I am so happy to finally be able to announce that my 3^rd set of duvet (quilt covers) for ARTnBED is finally on the market.  It is called Pottering at the Port and the original painting was bought by the Country Arts Trust of South Australia at an exhibition a while back.  Now the wonderful Lior Rapaport and his company ARTnBED have chosen it for their new collection.

Lior writes a blog on his ARTnBED website and this is what he wrote about initially finding my artworks;

NAIVE ART IS GOOD FOR YOU

“I have been interested in art ever since I lived in Paris.  I spent many winters’ weekends in its great museums carrying a 6 month baby when her mother needed some sleep.  It was then when I started to develop my own taste. Impressionism, contemporary and modern paintings were my favourites, I love colourful paintings that inspire and make you happy.

A while back I landed on MOMA’s FB page to see what’s new – and my eyes popped out!  I was enchanted with the colours, details, joy that filled every corner of a naive painting by artist Marie Jonsson-Harrison from Australia.  It was the first time I saw Naive art and I was hooked.

It appears that in the past Naive artists were outsiders, not in the mainstream and not taken seriously or considered professional.  Therefore most of them painted for themselves.  It was only about 100 years ago that Naive art was accepted as an artistic mode of art.

Take my word for it – there is no art as raw, honest and engaging as Naive Art!”

Lior writes a great blog and with lots of interesting stories about his family, life, travels and of course art which you may enjoy to have a look at.

If you are interested to find out how this all eventuated when my first quilt (duvet) cover called Hindley Street was released here is a blog about that 140 ART n BED as well as a page on my website where I also wrote about it and now I will have to go and update it and add the 2 new designs there as well.

CHILDLIKE INNOCENT ART

When I paint and sculpt I enter into another world and imagine myself as part of the artwork perhaps that is what keeps me so happy and childlike, who knows?  Although my kids think sometimes I should act my age and hubbys always maintains its unbecoming for a 40+ woman to skip!  Lol but I don’t care I skip anyway – although I try not to do it in a crowded place, in case I get carted off and locked up!  Anyway when ARTnBED had decided to use my painting Pottering at the Port, Lior asked me to write a little “something” to put on his website about that and this was my thoughts;

“Sailing off from the Port to new adventures across the world and then returning to your loved ones waiting with open arms to embrace you.  This will be one of many wonderful dreams to be had when you sleep in “Pottering at the Port” by artist Marie Jonsson-Harrison.  Come on – come pottering around the port with us, perhaps have a snorkel or a drink at the local pub or just enjoy the buskers and the atmosphere.  Why not travel the seven seas in your dreams and wake up happy every morning without leaving your bedroom?”

So I leave you today with a quote from Lior Rapaport from ARTnBED who says;

“So with our duvet sets you can spend a day at the beach, a weekend in New York, enjoy the nightlife on Hindley Street and now… snorkel in bed.”

Till next time,

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.

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.

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.