This is an original watercolor I painted of Jouluupukki,

In Finland, Santa is called Joulupukki. This literally means ‘Christmas Goat’ (Joulu means Christmas and Pukki means goat (or buck) as it was traditional in Finland that there was a Yule Goat who was scary and asked people for presents – and certainly didn’t give any out! Joulupukki might also be called just ‘Pukki’!

Over time the goat became a gift giver and a human figure rather than a goat, but the name of the ‘Christmas Goat’ was kept. Joulupukki rides with reindeer and leaves gifts under the Christmas tree but if you have been naughty you could end up with a bag of coal!

Finnish people believe that Joulupukki (Santa Claus or Father Christmas) lives in the north part of Finland called Korvatunturi (or Lapland), north of the Arctic Circle. People from all over the world send letters to Santa Claus in Finland. There is a big tourist theme park called ‘Christmas Land’ in the north of Finland, near to where they say that Father Christmas lives.