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?”

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

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

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

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.

I have always loved that expression, so of course I had to paint the image one day and this (acrylic on board) painting is the result.  If you look closely in the first row on the left hand side by the stage you will see me and my family, hubby and me with our arms around each other and Kai and Hillivi standing enthusiastically with their arms up looking at the stage.

ARTISTIC EDUCATION

As the kids were growing up we believed it was part of their education to take them to all sorts of events and places, to try to expose them to as much culture as possible so this Opera in the Park was part of that.

I am not really an Opera lover myself but I do enjoy the spectacle of it once in a while and when the South Australian Opera company were presenting the free entertainment of “Opera in the Park” it was a wonderful opportunity to take advantage of.   It was held in Elder Park on a stage and the audience sat on the lawn in the grass, just wonderful as the sun set and the stars came out to play.

ADELAIDE THE ARTS CAPITAL

We are very lucky in Adelaide to have the whole city surrounded by park-lands, the city itself was set out by Colonel  William Light, a British military officer who designed it in a grid pattern with wide streets and lots of little town squares whilst he was the Surveyor –General of South Australia.  He is famous for choosing this area to put Adelaide on and his lovely design, which works very well even today some 170 years after his death of tuberculosis in 1839.  Today he rests in Light Square the only person legally buried within the town square.

Elder Park is in between the Torrens Lake and the Festival Theater and has a famous rotunda in the middle of it which was built in 1882, one which constantly is debated whether it should be moved to make place for some new idea and concept of the day.  It is very lovely and quite big with ornate lace and roof and is very popular for wedding s and photo opportunities of every sort.  My brothers (he is also an artist) band the Clowns of Decadence also played in the rotunda for a very worthy cause; against Vivisection during the 1990’s.

Elders Park is a very popular place to have picnics with lots to do for the whole family with cycling trails and cycles and paddle-boats for hire.  The river is usually full of water birds of different varieties and some interesting looking sculptures are now in the water – made to look like giant origami newspaper boats which add a childish playfulness that I love.

ART & MOVIES

My philosophy has always been “to look on the bright side of things” and the “cup is always half full”  “It isn’t over till the fat lady sings” which has kept my spirits up during some harder times that we all have in life.  I was reminded of another great saying from Dev Patels character in the new movie The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which by the way looks really great and  follows a bunch of English retirees adventures in exotic India.

Any way what his always optimistic character Sonny says;

“Everything will be alright in the end, so if it is not alright, it is not yet the end”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and perhaps singing 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.

That’s my brother Matt Jonsson that you can see in this detail from one of my acrylic paintings that I won’t be selling, lol.  I will share the whole one with you another time but this time I am going to share my brother’s artwork with you instead.

Matt is one of the most talented artists I know – he has been that way since very little when he won competition after completion for drawing and painting as we grew up.  I remember one year’s supply of ice cream and a bike among the prices, several good reasons to love your brother right there eh!

His and my father’s artistic talents were 2 reasons why I did not paint or draw as I grew up as my little scribbles paled into insignificance next to them.  (However that too is another story see 36. How it all began)

MATT JONSSON THE ARTIST

My brother went to art school at Stanley Street in Adelaide and of course excelled in everything.  After finishing his studies he combined the love of art with his love of music and traveled the countryside with the enormously popular band THE CLOWNS OF DECADENCE (here is the  art blog about some of their adventures;  25. Shake Rattle and Roll )Matt was the drummer in the band; alias Trolla Bolla Snatcha Razoo and was for the most part responsible for all the amazing artwork that they used both in the elaborate stage props as well as on album covers and posters.

ART & MUSIC

Clowns of Decadence spent the better part of a decade touring Australia and New Zealand from 1988 to the last show together in the beer garden at Adelaide’s Producers Hotel in 1998.  They were a punk rock band and called their style Junk Fusion.  Matt had previously played in Festered Vestoons which to me sounded like a terrible growth and affliction lol, so I was very happy when they formed the new band and became Clowns of Decadence.

For any of you familiar with my art blogs you would know that our upbringing was circus based so the clowns theme was no stretch (here is a more about that 20. Antonis Tivoli and 21. Life in a Circus Tent )  The band was more than just music; they were a virtual visual feast with juggling, sword swallowing, and vaudeville.  Giant dice were passed around the audience and crowd surfing and other antics a plenty.  If you ever attended a Clowns show you would remember! (see below for the other members of the group, as well as albums and singles)

They also had a strong political message and attended various demonstration and supported many causes – one that I particularly remember was against the vivisection (experimenting on various animals for cosmetic purposes and the like). Yuck!

DAVID BROMLEY’S SCULPTURES

At the same time during his “home” periods Matt would also be painting and sculpting for various commissions.  If you go into any of the garden shops and the fancier indoor stores and pick out the most elaborate sculpture you can find – chances are my brother made it.  He is also responsible for lots of other artists work too – when they cannot do something themselves they commission him to do it for them.  So most of David Bromly’s sculptures for instance have been designed and executed by Matt Jonsson.

PUBLIC SCULPTURES

Here in Adelaide you can go and have a look at some of his work on public display in real life, in the following locations.  Blackeby’s Old Sweet shop, 28 James Place – where the whole shop front is designed and sculpted by Matt and his team (my father Ted Jonsson and sister in law Lisa Scott), this location is also very soon going to be the proud owner of an amazing animated display showing the making of sweets which will delight young and old alike.   Or head down to the West End Brewery on Port road and see the display of sculptures by the river or perhaps at David Jones at Christmas time as the entire Magic Cave is Matt’s work, then there are the Pandas at Adelaide Zoo, the emus at Hack Street Reserve in Port Adelaide or perhaps home to the Waffle King on 85b Sturt Street, Dover Gardens.

So go and enjoy, but don’t also forget to come back and visit me.

Before you go here is a quote I like, that fits well here by John Wooden;

“Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx

Members of Clowns of Decadence

As credited on the 1994 album Dirty Tricks Incorporated.

• Lord Stingy (guitars, pyromania, penny pinching)
• Ocker Bozo (vocals, trumpet, excess)
• Reverend Spud McGeek (piano, synth, vocals, Guinness)
• Trolla Bolla Snatcha Razoo (drums, art, mad ravings & bizarre facial contortions)
• Marshall Benzene (bass, fire cadet, stilt walker)
• JJ Hi-Jinx (sax, clarinet, fire blowhard)
• Spako Airhead (guitar, vocals, clown co-ordination)

Discography

Albums/EPs

• Kamikaze Karnival (1993)
• Dirty Tricks Incorporated (1994)
• Too Ugly for Airplay (1995)
• Clowns of a Lesser God)(1996)

Singles

• “Big Green Couch Of Hope” (on compilation album  Grind Em Down – 1992)
• “If Pain Could Turn To Gold” (on compilation album  Let’s Make Cents)
• “New Age Neurotic” (on compilation album Triple M Presents On The Edge Of The World – 1995)]]

(ref. Wikipedia)                                                                                 (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.

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.

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)

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.