One thing I am absolutely sure about and that is that everybody are artistic in their own way and the key to that sentence is “in their own way”.  Too much emphasis is put I think on what art is and what has merit and what doesn’t.

Cooking, baking and cake decorating for instance can certainly be an artform, no I don’t mean the vegies and mash, lol but if you have watched the Master Chef series or any of those cooking shows so in vogue now you know what I mean.  Some of those dishes are just too good to eat, real artworks.

PAINTING AND CAKE ART

The cake in this painting “You can have your cake and eat it too” pales in comparison to what you can see offered by the fantastically artistic chefs around the world.  I must say though that I was absolutely thrilled by the surprise birthday cake that my darling daughter made for my recent birthday.  A real piece of art it was “Pigs in Mud” was the theme and as I am rather partial to pigs and have collected pigs for years it was a fitting cake indeed.  I have even painted a painting with the same name although I didn’t say mud but used the word s…, here is that painting and the artblog if you fancy a look 33. Art & Dont worry be happy

ART, MUSIC AND CRAFTS

To me art is about the “doing” “the pursuit”, so whether that is whilst painting, sculpting, drawing, ceramics, china painting, photography, doing mosaics, singing, acting, writing, playing a musical instrument, knitting, crocheting or cooking doesn’t matter.  Whilst we may argue about what is art and what craft is or what is good or bad, it seems to me that the goal posts shift according to time and fashion of the day.   I mean really could the Sex Pistols have sold a million records in the 40’s – I don’t think so and what about a digital art – imagine just 20 years ago asking thousands of dollars for something you can only see on a computer or TV screen.

INSTALLATION ART

What about installations then, some artists are paid millions of dollars for what looks to the rest of us like a pile of firewood or rubbish in a heap.  So I think where I am going with this is don’t be afraid to express yourself in whatever way you desire.  As long as what you are doing is not hurting anyone else and you enjoy the journey, whatever other people think about your artistic expression really is irrelevant as long as you are passionate and fulfilling your dreams.  So go for it!

JEFF KOONS ARTIST

Jeff Koons is a good example of an artist not afraid to come from the left field and do something unconventional.   His artwork Tulips sold for US$ 33,682,500 and Jeff holds the title of the highest auction price paid for a work by a living artist.  I love those tulips which are  in highly polished stainless steel and then plated in beautiful colors and whilst they are in a medium traditionally used for sculptures Jeff explores many other mediums too.

PUPPY, TOPIARY ART

Another one of his works that I really loved was the installation “Puppy” which he was commissioned to make to coincide with Documenta 9 in Germany, not as part of that exhibition but nearby, by 3 art dealers.    It was a 13 meters tall topiary sculpture of a West Highland Terrier puppy all made in a variety of flowers.  Some of those flowers included were Begonias, Impatients, Petunias, Marigolds and Lobelias and all attached on a chrome stainless steel structure in the shape of a dog.  This artwork was then dismantled and reassembled for a time at the Museum of Contemporary Art at Sydney Harbour, Australia.

PREJUDICE IN ART

Here is a quote to think about which fits in with not just art but life in general by an unknown author;

“We are each burdened with prejudice; against the poor or the rich, the smart or the slow, the gaunt or the obese.  It is natural to develop prejudices.  It is noble to rise above them.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and maybe cooking to you.

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.

Scoopon,  Cudo,  Our Deal and Catch of the Day are all the rage here in Australia – and what exactly are they one might ask?  Well it works something like this.  These website offer an item or a service at a special price,   often more than 50% discount and if enough of us buyers shows an interest the “deal is on”.  We have to buy it there and then and have a certain amount of time to use it usually 6 weeks up to one year depending on the fine print.  Yes do remember to read the fine print!!!

ACRYLIC PAINTING

So this little black chook, yes moi, have been buying up a storm lately of these vouchers, they represent very good value for money.  Who can say no to a dinner for 2, entree, main course, dessert and a bottle of wine at a lovely restaurant valued at $150 and only pay half of that or less.  Or perhaps a haircut, style and color with a massage and manicure thrown in with a glass of champagne and what about a round of golf with a couple of beers or fancy a spot of bowling for a family of four perhaps? Maybe a day at the zoo for the whole family with lunch, is more to your liking, as this acrylic painting which sold in Japan depicts.

I have been purchasing these deals both for ourselves as well as for gifts to family and friends and so far we had been very happy with our experiences.  That was until last night that is, lol.  It was my husband’s birthday yesterday so a lovely meal was in order and as I had previously bought a voucher with a Lebanese banquet for six, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use it.

We vaguely knew the name of the place but that was years ago and at that stage it was only a take away place.  So the fact that they had now added a restaurant sounded good.  As we are an adventurous family and like new experiences we thought we couldn’t go too wrong.  WRONG!

There were 5 of us in our car and our sons lovely girlfriend drove herself there a bit earlier as she had made a surprise pavlova (cake) for the birthday boy.  She went in and asked to put it in their fridge and then waited for us in the car park.  Poor sweetheart, her eyes were big as saucers by the time we arrived, well so were all of our eyes actually by the time we met up.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

You see as we finally got to our destination and found the place we could not believe our eyes – this was still a “take-away joint”, although to give them credit it had undergone a major revamp.  It was now stark and white with a big food counter and a couple of drink fridges, bright neon lights, like a hospital would use and a blinking open sign on the window.  We saw a few customers standing around waiting for their order and some kids running around playing.   They had a total of 3 tables and 2 of those were pushed together in between the counter and the window to fit the birthday party!

Bryan and I were sitting in the car too stunned to speak, luckily our daughter made the call – she said:  “There is no way that we are going to have dads birthday dinner in there”, and with that we all burst out in hysterical laughter till we had tears running down our cheeks.  Then everyone pointed the finger at me of course and said I was banned from buying any more of these you beaut deals on the net!!  Mmm… how quickly they all forget all the other good ones we had gotten, lol but in this case they were right.  So off we went to another establishment known to all of us and a lovely night was had by all.

So in the end it certainly was not a cheap night as in fact we paid for two dinners and one that we will probably never use.  To add insult to injury today I wasted another deal as I forgot to pick the item up when I was in the vicinity and the petrol and time to turn around and go back wasn’t worth it.

So lesson to self – ease up on the deals Marie!

Here is a quote I think fits perfectly here, by Joyce Brothers;

“Credit buying is much like being drunk.  The buzz happens immediately and gives you a lift… The hangover comes the day after.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxxx                 (c)

If you enjoyed this art blog you may also enjoy this one 99 Cash Strapped & Artistic

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.

Oh I already know that I am just the luckiest mum in the world with the two loveliest kids you could ever ask for, that said this particular story is about Baby girl (still call her that even though she is 20 now, you will find her in a lot of my paintings, mostly still as a child. )

I just had another birthday and as I have said before they just keep on coming seem to lurch from one to another with breakneck speed.  This time I turned 39 and some months, lol and the good thing about that number is the indefinite aspect!  I can just keep on turning 39 and some months without a word of a lie, right?

There was a lot of phone calls back and forth between my husband and Baby girl (Hillivi) in the days leading up to the birthday and a lot of whispering until I was given my instructions.

THE ART OF GETTING SPOILED

I had to arrive at Hillivi’s unit at 11am sharp, and there she was standing outside with a lovely bunch of tulips and my heart skipped a beat.  After the birthday kisses she said;  “shove over I’m driving you today” and off we went to a lovely little café for Brunch, and to say that this particular place made the best Belgian hot chocolates in the whole world is not overstating it at all (the food was very yummy too).

Hillivi kept looking at her watch and then said ok now it’s time to go.  “Go where?” I said.  “Never you mind mummy, you will see,” and with that we hopped into the car for a bit again.  If you look closely at these artworks you will see a girl with blond hair either in pigtails or ponytail sticking straight up, well that is Hillivi, always my cute little girl!

The next place was the movies, and she had tickets for “Something borrowed” a chick flick which we both thoroughly enjoyed.  She generously offered both chocolates and popcorn to go with it, tempted as I was I restrained myself (well we had just had a big Brunch after all and I cannot be little miss piggy all the time, lol)

After the movies we set off again, this time for a spot of shopping in the city but there was more, as Hillivi still kept on checking her watch and then led me on a mysterious walk, looking for some place.

BEAUTY & ART

Lucky me, it was the London Beauty Spa and I had my choice of a massage or manicure/pedicure.  We chose to stick together and sit side by side for the manicures, sipping cuppa-chinos, the whole experience was such a lovely treat and Jackie, the girl who owned the place was from London and very cool and hip.

FOOD REVIEW, ZOOTS AND ART

See what a lucky mum I am!  The day was rounded up with a fab dinner joined by hubby, kids and their lovely partners (my heart skipped another beat when I saw Baby boy and his huge pressie), at a bohemian kind of place called Zootz  at Henley beach.  A place that I can thoroughly recommend, the food was delicious and the staff delightful and they catered very well for both vegetarian and gluten intolerant people too.

THE ART OF NOUVELLE CUISINE

I cannot say the same for the Wine Underground I’m afraid, which is where we went with friends the next night, the only redeeming factor was the lovely friends we were with.   It was a more posh affair, the kind where you need the binoculars to find the food on your plate and still need to go to McDonalds to take away the hunger pains!  My beef was (mmm…maybe that’s the wrong choice of words for a vegetarian) that I had told them when booking that one of us were gluten intolerant/vegetarian, and asked whether they could accommodate that.  To cut a long story short when we get there, their one option for a vego person was not gluten free and no, the chef could not make me anything else and what I got for dinner was a huge white plate – and in the middle of it was 2 figs cut in quarters one potato cut in bits, with gorgonzola sauce.  How come the mains do not come with salad or vegetables, but they have to be ordered separately, twelve bucks for wilted spinach the size of my fist, whats with that I ask you “wilted” lol, (where was the fresh!).   It did all taste nice but I had to send out a search party to find the food, and next time I should wear pants like the Scottish do with very very long pockets.  Sorry but I cannot quite reach my wallet!  I wonder how that would go down, lol.

So here is a quote I thought would fit in here;

“Nouvelle Cuisine, roughly translated means;   I can’t believe I paid ninety-six dollars and I’m still hungry.”  (Mike Kalin)

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx  (C)

If you enjoyed this art blog you may also like to see how the Swedish eat in this Painting blog; 63. Smorgasbord Art(continuation of the Swedish Xmas celebrations)

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.

I had so much fun making this ceramic and mosaic artwork piece, firstly because I am a little piggy when it comes to food and just love to both eat and look at pictures of food and also it was fun to make the people all have open mouths with bits of broccoli and stuff poking out.  At least in my wall based sculpture I don’t have to worry about my table manners!

THE ART OF FONDUE

The fondue was such a lovely craze back in the 70’s when there would be Fondue parties held all the time.  However the history of the practice stems back to 1699 when it was firstly printed as a recipe in a cookbook (melted cheese cooked with wine to dip bread into.) As far as I understand Switzerland has always made wonderful cheeses but during the cold hard winter months of yesteryear the cheeses would dry out a little bit and since food was scarce and roads covered in snow they had to rely on a little imagination and voila the fondue were invented.    As early as 1875 it was already the Swiss National dish and then became popular in the United States in the 60’s & 70’s.

THE ART OF THE SWINGING SIXTIES

Perhaps why this dish became so popular in the rest of the world was because the Swiss had invented a little game as you sit and take your turn dipping the bread into the pot.  According to Hamlyn Press the publishers of The Fondue Cookbook it goes something like this:  If a woman drops a her bread into the pot she has to kiss all the men at the table, if a man drops the bread into the fondue pot, he has to buy a bottle of wine, and if either of them drops the bread for the second time, he or she must host the next fondue party.  So perhaps this was the start of the swinging 60’s and the Swingers party – it all started with cheese and not sex!

ARTISTIC FOOD INSPIRATIONS

The imagination boggles, lol but it sure makes stale bread taste great – although us Swedes (as opposed to the Swiss) have another way of doing that.

Our contribution to the stale bread is Fattiga Riddare (Poor Knights is the translation although the Google translation says it is French toast) however this dish has more in common with pancakes.  As the stale bread is left overnight soaking in milk (you can also add egg and flour if you want) and then they are stirred like a pancake mixture and fried.  Served with jam and cream or whatever you fancy.

Problem with writing about food is its making me hungry so if you just pardon me for a minute – I will be right back with you after a little spell to the kitchen……. Back again …bugger I will have to restart that diet tomorrow again!

THE ART OF MULLED WINE

Another of my favorite dishes when I was living and modeling in Switzerland was the Raclett, which is yummy melted cheese served with a couple of small boiled potatoes, gherkins and pickled onions, could also include some meat (but being a vegetarian I would opt out on that bit).  I don’t know if I remember it so fondly because of the food ingredients or because it was usually served with Glue wine (gluhwein is spiced and mulled wine served hot) In Sweden we call it Glogg and we add some vodka or brandy to the recipe too, oh trust the Swedes, lol.

So here is how to make Gluhwein/Glogg

Start with a bottle of red

6 cloves

Cinnamon stick (broken up)

Lemon rind/orange

Caster sugar to taste

Raisins, almonds

Assemble all in a saucepan. Heat it over a low flame and be careful not to let it boil, simmer for about 45 minutes then strain the bits out of it (or have fun picking cloves out of your teeth – well that’s not that bad as the raisins and almonds are delicious.)

Here is a quote by the wonderful artist Frida Kahlo

“I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx    (C)

If you enjoyed this art & food blog and would like to see another on this topic here is 73 The Art of Snack attack at hungry jacks

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.

Isn’t it a drag that we can’t just eat whatever we want and not put on weight!

This ceramic and mosaic artwork “Snax attack at Hungry Jack’s” was a delight to make.  I do love food, although for the most part I do eat healthy, I too dream about all the naughty foods that I enjoy, hamburgers with the lot (although in my case, without the meat, lol chips, milkshakes and yummy pizza.)  I had so much fun sculpting all the food out of the clay and then painting it all, I was constantly hungry the whole time!!   So when whilst in the kiln the breast exploded and fell off on this artwork I instead of feeling upset, thought it was just karma and decided it fitted very well with this subject matter.  That could happen if you eat too much,lol.

The  Snax attack artwork sold at  The 4th “Festival Mondial d’Art Naif” in Katowice, Poland along with some other artists paintings for the worldwide naive exhibition at the Szub Wilson Gallery during 17th June – 14th August 2011.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

How nice would it be to wake up to a Buffet every day, you know the one that you get on holidays,  a whole room full of food, there is 6 different types of cereals, yogurts in every flavor, low fat, full fat and birch. Then you see a tropical color delight with all the different fruits of the world. Oh I know it all sounds pretty healthy so far – but wait a minute then we go to the fry ups, sausages of every country, and ham and then as you get in some of the Asian countries there is beef ham-what the?

Fried eggs, sunny side up, poached, scrambled, boiled or an omelet with whatever you wish thrown in. Never mind all the different breads, white, whole meal, mixed, kibbled, rye, sourdough, lavash, damper, bagels, pita & naan.

Then there is all the really Asian food – now I for one absolutely love my stir-fry’s and curries, sushi, laksa and all the rest.  However I must draw the line at eating fried fish and miso soup first thing in the morning and what about the porridge?  Nothing wrong with porridge I hear you say; that is good old fashioned food.

THE ART OF THE DIET

Well perhaps it is just me being a vegetarian that I cannot stomach the combination of breakfast porridge and chicken – that you get in Bali and Malaysia – what’s with that?  My stomach is a bit delicate in the morning, but show me all the delicacies and I am all yours if it is later in the day! I have always loved food and at times been totally obsessed with it.  Most probably it all stems from my modeling days and the fact that you seemed to be on a constant diet.  In a way though later on in life I am glad of that discipline as I have been reliable informed that most people increase their weight by 2 kilograms each year.

The funny thing is that just 2 kg is nothing that you would really notice over a 12 month period, but then the next year rolls around and suddenly there is another 2 and that makes 4, right?  Most people put these kilos on during the Christmas – New Year period or holiday time.  All of us have good intentions to lose the weight but somehow or another suddenly there is the holiday coming up again and here we go again.  So it’s no wonder then that so many people become obese over time- 2 innocent little kilos over say a 20 year period suddenly amounts to 40 kilos of fat!  Oh what a bugger!

THE ART OF FOOD & EXERCISE

Perhaps you need to surround yourself with a few more brazen thieves whilst you have your brekky, so that you can finish the meal of with a hearty run up stairs and all around the hotel lobby to try to catch him. Well that is what we did on a family holiday in Penang recently.

My husband is one of these people that “people watch” and that keeps him amused no end and he can always spot when something is not quite right. So there we were enjoying one of these wonderful Buffet breakfasts when hubby pointed out this fellow to me – he was sort of skulking around, but I put that down to that he was looking for his group or family.  Then there was the fact that in the very hot Malaysian morning he was wearing long pants and a light cream jacket, well again I said to Bryan some people feel the cold more than others.

So it goes without saying that I got a surprise when this fellow made a very swift move and dove like a swan onto the back of the chair of the couple a few tables up and made off with a handbag, quick as a flash and he was gone up the stairs into the lobby.  Of course hubby saw the whole thing and both he and I and the kids ran after him but to no avail – as far as we could understand he must have had an accomplice with a car waiting to scurry him away. The lady tourist in question wasn’t too bothered, the thief had made off with some change, a comb and a lipstick but what did irk her were the scripts for some heart medication, so I think he would have been rather a disappointed thief that day, looking at the loot he ran so fast for,lol.

If you feel like having a look at another art blog on the topic of food here is 83 Are you fond of Fondue and here are some other ceramic and mosaics for sale  Ceramics for sale

So here is a quote I think fits in rather well here, in relation to that thief, lol, said by Ernest Hemingway (writer)

“Never confuse movement with action”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx   (c)

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.