The artist
Born in North-Karelia, eastern Finland, Venla Bevan was from birth surrounded by the Green Belt of Fennoscandian nature, mysticism of the borderlands, and an abundance of nearly forgotten history and folklore, venturing in the very same steads where the rune-singers of Karelia once passed their knowledge to Elias Lönnrot - the folklorist behind the finnish epic Kalevala. These stories and the stories behind the stories, are an endless source of inspiration to her.
Further influence to her writing and creations have been received especially from J.R.R. Tolkien - and related books by David Day, Don Rosa, Robert E. Howard, finnish poets like Eino Leino and Uuno Kailas, aswell as regular North-Karelian people, and their lively dialect and storytelling.
The Scholar
After doing some soul-searching around the world, Venla returned to her roots in North-Karelia and began to search in the history and legends of her homeland. She continues to collect a private archive of various stories and local legends, literature, maps, and other material, of what is not generally regarded in most history books of today. Meanings behind the names of locations, stories of war-time, the mythology and folk-lore offer a boost of creativity and open a window to the forgotten world. This Pandora's box is yet unopened to public, but the author's intention is to share these stories to the world, in time.
The Adventurer
North Karelia today still offers many wonders to delve in, UFO sightings, haunted locations, mythology that you can feel in the surrounding forest, tales that await to be found, and spirituality and tradition that can be shared. To balance with the indoor studies, Venla continues to explore the authentic locations of war history and all the places where legends were born, to find something real to feed the fantasy with. You can join her on her social media channels, where she shares videos, photos, and stories.