Todays travel and art blog continues on from 166. Rondellhund, Roundabout dogs Sculptures as we finished a great smorgasbord spread in the Rondellhund factory.  So if you should want to catch up on the travel and art blogs leading up to this point in our recent Europe trip here are the links;  156. ART & FREQUENT FLYER POINTS and 157. Art & Never judge a book by it’s cover and 155 The Art of Packing Light and 164. ART, TOILETS AND TRAVEL

REVISITING SOLD PAINTINGS

After dinner we were taken to my Aunty Lillian and Hasses little red cottage for coffee and cake, it was lovely to see it and three of my paintings hanging on their wall which they had purchased when I had a Swedish art exhibition some years ago in the South of Sweden.

After a nights rest we were picked up by Aunty Lillian and Hasse again to go for a sightseeing tour around both Huddinge where I grew up and Spanga, Solna and Sundbyberg where my mum and dad lived and went to school many moons ago.

First we visited the house that my father built and that I lived in from age 7 until 13 and we were very kindly invited inside when we were found lurking, lol outside taking pictures of the front of the house by the owner.

Lol, we could have been undesirables casing the joint but the lovely owner trusted us and it was fantastic to see my childhood house again.  My dad was way ahead of his time in building it with lots of fantastic features that still looked modern today, among them a great big slate fireplace in the middle of the room and a marble tiles floor in the entrance hall leading into the big room with a parquet floor.  The kitchen had not stood the test of time unfortunately and a new one had been put in and in the backyard the pergola, potter’s wheel and my cubby house were long gone, as were the gate to the neighbour’s yard as they had moved long ago taking with them their 3 kids, my playmates.

THE ART OF LETTING GO

The next stop was a little tricky emotionally – we were going to visit my Grandparents graves.  I was very very close to my Mormor and Morfar (as Grandparents are referred to in Swedish; Mothersmother and Mothersfather, that way no one is ever confused as to which sets of Nanna and Pa’s you are talking about!)

Last time 30 years ago when I visited their graves I was a total wreck with the grief and hurt so raw that I had been dreading going back.

My cousin Berit had arranged to meet us there and had bought a beautiful flowering rose for me to plant on their grave which we did together.  What I really appreciated this time around was the beauty of this graveyard.  It was beautifully looked after with trees, bushes, flowers everywhere.  The paths continued on through from the graveyard meandering in a picturesque setting to where my Grandparents had maintained a little Summer house (Kolonistuga).   These miniature cottages of one or two small rooms each are set out like a tiny little town on small plots of land with lots of vegetable and fruits growing and a communal park area for parties and Midsommer celebrations.  Swedes who live in apartments buy or rent these types of cottages as place to get away during the summer and potter in the gardens and feel one with nature.

ARTIST INSPIRATION

The inspiration for this  acrylic painting called “The Good Life” no doubt comes from my childhoods memory of seeing all the vegetables, flowers and fruit my grandfather grew in his little garden, whilst my grandmother rustled up delicious food all the while telling funny stories and laughing lots!

So this area was so full of wonderful memories of my childhood and I really felt at peace with the fact that my Mormor and Morfar were no longer alive but that their spirits were still here and so very much part of this place for me.   They were actually buried in the absolute best possible place for them.   If I looked up to my right there were the Rasberrymountains where their apartment had been and on the other side of the graveyard was Lotsjon; a small lake that my Grandfather and I always walked around feeding the ducks and birds.

THE ART OF BEING THANKFUL

All of us were then treated to a lovely lunch by Lillian and Hasse in this gorgeous little Grona Stugan (Green cottage restaurant) that was next to the lake with all the ducks.  So atmospheric and beautiful my heart was filled with happiness and grateful for the wonderful childhood I had experience with the most loving and caring Grandparents ever and also felt so cherish by the lovely relatives sharing this day with me.

So I think this quote by an unknown author fits well here:

“There are things that we don’t want to happen but have to accept, things we don’t want to know but have to learn, and people we can’t live without but have to let go.”

I wish you all a beautiful day, month and year and happy painting or sculpting or whatever else gets your fancy.

Till next time,

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.

Dancing asparagus I hear you say, mmm…well moi have always been a little bit crazy and that probably is and asset when you are an artist! Lol Anyway this painting was the first one that I actually painted, on canvas that is.

MURAL ON THE NURSERY WALL

You see I was pregnant with my first child and was getting the house ready for this little bundle of joy (and as it turned out he was too) I asked my brother who is a very good artist if he could paint me a mural on the nursery wall.

So he came and started, laid down the background of grass and hills and a sky with the start of a train running through the country side.  However at the time he was the drummer in a band called Clowns of Decadence, and they had a very strong following and were always out on tours.  So I would be calling Matt up and asking when he would be back in town, and it would be “oh sorry sis, we are touring New Zealand now and won’t be back for a month.”

In the meantime I was getting fatter and fatter and fatter, and being a bit of a perfectionist there was no way that my baby was going to arrive with a half painted nursery.

So I thought to myself there is nothing to do but roll up ones sleeves and get on with it and start painting .

Now there were a couple of things wrong with that idea, one was that I had some complications with the pregnancy and should be mostly having bed rest.  The other was that I could not paint my way out of a paper bag!  I mean that literally, you see both my father and my brother are fantastic artists, very skilled and can do anything, whatever I had ever tried to draw or paint was usually laughed at, well not in a mean way but probably slightly mixed with pity,  lol.

ART IN SCHOOL

On top of that during my school years in Sweden I would be receiving maybe an F for Art,  I remember distinctly having to paint a still life; fruit bowl and mine was very hard to figure out what it was.    Us naive types find it very hard to see perspective (and hey maybe we don’t want to, maybe the world is just better when everything is close and within your grasp!)  In those days you were only considered good in art if you could reproduce something like a photograph.  So therefore I had not drawn or painted for years.

But as I was a woman on a mission and nesting,  watch out!  I got the paints out that my brother had left and off I went, and you know what, with an eye blink it was lunch time, too busy to eat. Kept on painting although I would lie down on the floor from time to time and look at my handy work (doctors orders you know) I blinked my eyes again and now it was night.

FEELING LOVE & HAPPINESS THROUGH ART

The next morning I woke up, feeling so very excited and energetic and I did not know why, I was 8 months pregnant and usually exhausted, so I laid there and tried to figure it out.  Well you know what, it was LOVE, I had fallen in Love and not with another man, no with painting.  I did not care what anyone else thought of my handy work, but I loved it, I loved painting it and I loved looking at it and it made me feel good.

That was how it began and if you are curious how this led to my life as a full time artist in the Naive genre here is a link for that art blog 114 Elders Fine Art Gallery.. never give up

So take heart you budding artists out there, don’t let anyone say you can’t and that you are no good, if it makes you happy then DO IT.

This saying by Winston Churchill fits very well here;

“Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.”

Till next time 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.

ARTISTS BACKGROUND

When I grew up in Sweden my father worked as a carpenter and my mother stayed mainly at home and both provided a wonderful environment for me and my brother to grow up in. ( I will tell you about my maternal grandparents another time but this is about my father’s family.)

This particular work “The Acrobat” is one of my dads, Ted Jonsson and made entirely from cardboard which he has cut up and painted and glued like a mosaic effect and as you read on you will soon discover how he  became an artist.   This artwork of my fathers was  no doubt was inspired by my grandfathers early career as an acrobat.

My father did not want to work in showbiz as he wanted to join the” establishment” that he saw around him and not wanting the circus life.  So he went out to sea with the merchant navy first and then went to trade school and qualified as a chef, before settling in as a carpenter.

During the summer months when my grandparents would take their Tivoli around Sweden we would go and visit them from time to time.  During the day we would find my grandfather fishing in some stream (stress release) and at night we would help out with the sideshows and it was all very exciting.

I would usually be allowed to pick something out from the prizes in sideshow ally, and that was a big treat.

NAIVE PAINTING; ANTONIS TIVOLI

In this painting my grandfather is throwing knifes at my grandmother but he wore many hats and also had the stage name as DEVIS-THE LIVING VOLCANO,  eating what appeared to be burning meatballs,  this trick he would also do for us kids at family gatherings and me and the cousins just loved it.

My Grandfather Anton also appeared as Nilo the comical juggler, dressed as a clown, and juggling to the delight of the watching audience.  My aunty Eyvor is the lady with the cigarette and she would do a disappearing act and also a dance with feathers and fans, later on Eyvor and her husband also travelled the country side with their own Tivoli.  I have just found out that my cousin Sonja was also left at home alone for months at a time, although she was around 13 years old when that first started.

Uncle Willy sitting on the camel did lots of behind the scenes jobs, before being in charge of the lights in several Swedish Theatres and later on worked for one of the TV news channels in Sweden and was part of breaking many exciting news stories.

Uncle Charles became a civil engineer and was revered as the one who went to University, and joined the elite so to speak.

GUN JONSSON; ACTRESS & DIRECTOR

My Aunty Gun Jonsson (dressed as a ballerina) won Miss Lucia in 1947 and was a most sought after beauty of her time, making headlines in all the papers,  she got a life supply of Palmolive soap (never had to buy one again!)  She then went on to dance in an international dance troupe called “The Cassel Girls “and later became a famous actress.  She was in several plays directed by Ingmar Bergman and Gun is also a much admired director and producer, something which she still does today.  (‘Bad Javlarna’,’ Hem till Byn’ and ‘Sova rav’ are just some of her Swedish movies and TV shows, you Swedes know what I am talking about.)

WORKING AS A SCULPTOR

My father decided after working as a carpenter both in Sweden and in Australia and doing painting and sculpting in his spare time, it was time to bite the bullet and he now dedicates his time to the arts either by helping my brother or me or doing his own fabulous sculptures out of  found objects and if you feel like checking out his art go to Ted Jonsson Junk Art on face book or use this link Ted Jonsson Junk Art.

This is a detail of a painting and shows my Dad (he is climbing a tree house and flying a kite, one of those blokes that is forever young and refuses to grow up! Good on you Dad! )

However most of his work could not be more different than mine, I think perhaps he chases away the demons from his door still today through his art.  My dad creates art from other peoples discarded objects, is a keen connoisseur of junk and an ace rubbish tip scrounger.  He has had a great deal of success and exhibits with Greenaway and BMG Galleries in Adelaide and is represented in the National Gallery in Canberra.  My father has been instrumental in my own career, always there to encourage and urge me on and always ready to lend a hand and most importantly love me unconditionally.  Thanks Dad

Here is a quote by James Russell Lowell that I think my knife throwing Grandfather would have agreed with:

“Mishaps are like knives that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle.”

Happy painting and sculpting everyone,

Love Marie xx  (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.

This painting “Antonis Tivoli” is one I painted for my father SCULPTOR Ted Jonsson and depicts him and his family, my grandparents.  They spent nearly all their lives travelling around Sweden and nearby countries with their side shows and entertainments which also had a dance venue with a live band.

CIRCUS LIFE

They usually travelled for 6 months during the warmer weather then came back to Stockholm where they spent the winter months doing repairs on the sideshows trucks and tents.

They had 5 children, 4 of whom joined the Tivoli, however my Dad was the youngest and he had to stay at home and go to school.  He would live in their large 2 story home all by himself from the age of around 10, for six months at a time.

PAINTING IDEAS

My father describes this time as very scary and also very exciting as he got older.  His parents would leave him bags and bags full of coins (small change from the Tivoli) to use for food and whatever he needed. They also arranged for the local deli owner to give him credit.

Can you imagine nowadays leaving a child of 10 alone for half a year, however in those days things were different and when my grandparents were home they were great parents from what I can understand.

My dad would come home and check the whole house for ghosts and burglars with a large knife in his hand, walking from room to room.  His nutritional value count could well have been low lol, as he remembers eating a lot of cornflakes during those months.

My grandfather Anton joined the circus at the age of 16, working as an acrobat artist and did a high-wire act.  My grandmother Vera ran away from home at 15 (as I did when I was 14 but that’s another story) and she went out to sea, joined on as a kitchen hand.  They eventually met and ran away to join the circus, well made a circus in their case!

On this painting my grandmother is tied to a spinning wheel although that may be my artistic licence, what is true however is that she was blind folded and tied up and my grandfather also blind folded, would throw knives around her.  My father describes their marriage as a good one but very volatile and remembers many a time when they would have big fights just as their music would start up and their names were announced to go on stage.  He remembers holding his breath hoping that his mother would not get hurt.  She herself had no such qualms however knowing and trusting that Anton would keep her safe, such faith!!    (to be continued)

So I am very glad this next quote was said by Thomas Hart Benton (politician) and not my grandfather!

“I never quarrel, sir.  But sometimes fight, sir, and whenever I fight, sir, a funeral follows”

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

Love Marie xx   (c)

The continuation of this art blog here 21. Life in a Circus Tent

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.

When I wrote this Art Blog my son Kai was working and living in London while on his gap year from uni.  Whilst there he decided to follow his roots and visit my birth country and home for the first 14 years of my life; Sweden.

Here is one of my paintings on the midsummer theme from my wonderful childhood.   What I only just now found out was, that my Swedish exhibition had been a sell out and that my dear auntie and cousins had traveled half way across Sweden to purchased some of my artworks.

My son stayed with several of our relatives and was looked after so well and given a big insight into the Swedish culture.  It was amazing to hear all about his adventures from the other side of the world.  Kai visited my childhood home that my father Ted (also an Artist) built, the new owners showed my son throughout.

Then a visit to my mother’s home where she grew up, and the graves of my much beloved grandparents, Hillivi and Erik, whom my children were named after.  Lunch in a cafe my grandmother worked in and then across town to see my father’s school and the house he grew up in.

MODEL & FASHION SHOOTS

I was thrilled and very moved that my son at 22 took lots of pictures and seemed genuinely interested, a far cry from his naughty mother who went to Europe to model at around the same age.  Apart from working, the only other sights I saw were the insides of discotheques.  Oh perhaps I saw some sights in the early morning light as I walked back to the hotel, whilst carrying my shoes.

Thought nothing of partying all night and still being able to look the part and have the stamina for the fashion shoot the next day.  I can’t do that too often these days, although I do give it my best shot sometimes. Lol….

Here is another quote which amuses me…..

‘I like to have a martini, two at the very most.  After three I’m under the table.  After four I’m under the host.’

Dorothy Parker

Hope you come back and visit me again, till then 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.

So here I am again, talking to myself lol, or maybe you, if you are out there somewhere.  So my artist website is finally up and running after its initial crash and then what seemed to be an eternity whilst it was being redesigned by Powwow.  And they did a very good job too I am pleased with it.  Hope you all use the E cards, free of course and add your own caption to a couple of them.  I have had fun thinking of captions myself, but I am sure you can think of plenty. You should find something there for every occasion.  We will be changing them from time to time to, like Christmas and Valentine’s Day etc.  This painting now a print and a portion of it is an E-card “The true colours of Hindley Street” is a favorite of mine.

HINDLEY STREET

I had so much fun painting this and it was bought by a psychiatrist and hangs in the waiting room, where it is very popular with the clients.  In my youth Hindley Street in Adelaide, South Australia was The place to hang out, we would often “crack a Hindley” and check out what was going down, lol.  You would find every type of person there, much like Kings Cross in Sydney.  The establishments offered everything from fast foods, to books, gelaterias, charity shops, pasta and pizza, nightclubs, dry cleaning, as well as adult only shops and strip joints.  People of every race and religion was there just to look or in the case of The Salvation Army and The Hare Krishna’s, there to convert some wayward souls.  Don’t know if it did them any good but it certainly was interesting.

So what a fantastic place for an artist to get inspired to paint a picture, there has been many reincarnations over the years and different shops have come and gone, but basically the feel of the street has remained the same.

If you are not familiar with the twisties packets in the pockets of the raincoat brigade, you may have to listen to the lyrics of Skyhooks’ Living in the Seventies Album’.  Lol, they were a major influence on me and a band I still love.  Mmm…Talking bands, AC/DC you ROCK!!

ARTnBED – ARTWORKS ON YOUR BED

There has actually been a very interesting development in this story as this painting Hindley Street has this year 2012 been made into quilt covers or duvet by ARTnBED.   So if you are interested in having art not only on your wall but also on the bed here is a couple of links for you to check out ArtNBed website and also my blog on the subject 140 ART n BED as well as the page ARTnBED.  Look out for more of my artworks, as the bedding range will be added too soon.

Here is another saying that amuses me…

God may have created man before woman but there is always a rough draft before the masterpiece.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you too!

Much 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.

We Swedes are weird, you know in a nice way, and it wasn’t until we immigrated to Australia that I realized that fact.  Well if you don’t believe me take a look at the painting below.  That’s an Easter painting that I was commissioned to do by my American gallery a few years ago.  The owner like me is Swedish and I had free reign to paint whatever I choose as long as it was to do with Easter.  Notice something strange about it, what’s with all the witches on broomsticks I hear you say????  Well that’s perfectly normal, no little cute bunnies for us Swedes, no we have witches flying around and flying off to Blakulla (the Blue Mountain) to meet the man downstairs!

As a child we would dress up as Easter witches, raided mums or grandma’s wardrobe for long skirts wore colourful head scarves and painted our cheeks red, and then we would go from house to house in our neighbourhood and knock on the doors and be given lollies and sometimes fruit.  Much like the Americans does for Halloween.

PAINTING EGGS

We would also spend a day painting boiled eggs which would later be eaten for the Easter celebration together with a smorgasbord feast.  We would go and pick small branches and twigs of willow and birch (the ones with lots of soft little fury buds, so cute!) and then we would decorate it with feathers and small witches on broomsticks and other decorations much like a little Christmas tree.

Here is the painting framed and now you can see the eggs on the side.  Yes we would receive an Easter egg to but not one made from chocolate, instead it was made from cardboard with bright pictures on it or from plastic and usually filled to the brim with lollies and chocolates.

But of course mine was a bit different, always being the eccentric (oh yes I do admit that).  So what do you think mine was filled with, something really yummy, that I could not usually eat as much of as I would like of course….a jar of peanut butter that’s what.  Weird kid, weird Swedish kid.lol

If you fancy seeing this painting animated with all the witches flying around use this link on Youtube Art and Music with Marie

Here is a true fact from the book “The mammoth book of useless information”

Chocolate contains phenyl ethylamine, the same chemical that your brain produces when you fall in love.

So eat up good folks and also happy painting and sculpting everyone!

Till next time

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.