“I spent a month crafting Erika Vikman”—take a look at Kati’s jaw-dropping Hama bead portraits!

Kati Rasmus based her Erika portrait on a photo Nelli Kenttä took at the Finland's Contest for New Music UMK 2025 and made sure to get the photographer’s permission first. She creates the “pattern” in the Bead Studio app, and the work’s depth comes from her broad color palette. Whenever Kati beads, she listens to the artist she’s portraying. You can see the finished pieces on Instagram @kati.hamahelmi and on TikTok @Katihamahelmi.

Kati, you made a Hama bead portrait of Erika Vikman—what was the project like?

I make fuse bead portraits of people who intrigue me or whose music means a lot to me. I’ve followed Erika for years and I’m absolutely a Eurovision fan. I worked on the piece for a month alongside my job as a practical nurse. The portrait has about 15,000 beads, each one placed by hand.

After every new piece I think, “This one’s the best.” But this is definitely the best since I started the hobby in 2018. It was exciting to watch the hair, hairline, glove and brows take shape. The eyes have soul—you recognize Erika right away.

You often give the portrait to the celebrity—how do you pull that off?

I’ve been lucky enough to hand over a piece to the artist many times. That’s the biggest reward. It means a lot when someone thanks me for the portrait. I’ve met Käärijä, for example. I took my portrait of the Finnish president Alexander Stubb to the presidential office, and a handsome police officer promised to deliver it. Once, at a show of the Finnish disco singer Eini, I got to step on stage with the portrait. It was an amazing moment when the audience cheered my name and applauded.

I messaged Erika about the portrait too, but I understand she might not have time to reply. Still, she shared my popular TikTok video of the piece. Erika’s coming to Oulu for a gig in August, so my goal is to wave the portrait in the front row.

Kati met Käärijä in 2023.

This portrait of Finnish singer Annika Eklund contains 14,200 beads. Kati builds her pieces on small 15 x 15-centimeter pegboards that she later snaps together. The biggest works end up in 50 x 70-centimeter frames. She has a studio room at home with an adjustable standing desk and, by her estimate, “about five million beads in boxes.” Yet there isn’t a single fuse bead portrait hanging on her own walls.

What does making these portraits give you?

This hobby is a vital part of my life. It takes patience, and you need real fire to keep at it. Creating portraits balances out my three-shift work schedule. Time is scarce, but I bead on my days off and in the evenings. I have no plans to quit—in fact, my enthusiasm just keeps growing.

Who are you planning to immortalize next?

I’m going to make portraits of Finnish artists Bess and Linda Lampenius, and I already have VIP tickets for Linda’s show.

I’d love to create a unique wedding portrait for someone. I also dream of an exhibition. For a nursing home for people with memory loss I could make portraits of old Finnish favorites like the tango singer Olavi Virta. Residents might recognize those.

Kati starts from the top and works 5–8 rows at a time, one color after another. She can place beads with tweezers for about two hours before she needs a break—otherwise mistakes creep in because “the beads start spinning in my head and my eyes get fuzzy,” she says. The hardest step is ironing; you can’t rush it. Sometimes she even has to replace beads that have melted too much.

Kati took her Alexander Stubb portrait to the presidential office.

Who are you rooting for in Eurovision?

Of course I hope Erika wins, but my favorite is the Austrian artist JJ and JJ’s moving song Wasted Love. We’ll see whether we end up heading from our viewing party straight to the sauna. I love the contest because it brings people together and because of its sheer joy and happiness.

That’s Sauli and Jenni! A mother from Oulu turns celebrities into perler-bead portraits – “This is the best way to unwind” [in Finnish]

Kati’s hobby began when she started making Hama bead pictures with her children. Read Kotona’s 2019 story. [in Finnish]