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.

Like millions of women across the globe I have been reading Fifty shades of Grey and just finished the first book in the trilogy (Fifty shades of Darker and Fifty shades of Freed).   I had actually had the book in my possession for about 3 months without reading it.  The reason was that I am much more of a biography type of girl and like to read what real people are doing and usually get a tad bored with fiction when I know it is not actually based on a true story.  I must admit I did read the first couple of chapters early on but found it boring and skipped through to some of the “good bits”.

However when I recently caught up with a girlfriend who is in her mid sixties, an ex librarian and very well read, who said that she actually enjoyed the book and was amazed at how the author could write the sex scenes with such fevor and variety, my interest was sparked again.  Furthermore she said her own daughter who is in her late 20’s read the 3 books over one weekend, which peaked my interest even more.

As you can see by this wall based sculpture “Adam and Eve” or the alternative title “Apple juice may be fine but I rather have some wine” (handmade ceramic and mosaic artwork) I always like exploring the theme of sexuality and you may also like to read these 14. Adam & Steve 2 Sculpture and 35. The First Adam and Steve Artwork

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

What is it with this book, Fifty Shades of Grey that crosses the generations and makes millions of women across the globe, yummy mummies, singles, married, rich, poor get all hot and heavy as they read about Christian Grey and Anastasia’s escapades?

Exploring this thought brought me back to thinking about the cavemen days, how did it work then? Did the caveman just drag the women by the hair into a bush or a cave and had his way with her.  Is there something in our DNA that still lingers on and makes us a “little” submissive?

I say a “little” submissive as the above scenario would be totally abhorrent if the caveman was a “sweaty one toothed Oaf” and the encounter was rape instead of a mutual attraction.

I think that is the key isn’t it, there has to be that spark of electricity that you can feel in the air when your eyes meet and sex is the foremost thing on your mind.

ARTISTIC LICENCE

Not that the couple in my Caveman acrylic on canvas board painting would have much privacy to get hot and heavy with all those children running around, but they must have found the time I figure!

It has been very interesting listening to the discussions around this book both in the media and also with friends.  One male friend who has not actually read the book is totally perplexed as he thinks all his perceptions of women and women’s lib has totally fallen by the wayside with the topic of S & M of Fifty shades of Grey.  However I was trying to tell him that after reading it I think he has totally missed the point – a point you only understand if you do read it.  For myself the thought of the Red room of Pain with some weird guy dressed like Hannibal Lecter would make me run for the hills (if I was able) and perhaps that is the idea some people that haven’t read the book think it is all about.   On the other hand if we are talking silk scarves or ties and there is trust and a strong mutual attraction, then that’s another thing, right? Personally I also really liked Anastasia’s feistiness and the clever use of words in their email banter.

THE ART OF CHOICE

Well E.L. James must have hit on a collective nerve.  Perhaps it is that in this day and age when we women for the most part are strong and independent.  We have the choices to live our lives the way that we want, have casual encounters, marry or not, travel the world, stay home with children or work.  Maybe even so, far down in our DNA we also have a need for the man to take charge.  Perhaps not all the time but there is something extremely sexual about giving over your control and not being in charge at least in the bedroom.   Also I think women enjoy the erotic mystery of the written word where as men are more visual creatures and like seeing (the old lights on lights off debate)the sexual act and are more turned on by pornography than women as a rule.

AGEING & THE ART OF SEX

Which brings me to a great article a girlfriend of mine Nadine Williams has written called “Brown’s long magazine life “Sex-cess” on her website, which is a must read.  Helen Gurley Brown recently died at the ripe old age of 90, she was a trail blazer and as Nadine says “her magazine mantra metamorphosed the sex lives of the modern woman.     The author of the 1962 best-seller Sex and the Single Girl reckoned if women weren’t sex objects, they were in trouble and while good girls went to heaven, bad girls got to go everywhere.”    I have always loved that quote as well as everything else that ever came out of Mae West’s mouth – another trail blazer for the modern woman.  If you fancy a read of my Art blog on Mae and see the Mae West painting here is a link 72. Mae West “Come up and see me some time” & Art

Anyway another thing that Helen Gurley Brown said;

“My own philosophy is if you’re not having sex, you’re finished.  It separates the girls from the old people”

And for what it is worth – I think she has a point, a good point!

I always sign off with Happy painting and sculpting, however this time I will also borrow from the movie with the music of the fabulous group ABBA called Mamma Mia and say Happy ….

Love Marie xxxx

Ps  I would really love to hear what your thoughts on the subject are so make a comment!

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.

My husband and I have always had a happiness trick that we have used throughout the years and that is to play Saturday night!

The art of happiness, what is that I hear you ask – well it goes something like this;

You know when you have those days or weeks where life gets you down, the car won’t start in the morning and then you get the electricity bill which throws you and then you drop the jar of jam which makes a mess everywhere.  Mmmm… that is when my husband and I looks at each other and decide now we got to play “Saturday Night”.

Playing “Saturday Night” is great and the best thing about it is it can be any day of the week.  All you have to do is to make it cosy.  A yummy dinner is required but it can be as easy as a take away pizza or as fancy as a 3 course meal. Take away containers are not allowed in sight as it should feel special, so no plastic cups either just good glasses.  Setting the table in an artistic fashion adds to the mood, all the colors in the paint pallet makes me feel good.   Candle light is always nice, as is a roaring fire or sitting by a pool in summer or running water (even a small water feature will do.)

Now for us a bottle of red wine is a must but of course, use whatever drink is your favourite.  When we were having money problems early on in our marriage the budget would only stretch to a $4 dollar bottle of wine, but that didn’t spoil our fun one bit, it tasted just fine to me at the time.

If you feel like talking do so over dinner but if you need to just switch off get a good movie and just get lost in it.

When the kids were little we always had chip and dip and lollies on a Saturday and watched a family movie together before they went to bed and then we would continue with the adult version of our Saturday night!

THE ART OF BEING CREATIVE

Of course you could also schedule in a picnic or a day’s outing as you can see in this handmade ceramic and mosaic artwork – where we are going to Granite Island, South Australia.  Of course painting,sculpting and just creating anything has always helped me be happy too.  So I would really recommend that – a hobby of some kind, even cooking is creative.

If you have little kids they may enjoy an extra Saturday night every week too.  We swear by it, of course whatever problems you have are still there in the morning but to take a little vacation from the stress and worry even if it is only for a few hours, certainly has always helped us.

Oh before you think that our poor kids were fed a diet of chip and dip and lollies I have to say that during the week both at school and at home we all ate a very healthy diet, so once or twice a week to be able to have some “naughty” foods made it all the more special.

Just as sometimes if we went to an all you can eat type of place we would let the kids attack the dessert bar before their main course, lol.  This happened rarely mind you but it was so worth it just to see their excited little faces!

So here is a quote I think fits perfectly here by Jacques Torres;

“Life is short. Eat dessert first”. – Jacques Torres

Till next time, happy painting or sculpting!

Love Marie xxx

If you fancy reading another art blog about how to make yourself happy here is a link; 33. Art & Dont worry be happy

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.

All of us sweat the small stuff from time to time but really we shouldn’t, however that’s easier said than done.  So what about making a list of the things that make you happy, the things you either love to do or think about.

I have created such a list here, in no particular order mind you!  I would love to hear what makes you happy too so let me know?

This acrylic on board painting is my family and friends in Bali for my birthday surprise party that hubby had organized, which is certainly an experience that made me very happy!

But you know the things in life that causes the most happiness are mostly things that are free or at least does not cost too much.

MY HAPPINESS LIST

Time spent with my Swedish cousins

Skipping (even if you are over forty and your husband thinks it is unbecoming for a grown woman)

Puppy breath

The smell of horses

The smell of freshly cut grass

The colour and smell of flowers

Watching the sunset

Hugging someone you Love

Dinner and drinks with good friends

Being in Love

The smell of sundried sheets on the bed

A hot shower

A glass of Red Wine

Childhood memories

Fresh Flowers

Sparkling Red

Cuddling with my dogs

Tail wagging when you come home

A cuddle with my 28 year old Galah

Rain on the Roof

Hearing “Mummy I Love You” – at any age

Painting

Creating in any medium

Reading a good book

Walking on the Beach

And Just walking anytime – anywhere

Swedish Daim chocolates

Dutch extra salted liquorice

My Dads phone calls

My mother’s sense of humour

My husband’s cooking and knowing he loves me still after all these years!

Exploring a new city

Train rides

Favourite songs on the radio

Giggling and not being able to stop

Laughing so hard your face hurts

Loving someone and knowing they love you

Knowing somebody misses you

The smell of the ocean

A summer’s breeze

The view from our house

Twittering birds

Green, green grass

All the colours of nature

A favourite quotation

Seeing a good piece of art

Creating a good piece of art

Naive artists – all artists

When my paintings find a “good” home

Being offered a new artistic venture

Remembering my kids as little children

Seeing my children growing up and becoming delightful adults

Memories of my loving Grandparents

Getting a massage

Paying it forward

A gift of handmade biscuits, cakes & Rocky road

First coffee of the day

Breakfast in bed

A shoulder to lean on

Shopping with my daughter

My son tracking our travels & checking we arrive safely

My daughters planned “Mother & Daughter” surprises

A good movie

A night at the theatre

Listening to children giggle

Phone calls from my kids

Family holidays

Having an open fire

The smell of a wood oven

The smell of bread baking

Sleeping with our dogs in the bed!!

Buying a gift for someone you love

Giving a present

A drink in a Bali hut by the pool

Being busy with lots of projects on!

Meeting people who collect my paintings or read my art blogs

A cup of Belgian Hot Chocolate

My son teaching me something new

Dancing ALL night

Swimming on a hot day or night time swims

So now I hope you will go and make your own list too!  Here is a quote I like by Richard Carlson

“Learning to stop sweating the small stuff involves deciding what things to engage in and what things to ignore. From a certain perspective, life can be described as a series of mistakes, one right after another with a little space in between.”

And this one;

“Choose to be kind over being right and you’ll be right everytime.”

So till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx

Here is another way to make you feel good that have made a huge difference in our lives; 153 The Art of Saturday Night

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.

I have always loved quotations, clever things people have said over the years that resonate with me.  They feel like a painting put into words, much like a poem with music or for that matter the perfume of flowers – yes and of course I have a painting that fits right here called “Potted Perfume”.

QUOTATIONS AN INSPIRATIONS FOR ARTWORKS

I have often used quotations as the titles of my artwork.  Such as “It’s too late to turn back now”,  or “You and me and baby makes three” or “The grass is always greener on the other side”.

I find quotes are inspirational, funny and wise and it turns out that so many people over the years were so clever with the things they said.

THE ART OF BEING OSCAR WILDE

One of my favorites is the Wit and Wisdom of Oscar Wilde an Irish writer and poet who lived from 1854 until the 1900 and become one of London’s most popular playwrights in the early 1890’s.  I am sure you have heard of his novel “The picture of Dorian Gray” which was made into a movie of the same name about a corrupt young man who somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.  Another piece of his writing that you may be familiar with is his play “The Importance of Being Earnest” which still today plays around the world somewhere.  Oscar Wilde lived up to his name and was known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversation and truly was one of the most well-known personalities of his day.

Some of my favourite quotations from Oscar is “I always pass on good advice.  It is the only thing to do with it.  It is never of any use to oneself” and “I sometimes think that God in creating man somewhat overestimated his ability” and one thing which I am trying to avoid with all my might is “Most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes”.

My daughter Hillivi sent this to me the author is unknown but it so speaks volumes;

Your car is German. Your vodka is Russian. Your pizza is Italian. Your vegetables are Spanish. Your kebab is Turkish. Your democracy is Greek. Your coffee is Brazilian. Your tobacco is Macedonian. Your tea is Indian. Your shirt is Chinese. Your oil is Saudi Arabian. Your electronics are Korean. Your movies are English. Your mini-series are American. Your numbers Arabic, your letters Latin. And you complain that your neighbor is an immigrant? Pull yourself together!

The way I live my life is always with the attitude that the “Cup is half full” so here are a few more for you to contemplate.  Of course they really do cross over from one category to another too.

Isn’t it interesting how friendships are, how people come and go in your life?   Some are there all the way others appear and disappear only to reappear again.

Just like I imagine these cats do in my painting “Cats in Case” in a Louis Vuitton bag (which is also available as a limited edition Giclee Print)

If I think about my own friends and I do have quite a few, although I could probably count on 2 hands the ones I could run to if I was really in trouble and know that they would come to my aid.  That’s not saying that I don’t treasure the rest any less as each and every one of my friends has added value to my life.

THE ART OF THE FAIR-WEATHER FRIEND

Now I won’t count into that number the “fair-weather” variety that did me wrong over the years. Oh yes I have had my share of those, as I think most of us have.  You know the type they come across all sweetness and light and you just love them to bits when suddenly you find they have just pulled the carpet from under your feet.

You are just like “I swear I was just standing on carpet a minute ago, what AM I doing here lying on the floor”!   With time you learn to dust yourself off and get on the bike again although it does hurt just as much as when you were little, it is lucky that with the years you learned some coping skills.

We just had this discussion with the nephew who said he has many different circles of friends and we are just the same.

FROM ART TO MONEY

There is the” Hippy Variety” – into having a good time and looking after the environment, “ The Cashed up lot” – when we go out with them we end up spending a week’s wage on one meal and need the magnifying glass to find the food on the plate,lol and have to stop at McDonalds on the way home!

“The Teacher group” – loves books like me & always interested in everything,  The “Arty-Farty gang” –  doing the art galleries, film and theater events,  “The Swim friends” – where it’s all about health & diets and the “Farmer mob”- oh you guess it, all about the weather at first, but then you peel a layer and there is lots more to them too.    I still see some of my “Modelling friends” where it’s about old times, botox and menopause, lol  – it used to be more fun when they were into sex, drugs and rock & roll!

THE ART OF LIVING LIFE

Not forgetting our kids, their friends, nieces and nephews as well, I have to admit I am rather fond of the younger generation – they are lots of fun and haven’t gotten that grumpy old man or woman syndrome yet either which is always a bonus.

Anyway what’s with the grumpy syndrome anyway – take a chill pill and enjoy life it’s way too short to waste on negativity (I do make exception for one grumpy friend lol somehow he is cute & grumpy and makes me laugh)

The thing is I enjoy all of their company and feel very lucky to have such a broad range of people who are all interesting in their own way.  So with such a cross section of friends there is not a chance to get bored.

Now over the last year I have acquired a new category the Facebook friends – and yes a lot are of course just acquaintances; however there certainly are some of those with whom a deeper relationship is developing, reaching out across the world from Scotland to South Africa, Indonesia to Hongkong, Turkey, France, USA, the Middle East and even Russia.

ARTISTIC WEBSITE

A rich diverse and very interesting lot they are.  So today I would like to share a poem from one of these friends, her name is Annamarie Causer and she is a writer, columnist and author of many poetry books.  She also writes for a website called  CRAIGMILLAR (look under Memories for Diary of a Countryside Lady) or find her on Facebook FB CRAIGMILLAR (for news, opinion, history and events)  Annamarie was inspired to write this from the “Cats in case” artwork, and I hope later on to share more of her work with you.

“ODE TO FUZZY FELINES
Kitties to the left of me,
kitties to the right.
out the box
they pop,
playfully causing fright.
Some with white sock.
A suitcase laced
with a li’l
bitty
kitty.
Legs braced
agin their tangling,
wrangling,
and dangling
furry body.
Their whirlish dervish
and devilish laced
antic
cause endless frantic
a worrisome flurry
and such a worry
(but only to cat haters)”

Here is a quote I like from Abraham Lincoln,

“No matter how much cats fight, there always seems to be plenty of kittens.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you,

Love Marie     (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.

Happy Easter to everyone and I hope you are all having the loveliest of times wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

This acrylic painting “You and me and Bunny makes three” was one I painted many years ago when I first started out as an artist.  I have always been fascinated with animals and wonder how they are feeling and what they think.  I think we don’t give them enough credit and assume they only do things by instinct and not because they actually think about things.  I feel sure they are a lot more like us humans.

(Here is another link to my art blog and painting about how ants really live in apartments 70.  ‘’CONDO’S OF KATHERINE”)

That said perhaps I have gone a tad overboard in my depiction of how the rabbits live – but you never know – have you been down a rabbit hole?

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

Really, if I could I would have asked our darling dog Moses who lived to be 18 years old; he had the heads up when it came to rabbits and their dwellings.    When we lived in a renovated church, we had the grave yard right next to the house and the rabbits thought the grave yard was the perfect place for their burrows, so nearly every grave had a hole or two going down into it.  My little dog Moses thought it was so much fun to chase the rabbits down there, as he just fitted into the holes.  Quick as a flash he would be gone and I was always so worried when he disappeared as I thought he might get stuck underground, or even worse come out with a bone in his mouth and not of the rabbit variety, lol!

THE ART OF KEEPING COOL

We were told when we moved in,  that the graveyard was not used anymore, and we never felt one bit of unease living so close to it.  It seemed to me to be a very peaceful place however I was a little bit unsettled when I came home from work one day and found that a fresh grave had been dug and there was a big mound with flowers left over from a  funeral.  That feeling passed however and nobody that had been put to rest there ever came back to visit or haunt us.

THE ART OF CELEBRATIONS

We spent many wonderful Easters both in the church and at the farm and now this year will be the first one in the new house by the sea.   Things are still a work in progress around here but we will be joined by both kids and their lovely partners for a little celebration.  We won’t be having all the trimmings as there is only so much you can do when you live in on a building site, lol.

However I can guarantee that there will be lots of food and wine and laughs anyway.    How us crazy Swedes normally celebrate Easter is something I have already written about and if you missed this Blog 2. SWEDISH EASTER & Art I would really urge you to have a look as it is quite a scream and has enjoyed a lot of traffic on the net!

Here is a quote I like in the spirit of Easter from Kahil Gibran (Lebanese American artist, poet and writer)

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. “

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.

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.

Now you think this is a story about dogs don’t you? – the kind when you are out walking and the dog does his business and you being a good citizen and all, you’ve bent down and scooped it up in a little plastic bag eh?  Well you couldn’t be more wrong…….

So this cute little puppy in my acrylic on board painting, Precausious Pug was not to blame here!

THE ART OF A GOOD NIGHT

Are you game to keep on reading or not? This is a true story told to me by a good friend about her girlfriend and for obvious reasons we won’t be mentioning any real names!  So we will just call the lady in question Lucy.  Well Lucy got dolled up and went out for the night to her local pub, and as faith would have it she met this really nice guy. They chatted for a bit and had a boogie on the dance floor, she got introduced to his friends, a few drinks were consumed and a fun time was had by all. So then at the end of the night when the young man in question asked Lucy to go home to his place for a night cap she eagerly said yes. They had the nightcap and then one thing led to another as they do and what eventuated was the most wonderful night of love making.

Lucy was falling in love and as fate would have it the young man was smitten too.  He whispered sweet nothings in her ear and hinted at a future together and how sweet life would be, and Lucy could not remember a better night ever. Well in the morning the young man had to go to work but kissed Lucy tenderly and told her to make herself at home, have breakfast and get ready in her own time, let herself out and that he would call her later that night.

THE ART OF HOLDING ON

Lucy did just that, she had breakfast and coffee and got dressed and thought about her wonderful night and as often happens in the morning, nature called and she went off to the toilet. As Billy Connelly the comedian says during his performance “the wee little jobbie” would not flush down.  Try as she might flush after flush without joy, and to leave” it” there and let her new love find “it” was out of the question so she hunted up a plastic bag, yes you are right – fished it out and put it in the bag.  Now of course she could not put the bag in the rubbish could she, in case he happened to find it so she decided to take the bag with her when she left and dispose of it properly.  I hope the people in my ceramic and mosaic artworks have only shopping in their bags!

THE ART OF WHAT NOT TO DO

However before she left she put all her stuff on the kitchen bench whilst she wrote her new love a love letter – telling him what a wonderful lover and nice guy he was and that their shared night had been so very special and she just could not wait to see him again.  With butterflies in her stomach and love in her heart she scooped up all her belongings and left and closed the front door. OH NO – that’s when she remembered that next to the love letter on the kitchen bench she had accidently left the bag with the pooh!  Now she tried to get back in but as he lived upstairs in a flat there was no way she could get in without breaking down the door. So this is a love affair, lol that ends badly for of course, he never did call her again.  What was the poor man to think when he got home and found a beautifully written letter about what a wonderful lover and sweet guy he was and then next to it a bag with a pooh in it!!  What message does that send ,lol.  You were really, really crap, or you stink or at the very least he would have thought that this girl certainly has a screw loose.

If you enjoyed this story you may like a funny & romantic one in this art blog; 118 Put a Ring on it

Here is a quote from Stephen Hawking (physicist) which I think fits well here,

“Life would be tragic if it weren’t funny.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting,

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.

I have just returned home after delivering my new entry an artwork into this year’s “On, Under and By the Sea” Postcards Exhibition at the Bay, Glenelg, which will be held during the Adelaide Fringe in the 175^th anniversary year since European settlement in South Australia.  The title to this art blog should have been “A day from Hell” but I will get to that in a minute.

The above painting “From Kingston Park to Glenelg” was my entry in the last Postcard exhibition for 2009.  A lady by the name of Victoria Rolinski won first prize and I plus 4 other artists won equal second prize and therefore had our artwork made into Postcards which from all accounts has been selling well at the Bay.

At the time when I was asked to submit an artwork for this competition we still lived at the farm but had already bought the new house by the sea so my mind was full of sea inspired images, so it didn’t take me long to figure out what I wanted to paint.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATION

The inspiration for the above painting was really the balcony view from my cousin Dan and his partner Johnny’s house at Marino, although I do plead a bit of artistic license of course.  You may want to read more about them, and their view and here is the link to the art blog 35. “THE FIRST ADAM & STEVE”.

That all said and done, let me tell you about the “Day from Hell” when I delivered the new artwork;   Firstly I was running late surprise, surprise, and while I raced off to the neighbors house my husband was warming up the car (or so I thought) I raced back and found the car had a flat battery and hubby is kindly transferring all my stuff to his car, setting up the GPS etc.  So off I go, buy myself a can of vanish and proceed to spray the artwork in the car park, talk about last minute, lol.

THE ART OF NOT LOOSING YOUR COOL

Hop back into the car which now seemed also a bit reluctant to start, but kicks into gear and set off for my delivery.  Park again and find that my high heels have completely broken in two, so limp my way to drop of the painting and then find a shoe shop.  All good to go again and back to the car which now won’t start (this is hubbys car don’t forget, mine is still home also not starting) Couldn’t believe it, called the RAA (Car rescue firm) and sat and waited 45 minutes in the hot sun for the knight in shining armor who got the naughty car going again (something about an alternator and a half charging battery, boys talk you know, lol)

MORE PAINTING IDEAS

Most of the rest of the day was spent very pleasantly with darling daughter Hillivi, lunching, chatting, shopping and errands.  Apart from what I thought was going to be incident number 4!  Dropped Hillivi at the dentist and got into the lift on the 5^th floor, pressed the button, door shut and nothing happened, me and the male occupant looked at each other and pressed the button again when the lift did a quick jolt and then slowly kicked into gear again.  The man said “God I thought we were stuck or about to plummet to our deaths” and when I told him about my day so far, he said it was nice to meet me but if he knew earlier about my day he would not have got in the same lift, lol.

So on reflection of my day I think this quote by Anne Dudley Bradstreet (Poet) fits well here:

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xx

Ps Keep your fingers crossed for me!

(c)

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You know it is really strange to be living without a roof over your head for a while, you see, we are renovating, putting another story on our house and to be able to achieve that the old roof had to go. So we have had live-in workmen here for the best part of a month and the whole house is a shambles with dust and boxes, stacks of timber and insulation bats and bits of this and bits of that.This particular painting is called “It’s raining cats on dogs” but I will get to the “men” part later,  to explain the title of this art blog,  It’s Raining Men & Art.  Here is another link if you fancy a look later 42. Art & All That Packing ..mmm Better have a Holiday

It is driving our dogs crazy too as the workmen live on the ground floor and when they come up the stairs the dogs go mad and bark their heads off at what they perceive as the” hobos” from the basement, lol.  Now I must clarify that I don’t share the dogs view on this, not at all.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

You know there is something so enticing about guys who do physical work, all that sweat and the bare chests to look at, it is really quite easy on the eye!

One problem they have had is trying to do a balancing act up there on the rafters of the roof and we have had quite a few fall through the ceiling, all of a sudden as you are going about your business there is an almighty bang and a foot or a knee or something falls down.  My niece tells me when she had the same work done, her workman fell into the ceiling bum first, so that was a good view she said.  So I am patiently waiting for that and in the meantime find myself singing the song that “The Weather Girls” made famous – It’s raining men, hallelujah it’s raining men……

So it goes without saying then to get any work done at all I have had to rent a room 5 minutes away from here with a couple of uni students where I can have an art studio and paint in peace and that has been an interesting experience too.  However I find that after all these years of working from home I am quite disorganized and when I get to my other place I have invariable forgotten some important reference material, such as an art book or that special paint brush that I just needed that day.

Although I do have a bed in my new share house I have been going home to hubby and the renovations at night, most of the time the guys are still at it finishing off one thing or another and then we usually sit around and have drinks, chat and enjoy a BBQ.  I have discovered there are only so many BBQ’s that you can have in a week, lol but as we don’t have the gas connected to the house at the moment I will just have to eat it and shut up!

The Boss of the guys here is actually my nephew Kurt and we have especially enjoyed having him around not only is he just one of the best builders there is but also one hell of a nice guy and if that wasn’t enough-he plays the guitar too!  So at night we have been sitting around listening to the acoustic version of AC/DC hits such as Hell’s Bells and Highway to Hell.  I must confess that has me in my absolute element as they have always been one of my favorite bands.

In fact on a not so good a note lol, I think I will have to blame AC/DC on my slight hearing loss.

HEARING LOSS FOR THE SAKE OF ART

You see during my modelling days I spent quite a bit of time in Japan and the “Walkman” had just come on the market, so of course I had one glued to my ear everyday catching the subway and bullet trains to and from assignments.  The bands album “Back in Black” had just come out and I had that on full volume blasting my eardrums as they sang” Hell’s Bells”,” You shook me all night long”,” What do you do for money honey” and all the rest.  Funny isn’t it how when you are young you think you are invincible and those fuddy duddy adults and their silly warnings about hearing loss is just a load of rubbish.  Well maybe not! LOL.

So I think this quote by Francois-Marie Arouet Voltaire (philosopher and writer) fits rather well here, although I must point out it is only the hearing loss that refers to me, lol not the other afflictions.

“I am a little deaf, a little blind, a little impotent, and on top of this are two or three abominable infirmities, but nothing destroys my hope.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and renovating 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.

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.

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

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.

My long time friend Debonella (my nickname for her) had her birthday this week, and although she lives in another state and we see each other very rarely, I still treasure our friendship and the mad times we had together and she is every bit as beautiful now as she was in her modelling days a real artistic inspiration.

Debonella is crazy mad about horses and always have been and has represented Australia in horse events overseas.  As she is a very private person I won’t tell you in what events but she is certainly up there with the Champions!

This painting depicts us just laying about and drinking champagne which if we had been asked what our hobbies were we may have included on the list- oh those were the days.  I must confess I neither remember the name of this painting nor where it sold, not from too much champagne drinking  though,LOL.  If you enjoy the artblog below you may also enjoy this one 12. Salvador Dali and C’est La Vie

THE ART OF FASHION

Anyway the time I was going to tell you about here, was when we were in the Philippines for 6 weeks on tour with a fashion parade.

We spent 4 or so weeks in Manila doing a daily lunch time show in one of the top hotels and then the next couple of weeks flying to the provinces around Philippines and doing the same.  It was lots of fun but also hard work as in-between doing the parades there were always publicity shots to be done and interviews and television appearances, etc.

So at the time we were quite exhausted (not to mention all the partying we would be doing at night too, oh that glamorous life can be so tiring.)

Anyway Debonella spotted some locally produced tonic drink, advertising that you would be good as new and get that missing” spring” back in your step.

THE ART OF THE SNAKE

On closer inspection it was also noted that it did contain Snake!  As I am a vegetarian that put stop to the consumption for me however my mad friend was still keen to try some.  I should tell you now that us Australian girls are quite down to earth and always like having a laugh and maybe I and Debonella would always egg each other on even more, to amuse ourselves and particularly so when we got a bit tired.

So there we were in this 5 star hotel lobby just having been to the shop and bought the snake tonic drink, which Debonella finished in one swift skull when she thought she should show me how great it made her feel.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

So to set the scene, the lobby is vast with a beautiful marble floor and décor to match, the people milling around are in Armani suits and other designer gear dripping with diamonds, when suddenly Debonella (looking stunning and statuesque as usual in full model makeup) starts to do giant leaps around the lobby like something out of Swan Lake with a few pirouettes thrown in.

Her friend, moi, looses the plot completely and I’m doubled over crying with laughter, whilst the whole lobby has come to a standstill and everyone are looking very surprised and slightly amused at us.

So nothing ventured nothing gained I figure, you have to live your life so that you have lots of fun memories to amuse you in your old age.  As my old age is still far away (well that’s what I tell myself anyway) I hope to make plenty more for the memory bank!

So here is a quote I like and which fits perfectly here, said by Horace (Poet).

“Mix a little foolishness with your prudence:  It’s good to be silly at the right moment.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting!

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.

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.

ARTISTS INSPIRATIONS

There are other things we will miss very much and appreciate about living in the country too.  In this painting called “Collecting Cackleberries” we are of course collecting the eggs, the four of us and every one of our chooks had names, boy they were hard to remember!

Can you imagine sometimes I wrote birthdays cards with everyone of the chooks mentioned by name and not to forget the ducks, parrots cats, dogs and horses, cows and sheep.

That soon wore thin and now only us and the dogs names gets on the cards!

GALLERY  & BALCO ART AWARDS

We were so lucky to have been made so welcome in this little town that is so supportive of the arts as well.

They have the cutest art gallery which used to be the Courthouse, entirely staffed by volunteers where they have exhibitions all year round and also run an art competition called the Balco awards, with entries from artists far and wide, which I have been lucky enough to have won the major ART price one time and minor prizes quite often.

COMMUNITY ARTS

The whole town have come out in support for the different art projects and sculptures and they have a first class theater group called the Balaklava Community Arts.

They put on at least one major show each year such as Oliver, Wizard of Oz and Jesus Christ Superstar, with amateur actors some whom could get a professional gig if they wanted to pursue it further.   It is also so endearing to see the local teachers, shopkeepers and people around town strutting their stuff on the stage!

Our children did most of their schooling here and I think they were very lucky to be able to go to a small country school that was still able to provide nearly all the facilities and support that you get in the city.

However what we valued so much was the personal attention and interest the kids got both from the school and sporting organizations but also from the local community.  Smiling faces and caring people who look out for one another that is something that we will really miss.

FARMING IS AN ART

I am happy too, that we had a chance to experience the farming life (although we had a share farmer do all the heavy work) we understand now the changing of the seasons and the heartbreak when the rain does not fall and you watch your crop whittle and die on the paddock.   I get it now when the farmers complain when the drought sets in and the animals have little to eat, and the devastation when your animals contract a disease, when you have done everything in your power and there is nothing else that you can do.

Whenever I miss you Balaklava, I will try to think of the things I did not care for; such as the flies and dust and the scorching hot days when you can’t even take a breath without burning your oesophagus in 47 degree Celsius heat.

But I bet you my thoughts will center on the laughter of the kids playing and running around our big farm house and yard, how they were chasing after chooks and dogs, and their surprised faces when the rooster turned around and chased them.

How can I forget riding our beautiful horses around the paddocks, rugging, feeding them together with the kids and then taking walks along the river on a moonlit night and seeing the starry sky, so chockablock full of bright stars like nothing would ever prepare you for?

So THANK YOU BALAKLAVA you will be forever in our hearts.

I will have to remember in the coming days this quote by Boethius (statesman and Philosopher)

“Nothing is miserable unless you think it is so”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting, and for you farmers happy farming too

Love Marie xx                                                                                 (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.

]]> http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/41-thank-you-balaklava/feed/ 1 http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/38-little-birdy-floyd/ http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/38-little-birdy-floyd/#comments Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:32:50 +0000 http://www.mariejonssonharrison.com.au/new/?p=1051 BIRD PAINTINGS

In this painting “Spring at last” is a sweet little bird named Floyd, a cockatiel whom we shared our life’s with for several years after Bryan and I got married.

You see, at that stage we lived in an apartment and the rules were no pets.  Well I think a bird did not count with the landlord, at least I hope so because Floyd was there.

He was our “Practice child” if you like.  You know how it goes you do not feel ready for real children but you want to nest and share your life with the patter of little feet and in this situation they were very little indeed.

Floyd was an absolutely gorgeous bird, and I cried buckets when he died very young after only a couple of years.

ART OF BEING PARENTS

Poor Floyd,  you see as far as a ‘practice child’ goes, we were terrible parents,  well I haven’t had it confirmed because the vet told us an autopsy on  the little bird was out of our price range at the time.  However Floyd did develop kidney problems and I have a strong suspicion that had to do with his party trick of loving to drink out of our wine glasses when we had a party, much to the delight and amusements of our guests.

We were obviously young and stupid and very lucky he was not of the human variety or we would be facing serious charges by now for being bad parents.  If you fancy another art blog about birds with a funny and happy ending here is a link for you 16. In a Jam with ART

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

Another thing Floyd used to do just for kicks was to totally trick us.  He lived in a cage in the kitchen mostly, although he would fly around our apartment quite a lot, much to the dismay of our cleaning lady whom thought bird poop on the curtain rod or the tops of the doors was a bit much.  So even in that area we had a lot to learn about keeping house and looking after offspring, lol.

Anyway in kitchen at the time we had one of those kettles that would whistle as loud as can be until we came running to turn it off (technology has moved on somewhat!)

In any case Floyd learned to imitate the kettle perfectly and had both me and Bryan running into the kitchen constantly as if you didn’t turn that damn kettle off it would spill water all over the place and just continue with the noise until you did.

Clever little Floyd ran that house hold and fooled us time after time, whenever he felt like a bit of company.

I am happy to report our parenting skills improved and I think Flannery O’Connor (writer) quote fits in here.

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it”

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.

]]> http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/38-little-birdy-floyd/feed/ 1 http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/33-dont-worry-be-happy/ http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/33-dont-worry-be-happy/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:56:52 +0000 http://www.mariejonssonharrison.com.au/new/?p=995 HAPPINESS THROUGH ART

Well that is easier said than done sometimes isn’t it?  For me it is something that I understood with time and to make oneself happy may not always be through art necessarily but I do think it comes from making a decision and getting absorb and involved in something other than our own feelings and what ever it is that is troubling us at the time.

I have just had one heck of a day and don’t you just hate that.  You are minding your own business going about your life with all its ups and downs when someone throws a curve ball at you for no good reason whatsoever.  I think sometimes because they are unhappy with their own life and see others happy around them and want to take them down a peg or two.

ARTFUL AUTHORITY

It seems very strange to me that people get very militant about the smallest of issues when they are part of a committee.  It seems that when some people do not have enough authority over their own life and are unhappy within themselves they feel the need to exert their authority over others no matter how silly their arguments are.  My wish for people like that is that they would find something creative to do that would give them peace.

ART OF THE MIND

It made me think very much about this painting that is one of my early works.( excuse the quality of the image) ‘HAPPY AS A PIG IN SHIT” And no I refuse to call it mud, because shit was how I felt when painting it, well not the whole time obviously lol but I realized that I could take away my own pain and worry by getting totally absorbed in my art, and that you can make yourself happy and that happiness is a state of mind, something you choose to do.

That said let’s not diminish the fact that in some extreme circumstances that may not be possible to do for a long time, as when a loved one dies or other tragedies.  However I do believe that eventually when the pain and hurt settles somewhat we can again choose to be happy, perhaps not happy all the time but at least some of the time, well that is my naive view.

HEALING THROUGH ART

You see at the time I discovered that I could heal my own pain was about 22 years ago.  I had been painting for about a year, and had gone to The Northern Territory for 8 months, we had a large mortgage on our house in South Australia and lived in a caravan in the Northern Territory whilst my husband worked on the Tindal Base, and had a little 1 year old child.

I had left my glamorous life as a model to become a mum (being a mum was something I totally loved) although I had not counted on the isolation or the fact that I had relationship troubles with my own mum, and shortly after that problems within my marriage.   I was feeling homesick and living in a caravan and coping with the heat.   My darling dog died from rat poisoning in SA and to top that all of we suddenly found ourselves in big financial trouble.  Yes you know the drill – one thing after the other happened.  So my rescue from all these troubles was being able to get absorb in my paintings and making myself happy.

So life happens to you whilst you are busy doing other things as John Lennon is famous for quoting.

Another interesting fact I found out is that the saying Don’t worry be happy was originally said by the Indian mystic Meher Baba who lived 1894-1969, and not as I thought by Bobby McFerrin who made those words so famous in his song by the same name.  What a wonderful gift they both gave us – “DON’T WORRY BE HAPPY”

Till I see you again, happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Much love

Marie xxxxxx                                                                                       (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.

]]> http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/33-dont-worry-be-happy/feed/ 3 http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/28-sometimes-its-just-about-the-little-noises-you-hear/ http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/28-sometimes-its-just-about-the-little-noises-you-hear/#comments Sat, 10 Jul 2010 07:47:44 +0000 http://www.mariejonssonharrison.com.au/new/?p=879 WRITING ART BLOGS

As I was writing a art blog about another painting where I depicted us losing our false teeth while we were madly dancing, I was reminded about what happened to a good friend; she unfortunately had to have all her teeth removed at an early age and was made a set of false teeth by the dentist.  Here is the link to the art blog & painting of us loosing our teeth 23. Don’t let your arthritis get in the way & ART

MORE ARTISTIC INSPIRATION

Good looking girl who lived alone apart from her two dogs.  (The two white dogs in this painting on the right hand side of the art work are the ones in question.)

Anyway she was just starting to get used to wearing these false teeth, but they had been hurting a bit so she put them in the glass by the bed, got an early night as there was a family gathering the next day.

As she explains it, she woke up and just sort of dozed in bed for a while, contemplating the day ahead.  Then she slowly started to take notice of this strange sort of crunching sound under the bed and thought she better investigate.

Well under there, she found her two darling Maltese Terriers looking up at her ever so innocently, each with a brand new set of false teeth in their mouths,  well that’s probably an over statement let’s just say that a few hours ago they were brand new…now they were distinctly chewed up and broken into several bits.

Brave lady this one, still made it to the party wearing her temporary ones whilst the dentist made another set.

CAT AND DOG SERIES OF ARTWORKS

It has been a lot of fun to paint for the dog and cat series and they are all so cute and great to research too, plus I have the perfect subject’s right here, our dogs and also two cats called Milo and Ozzie ( named after Ozzie Osbourne)

Ozzie is really an outdoor cat who we normally do not see for weeks at a time, however since Kai came home he has been hanging around constantly, guess we weren’t the only ones to miss the baby boy !

Here is a quote by Helen Hayes from the book Wag Lines, that fits perfectly here.

“When I hear tell of the character and the loyalty and devotion of dogs, I remain unmoved.  All of my dogs have been scamps and thieves and troublemakers, and I’ve adored them all”

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.

]]> http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/28-sometimes-its-just-about-the-little-noises-you-hear/feed/ 2 http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/26-looking-for-lochy/ http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/26-looking-for-lochy/#comments Fri, 02 Jul 2010 03:06:13 +0000 http://www.mariejonssonharrison.com.au/new/?p=836 ARTISTIC INSPIRATION

This painting “Looking for Lochy” was one I decided to do after seeing a doco on TV about a film crew who did just that, looked for Lochy the Lochness Monster in a submarine and I of course saw the whole image in front of me.  Although I do know that tropical fish could not survive the Scottish weather !!

I have never myself been to this part of the world, England was as far as I got however both my husband Bryan and son Kai has and their tales inspires me too.

TRAVEL  & ART

Bryan went there in his backpacking days and tells of a beautiful country side and very very cold weather.

He and his mate stayed in a youth hostel which was in a castle on the banks of Loch Ness,  the caretaker met them there late one cold winters evening, unlocked the 25 bed dormitory and then promptly left them to it.

Two blokes alone in a rather spooky environment if you have been raised on the “Chain saw massacre” type of movies.

It was so cold that they took all the blankets of the other beds and lay under them like little pin heads, with just big eyes poking out waiting for the end to come.  In those days you could score yourself a youth hostel bed for just 5 bucks and a promise to do a chore in the morning such as clean a toilet or two.

GICLEE PRINTS

This image is available as a Giclee print with  Union Art who welcome everybody who are interested in art and specialises in limited and open editions prints, photography, sculpture and original works of art.

THE ART OF TRAVEL

I was more of a 5 star hotel kind of gal myself and our son falls somewhere in between the two and also visited Scotland recently; he loved this country too and started his Loch Ness tour by walking up the Royal Mile to the Edinburgh Castle where they caught the tour bus.

Now my son and his mate are two rather tall lads and had a hard time squeezing into the tour bus seats having to resort to sitting with their legs on an angle for the twelve hour round trip.   This would have looked rather demure if they had been wearing kilts, Kais mate has size 17 size feet which would not have helped either (shoes like small canoes on the end of his legs).

In any case they admired the sights from the bus and saw Hamish the highland cow, ( pronounced, Hooland Coo) who Kai said is quite famous for a fat hair covered hamburger having starred in a few movies.  Followed by the snowy mountains and the 3 lochs; Loch Lochy, Loch Linnhe and Loch Ness.  But neither of them did see Nessie that I had painted unfortunately, however Kai did take a lot of pictures so we could share in his travels and what made me laugh was this picture of The Wee Gift Shoppe, and Kais caption under it on FB ‘that this will make his mother laugh’.

You know when kids are around 5 years old and they laugh uncontrollably at the smallest mention of wees and poohs, well that’s ME, I never did grow up and any joke to this day that refers to those bodily functions always cracks me up lol.

As they say small things amuse small minds!

So obviously I am in good company because this quote is attributed to

Benjamin Franklin, Statesman

“He that lives upon hope dies farting”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting!

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.

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