BIG GUY IS BEARLY AN ARTIST

Artists usually like to attend the opening of their exhibitions, but the painter of the works that recently went on display at a gallery in Helsinki, Finland, preferred to carry on hibernating. The artist behind the exhibition entitled “Strong and Soft Touches” is a 930-pound brown bear named Juuso who uses his body, especially his paws, as paintbrushes. “We just leave paint for him, and some plywood and paper . . . He does all the work in his own time,” said Pasi Jantti (pictured with Juuso), one of his keepers. Juuso, 17, favors blue and red, Jantti said, adding that the paints pose no health risk to the big guy.