54.Art & The Place of the Ground Frog (All Roads lead to Mallala, part 2)

Marie — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:05:47 +0000

ART & FROGS

Unlike this painting, this little country town is actually rather quiet with only a population of 500 and according to Wikipedia the name is aboriginal for ‘madlola’ which means ‘place of the ground frog’. Not that I saw anymore frogs there than anywhere else, but maybe that’s how come I picked up the frog inspiration because I do like to paint them, for you who are familiar with my naive art. Here is another art blog & painting where the detail of the frog above comes from 49. By the Seaside & Art

Below are two different versions of the painting “All Roads Lead to Mallala”.

ARTISTIC LICENCE

At various times in the time we lived in Mallala, there actually were both cows, sheep and runaway horses that raced through the streets, my artistic licence is just that they did not all do it at the same time!

The yellow school bus you see is one that stopped outside our church and took Kai the 10 km in to the local primary school.

A lovely little country school with nice teachers and principal, as a matter of fact the first time I met the principal he was dressed up from head to toe in a purple monster suit, a friendly monster I should add, being the Purple people Eater on a “school dress up day”.

To me that was quite amazing, coming from Sweden where people were more stiff and formal and you would never on your life catch the principal in a dress up costume (well not during office hours anyway, I am sure they have their scandals too just like the British and their polititians in suspender belts and the like.)

The pub on the right is where “Smokey the Chip eating sheep” was raised, and the white ute (pick up truck) in the top picture was Bryan’s car that Smokey came home in, 11. “SMOKEY” The Chip eating sheep Art blog

This pub has been owned and run by several different owners and continues to thrive, now perhaps the most popular it has ever been with delicious meals and often a band rocking the night away, and it is a popular spot for country folk.

MALLALA CAR RACING & ART

Mallala is quite famous in its own right for its Motor Sport Park which regularly hosts national and international car racing.

The Royal Australian Air force originally established their base there in 1939 where they used to train their pilots until they closed down in 1960 which is where the car racing now takes place.

With the Air force in mind here is a quote by Toni Morrison (writer) that I like.

“Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down”.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and maybe I should say happy car racing too,

Love Marie xx

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.

52.Art & All Roads lead to Mallala

Marie — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:05:00 +0000

ART IN THE GRAVEYARD

All roads lead to Mallala, is the name of this painting and when we first moved out to the country from the big “smoke” this is where we moved to, well nearly, 10 km from here, as you can see there is a lot that goes on in the country too depicted in my naive art way.

We lived in an old church which had been converted into a 2 story house, surrounded by paddocks and with a graveyard over the back fence.

A lot of people would comment that we were brave to live there, but even though I am a scary cat in other aspects the graveyard never affected me, it was a serene and peaceful place.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

We were told when we bought the place that it was no longer in use, so I must say that once when we arrived home and there was a fresh grave there it was a little confronting, lol.

But still no ghosts or any funny goings -on, the only funny business came from our dogs at the time Spike and Saba and the rabbits that lived under the graves.

Spike our small terrier used to chase them down the rabbit hole and I would be beside myself wondering if she would come out alive, or get stuck there forever, or goodness gracious- bring up a bone that did not belong to a rabbit!

If you enjoyed that dog story you may just enjoy this art blog too 8. Thunder in the Thunder Box & Art

Mallala was our first taste of country life and we were welcomed to the district with open arms and met such a lot of nice people, some of whom we count as our best friends even today 20 something years later.

ART OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

However there was one less than friendly person there, who shall remain nameless lol. In any case this woman was not from the district but opened a video hire outlet there in conjunction with the local takeaway.

She was grumpy as, heaven forbid you should bring a video in a minute after the allotted time, or even worse actually had faulty video that you could not watch and then complain about it.

It would be like facing the Gestapo; you would tremble at the thought of bringing the video back and telling her about it. Of course she would insist it was your fault and that you deliberately broke the video and you better pay up or else.

Lol luckily this particular woman did not last long in this business. Funny don’t you think when people run their own business and have a shop front and then have not learned to be friendly to their customers, they do not realize that repeat business comes not only from the product they sell but also from their demeanor too, you know customer service. You can see the Video shop a little left of center in the artwork.

Here is a quote from Victor Hugo (writer)

“Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters”

Till next time, happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie xx

Marie Jonsson Harrison » mallala

54.Art & The Place of the Ground Frog (All Roads lead to Mallala, part 2)

52.Art & All Roads lead to Mallala