Marie Jonsson Harrison » Music & Art

191 AUSTRALIA GOT TALENT & Sydney Opera House

mariejon — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 06:41:50 +0000

TALENTED ARTISTS

It never ceases to amaze me how many talented people there are everywhere and in this painting I am celebrating that fact along with the birthday of Sydney’s Opera house although “she” has had many more birthdays since this artwork was painted.

Last weekend we went back to Balaklava the country town that our kids grew up in for the Eisteddfods as our daughter Hillivi and her school friend Jed Rowland were competing. This year was the 17^th year Balaklava has hosted the competition and visitors come from all over the state to take part in the musical, theatrical, speech and drama performances. The event is spread out over 3 days and includes a grand finale concert on the Sunday. This year there were more than 1000 performers in 12 disciplines spread across 6 different venues and an amazing 120 volunteers assisting. Some of these volunteers are also stars in their own right such as a former English teacher Geoff Gardner who always stars in the local Community Arts productions and is funny as a fit. The local paper The Plains Producer said; “Announcer Geoff Gardner kept the crowd amused and should’ve won an award for his entertaining witty ad libs!”

EISTEDDFOD

The Eisteddfod – which is an old Welsh word meaning a “sitting” but now used to describe gatherings of musicians, artists, poets, actors and crafts-people to compete, compare and learn from each other. The town population swells to twice the normal size every August when the Eisteddfod are on, so for any budding performer eager to take part use the above link. Many a famous performer got their start through entering the eisteddfods such as June Bronhill from Broken Hill and Sir Robert Helpman from Mount Gambier as well as Keith Michell from Port Pirie.

ARTISTS ON YOUTUBE

I have previously written a couple of blogs about another local boy made good; James Abberley and if you fancy a look at those art and music blogs here is some links 111. Indie music, Art and Paintings with James Abberley I’ll be a Bird and 116. Art and Music with Marie James and I collaborated on a Youtube clip which at this stage has just passed the 60.000 views which I think is pretty impressing. Here is a link to my Youtube channel if you fancy a look as one of my other videos; Kissing Richard Branson & ARTnBED has reached 124.000 views and climbing!

CREATIVITY IN THE COUNTRY

However back to Balaklava, which is very good at producing creative people, creativity is very much nurtured, embraced and valued which I think is perhaps a little unusual for a small country town where sports is normally the be all and end all. Perhaps it stems from that the town was blessed with four dynamic women in Di Spence and Bronny Cottle in the performing arts and music side and Joyce Ross and Jo May to guide the visual arts.

STAR QUALITY

Another local performer Kelly Bickle took out several awards on the weekend and also ended up winning the Musical Theatre Solo Champion for her rendition of Wicked as well as winning the Contemporary Vocal Solo Champion where she could have given Liza Minnelli a run for her money with a song from Cabaret. This girl should have taken off for Broadway a long time ago and I have told her as much for the last 20 or so years, but she is perfectly happy raising her family and living in a small rural town and gets her kicks from knocking the socks off the country folk at the local institute when she performs. Perhaps Kelly is on to something after all when you look at the miserable lives some of the stars live – all that glitters isn’t gold!

HOME GROWN ARTISTS

So how did my daughter go then, I hear you ask? Well she and her singing partner Jed did very well indeed says a very proud and happy mum. They took out 3^rd place in the Contemporary Vocal Ensemble section against a field of very talented ensembles with the William Fitzsimmons song “I don’t feel it anymore” Both of them singing and Jed Rowland also playing the guitar and the adjudicator Libby O’Donovan strongly encouraging them to stick together and do some gigs around Adelaide as she felt they had great potential. Jed Rowland is certainly someone to watch; he is every bit as talented as James Abberley and Jed also did a fantastic rendition of Bon Iver’s Skinny Love which got him another trophy in the solo section in 2^nd place.

My inspiration for my quote today comes from one of the songs Hillivi sang so beautifully on the weekend “Feels like home ” which always brings a tear to my eye, so here is John Ed Pearce’s quote which fit well here;

“Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to”

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 SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES. Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

126 Art & Cat Stevens and a dreaded phone call

mariejon — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 01:45:43 +0000

ARTIST AT WORK

So I had the phone call this week that we all dread, a family member involved in a car accident. But before I tell you about that let me set up the “back story”.

My brother Matt Jonsson a very talented artist in his own right and a former band member of the iconic Australian band Clowns of Decadence had just started work. At the moment he is the head artist in charge of the sets for Cat Stevens upcoming musical “Moonshadow” which will soon be coming to the Princess Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. The sets are designed by Cat or Yusuf as he is known by these days as he was a designer before his singer/songwriter career took off in the early seventies.

On the day in question my father was in his van en route to deliver some fruit in to my brother when suddenly the accident happened. My father rear ended the car that suddenly came in front of him and the van proceeded out of control to the other side of the road. His van was a right off and my darling dad was pinned by his leg in the wreck.

When my brother arrived at the accident scene he was confronted by 16 police, firemen and ambulance staff, police cars, one fire truck and two ambulances. In the middle of all the commotion was my darling dad stuck and the firemen were cutting the van into two to try to remove him.

However the first things my father said to my brother was to get his fruit in the back of the van and that he is ok, his leg was numb by this stage and that my brother could go home because it would take a while to cut him out – as if! I ask you who cares about fruit at a time like this!

So the phone call was from my brother who very gently said “Don’t worry sis, Dad is ok, but he has just been in a car crash and is pinned by the leg and the firemen are cutting him out as we speak”. It goes without saying that I nearly collapsed right there and then.

THE ART OF KEEPING IT TOGETHER

My brother handled the situation admirably, made the appropriate calls, organized the tow truck and everything else and then went on to the hospital.

However as the story unfolded my brother said; “It appeared dad was ok from the start, if dad was bleeding or you had no idea if there was any internal damage or not then you would panic more thinking every second is vital in him getting to hospital, but when dad is more concerned about getting me to take my fruit out of the van that he was going to deliver then you have to ask yourself is he in shock or is he still your normal crazy caring loving dad. “

Now that typifies my dad, never concerned for himself but always caring how his kids and grandkids are, just one of the lovelies men you could ever meet. My dad was home from hospital after a few hours with just a bandaid on his leg and a few bruises, lucky him and lucky us.

THE ARTIST CAT STEVENS

Matt made it back to work on the Cat Stevens “Moonshadow” set and that connection makes the full circle for me as many “moons” ago when I was modelling in Europe I had dinner with the manager of Cat Stevens in Chelsea, London. We were having a Whisky Sour and he was bemoaning the fact that his very successful and famous client had decided to give it all away – change his name to Yusuf Islam and become a Muslim and drop out of the fame game. At the time I nearly cried too, who can forget Tea for the Tillerman and the very poignant song “Cats in the Cradle” which has shaped my own way of raising my kids.

So I leave you then with those wonderful lyrics written by Harry Chapin (the song was based upon a poem written by Harry’s wife Sandy) which my parents kept in mind when they raised me and I in turn did the same with my kids. So thank you Cat, Harry & Sandy, you shaped several generations!

My child arrived just the other day
He came to the world in the usual way
But there were planes to catch and bills to pay
He learned to walk while I was away
And he was talkin’ ‘fore I knew it, and as he grew
He’d say “I’m gonna be like you dad
You know I’m gonna be like you”
And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home dad?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then son
You know we’ll have a good time then

My son turned ten just the other day
He said, “Thanks for the ball, Dad, come on let’s play
Can you teach me to throw”, I said “Not today
I got a lot to do”, he said, “That’s ok”
And he walked away but his smile never dimmed
And said, “I’m gonna be like him, yeah
You know I’m gonna be like him”

And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin’ home son?
I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then son
You know we’ll have a good time then

Well, he came home from college just the other day
So much like a man I just had to say
“Son, I’m proud of you, can you sit for a while?”
He shook his head and said with a smile
“What I’d really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys
See you later, can I have them please?”

I’ve long since retired, my son’s moved away
I called him up just the other day
I said, “I’d like to see you if you don’t mind”
He said, “I’d love to, Dad, if I can find the time
You see my new job’s a hassle and kids have the flu
But it’s sure nice talking to you, Dad
It’s been sure nice talking to you”

And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He’d grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

Till Next time happy painting and sculpting and maybe singing,

Love Marie xxxx

If you enjoyed this art blog you may enjoy this on also with music connection; 111. Indie music, Art and Paintings with James Abberley I’ll be a Bird

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.

116. Art and Music with Marie

mariejon — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:23:22 +0000

PAINTINGS AND MUSIC

That is the name of my new YouTube Channel “Art and Music with Marie”, and I have just uploaded another installment of paintings and indie music in conjunction with the fabulous singer/songwriter James Abberley.

This time the song is called “Ghost” and I actually like it even better than “I’ll be a Bird” if that’s possible.

I find that the melody to Ghost just stays in my mind for hours after I have heard it and I hope that all of you like it too, as well as the paintings, sculptures, prints and public sculptures that the images shows too of course.

James Abberley says that “Ghost is a very dark song. I wanted it to be confronting but still relevant. Sometimes we can end up in a place that we never wanted to be in. Sometimes you can feel like a Ghost, but there is always love and there is always someone that can see you.”

This song is also from the new album called “Some kind of Relief” and in the Indie genre as he is becoming known for and if you would like to find out more about James go to this link and have a little read. Indie Music & James Abberley. Also if you are in Adelaide, do not forget to catch up with James every Friday night in the front bar of the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, known just as the Gov to us locals.

ART ON YOUTUBE

I had made a couple of Youtube video clips before which also featured our two dogs Cheech and Vegas whilst we still lived at the farm and we dressed them up in all sorts of doggy clothes and put the photos in between the artwork, as I told you before you have to be a little bit crazy to be an artist!

ART AND SOCIAL NETWORKING

The new changes to YouTube, means that you can personalize the look of your YouTube site and create the feel that you want. They have also included a new “feed” to make it more interactive as well, something I think may have been inspired by Face book. It seems to me that a lot of the Social Networking sites are rolling out new changes at the moment, and just as quickly there are groups that form who are against that, just check out all the “I hate the changes to Face book” groups. As someone who has only in the last couple of years learned the ropes so to speak, any new changes always take a little time to get used too. However I read somewhere that Cyberspace is the only place in modern culture there should be nothing BUT change, it is necessary to keep the innovation alive. So hey we better get used to it!

ART AND COMPUTERS

The younger generation take to it like ducks to water and if you Google to find some advice half the time it will be a 6 year old, lol well maybe a 10 year old that is doing the tutorial on how to use a certain function. It reminds me of what Dolly Parton said about computers “Truth is, I wouldn’t know a gigabyte from a snakebite”, lol but she can afford to employ someone to do all the computer work for her it’s the rest of us that have to try to keep up. I like my new telephone, my computer works just fine, my calculator is perfect, but Lord, I miss my mind!

So if you just like me need some time out and just chill why don’t you pour yourself a nice glass of wine click on my new YouTube contribution and relax with James and I.

So here is a quote just in case wine is not your drink of choice by an unknown author;

“Take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lime, and a shot of tequila.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx

111. Indie music, Art and Paintings with James Abberley I’ll be a Bird

mariejon — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:41:42 +0000

ART AND MUSIC

So let me introduce you to a fabulous emerging artist in the Indie genre, a bit folksy and rootsy with a dash of blues, his name is James Abberley and he reminds me very much of John Butler from The John Butler Trio.

He was born the same year as my daughter Hillivi and grew up in the mid north town of Owen and attended Balaklava High School, so it has been very interesting to see his talent take form and start to soar. James was given his first guitar at the age of 15 and soon learned to love playing and writing his own music. The above Youtube video images of my paintings with James song was put together by my son Kai.

ARTS IN THE COUNTRY

Balaklava is very good at producing creative people, it is very much nurtured, embraced and valued which I think is perhaps a little unusual for a country town where sports is normally the be all and end all. Perhaps it stems from that the town was blessed with four dynamic women in Di Spence and Bronny Cottle in the performing art side and Joyce Ross and Jo May to guide the visual arts.

THE ART GALLERY

Not only does Balaklava have their own art gallery “Courthouse Gallery” with monthly exhibitions and a yearly art competition called the “Balco Awards” but also a theater group called Balaklava Community Arts which puts on major shows every year with a full ensemble which everyone from the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker audition for.

EISTEDDFOD

Then there is of course the Eisteddfod – which is an old Welsh word meaning a “sitting” but now used to describe gatherings of musicians, artists, poets, actors and crafts-people to compete, compare and learn from each other. The town population swells to twice the normal size every August when the Eisteddfod are on, so for any budding performer eager to take part use the above link.

SO CREATIVE

So with such a rich hot pot of creativity it is no wonder that the area keeps on producing wonderful talent such as James Abberley. His new album is called “Some kind of Relief” and 2 of my favorite songs are Ghost and I’ll be a Bird, make sure you listen out for the fiddle playing by Richard Tonkin – just sounds so good.

James writes his own music, sings plays drums, didgeridoo and bongos, he collaborated with his sister Amanda on Green Hills and Dollar Bills where she sings backup and recorded both at home in his bedroom and at Fish Shop Studios in Port Adelaide for his debut album.

INSPIRATIONS FROM GOTYE

Gotye who has now gone on to international fame with his song “Someone that I used to know” and Jose Gonzales, Lior and the Butterfly Effect are some of James inspiration, and he finds that he writes mostly from personal experiences, the things he sees around him and of course about Love.

His goals are to play at the Fall’s Festival, Woodford acoustic Festival, Splendor in the Grass and of course Big Day Out and I have no doubt that he will play at all of them and then some! For now if you would like to see James live come down to the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, where he has a permanent residency every Friday night.

THE ART BEHIND INDIE MUSIC

Indie music or Independent music is a genre that has it’s roots in the UK and USA, and is extremely diverse with lots of so called sub-genres. The “Indie artists” at least starts off as “outsiders” to the normal path by being independent and not attached to the major record labels. They do their own thing without bending to any rules or being influenced by contractual obligations of the music industry. As the internet crept into all of our lives in the early 2000 it was clear that you could actually have a major hit on your hands and enjoy commercial success on your own from the bedroom so to speak, if you had the talent. The question then to ponder is whether an artist remains an Indie artist after he/she has been signed to a major label which has happened to many, just think of Nirvana for example! It is a little like the term Outsider Artist and Naive Artists and the problem the academics have of trying to pigeonhole us.

Speaking of birds, lol, James says that his song I’ll be a Bird was written in inspiration of dreams that he would have of flying. “We all have those dreams so I thought it would be a nice feeling to recreate. I hope that whoever hears this song can relate. We would all love to fly” he says.

Here is a quote I like that fits in with both Indie music and James Abberley, by William Blake

“No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and singing,playing or whatever you love to do to you all,

Love Marie xxx (c)

If you enjoyed this music and art blog here is another you may fancy; 116. Art and Music with Marie

68. We’ve been to Bali too & Art

mariejon — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 06:15:22 +0000

ART & MUSIC

The title of this painting was inspired by Redgum’s song “I’ve been to Bali too” sung and composed by John Schumann. A man I greatly admire both for his music and also for his effort to make this world a better place and make us all think.

This artwork depicts the four of us on our first family holiday to the dream island of Bali, I think the kids were only five and nine at the time. Bryan and I had been to Bali once already, before we were married in our early 20’s. If I remember rightly we went there this time, in the September school holidays and it all came about because of the very miserable school holidays we had in July of the same year. All four of us had gotten the flu and spent nearly the whole two weeks sleeping and huddled together in the TV room at the farm. Too sick to do anything much more than venture out to the kitchen and get us something to eat and then just lay and sleep and watch telly, four misery gutses!

THE ART OF RECOVERY

Once we recovered and the kids were back in school I decided we must have a real fun holiday and make some memories together and obliterate that last miserable one from our minds. Bali here we come -our flight was great until the air hostess came around with the drinks service and gave everyone an orange juice in one of those plastic cups with an aluminum foil lid that you have to peel off yourself. Of course little miss Hillivi insisted on opening hers herself and it goes without saying that I thought that would not be a good idea and that I should open it for her. However in the spirit of diplomacy and for the sake of the poor passengers overhearing this long discussion I against my better judgment let Hillivi open it herself whilst I for one moment turned away to sort out Kai.

ANOTHER ARTISTIC INSPIRATION

What greeted me when I turned back was a little 5 year old girl-covered from head to toe in orange liquid, my- I did not realize one of those containers could hold such a lot of juice as to have her completely dripping wet! The look on her by now very pouty face was also so priceless that we just could not hold back the giggles as those airhostesses worth their weight in gold came to her rescue with the serviettes and mops!

PICTURE PERFECT IN DARWIN

We had a stopover in Darwin where we headed for the first loo we could find to change Hillivis former lovely blue dress (now orange) into something more appropriate. Thereafter we did a few touristy things ; spending quite a bit of time on a crocodile farm which had us all fascinated, seeing the crocks jumping up into the air and catching their food which was dangling on ropes and then having dinner on the Darwin wharf. So back to the airport we go to board our Bali flight, the kids were so excited as it was their first time overseas flying to a new country and we were eager to show them the picturesque island that we had come to love previously.

THE ART OF PERSUASION

But of course it could not be that easy could it-no of course not, now two hours before departure the customs fellow has decided that Bryans passport does not meet the requirements , admittedly there was a small crack on top of the photo as often happened with the old style passports. However this passport had been sighted by a dozen or so officials at this point before this fellow in uniform full of his own importance thinks that the photo has been tampered with and starts to pick at the edges of the photo with a knife and making holes rendering it way worse.

Bryan gets called in for a full on interview and meanwhile me and the kids are worried sick. When Bryan finally emerges he has been told that he can travel but does so at his own risk as most likely the Indonesian custom will put him on the first plane back home (the travel insurance would not cover this as now, we had been warned)leaving the kids and I to spend the time in Bali alone. Fun, fun,fun in the sun,sun, sun-Not!

Well that put a dampener on our spirits, however we decided to give it a try as we have nothing to hide(and nothing left to loose) and with the broadest smiles we could muster got through the custom in Bali without a hitch and spent the holiday doing the one-finger-salute (metaphorically speaking of course) to the customs fellow who nearly ruined a perfectly innocent family holiday.

MUSIC AND ART

Just recently at a Christmas party I got introduced to John Schumann’s lovely wife Denny and proceeded to tell her how John and his Redgum music has inspired my art etc, whereby she ducks away and brings him over. We had a lovely chat and he is just as inspirational in real life, and to boot –complimentary about my art too.

So all is well that ends well and this next quote by Samuel Johnson (poet and writer 1709-1784) fits well in here, in relation to that nasty customs fellow.

“Fear is implanted in us as a preservative from evil; but its duty, like that of other passions, is not to overbear reason, but to assist it. It should not be suffered to tyrannize”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie xxx (c)

If you fancy a read of another art blog set in Bali here is a link 45.Happy Hour & Art

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.

25. Shake Rattle and Roll & Art & Music

Marie — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 06:01:28 +0000

ARTISTIC INSPIRATION

This painting is of my brother Matt’s band Clowns of Decadence, they all came from the Northern suburbs of Adelaide South Australia and the music grew out of the punk genre and they became a very well known pub band during the early 80’s and 90’s touring around Australia and also New Zealand.

A very Arty band of course due in part to my brothers influence. The Clowns of Decadence ensemble was large scale which also included fire eaters and other various artistic acts in its repertoire.

Matt Jonsson was the drummer and in charge of designs of backdrops and album covers and other visual influences, however all the band members were all very creative and talented and they made a fantastic team.

They still have a fan group on Face book all these years later. So this painting was obviously a lot of fun to create.

BANDS & ART

This particular night was at the Entertainment Centre in Adelaide where they had a live cross to Hey Hey It’s Saturday, (television show) and an interview by Molly Meldrum.

There was another 3 bands I think performing that night as well. I went there with Bryan (husband) and met my mum and dad in the car park.

ARTISTIC MOTHER

What made me laugh was that my darling mother had been to a Melbourne cup luncheon recently and had made herself a rather unusual hat. My mum is very good at sewing and not afraid of standing out in the crowd even though at this stage she was in her 60’s. You can spot her in the left hand corner with the rather tall top hat with a horse on it, a real artwork.

My Dad was mortified and tried to talk her out of this hat before we went in, but mother would not be convinced of otherwise. She was going to wear this hat come hell or high water to her son’s concert.

I must say I applaud her courage. It is a fantastic thing to be and individual and proud of it and most probably some of my getting out on a limb also comes from mum, although most people say the artistic side is from my father’s side but I think it’s a bit of both. So the man with the beard is my father and then there is my husband and me dancing next to them.

Check out the action under the sound guys table.

What a wonderful night.

From the wit and wisdom of Oscar Wilde here is another saying that I like,

“All women are like their mothers. That is their tragedy.

No man does. That’s his.”

Hope you come and visit me soon again till then happy painting and sculpting everyone!

Love Marie xxxx (c)