A couple of weeks ago I posted the art blog 185 PAINTING KINGS CROSS, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA and featured the first half of my acrylic on board painting of Kings Cross.  This time here is the second panel of that painting and as you can see the night life in this street never stops!

ARTISTIC INSPIRATION

There are pimps and prostitutes, Rastafarians yes people from every class and culture, an eclectic mix of police, brothels, strip clubs & girlie reviews, pawn brokers, thieves, Salvation Army playing the tambourine, fire breathers, gays and straights, cafes and restaurants and a bakery.

THE ART OF A MASSAGE

Among all that if you look really hard you will find me and my hubby and our two kids as well.  Just on the left of the middle underneath the Swedish Massage sign you will find Chinese Massage and there on the footpath sitting on chairs in order from left to right are Kai (our son with ice cream) me (in the pink dress with hearts, I had long brown hair then) and my husband (curly blond hair and moustache) We are all enjoying a neck massage by the Chinese masseurs whilst our little daughter is standing on the footpath in front of Kai with an ice cream in her hand.  There is another random lady on the other side of hubby but we don’t know her!!

ART & CURIOSITY

We did have a lovely massage and an ice cream before going down to Circular Quay and catching the ferry to Bundeena and our little holiday house where we were staying whilst in Sydney for the wedding.  As an artist I find I get inspiration from just about anything and am curious about nearly every topic under the sun.

ART & THEATRE

Next time we go there I would like to see a play at the Griffin Theatre Company where they showcase Australian playwriting and contemporary theatre.  Several famous actors got their start there like David Wenham and Oscar winning Cate Blanchett.  The Cross Art Project has a wide range of contemporary, international and Aboriginal art on show there too with events such as workshops and film screenings.

UNDERBELLY ART

As I told you last time the illegal alcohol trade as featured in the Underbelly series was called sly grog and was infamous in The Cross led by the rival brothel owners Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh back in the day.  So if you are an Underbelly fan you must do the Kings Cross Razorhurst Tour.  It comes highly recommended and features the sordid tales of the criminal mastermind Kate and her war in the 1920 against the infamous madam Tilly and that dreadful razor gang.

COCA COLA & ART

Of course you must also have a photo taken beneath the iconic coke sign, which is just referred to as “The Coke Sign” and the red and white neon billboard was erected in 1974 and is located above the intersection of William Street and Darlinghurst Road.

Here is a quote I think fits well here by Pearl Buck,

“If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday”.

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.

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.