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.

This painting was commissioned by my US  art gallery a few years ago; the Director wanted me to paint a naive version of The Birth of Venus which was originally painted by Sandro Botticelli in 1486.  My brief was just to paint the head but with various items hanging in the hair, however I would like to do the complete picture one day as I love that image.  The original painting is on display in Florence and was commissioned by the Medici family and depicts the goddess Venus having emerged from the sea as a fully grown woman, arriving at the sea-shore.  Venus supposedly had two aspects, she was a goddess here on earth that aroused humans to physical love or she was a heavenly goddess who inspired intellectual love in them.  Whatever it was she did have beautiful hair and that is my topic today.

FROM MODEL TO ARTIST

As you can see from the photos my own crowning glory has been fashioned into a lot of different styles during my modelling days.  The weirdest one was actually when my hair was made into a Christmas tree, sprayed green complete with ornaments for a hair show in Nagoya Japan.  Strange really that  both my professions has taken me there and here is a link if you fancy a look at my first art exhibition in Nagoya;  57. Art & Signing the Contract and   64. Art & Flying to Japan (continuation of Signing the Contract)

THE ART OF A GOOD HAIRDRESSER

One thing I don’t miss about modelling was all the hours waiting whilst having my hair done, so for a long time after becoming an artist I just kept my hair really long and just cut it myself.  Finding a hairdresser you trust is such a tricky thing and luckily now I have one again.  But that wasn’t always so, lol.  A while ago I decided to try someone else and the first giveaway should have been the dirty looking surroundings, all looked great from afar but on closer inspection (when I was firmly in the chair) I saw the whole salon needed a thorough clean, the toilets were even worse and I seriously debated whether to drink the coffee they made me!  By this stage I was committed and had to tough it out and the finished product i.e. my hair was terrible.  Don’t know what she had done but the blond streaks were yellow and the hair felt like straw and I had to pay a fortune at another hair salon to fix it!

ART AND ALCOHOL

My aversion to hair dressers probably started when I was 7 years old in Sweden when my mother took me to a Barber who unbeknownst to her was drunk and he cut my locks of into a crew-cut, by cutting one side uneven and then having to cut the other and so on, until there was no more hair left to cut. I remember the alcohol on his breath and a hip-flask in his Barber shirt pocket he kept swigging from.   I left that Barber in the back of our car with a blanket over my head and refused to go to school for days, no wonder since then I have for the most part always had longish hair!

ANOTHER PAINTING IDEA

However the worst hairdresser story comes from a girlfriend of mine who sent me a HELP text once; “Help Marie, my hairdresser is on something” so I texted back to find out what was going on.  Turns out the hairdresser really was “on” something or else had a psychotic episode and my friend who realized this too late was already in the chair and the hairdresser was both coloring and cutting her hair and talking a million miles an hour whilst frequently dropping the scissors and acting very weirdly.

In the middle of all this another client came in for her appointment but luckily spotted the commotion and made up an excuse and left.  My girlfriend was not so lucky but still her hair was not permanently damaged and could be fixed up by someone else when she eventually escaped.

A few months later we heard on the TV news that this particular hairdresser went missing, her car was found abandoned and there were serious fears for her safety.  However she turned up safe and well a week later much to the relief of her husband and children, although her salon had shut down.  Lol so choose your hairdresser carefully, that’s my advice.

Here is a quote I think fits well here by Dolly Parton;

“I’m not offended by all the dumb-blonde jokes because I know that I’m not dumb.  I also know I’m not blond.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and going to the hairdresser if you dare!!

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.

To my gorgeous daughter Hillivi who is beautiful both inside and out, Happy 21^st birthday!  I cannot understand how the years passed so quickly since the day you were born.  We have Doctor Jack to thank for your safe arrival as of course with my track record with pregnancies and Kai’s emergency cesarean things could not just go smoothly!  But never mind you arrived safely and were just perfect.  Your dad and I thought we were just the best parents in the world as your little brother Kai was such a little angel, who just fed and slept and looked around satisfied with his surroundings.  Here is the painting I painted as a Thank you for Dr Jack.

THE ART OF NOT GETTING TOO BIG FOR YOUR BOOTS

We often talked about our fantastic parenting skills your father and I and the lack of such in other people, lol and were smugly satisfied with ourselves.  Well how wrong you can be – you certainly gave us a run for our money!  From the minute you were born until you turned one year old, you screamed blue murder unless I was rocking you in my arms, no other arms would do either just mine!  Everyone around us now looked at us with pity, lol and wondering about our parenting skills.  Oh how quickly one falls from the pedestal!

MOTHERS LOVE

But you know honey – you needed me just like I needed you and thank god you hung on to me for dear life.  You must have known that I was going to a rough patch in my life as I was struggling in my relationship with my own mother (which thankfully is much better now.) I craved to feel loved, needed and wanted so much and you gave me that – so THANK YOU baby girl you made me feel whole again.

ARTIST MOTHER

Growing up with an Artist as a mother must have had its own trials and tribulations too.  Not being one for the normal lullabies you grew up listening to your mothers very bad renditions of Ry Cooders “Little Sister”, the Swedish “3 Wandering men” and the Beatles “Help”.  How people were amazed to hear a 2 year old child’s word perfect singing “Help” on top of her lungs “When I was younger so much younger than today.  I never needed anybodies help in any way……..

I still call you my “Little Uppas girl” but these days you do actually walk yourself, however until you were 10 years old you used to be able to convince me to carry you more often than not, I finally had to stop when your feet were dragging on the ground as I held you in my arms!

DISTRACTED ARTIST

I am sorry I had to leave you sometimes, sorry about having to go to Japan or Japapan as you would say when I had to go over for another art exhibition.  Sorry I was preoccupied with my artist thoughts and not listening at times.  One such incident springs to mind.

You were 3 years old dressed in a red dress and black patent leather shoes and I held your hand firmly as we negotiated traffic in the city on our way to a very important meeting.  You were saying: “Mummy, mummy, mummy” and I said “not now darling, just walk we are in a terrible hurry.”  So we rushed ahead with you barely keeping up, trying to walk as fast as you could with your little leggis.  Then you again said “but Mummy, mummy, mummy” and finally I had the good sense to listen.  That’s when you told me you had lost your shoe 2 traffic lights ago and there as we turned around and backtracked we found your little black shoe lying in the gutter of the footpath.

THE ART OF A BEAUTIFUL HEART

You have grown from a beautiful little girl into a stunning young woman and as lovely as you are to look at, it is the inside that I admire most.  You have a beautiful heart, treat everybody fairly and with respect, a champion for the underdogs and a lover of animals.  Your principals are so high you are a vegetarian and won’t even wear leather and chastised me so much I could hardly sit on the new leather lounge we had bought without thinking of the poor cows either.  You are the life of the party, the girl all the boys want to call their own and the girls want as a best friend.  You have the beauty to be a top model and the voice to pursue a singing career and also the smarts to go to university.  The world is your oyster darling – but even with all these assets you have your feet firmly planted on the ground and know that everything that glitters is not gold and so far you seem content living a country life and pursuing a life dedicated to others as an emergency nurse.

BEST ARTWORKS

For me having you and your brother has been the best thing that I have EVER done in my life, there is nothing in my life either as a model or artist, travelling or in monetary terms that can ever measure up to the love I feel for you and the joy you have brought me every day of your life.

So Happy Birthday 21^st Birthday darling Hillivi and from the bottom of my heart I thank you for coming into my life when I needed you most and hearing my call for “Help”.

Help, I need somebody,
Help, not just anybody,
Help, you know I need someone, help.

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody’s help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I’m not so self assured,
Now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors.

Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won’t you please, please help me.

And now my life has changed in oh so many ways,
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.
But every now and then I feel so insecure,
I know that I just need you like I’ve never done before.

Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won’t you please, please help me.

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody’s help in any way.
But now these daya are gone, I’m not so self assured,
Now I find I’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors.

Help me if you can, I’m feeling down
And I do appreciate you being round.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won’t you please, please help me, help me, help me, oh.

Happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxxx

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.

]]> http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/130-a-love-letter/feed/ 0 http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/127-easter-2012-and-animated-paintings/ http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/127-easter-2012-and-animated-paintings/#comments Thu, 05 Apr 2012 03:56:22 +0000 http://www.mariejonssonharrison.com.au/new/?p=3257 ARTIST WEBSITE

So it’s the week of Easter and this year my Easter surprise was that my website crashed for 4 days!!  Apologies are in order to those of you who tried to unsuccessfully access it, nice to know that it was due to a lot of traffic, so thank you.

EASTER AND ANIMATION

Anyway the story this week is of course about Easter and this will be our third one here by the sea, time flies when you are having fun.  The animated painting is of course a scene from my background as a Swede and the Swedish Easter painting is animated and set to music by my friend Susan Flashman.  I can sense the confusion on your faces as to what witches has to do with Easter so here is the story about that.

COMMISSIONED PAINTINGS

We Swedes are weird, you know in a nice way, and it wasn’t until we immigrated to Australia that I realized that fact.     I was originally commissioned to paint a Easter painting 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, you know who I mean!  I think the animation and the naive painting really suits Halloween too.

THE ART OF EASTER

When I was little in Sweden we would dress up as Easter witches, raid mums or grandma’s wardrobe for long skirts.  We wore colorful head scarves and painted our cheeks red, and then we would go from house to house in our neighborhood and knock on every door and be given lollies and sometimes fruit.  Much like the Americans do for Halloween.

PAINTING BOILED EGGS

We would also spend a day painting boiled eggs which would later be eaten during 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.  Every Swedish household would have a vase of these on the table.

ORIGINAL PAINTING

The original painting was framed with the Easter eggs on the side.  Yes we would receive an Easter egg too 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!

This quote by Matt Lauer made me laugh today:

“Researchers have discovered that chocolate produces some of the same reactions in the brain as marijuana. The researchers also discovered other similarities between the two but can’t remember what they are.”

Hope you are enjoying your chocolates!

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie xxx

If you enjoyed this one you may also like another art blog on  Swedish customs 113 Art & Swedish Traditions, Another weird one

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.

These 2 images are from the” Centenary of Federation Gateway” sculpture which I was commissioned to design and make by the Wakefield Regional Council and took some 18 months to complete.  The whole town came on board and helped and we had art workshops both in schools and other locations.  These panels stand in the middle of the door way on each side of the “house” and I was assisted in making them by Emily Brown and Jessica Wood, two high school students and Janette Hancock.   Here is a little more about this amazing project-  109 Stories behind the Wall and 121 Volunteers our Backbone

The sculpture was officially opened on the 23^rd November 2001 by Neil Andrew MP, Member for Wakefield following a community celebration in Balaklava, South Australia.  The Centenary of Federation Gateway stands proudly as you enter into the township and is believed to be the largest Naive Sculpture in the Southern Hemisphere spanning 44 meters across.  The idea is that the whole sculpture looks like a Federation house, complete with roof and a veranda.  So in the center are two six meter by three and a half meter walls, located at 22.2 degree angle to each other which are rendered to look like sandstone with red brick quoins on the corners and around the doors.

One wall represents 1901 and the other 2001.  In the 1901 doorway we see the back of a life-size woman, made from hand-made ceramic tiles and mosaic, strutting through the door in all her finery, long dress, hat and umbrella in hand.  Through the 2001 doorway, she emerges as the modern woman, complete with short skirt, sunglasses and a mobile phone.

ART AND WOMEN

My idea was of course to reflect the changes that our society has undergone in the last 100 years, but more particularly how much life has changed for women.

Women’s Suffrage is the right for women to both vote and run for office and the movement originated in France in the late 1700s’ and just think how brave and strong they had to be in those days to stand up for their rights in such a man’s world.  They actually used pretty strong tactics too with throwing small bombs, setting fire to letterboxes, chaining themselves to fences and smashing windows.  What they wanted was just a “say” about how the country was run without any restrictions, not to depend on whether the woman was married or worked and paid tax or owned property or land, as that was sometimes the case.

Shortly after Federation the government in Australia passed the act which allowed women to both vote and stand for federal election which then happened in 1903.  This was the case only for white women unfortunately, as the aboriginal women had to wait nearly another 60 years for that right, until 1962.  Australia was the first country to allow women to run for parliament, and now we finally have our first woman Prime minister, oh well Rome wasn’t built in a day!

ART AND THE WAR

Things changed again during the First World War when all the blokes went off to fight and the jobs they left behind still had to be done, so women rolled up their sleeves and went to work in a paid capacity and found out that in most cases they actually liked it!  So much so that when the blokes returned from war there were quite a few unhappy households I’d imagine.

Little by little the women chipped away at their cause and when World War 2 broke out and such a lot of men went to war the Australian women had to take over their jobs to keep the society going.  They also founded an Australian Women’s Land Army to work on farms where there were no men left.  By this stage thousands of women nurses also served overseas, some were taken as prisoners and 71 were killed while on duty.

By now the women could prove that they were able to do the same jobs as the men and some were very reluctant to be pushed out of the workforce when the men returned.  Many did stay on and work although the pay for women was still a long way of equal.

Both making this sculpture and then writing about it has been a fantastic journey for an artist, with many more artworks and paintings and art-blogs to come.

It wasn’t until the 1960’s that equality came to the bedroom with the availability of the PILL.   Now suddenly women could have the same sexual freedom as the men without fearing an unwanted pregnancy, which meant women could choose whether to have a relationship or a career.

Of course they had to fight to get the pill in some cases where the Doctors refused to prescribe them on grounds of it leading to promiscuity!

So it was fine for men to be promiscuous but not women –69. Whats good for the goose is good for the gander I say!  (use that link to have a look at a painting and blog on the same subject).

What followed was the Sex, Drugs and Rockn’Roll era so maybe they had a point, the free love and peace of the Flower Power Children.  The miniskirts and Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton , Brigitte Bardot and Jane Fonda were the women in the news.  However here in Australia women could still not go and have a drink in a bar without a man!  It took 2 strong willed women who chained themselves to a bar in Brisbane to change that law.

Then of course came the outspoken Germaine Greer and her book The Female Eunuch in the 70’s and the burning of the bras in the street.  In 1976 was the first Reclaim the Night protests held in Europe against violence and sexual assault.  This movement spread across the world.

In 1979 the first leader of a western country was elected – the Iron Lady; Margaret Thatcher as the British Prime Minister and later Benazir Bhutto became the first woman to be elected as the Prime Minister in Pakistan, the first woman to be elected to lead a Muslim country.

In anycase we have come a long way and us women living now have a lot to be thankful for and owe a great debt to the women who paved the way for us.

I have to say in all this that all the men that I have known without exception have been lovely and I have been lucky to grow up in an era where I have been able to follow my dreams without restrictions.  Here is a blog about the other side of the coin – 31. Men I Salute you (continuing Melbourne tales).

I think this quote fits well here by Dwight D. Eisenhower;

“Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him”.

Till next time, happy painting and sculpting everyone!

Love Marie xxx  (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 acrylic painting was the cover of Artlink Magazine for the summer edition 1992-1993, and I was absolutely thrilled.  I had only been painting for about 5 years at the time but was already working full time at it and loving every minute.

PLAYBOY MAGAZINE COVER

In my previous career as a model I had of course appeared on quite a few covers over the years, among them this Playboy Magazine cover.  Oh I know what you are thinking, lol but there is no need for anyone to go out and order any back copies of the magazine as I only appeared on the cover and it was a head shot too, bad luck, lol!   I was overseas modelling when the Playboy cover came out and had broken off with my boyfriend (whom I later married) and he said he got the shock of his life when he walked into a shop and saw it.  His mate that was with him promptly bought the magazine and “hubby to be” was apparently mightily pleased I wasn’t a centerfold!

ARTLINK MAGAZINE COVER

So to be commissioned to do a cover of a magazine in a completely different profession pleased me very much.  The brief was to create a cover that had something to do about art.  So I painted 2 paintings (the other, I will tell you about another time)on the art theme, if you look closely at this painting, “The Artist Camp” you will find a lot of the different forms of art represented.

FROM TOPIARY ART TO BODY ART

Starting from top left and going across you will see; Topiary– which is the art of clipping and training bushes and trees into different shapes, a form of living sculpture.  Then there is a Landscape artist and the nude model posing for a Figure painting, a small detail from Picasso representing both the Cubism and Abstract Art, followed by Body Art.

FROM FABRIC ART TO TATTOO ART

Next row down the lady is doing some Fabric Art and the stereo typical Outsider Artist, Art Brut or Art Raw with the Physiatrist and the patient in the straight jacket.  With all this political correctness my portrayal of that may offend however as I count myself in that bracket too as a Naive or Naif Artist I hope it is met with the humor I intended.   Next we have a so called Sunday painter with a Portrait of a cat and Aboriginal Art followed by a Graffiti Artist, Art for Therapy in prison and finally the Tattoo Artist and the little girl being inspired to love art by all of them!  I think the Bull Terrier is up to no good with the bike though,lol, not sure he has art in mind.

ARTISTIC TALENT

Whilst I do appreciate art schools and the skills they teach to art students, I do believe that a lot of the time they turn out artists who paint just like their teachers and sometimes their own fresh ideas are belittled.  My own take on the matter is that EVERYBODY has an artistic talent of some sort, some find that talent early whilst for others it may be a life time exploration.  However what I think matters most is the passion and enjoyment of creating and not necessarily the final result.  I would encourage everyone to find the inner child, to borrow from Mark Twain – explore, dream and discover but this time in relation to art and not travel.

Here is some lyrics from a song I really love called The Cape by Guy Clark which I think fits well here;

“He’s one of those who knows that life
Is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath
Always trust your cape”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting or whatever turns you on,

Love Marie xxx      (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.

One of the most important festivals for Naive art is currently underway in Katowice, Poland where until August 17, you will be able to see more than 190 naive artists from all over the world and 40 of the artists participating are from Cuba this year.   Cuba is this year’s guest country and the Cuban Vice Minister of Culture was in attendance at the opening which was a cultural feast.  The highlight was a 4 piece Cuban band dressed in white suits, hats and black t-shirts with 2 dancers complete with headdress and costumes in yellow and green straight from a carnival.

ARTLINK MAGAZINE

This detail image is from one of my paintings on the cover of an art magazine called Artlink, this addition was dedicated to naive & outsider art, if you look closely there is homage to Picasso there too.  If you would like to see one of my own artworks on show in Katowice here is a link to it and another art blog 73 Snack attack at hungry jacks

MONDIAL D’ART NAIF

Oh I so would have wanted to attend myself – all of us; exhibiting artists were invited to attend and they had even organized a special artist dinner.  The timing wasn’t right for us this year as we are in the middle of renovations and also planning a trip to Europe for next year.  Here is a link to this wonderful exhibition and website Mondial d’art naif

SZYB WILSON ART GALLERY

It is my idea of total bliss to have so many wonderful naive artists work on show in the same place, at the same time, all that wonderful, innocent and colorful work under one roof.  That is so exciting too, the place itself that is housing this exhibition – which is the Szyb Wilson Gallery in Katowice.  It is the largest privately owned gallery in Poland and I think it would be rivaling most private galleries in the world as it offers more than 2000 square meters on two levels and it’s a huge building, 10 minutes away from the city centre in the district of  Nikiszowiec the historical settlement of Katowice. Another fascinating place to have a look at there would be the “Spodek” which means flying saucer in Polish and is a multipurpose arena complex which can hold up to 11,500 people.

The area of Szyb Wilson Gallery was in fact an old coal mine construction, a virtual wasteland of late.   It so happens too that one of the naive artists participating in this festival was a mine worker at this very mine for some 35 years, where now his work hangs on their walls.  His name is Erwin Sowka and he is part of the legendary group Janowska in Poland and he was awarded a special prize at the opening of the show.  (Erwin Sowka is the only surviving member of Janowska – “Amateur Painters Circle” whos origins date back to the 1930’s and there was even a film made about them in Poland called Angelus.)

ART PRIZE WINNERS

Other prize winners were artist Sylvie Marcel from Marseille in France, who won the “people’s vote” during the 2010 festival and was therefore invited to create the poster for this year’s festival, her image was also used for the large banners advertising the show, and she attended and picked up her trophy; Grand Prix du Public 2010.

Another prize awarded was to a sculptor Eugene Zegadlo who has during the last 52 years made nearly 3000 sculptures and exhibited in 20 countries in over 150 separate exhibitions.

JACQUES DUBOIS & NAIVE ART

Of course this naive  art exhibition could never have existed without the hard work of many and it is the French non-profit association Fivan that has organized it in conjunction with the Szyb Wilson Gallery.  They have designed this event to promote naive art and to sell paintings in a festive atmosphere, which is something they have totally achieved.  There are without doubt many people to thank for this wonderful event but I would like to mention one very special man Jacques Dubois who has worked tirelessly and could not have been more accommodating and nicer liaising with all the artists, so Thank you Jac!

Naive art is currently experiencing resurgence in its popularity and there were some 2000 people who attended this year’s opening with many people flying in from across the world.  Naive art has become a status symbol for many professionals and collectors and the waiting rooms of doctors and dentists just are not complete without one.  We can thank the naive artists that paved the way for us current artists,  ones like Henri Rousseau and Grandma Moses and the like and also of course Pablo Picasso who was the one that discovered Henri Rousseau in the first place.

So here is a quote from Pablo Picasso that I think the naive artist has actually mastered;

“Every child is an artist.  The problem is to remain an artist once they grow up” and this one

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

However it is perhaps this Picasso quote that will make all of us feel better;

“We don’t grow older we grow riper.”

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.

As part of our trip to the US we were going to Las Vegas and having always heard about the Little White Wedding Chapel  and the celebrities who got married there which include Britney Spears, Demi Moore & Bruce Willis, Joan Collins, Michael Jordon, The Who, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Patty Duke, Mickey Rooney, we thought it would be lots of fun to renew our vows there too.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

This naive painting is part of my Cat & Dog series and I have actually painted two very similar works but in different colors as it evoked such happy memories, one which sold in my Japanese exhibition and the other just recently here.

You see hubby was finally taking me to America something he promised to do 25 years prior, so you can’t say he doesn’t keep his promises.  The promise was made in a weak moment, lol when he was trying to get me to marry him – I had been in Europe modeling for the best part of two years and had come home to Australia to spend Christmas with my parents.  Bryan and I had taken a break from our relationship which had begun when I was 14 and I had full intention of fulfilling my potential and going on to New York where I had been offered a six month contract to model in the Big Apple.   Well the rest is history; I never made it to New York that time, instead stayed put, married the love of my life and instead was eventually crowned the’ Australian Model of the Year’ which was a pretty good compensation anyway.

Finally he makes good on his promise (lol, you know how kids, houses and life gets in the way) and after a week of Disney land and all the things LA has to offer we are on the plane for Vegas.  Kai and Hillivi our children are with us for the big family holiday, and the wedding is all planned and booked.  I have a beautiful pink dress,  Hillivi my bridesmaid will be in a matching dress, and  Bryan and Kai have suits with matching pink ties.  Every detail thought of.

ART OF THE WELL DRESSED HOBO

So we arrive in Vegas and are in awe already, all the lights are flashing and there are slot machines all around even at the airport.  We do meander a bit but not too long and get to the baggage collection area, and wait and wait.  Everyone’s bags turn up apart from Bryans, which just happens to be the one with all the important stuff in it – just bought Christmas presents, film camera, wedding shirt, as well as every single bit of Bryans clothing including the winter clothes for New York (where it’s snowing &  minus 11).

Luckily the suits were in a separate carryon bag and I had the ties in mine, as the wedding was that afternoon at 5pm with not much time to dally around.  We had to improvise and he wore a white striped shirt, which if he had taken his jacket off would have made you laugh with a huge emblem on the back! We never did find out what happened to the bag as it never turned up.  We imagine there is a very well dressed hobo wandering around filming at the airport!   Bryan had to buy a whole lot of clothes in Vegas – and we just couldn’t stop stirring him about the souvenir style gear he got with “I Love Vegas” on every item!

I am happy to say the rest of the day went off without a hitch, we stayed in a couple of gorgeous rooms at the very flash Monte Carlo.  The limousine picked us up and took us down the strip past all the iconic Casinos with a million people milling around and lights flashing.  The wedding chapel even has a Drive-through section but we had the ceremony in an intimate little room with a Negro celebrant who was fantastic and added to the atmosphere.

ART, ROMANCE AND WHOOPS!

It was really emotional and romantic and such a marvelous occasion to share with our two kids who looked just so beautiful and handsome respectively. After all the photos we returned to the hotel in the limo and found a wonderful  trolley laden with all kinds of cheeses, crackers, fruits,  nuts and a bottle of red in our room, which we thought the hotel had so kindly provided us with. So we hoed into that and had a wow of a time until we found a little card tucked under a napkin with a middle eastern name on it (now we got worried about the mafia, lol) but then found out luckily it was actually for the guest that had already vacated our room earlier in the day.

Whoops, lol, but the hotel were very good and just let us have it. Then still in our glad rags we went and caught the Monorail and explored Vegas and then finally at 11pm thought we better have our wedding dinner (we had stuffed ourselves silly on that cheese platter!).  Anyway we had our celebration dinner in a gorgeous little Italian restaurant in the Stratosphere Casino, and it was one of those nights were everything just fell into place and was wonderful.

Four very tired little vegemites caught the last Monorail back to the Monte Carlo at 2 am, exhausted with sore feet but very happy.  You may enjoy another travel and art blog, here is a link;90 I Miss New York and  137 ICE SKATING IN CENTRAL PARK

I will repeat this quote here as it fits so perfectly said by someone I greatly admire, Oprah Winfrey (Television host and Philanthropist)

“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx        (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.

We just received a Christmas card from the kids, nothing unusual about that I hear you say and you are so right – normally.

It read “To Mum and Dad, Seasons greeting, Miss you both! Don’t worry we are getting lots of treats up in ‘dem dare hills. Love Zipper & Pringles.

This naive acrylic painting depicts the Werocata Pony club which was located next door to our property for many years (that’s me on the left kissing my horse Rumor).

Back to the greeting card and we were tickled pink, as it was from our little miniature horses we had on the farm and their lovely new owners, who must have helped them with the spelling, lol mm.. maybe?

SEX, ART & HORSES

They are the cutest little misters around, Zipper is a gelding and Pringles a stallion and a very frisky little one he was too.

He would try to have a go at Zipper who was most put out and not at all interested in Pringles advances.  When that would not work he would be chasing my big horse Cally-she however was very interested and happily backed up to towards him, their only stumbling block was that she was more than twice as tall as him and there was no way that he could ever reach.

Oh the pitfalls of a short man (well in the horse world that is!)

So when that had come to nothing and poor little Pringles still had the urge he would have to scale the fence and try to find some lovely ladies somewhere else.  It happened quite a few times that my husband would come in and tell us we all had to hop in the car to go and try to find the little Horny Mr!

ART INSPIRATIONS

Once he had a female in his sight (the neighbor’s horses) nothing would lure him back home, we tried apples and carrots and stern words and praise, but in the end we had to try to come in from all four sides and throw a rope around his neck and the walk him back across the paddocks of the farm.  Of course he would still be ducking and weaving and doing loop the loops to get back to the pretty girls.   In the meantime Zipper is patiently waiting for his companion to come back and probably enjoying the peace and quiet for a little while.

Zipper had won a couple of ribbons at Pony club, well not really any big deal in the horse world but very cute.   Zipper belonged to our son Kai who was no more than 10 years old when he led the little horse around a little obstacle track and got a purple ribbon to show for it.

When we recently moved from the farm I found the bag of ribbons from the various horse shows but neither kid wanted to pack them, but I think we still took them, it’s hard to throw away all those memories!

So has the frisky little Pringles mellowed with age I hear you ask, well not according to the horses new mum and dad, Pringles does still, if the occasion arises so to speak, lol take off for dem dare hills to look for cute girl horses.

If you enjoy stories and paintings about animals here is another of my art blogs about my pet bird; 154 Galah Art

Therefore I think some wise words from Winston Churchill (British prime minister) is in order here although I think Pringles only listened to the first part before he took off!

“Never give in, never give in, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty.  Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”

Till Next Time happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie                                                                                   (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.

ARTISTIC WEDDINGS

There are weddings and then there are good weddings and I went to one of the Great ones just recently, and no not conducted by a magpie like in my naive painting here!   Now I may be biased as this was my darling nephew (who is just the coolest guitar playing guy around) and his beautiful Fiona, who already has been part of our lives for the past 7 years.    Although I thought it was longer than that as I liked her lots right from the start and she is a person with a kind heart and easy manner and positive attitude that you enjoy sharing time with.

So that being said, I don’t know how you feel, but I know from my own personal experience, all weddings are different.  Some you enjoy because the food is great, others because of the band or location or as in this case because you can see and you know in your heart that these two people are so right for each other that they will last a life time.

That’s not to say that at this particular wedding all those other elements weren’t there too because they were, if I have to pick on anything it would be they had the ceremony starting at 11.30 on a Sunday morning!  Just as well the Hens night was a week earlier is all I can say to that.  (I do believe I was nursing a rather large headache the Sunday before, and it was all Fiona’s fault.)  If you fancy a read about the goings on at her Bachelorette party here is a link to the paintings and art blog, but do keep in mind the P… word is mentioned 53. Art & Bachelorette – A Hens night out

The ceremony was held overlooking the water at West Lakes Resort and then followed by a Greek Feast at Zacs, where every wish was catered for.  Such a memorable day!

This acrylic on canvas board painting depicts the ceremony of birds of a different feather completely, the artwork sold in Japan, and I had lots of fun painting it!  Oh and in the pretend story of this acrylic painting of course the birds were let out of their cages and lived happily ever after in the wild.  That goes without saying!

In my own case people predicted our marriage would last six months tops (they of little faith!)Oh I do love proving people wrong, as we just celebrated our 28^th wedding anniversary, so you never can quite tell.

ART INSPIRATIONS

That reminds me of another friend of mine, who got married in the 80’s, this marriage unfortunately only lasted a year.  The wedding itself was a rather splendid production at the finest locations and no expense spared and a total bill of $60.000.00 which for the 80’s was a rather large amount to pay for a wedding.   Rather a waste of money, just for one night I thought at the time, but hey we had a fantastic night!

We have been to a lot of wedding over the years and another one that springs to mind was also a splendid affair at a seaside location followed by the reception in the top hotel of the time in Adelaide with a 20 piece orchestra and silver service all the way.

So there we were at this glitzy Do with half of Adelaide’s “who is who” in attendance and what do I  do- well klutzy me had to go and spoil it, lol – I managed to dribble half my dinner on my taffeta dress (you do remember the taffeta dresses of the 80’s?)  The spill was not somewhere low down where it could be hidden, but right up top on my chest, where some sticky mess looked mighty unsightly.

FABRIC PAINTER

Long suffering Bryan takes quite a delight in his wife’s history of food dribbles, as he thinks it is all rather funny to see this model looking bird dressed to kill with food stains, isn’t he mean! LOL

Off to the ladies loo I go as I thought I better try to wash it off, easier said than done!  Have you ever tried to wash a dark purple taffeta gown in a public toilet (well a Hilton toilet but still!)  There I was trying ever so hard to get rid of this stain but instead of making it smaller it actually seemed to be spreading all over the dress, no matter what I did.   Who ever invented those horrible hand dryers that you have in toilets, they are absolutely useless when it counts, or should I say absolutely useless at anytime, especially useless at drying hands for which they were invented I do believe.

I missed some of the speeches and the cutting of the cake as this procedure took half an hour to accomplish.   Needless to say I spent the rest of the night with my hair covering the stain, thank god for long hair!

So here is a bit of wisdom for you who may be contemplating marriage from Pythagoras (philosopher)

“The oldest, shortest words – “yes” and “no” – are those which require the most thought.

Oh and by the way if I find any advice from any other philosopher on “How to avoid food stains” I will be sure to let you know.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie  xxx                                                                               (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.

Happy Hour or should I say NOT– as I tried writing this yesterday from poolside Happy Hour in Candi Dasa Bali,  but you know how things are you have a sip or two of a nice cocktail and all your cares fly away and any thoughts of what you should be doing suddenly doesn’t seem as important, lol.

This painting was the scenery from my goggles yesterday; we went snorkeling in Amed which is on the East coast of Bali far from the hustle and bustle of Kuta and the merchants peddling their wares haggling and bartering, traffic and tourists, never the less all very inspiring for an artist.

mmm…. ANOTHER PAINTING IDEA

We had rather an eventful  time in Amed, what made me laugh firstly was that we were met on the beach by this very handsome and buff Indonesian man in a cowboy hat and wearing only budgie smugglers (small bathers,LOL) strutting up to us asking if we wanted to go out diving.

He was handsome so maybe snorkelling wasn’t the first thing on my mind!  Now for you people familiar with the movie starring Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller called “Along came Polly’, remember the scene on the beach where the very handsome French hunk asks Jennifer (Polly) ‘Anyone for Scuba’?

But you know the old saying “just because you are on a diet does not mean you can’t read the menu, right”, and that’s all I was doing, being a happily married woman and all!

Anyway we had a little relax on some sun beds before summoning up the courage for the snorkelling (I am just a little bit scary cat when it comes to snorkelling) and probably rightly so as it turned out although Bryan tells me it is totally safe and I should not worry!

ART & MOVIES

The underwater life is an totally amazing experience, it is really like being part of a Disney movie, we swam and saw this astonishingly rich underwater scenery with corals and fish in every colour of the rainbow and when I go home again I can feel another painting coming on.

All of a sudden though, Bryan grabs hold of me and says he has just been stung on the face by some tentacles from a jellyfish  as he was unsure of the effects of this creature and thought we better head into shore, as it turned out it was not too bad apart from a little soreness and a red mark.

COLORS OF THE RAINBOW

So off we went again and this time we also saw an eel  slithering along that was bright yellow and blue and orange then I followed this little fish with perfectly iridescent  blue lips around his travels looking for things to eat totally fascinated by the world he lives in.

Bryan decided he had had enough while I was busy watching a rather long black and white sea snake doing lop the lops only centimeters away from me and after a while I thought I would head for shore too.

It wasn’t until I told Bryan of my adventure that I found out this was a particularly deadly kind of snake and maybe I should not have hang around so long to see what he was up too!

If you enjoy snorkling and paintings of underwater naive views here is another art blog for you 149 Art,Lifou and Sharks

So I think this quote by Charles Bukowski  (writer) fits perfectly here.

“The difference between a brave man and a coward is a coward thinks twice before jumping in the acage with a lion.  The brave man doesn’t know what a lion is.  He just thinks he does.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you!

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.

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.