I just love being an artist, you never know from one day to another what may come your way.  This week I just found out that I had won first prize in 2 categories at the American Art Awards in LA.  The first award was for Naive Art where I entered “The true colors of Hindley Street” which has also been made into duvets for ARTnBED.  If you want to see the announcement on the HIGHLIGHT HOLLYWOOD website here is the link with the lovely article written by Tommy Lightfoot Garrett.  The second award was my painting “Noahs Ark” and that won first prize in the Religious section which was just announced today and can be seen on this link; AMERICAN ART AWARDS and both are available to purchase as limited edition GICLEE PRINTS on my website.

This image above is the one third of the actual painting, if you want to see the whole thing here is a link HINDLEY STREET COMPLETE

AMERICAN ART AWARDS

The American Art Awards is open to artists around the world and its President Thom Bierdz is a champion for all artists in all genres and takes great delight in introducing new artists to the American market.  The award is judged by 25 of the top art galleries in USA and here is the full list of the Top Galleries.

ALL ART GENERA

Thom is of course a very talented artist himself, self taught who enjoys all types of art whether its medium is oil, acrylic, photography, sculpture, pastel or any other form and the awards is open to all genres too; landscape, portrait, pop art, expressionism, realistic, outsider art, naive art, impressionism, erotic or whatever.  Thom himself cannot enter of course nor is he part of the judging panel, he leaves that up to the art galleries.  He did however send me a lovely message on Facebook and invited me to enter as he does with other artists whose work he comes across that he likes.  Although an invitation to enter is not necessary as it is open to all artists across the world.

ARTIST AND ACTOR

Thom Bierdz has had a very interesting career as both an artist and actor firstly starring in the Young and the Restless as Phillip Chancellor lll and also on Melrose Place.  Thom got a lot of publicity for coming out as the first gay actor in daytime television, although there seems to be a bit of controversy over that lately with Thom declaring that he is not gay after all but did that mainly as a publicity stunt, so at this stage this is still up in the air.  No doubt he is therefore breaking hearts on both sides of the ledger!  Thom has also added author to his achievements penning the candid memoir “Forgiving Troy” which he won both the Indie Excellence Book Award for Best Autobiography and the USA Book News National Best Book Awards in the Non-Fiction and True Crime categories.  He was also nominated for the Lambda Literary Award in 2008.

THE ART OF AN AUTHOR

“Forgiving Troy” subject matter sounds as it come straight out of the day-time soap operas Thom starred in but unfortunately this is the real story of his own journey to forgive and love his paranoid schizophrenic brother who killed their mother in 1989.  Troy is serving a life sentence in a Wisconsin prison.  As if this was not tragic enough Thom’s other brother then committed suicide leaving his older sister Kim as his only remaining sibling.

However Thom Bierdz continues to shine, winning acclaim and awards for his continued contributions to charity work for human rights, through his art, acting and writing.

So keeping Thoms struggle in mind here is a quote by Vivian Komori which I think fits all of us perfectly;

“Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb but how well you bounce”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all.

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALEand SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

Several years ago I was commissioned to paint a St Patrick’s Day painting celebrating all things Irish by my US Art Gallery. That was something that up until then had not occurred to me and one of the reasons I generally enjoy doing commissions so much is because there is always a new topic that you may not have thought of yourself and not only does it inspire you as an artist to paint it but it also makes you grow as a person by having to research whatever the subject is.

ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

The brief for the painting was to include the St Patrick’s Day Parade, the Blarney Castle, kissing the Blarney stone, an Irish Pub, four leaf clovers, St Patrick’s the Saint, Leprechauns, a rainbow and a pot of Gold. So the above acrylic on board painting was the result.

THE ART OF CELEBRATING

Here in Australia St Patrick’s day is taken pretty seriously as well, it is not an official holiday as it is in Ireland but there certainly is much celebration, Guinness, Irish Whisky followed by drunkenness, lol – any excuse will do for the Aussies! Well I guess there are quite a few with Irish decent here, being as Australia was started as a penal colony and many Irish along with the English came over as convicts during the 19th century. Added to this are a large number of Irish people who also emigrated to Australia later on, so there was much artistic inspiration to be had.  I am not sure if in all this celebrating the fact that it is really a religious celebration is a little lost on most of us?

SAINT PATRICK ON A PAINTING

As you can see on my painting Saint Patrick is on the top right.  St Patricks day was made an official feast day in the early 17th century in celebration of Patrick who was born into a wealthy Romano-British family in AD 385 and died on the 17th March AD 461.

Patrick’s grandfather was a priest and his father a deacon and he studied to become a priest, although that was after his ordeal of being kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. He apparently then had a dream where he was told by god to flee from his captors and that is what he then did in real life and returned to Britain. Later on after he had finished his studies he went back to Ireland as a bishop and is thought of as the principal champion of Irish Christianity.

BLUE AND GREEN COLOURS

Originally the colour associated with St Patrick was blue but that had changed as early as the 17th century, so these days all the Irish revellers dress in green colour and you see them all spilling out onto the street from all the pubs, particularly the dedicated Irish pubs which are very popular anyway in Australia.

THE ART OF COUNTING MONEY

Let’s not forget the Leprechauns either, not that I have ever seen one in real life but I have been reliably informed that they do exists and can be found at the end of every rainbow, next to the pot of gold counting their money stored away from making shoes! You really should try to catch one as they have magical powers and will grant humans three wishes in exchange for their release. They are easy to spot too as they are no taller than a small child, clad in a green coat (sometimes red) wearing a beard and a hat.

Or perhaps we better just stick to the old plan of working for a living eh?

So I leave you today with an Irish Blessing for all of you;

“May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light. May good luck pursue you each morning and night.”

Till next time happy painting, sculpting and celebrating.

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

So why this title; “Fifty shades of grey in Religion & Art”? Perhaps something to do with the painting of the cats and all the shades of grey they come in.  Well not exactly but as it is Christmas I thought this painting was a good fit even though it is not a religious artwork, which really is the topic of this art blog.

NAIVE ART BY MARIE JONSSON-HARRISON

You see I recently wrote a blog about Fifty Shades of Grey & Art about the book phenomenon and my thoughts on the matter and as I got hundreds of messages, comments and feedback on that I thought it was worthwhile to canvas the issue that was brought up time and time again.  Most of the comments were really positive and some 160 people shared the initial post from my Naive Art by Marie Jonsson-Harrison page on Facebook with over 1680 likes.

ART BLOG

The thing was that I had posted the blog with an artwork of mine made in ceramic and mosaic, a wall based sculpture depicting Adam and Eve and that caused some heated debate both from the Christian side as well as from the Muslims.

ADAM & EVE, CERAMIC & MOSAIC SCULPTURE

Some Christians thought it was an outrageous artwork and that Adam had a bottle in his hand was terrible.   That to me seemed a weird comment as I am sure both Adam and Eve had a drink, let’s get serious they would have gotten bored just eating those apples without making some apple wine or schnapps occasionally right?  The bible is all for alcohol anyway that is what every Christian church gives their followers on a Sunday morning, in the guise of the “blood of Jesus”.   That I had painted them a little bit plump which was for the most part approved of.

RELIGION AND ART

As far as the Muslim comments go, again for the most part the artwork was met with great comments and positive feedback however there were some that took offence and thought it was outrageous and anti Muslim!  So go figure if both Christians and Muslim think it is against their particular religion then I must have done something right I figure.

Which brings me to the question of religion and the fervor it stirs up in people, seems to me that all that matters is that their own point of view is right.  Why can’t everyone just believe in whatever religion that makes sense to them?  Whether that is Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindi, Budda or none and be an Atheist.  Why does it matter so much to some people what other faiths people believe in?

How do we even know for sure that there is a God?  I hope there is one; I do want to go to Heaven if there is such a thing.  I do believe in doing onto others and all that.  But in this evidence based world I just cannot say for sure what is true and what is fiction.  So until we get word from above as to who is running this show and what particular religion is right, let’s just try to live together and in harmony with each other.

THE ART OF THE CHRISTMAS WISH

My cousin Sonja sent me this picture from her time in Accra, Ghana.  It shows one of their favorite dancing spots where all sorts of people gather to have fun.  To the right is a Jew and to the left a Muslim, then there is two Atheists and behind are some Christians and they all had a great time together, that is the type of world I wish for.

Let me take this opportunity to wish you all a Very Happy Christmas or Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone apart from the Chinese (which has their New Years a bit later).  I hope you are all able to spend some time with your loved ones, for that is really all that matters after all.

Here is a quote by the 14^th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, which I think fits pretty well here;

“The purpose of all major religious traditions is not to construct big temples on the outside, but to create temples of goodness and compassion inside, in our hearts.”

I think he has a fair point.

Till next time,

Happy painting, sculpting and spending family time to you all,

Love Marie xxxx

If you enjoyed this art & religion blog you may also like to see some of my religious paintings here are some links; 92 Art & walk across my swimming pool and 29. Religious Paintings

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

Is the title of this acrylic on board painting of Jesus doing just that! As I have said before I really enjoy painting religious motives but am not a follower of any particular religion.  I guess you can say that I am hedging my bets as I wear a Cross and a Budda around my neck and am keen to add to that with a Ganesh (love that elephant symbol) and also some others too.  I am a child of the world and believe in peace and happiness for everyone no matter what colour of the skin, cultural background or sexual orientation.  If you fancy having a look at another of my religious painting Noahs Ark, use this link (as well as some more thoughts about religion.) 29. Religious Paintings.

HEAVEN AND ART

I do really hope there is a heaven as there are lots of people & animals that I so want to see and hug again – top of that list are my darling grandparents.  Not that I am in any hurry – well if it was possible to make a daytrip and just visit and then come back to earth and life as normal – yes then I would be lining up for a ticket.

I have the sketch for exactly that painting and at least I will paint it one day – Daytrip to Heaven.  I think just so there wouldn’t be a mix up for the return journey,  a T-shirt from Monty Pythons show Spamalot would be the attire for the day with the inscription across the chest of “I am not dead yet”.    Just in case – right?

ART AND FOOD

A great place to visit and have some delicious food and see some good art on the walls is at my lovely pals

Francis and Putu at White Cedars Cafe in Burra and here is a link to another art blog about them which you may enjoy;  24. Noodles Anyone ?

For a recent SALA  exhibition Putu came up with the idea when they went and saw a Dorrit Black retrospective at the Royal Institute (and saw that most of the work there were on loan), that it would be lovely to ask the connoisseurs among their friends to hang their most prized possessions whether it was their own artwork or by someone else.  Perhaps a memory of a time and place or person and to go with the artwork a brief explanation of why this particular piece is precious.

So I think this is a fabulous idea for a show and it is going to be very interesting to see the various artworks on display and read all about them.  Of course this will be an exhibition to remember and not only for the art but also for the fantastic food – Putu is the chef and an expert at Balinese food – to die for (can you see there really is a theme to this, LOL)

It is fitting then that I leave you with the title of a song from Monty Python’s “Life of Brian” – a song that I have requested to be played at my own funeral (which hopefully will be many, many moons from now).

“Always look at the bright side of life”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting,

Love Marie xxx    (c)

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

As you may have figured out by now, I do like to paint just about everything, any subject matter, most of the time colorful and busy.

I am often asked about my religious scenes like the one here, Noahs Ark.  Am I religious – well, I do hope there is an afterlife, I have so many people that I would so dearly like to see again.

Is there a heaven and will my loved ones that died before me be waiting for me ?     Oh I truly hope so.  Well if that is what I hope, what about God and Christianity and all the other religions?

MAKING THE WORLD BETTER THROUGH ART

My belief is that all religions play a part and all have more similarities than differences.

To me it doesn’t matter whether your beliefs are of the Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhism, Catholic or any of the other Christian flavours.

We are all people of the world and ideally we should care for each other and help each other.  I do think the 10 commandments make sense and try to live my life in ‘doing unto others’ and all that.  Sometimes I fail but I do try to Pay It Forward, small kind gestures that make this world a better place.

So to sometimes paint a scene from the bible gives me a sense of peace.  I will have to familiarize myself a bit more with the other religious books as I am sure they also have very rich and interesting material for new paintings, sculpture and artworks in general.

Here is a thought from one of Douglas Pagels books, which I like.

You have the ability to..

Follow your heart.

Trust your instincts.

Listen to the song that sings in you.

And let your spirit Dance to that tune

I hope you will visit me again.

Till then happy painting and sculpting to you all.

Love Marie xxxx                                                                     (c)

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.