she’s an artist!”

Mountain believes that discipline and training lay the foundation for excellence, whether you’re an artist or an athlete or a teacher. “If you practice enough, you know where you are going” applies equally to her competitive running and cross-country skiing as it does to her “spontaneous” painting. She is driven to create. She is driven to compete. She is driven to survive — with the uplifting power of cranes.

Join Kaija Savinainen Mountain’s celebration of nature this Thanksgiving weekend as she participates in the annual Crown and Pumpkin Studio Tour, October 6–8 from 10–5 each day. Mountain was one of the original organizers of this great tour, featuring 18 stops at artists’ studios in the Blakeney-Clayton-Almonte area. Her Willow Creek Studio is Stop #4 at 411 Bellamy Mills Rd. not far from Blakeney. For more details on the Tour, contact Karen Riches (English, 256–8370) or Barbara Mullally (Français, 256–3647).

Kaija’s work is also on display at Mill Street Gallery housed next to Fitzgerald’s Restaurant in the Victoria Woollen Mill at 79 Mill St. in Almonte. You can get an excellent preview of her work at her website, and you can reach her by email or by phone at 256–2879. And did you know that clicking on the “Art and Soul” link on this site provides 23 archived artist profiles published in theHumm since November, 2005?