Those of you familiar with my posts on Facebook and Linkedin know that I always post a quotation and one of my artworks daily with a link to my art website blogs, and you familiar with my blogs know that I always end my art blogs with a quotation!

For the most part I try to find quotations that lift you up and make you feel good.  I figure there is so much negativity in everybody’s life anyway – I mean that is just the way life is, you have to take the good with the bad.

ART AND QUOTATIONS TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD

So my aim with my quotes is the same as with my art I want to make you feel good! In the process of doing that it also makes me feel good, lol so that makes us all happy right? Just like the title of this acrylic on canvas board painting called “After the rain the flowers came”, there is an upside to everything.  The glass is always half full.

ART AND QUOTES CAN MAKE YOU HAPPY

Oh I know so much emphasis should not be put on happiness, after all if we were happy all the time how would we know what happy really felt like, without having experienced disappointments and unhappiness from time to time.  Life’s inevitable ups and downs are there to make us appreciate the good bits and help us cope with the bad.  The way that I have personally coped with the bad and sad bits of my life one is to “Play Saturday Night” and here is the link to that quotes and art blog;153 The Art of Saturday Night have a look – it has been a wonderful way to make us feel better when the world seems to have turned against you.  The other is to realize that when you are really at the very end of the rope and there no end in sight to your dilemmas and worries, there is only one way to go and that is UP.  Whatever happens from this point on would have to be better than the hole you are just in.  So the next thing to come is going to be good, right!! Yea that’s the attitude!  So here are some more of my favorite quotes;

“A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love.” (Mother Teresa)

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” (Carl Bard)

“Life’s problems wouldn’t be called “hurdles” if there wasn’t a way to get over them. “(Author Unknown)

“Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure… it just means you haven’t succeeded yet.”(Robert Schuller)

“The more I practice, the luckier I get.”(Jerry Barber)

“A pessimist sees the difficult in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”(Winston Churchill)

“Always borrow money from a pessimist, he doesn’t expect to be paid back.”(Author Unknown)

“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”(Winston Churchill)

“I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.”(Jennifer Yane)

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” ( Mae West)

Here is another quotations & art blog which may also interest you: 136 Quote and Unquote in Art

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.

Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.” (Mother Teresa)

“Swallow your pride occasionally, it’s non-fattening!”(Author Unknown)

“I’ve never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful.”(Author Unknown)

“Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night.”(Terri Guillemets)

“Never tell me the sky’s the limit when there are footprints on the moon.”(author Unkown)

“If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance.”(Andrea Boydston)

The real problem of leisure time is how to keep others from using yours.”(Arthur Lacey)

“For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.”(Author Unknown)

And I will leave you for today with my favourite quote at the moment often attributed to William W. Purkey, however Susanna Clark sang something very similar in song called “Come from the heart” a collaboration with Guy Clark on the album Old Friends.

“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.” (William W. Purkey)

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.

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.

Funny isn’t it how life is, you go along and suddenly you have an epiphany, well in my case I just realized that perhaps I have been influenced by someone far away from my own upbringing in Sweden and later on in Australia.

Mae West – how strange this realization is, but I have to say I have always admired her hutzpah , she was in the forefront of the sexual revolution and certainly one of the most outspoken and openly sexual women of her time.  This acrylic on canvas board painting “Come up and see me sometime” was inspired by one of her sayings, which I heard growing up.  This artwork can also be found on the E-card page of my website (free of course), so why don’t you send it to someone you fancy!

Mae West was 87 years old when she died in November 1980 after suffering a series of strokes and was buried in New York.  Her last film was made in 1978 called “Sextette” and co-starred Tony Curtis; you could say she was the original Cougar!    However it was her dry humor and quick wit with the sexual innuendos and her way at poking fun at the straight laced society that appealed to me.

For you who may not be familiar with the lady (but I am sure you still have heard and may quote some of her sayings) here is a brief run through of her life.

MAE WEST A WORK OF ART

Mae was born Mary Jan West in 1893, her parents earned their living in vaudeville (surprise, surprise) and she joined them by the time she was five years old.  She was billed as “The Baby Vamp” when only 14 years old and studied dance and later began to write her own plays.  One of her more famous plays was called “Sex” which landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges in 1926.

My god can you imagine how ahead of her time she must have been.   If you think about your own life and the outrage that would have attracted even as late as the 70’s, and really today too it would be controversial with the “political correctness “ creeping into everything that we say and do.

Mae made her Broadway debut in a play called “Diamond Lil” that she had written herself and caught the attention of one of the Hollywood studios, which later led to her first movie role.

I think the movie was called Night after Night and in it she was able to show her incredible wit that was to make her famous all over the world.  She became a box-office smash and broke all attendance records.  Her next film “She Done Him wrong” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best picture and also helped to make Cary Grant a star.

THE ART OF THE SEXUAL INNUENDO

Mae was really known for her double talk (her sexual innuendos) which really came about because of the Motion Picture Production Code, which was established after her first two movies to regulate what was allowed to be said in movies.

CENSORSHIP IN ART

As a result of these new codes, Mae very cleverly began to speak in double talk, so she could get around the censors.  By her double speak, the listener could take the phrase anyway they wished, quite innocently or perhaps with a more sexual connotation.  That is really what so appeals to me, her double speak, the hint of sexuality without it being overtly so.  I myself am not a fan of explicit sexuality whether it is visual or in the written context, but think it is great fun to play with just the slightest suggestion of it.    How ahead of her time she was, and I leave you here with a few of her more memorable quotes, as she lives on in the minds of many of us.

“Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?”

“When I’m good, I’m very good. But when I’m bad, I’m better.”

“Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere else.”

“Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home, I’m tired.”

After all that I am tired too, just got enough strength to say happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie xxx       (c)

If you enjoyed this art blog you may also like this one 158. Fifty Shades of Grey in Art

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 painted this acrylic on canvas board painting several years ago after going to the Manpower show.  For those of you who are uninitiated in the goings on of Manpower, let me fill you in; they were a highly successful male striptease dance troupe here in Australia similar to the Chippendales, all male, all very good looking and all great dancers.   Jamie Durie was one of the members who later made his fame and fortune on the Oprah show as a Life Style Guru and outdoor makeover man.

SACRIFICE FOR THE SAKE OF ART

So it goes without saying that when my girlfriend suggested we should go I said yes.  We had a 3 hour round trip to get there from the country but that was a small price to pay the three of us thought – the other enthusiastic member to our evening was a lovely male gay friend of ours.  Don’t know who was the most excited him or us,lol. Anyway we finally got there and had to line up, it was packed and what struck me was the crowd:  they were ordinary women, short, skinny, tall, plump, old, young, all dressed in their finest frocks, faces full of makeup with hair that looked professionally styled.  The age bracket was also an eye-opener as it reached from 18-70 something! However that revelation was nothing, my biggest surprise was just before the show started when this group of mainly middle age women got excited and started hollering and whistling for the show to start.  These women then went completely nuts, randomly leaping from their chairs to touch and fondle these poor dancers; I had never seen anything like it.  Manpower took it all in their stride and did a fab job and kept smiling whilst they tried to complete their very well choreographed dance routines.

If you liked this topic you may also enjoy a look at these art blogs 53. Art & Bachelorette – A Hens night out and 72. Mae West “Come up and see me some time” & Art and 158. Fifty Shades of Grey in Art

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

As you know I don’t mind a bit of eye-candy but I almost forgot to look at these handsome men as I was totally fascinated by the behavior of what looked like everybody’s mothers and grandmothers turning into crazed sex maniacs. I laughed when I found this article on the net from the Telegraph Herald ( Dubuque Iowa 9.3.87) which describes what happened when the Manpower show was cancelled, lol and after my experience I am not surprised.  (I have shortened the article slightly but not altered it otherwise)

NO STRIPPERS; WOMEN GO ON RAMPAGE

Pittsburg – Wine and beer bottles shattered on the dance floor.  Beer bottles and chairs turned into missiles.  Some women swung purses into the air, striking anything and everyone in their way.  The word was out: a group of male strippers left shortly before they were to entertain about 600 women in the motels Ritz disco Saturday night.

“Those weren’t ladies – they were animals” said the motel owner Al Monzo.  Officers from seven police agencies – several with canines, responded to the two hour mele that began at 10pm.Saturday.  Three ambulances arrived one taking a women to a nearby hospital for cuts and suspected back and neck injuries.

There were no arrests. But hundreds of women were angry they got nothing but frustration for their $10 and $12 tickets they bought to see five featured dancers come out in assorted costumes then strip down to their briefs doing the bump and grind routines.  They were demanding a refund.

Here then is a wit and wisdom from Oscar Wilde (from The mammoth book of useless information) perhaps this is food for thought.

“Woman begins by resisting a man’s advances and ends by blocking his retreat.”

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.

ART OF NEIGHBORS

So here we are, living in the ‘Burbs’, remarkably it is not as difficult a situation as I thought to get used to, although I do miss having my art studio detached from the house.

One of the things I was most worried about was to have neighbors.

When you have been living on a farm and the nearest house is kilometers away this was a daunting idea. No more running around the yard starkers-well not that I made that a big habit of that but just the fact that we could when and if we wanted to.

We are making the backyard into our own little Balinese sanctuary here with high bamboo fence, lots of palms, elephant ears and ferns, a Bali hut and comfy day bed and decking around one side of the pool with paving and some feature stones on the other.

We do love water features too and have a natural rock pond in a corner setting and a Balinese head sculpture on the patio and two big white fish sculptures spitting into the pool (emm..well that did not sound very nice did it, lol but it is really, I assure you.)

It is starting to take shape and hopefully will make up for the lack of space and open fields we are used to and at least we can pretend we are in the jungle somewhere far away from civilization.

ART & ANIMATION

The animation above is a combination of several of my paintings put together; The “Balloon Wedding” ( Giclee print) combined with “Shake Rattle and Roll” (acrylic painting) as well as the stars from “You can walk your own ferret” which is an artwork in ceramic and mosaic and the animation was actually made by one of my new neighbors Suzie.

So far we have been very lucky with the neighbors they all seem very friendly and nice and I even went out to lunch with Suzie, the other day.  She is American and I had a little laugh to myself when I got to the restaurant as it looked just like an American diner.

We had a very lovely time at “Fresh Choice” and it was too, with all you could eat.  I refrained from making a total pig of myself and did not even spill a drop of my lunch on my clothes, which if you have been following my art blogs is something of a miracle.

Suzie is a bit of a whizz kid on the computer and has given me valuable advice on my art website and also has two websites of her own.

ART & ANIMATION WEBSITES

This link will take you to her Christmas Animations and you can use any of these animations with the money going to charity.  On her other site she has book marks and I am very happy that she photographed the orchid that has been officially named after moi: the” Marie Jonsson-Harrison orchid” (written about in another blog) and then she made it into a book mark.

There are lots of other bookmarks on this sight too with many Australian animals and funny quotes, so click here Flashman Bookmarks to have a little look.   Use this link to see my page with more of my artwork animated too;MARIES ANIMATIONS

So I had a nice day and it gave me joy, so here are some wise words from E.B White (writer).

“We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and also animating to you!

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.