This Saturday the 12^th April is certainly a celebration for me, not only is it my gorgeous daughter Hillivi’s birthday it also is the opening of another art exhibitions with my art in Europe.

GALLERIE KNUD GROTHE

It is with the very prestigious gallery in Copenhagen, Denmark called Gallerie Knud Grothe and this Easter Exhibition is the 30 year celebration of this Naive show.  Knud does not do things by half so there will be a Jazz Band playing, chocholate eggs by Michelsen and they will be serving lots of red wine!  Such a shame I will not be able to attend in person, but I will be going there after the show finishes so at least I will be able to see this gallery first hand.

CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS IN DENMARK

Gallery Knud Grothe was established in the 1970’s and is still going strong exhibiting a rich mixture of contemporary art from around the world as well as Denmark of course.  Knud says his favourite genre of art is naive paintings and he has a yearly exhibition at Easter showcasing the naive artists in his gallery.

NAIVE ART IN DENMARK

There will be 300 paintings on show from 44 different Danish Naive artists, a couple of Swedish artists, one French and me!  So with all this wonderful talent I was very thrilled and humbled to have my painting called “The Dane and the Tassie Devil” on the invitation.  The talent among naive artists is incredible in Denmark some of the best I have ever seen, so it is wonderful to be in such company and I hope that I will be able to meet some of them in real life later on.

THE DANE AND THE TASSIE DEVIL

In this artwork you will find if you look closely Prince Fredric and Princess Mary on the sailing boat dressed up to the nines with long dresses, sashes and tiaras, just the type of gear any Royal worth their salt would wear for a relaxing summers sail trip.  I feel sure the Royals will share the joke with me as they seem such a down to earth type of couple which is reflected in everything they do.  As I paint I make up a little story in my mind so to me the paintings comes alive and I can feel what the characters are thinking and feeling.  That is how I amuse myself and enjoy every day of my life in the studio.  I guess as an artist you do have licence to be a little bit eccentric, well that is what I tell myself anyway.  I daydream about the reactions of the audience that views my work and hope that they have a little chuckle and laugh, spreading a little bit of happiness is my aim, lol.

ART GALLERY IN DENMARK

Charlottenlund is one of the most affluent suburbs in Copenhagen and got it’s name from Princess Charlotte Amalie, she is the daughter of King Frederick lV and the sister of King Christian Vl who rebuilt the Gyldenlund Palace in 1733 and named it Charlottenlund Palace after her.

DANISH CELEBRITIES This suburb Charlottenlund is also the home to Danish celebrities and corporate executives and lots of other wealthy individuals and families, the suburb has lots of gorgeous ocean views and most of the mansions and estates are around the Strandvejen (Beach Road).

ARTISTIC HISTORY

I have shared with you in another artblog that I have recently had some other art exhibitions in Copenhagen, Denmark and you may be forgiven to think that it was  GALERIE KNUD GROTHE I was exhibiting with, but no it was some other gallery and if you fancy you can read about one of them here;   177 ART EXHIBITIONS IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK & SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA Also here are a couple of blogs about Knud and his incredible generosity and the history of how my participation in this show came about; 182 GIVING PAINTINGS AS GIFTS and 180 ART AND THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS and 193 NAIVE ARTIST Walther Schaldemose

Here is a quote I think fits well here by William W. Purkey;

“You’ve gotta, dance like there’s nobody watching, Love like you’ll never be hurt, Sing like there’s nobody listening, and live like it’s heaven on earth”.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and maybe just drinking red wine!

Love Marie xxx

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

Yep it is Christmas here again this week.  Not only do we have winter in South Australia at the moment when the temperature’s been down to 3 degrees Celsius some nights, but it has also been pressie time again, as I just received some more paintings, wow lucky me, really lucky me!

THE ART OF BEING SANTA CLAUS

Boy, I cannot express to you the surprise I again got when there was a knock on the door with another courier and this time 2 parcels arrived at the same time from Denmark and Knud Grothe’s Art Gallery.  I am seriously starting to suspect he is Father Christmas, well after all he does live in Denmark and Scandinavia is very close to the North Pole so I fully suspect that he wears a red suit with a black belt across his ample tummy with a fetching red hat on top of his gray hair, right?

ART BLOGS

If you missed my artblogs about Knuds generosity and the wonderful Danish artists here are some links180 ART AND THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS and  182 GIVING PAINTINGS AS GIFTS

DANISH NAIVE ARTISTS

Anyway let me tell you about the 2 wonderful paintings the first parcel contained.   This artwork is called “Circus Life” by Hanne Hojfeldt and since my heritage stems from the circus, this was very fitting present indeed.  (Here are some art blogs about that 20. Antonis Tivoli Art and 21. Life in a Circus Tent )

ARTIST HANNE HOJFELDT

Hanne Hojfeldt started her career in 1994 with great success and has continued in that vein including of course exhibiting with  GALERIE KNUD GROTHE in Charlottenlund.  Hanne was born in 1949 and grew up in Hjorring where she was introduced to art and developed a love for painting through her father.  Her subject matter is diverse: lush women, exotic flowers, rare animals, stars and dreams where the she can make anything happen.

Her work is so sought after that one of her paintings was actually stolen.  This artwork was an illustration called Art Canned 2007 for Sv. Michelsen Chokolade one of Denmarks leading chocolate makers  whose products are a favourite by the Queen of Denmark no less.  In any case it was stolen from Illums Chocolate Department (top end department store in Copenhagen) where it was on exhibition the day before Christmas 2006 and has not been seen since.

Now where was Father Christmas on that day – I am just saying, lol this all ties together with the title of this artblog and now the artnapping the day before Christmas!  Art theft would have to be the highest accolades for an artist when you work is so sought after even the thief’s cannot resist! (One accolade however you wouldn’t wish for.)

ARTIST LONE VILLAUME

The other original artwork I received from this gorgeous man Knud is called “Tillykke” which I think translates to either Congratulations or Well done!  In any case this is a miniature artwork by the artist Lone Villaume and as you can see is just delightful.  The joy and humour just bursts out from the artwork and that dog looking up at the ladies is just the cutest you can find.

Lone Villaume is another interesting Danish artist who straddles both the naïf camp and the more contemporary with her installations.  It is though with her naive works that I have fallen in love and couldn’t agree more with Tom Jorgensen who said in his article A true humorist; “Lone Villaume’s major force as an artist is her ability to define a universal human universe, marked by great warmth, compassion and a keen eye for everyday comic troubles.

The tools are sparse until the ascetic: a plain background, a tiled foreground and the action in the center.  No superfluous details, no color-related or compositional excesses, but a solid and carefully balance between action, image composition and pure pleasure.

Lone Villaume is one of the few artists today who makes us smile and feel warm in the heart.”

UPCOMING ART BLOG

Next week I will share some more art from Denmark from 2 wonderful art books and also some photos from GALERIE KNUD GROTHE

So again Thank you Knud from the bottom of my heart for these beautiful paintings, I feel so blessed to have you as a friend and look forward to exhibiting at your gallery next year.

So here is a quote I think fits very well here by Laura Ingalls Wilder

“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.”

However this one by Dennis Miller sure made me chuckle;

“Santa is very jolly because he knows where all the bad girls live”

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.