Marie Jonsson Harrison » sculptures

155 The Art of Packing Light

mariejon — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 05:35:28 +0000

PUBLIC SCULPTURES & SUITCASES

The art of packing light is obviously not something that I have mastered and with all the travelling that I have done for work firstly as a model and then as an artist and just for pleasure that’s a real shame. I always find that I need whatever it was that got eliminated from the suitcase, so instead I carry everything but the kitchen sink around with me and get held up at Customs & Security at every airport for some reason or another!

This Public Sculpture is part of 9 freestanding sculptures of mine at the Airdale Primary School in Port Pirie, South Australia

As you can hear we have just come home from another trip, this time to Europe for 5 weeks and what a fantastic time it was too. Hubby did all the coordinating and organizing over the net with hotels, planes, cars, pickups and trains which worked a treat.

PAINTING INSPIRATIONS

We arrived in London where after some sightseeing caught a flight to Gothenburg, Sweden (3 nights), Sundsvall, Sweden (2 nights), Stockholm (4 nights), Katowice, Poland (2 nights), Prague, Czech Republic (4 nights), Budapest, Hungary (3 nights), Zagreb, Croatia (1 night) Dubrovnik (3 nights), Venice (2 nights) Amalfi coast (7 nights), Paris (3 nights) and then back to London before the 30 hour flight home again.

Of course there are lots of travelling tales and inspirations for future paintings and art blogs to come but what I will start with today is the reason we undertook this trip in the first place.

ART & THE LOVE OF ITALY

This Mermaid painting sold in Japan but I think the inspiration comes from under the sea by Hotel Onda Verde, on the Amalfi coast.

Our good friend Robert had decided that Italy may be a great spot to celebrate “that” big birthday in. His lovely wife Christina’s family comes from there so they wanted to share this wonderful country with the rest of us. That’s how come 11 people from Australia found ourselves at the stunning hotel Onda Verde situated in between Positano and Amalfi at Praiano, a hotel fashioned into the side of a cliff overlooking the blue, blue Mediterranean sea. Not just any hotel mind you but one where the owners, staff, rooms, ambiance, food & drinks were second to none – just ask Pierce Brosnan or Jessica Alba, as they stayed there too just recently!

ARTFORM IN A GROUP

As if that wasn’t perfect enough we then had the good fortune of having a group who just fitted together like a glove. All the elements were there; we had Judy who supplied the guts and hutzpa, her husband Jeff gave us irresistible one liners, Coralie sorted out any kinks in the tour/gratuities arrangements and Emma was the expert tour guide with her knowledge on everything Italian whilst her boyfriend Paul keep us amused with funny stories (my cheeks still hurt from laughing). Carol added sensibility & practical advice and her hubby Graham was the thoughtful one (he saved me from swimming all the way to Capri) Husband Bryan was the steadying hand as always whilst Christina and Robert the perfect hosts, showing us “their” Italy on tours & boats and treating us to drinks and long lunches. The usual Mr Grumpy was nowhere to be found and in his place was Mr Perfect and clearly I bought the birthday boy the wrong T-shirt as the photo shows! Oh and I’m not sure what I added to the group but I like to think it was a touch of enthusiasm for life!

INSPIRATIONS FOR ARTWORKS TO COME

I think perhaps all of us fell a little in love with Italy and everything Italian- their passion, the language, scenery, people, wine & Limoncello and the food.

I always thought the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach but go figure it works just the same on a woman, lol. My mantra has always been; “Just because I am on a diet, doesn’t mean I cannot look at the menu, right?” Yes and look I did, well what’s a hot-blooded girl to do when the “chef extraordinaire” says he is making love to you with his eyes and through his food, bringing out dish after dish and then watches every bite you take….

Oh temptations… here are a couple of quotes on the subject which amused me;

“ Nothing makes it easier to resist temptation than a proper bringing-up, a sound set of values – and witnesses.”

(Franklin P. Jones)

“Opportunity may knock only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell.”

(Author Unknown)

Till next time, happy painting and sculpting!

Love Marie xxx

If you enjoyed this art blog you may also enjoy these about our cruising adventure; 139 Cruising on the Pacific Jewel & Art and 138 Leaving Sydney Harbour & Art and 144 Mystery Island & Art and 143 ART, LEONARDO DA VINCI AND THE ISLE OF PINES and 149 Art,Lifou and Sharks

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.

(c)

149 Art,Lifou and Sharks

mariejon — Sat, 25 Aug 2012 05:37:34 +0000

TRAVEL AND ART BLOG

Next stop on our cruising adventure was Lifou, and if you have just joined me and want to recap on how this P&O holiday actually started here are some links for you to read of our adventures so far and see the paintings and artworks in these travel and art blogs “LEAVING SYDNEY HARBOR” and “CRUISING ON THE PACIFIC JEWEL” and “ART,LEONARDO DA VINCI AND THE ISLE OF PINES”.

ISLAND INSPIRES AN ARTIST

Lifou is the largest island in the archipelago of Loyalty Islands. The population is just over 10,000 people who speak French and Kanak dialects and the currency is French Pacific Franc. It is a beautiful Island with long stretches of white sandy beaches, limestone caves, grottos and cliffs and small coves. They say time passes more slowly than in other places and are measured by the tides, sunrises and sunsets rather than by clocks. Not that we could enjoy that part as coming off the cruise you have strict instructions – the last tender back to the boat leaves at 4 o’clock and if you miss that you’re buggered! LOL

However we did have a gorgeous time even so, firstly we took the 25 minute walk through a little forest to the Lady of Lourdes church built by the Catholic missionaries in 1898. Beautiful white exterior stands out against the green forest with stunning views all around, could even see the cruise ship too.

ACRYLIC PAINTING

This acrylic on canvas board painting shows the underwater experience to come, many of my paintings and sculptures yes all artworks often have a water theme.

THE ART OF STAYING ALIVE

Then we went and had a look at the snorkelling reef which we later returned to before taking another exploring walk heading to the Secret Grotto. That was really interesting navigating through the rain forest down steep steps (felt like a scene from Tomb Raider) and into a dark dark grotto, where all of a sudden we saw a movement and were met by the white of someone’s eyes. Turns out it was a gorgeous local man with a speech impediment apart from the obvious language barrier, however he told us all we needed to know with grunts and sign language. Lucky he was there and had a torch or we would no doubt plunge to our deaths in a crystal clear 10 meter deep pool which was just inside the entrance of this black cave!

Our next death defying adventure was when we went on a tour to the township of We, it is a sleepy town in the bay de Chateaubriand on the east coast and is the main center of Lifou well apparently the whole of the Loyalty Islands.

The brochure boasts “try some of the local cuisine in one of the town’s restaurants or cafe.” However all that we could find was a take away shop and a supermarket, and we were now on a guided tour mind you so our guide should have known! We ended up buying some chips and sat on the beach and took a walk instead.

The one hour car ride was more than scary as the female driver was overtaking everything in sight one minute and then kept falling asleep and having to hang her head out the window to stay awake the next.

She delivered us back in one piece where we tried a bit of Kava (not a big hit, lol) and then headed over to the snorkelling place. We all love snorkelling however there was a little dampener put on this thought after we heard about the “Shark attack in Lifou” which Hillivi then Googled and yes sure enough in the very place where we were going for a swim a French nurse was taken in 2007 by a Great White whilst snorkelling with a friend.

THE ART OF A SHARK-SPOTTER

Still the water was welcoming and the tide and reef provided some good protection so swimming seemed not too dangerous and I was took the post as “Chief Shark Spotter”.

So here is a quote I think fits well here by Ovid;

“Chance is always powerful, let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish”.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and maybe snorkeling to you all,

Love Marie xxx (c)

137 ICE SKATING IN CENTRAL PARK & ART

mariejon — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 07:37:58 +0000

ACRYLIC ON CANVAS PAINTING

This acrylic on canvas board painting is called “Ice Skating in Central Park” and was inspired by our trip to New York a few years ago. Here is the start of that story if you would like to recap in the paintings blog “I MISS NEW YORK”.

THE ART OF ICE-SKATING

We were in the mood for some ice skating and initially we went and had a look at the ice rink at the Rockefeller Centre but that was standing room only absolutely chockablock full of people – not that we were planning for any laying down on the ice but you got to have some swing room right?

Perhaps that would have been the perfect place for me to skate as I have a bit of a history when it comes to ice skating. Just to digress from New York for a moment my ice skating incident was in Melbourne some 10 or so years ago.

The kids and I had gone over there and stayed with friends and smarty pant “moi” thought I would show off a little bit. I was born in Sweden after all and spent a lot of time skating as you do in a cold climate. I had my own white skates when I was little and could do all the fancy spins and turns like a regular ice princess. So I obviously thought that skating was just like riding a bike, never mind the decades that had passed in the meanwhile!

THE ART OF THE SHOW OFF

When we arrived there were some competition skaters practicing and I thought this would be my moment of glory to show off for the kids, so off I went and did my spins and turns like a prima ballerina and the kids were so impressed. Oh mummy they said; “You are so good at it” and my head swelled even bigger as I copied the fancy turns of the practicing couple. By now the kids accolades had completely gone to my head and I had thoughts of being asked to join a professional group for the winter Olympics or even a gold medal, the sky is the limit right? I thought I would do some backward tricks next and that’s when I came undone – fell down HARD on my bum and broke my coccyx.

THE ART OF BEING A STAR

Yep that’s what happens when you get too big for your britches and think that you are a star; you land on your bum quick smart!

It was such a strange experience when I fell as suddenly even my hearing disappeared and it felt like I was enclosed in a glass case with the kids and all the other people outside, I could hear them talking to me and see them but all muffled and dreamlike. Instead of glory I got 3 weeks of lying on a mattress watching telly instead, waiting for the pain to subside! Note to self don’t be a show off!

So back to New York and this time the kids and I went skating in Central Park, to the same place where they filmed Serendipity, no showing off this time and we all stayed on our feet and afterwards enjoyed some hot chocolate.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

I really wasn’t prepared for the size of Central Park, it is so big. We were there during December so there was lots of snow on the ground and most of the trees had lost their leaves. Another time it would be lovely to visit when it is all green too. We also enjoyed a horse drawn carriage around the park which was lots of fun and of course reminded us of Kramer and Seinfeld. Lots of images for artworks and Artworks blogs, how to fit in making all the sculptures and paintings?

Here is a Danish proverb I think fits here

“Bad is never good until worse happens.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all and maybe skating,

Love Marie xxx (c)

116. Art and Music with Marie

mariejon — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:23:22 +0000

PAINTINGS AND MUSIC

That is the name of my new YouTube Channel “Art and Music with Marie”, and I have just uploaded another installment of paintings and indie music in conjunction with the fabulous singer/songwriter James Abberley.

This time the song is called “Ghost” and I actually like it even better than “I’ll be a Bird” if that’s possible.

I find that the melody to Ghost just stays in my mind for hours after I have heard it and I hope that all of you like it too, as well as the paintings, sculptures, prints and public sculptures that the images shows too of course.

James Abberley says that “Ghost is a very dark song. I wanted it to be confronting but still relevant. Sometimes we can end up in a place that we never wanted to be in. Sometimes you can feel like a Ghost, but there is always love and there is always someone that can see you.”

This song is also from the new album called “Some kind of Relief” and in the Indie genre as he is becoming known for and if you would like to find out more about James go to this link and have a little read. Indie Music & James Abberley. Also if you are in Adelaide, do not forget to catch up with James every Friday night in the front bar of the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, known just as the Gov to us locals.

ART ON YOUTUBE

I had made a couple of Youtube video clips before which also featured our two dogs Cheech and Vegas whilst we still lived at the farm and we dressed them up in all sorts of doggy clothes and put the photos in between the artwork, as I told you before you have to be a little bit crazy to be an artist!

ART AND SOCIAL NETWORKING

The new changes to YouTube, means that you can personalize the look of your YouTube site and create the feel that you want. They have also included a new “feed” to make it more interactive as well, something I think may have been inspired by Face book. It seems to me that a lot of the Social Networking sites are rolling out new changes at the moment, and just as quickly there are groups that form who are against that, just check out all the “I hate the changes to Face book” groups. As someone who has only in the last couple of years learned the ropes so to speak, any new changes always take a little time to get used too. However I read somewhere that Cyberspace is the only place in modern culture there should be nothing BUT change, it is necessary to keep the innovation alive. So hey we better get used to it!

ART AND COMPUTERS

The younger generation take to it like ducks to water and if you Google to find some advice half the time it will be a 6 year old, lol well maybe a 10 year old that is doing the tutorial on how to use a certain function. It reminds me of what Dolly Parton said about computers “Truth is, I wouldn’t know a gigabyte from a snakebite”, lol but she can afford to employ someone to do all the computer work for her it’s the rest of us that have to try to keep up. I like my new telephone, my computer works just fine, my calculator is perfect, but Lord, I miss my mind!

So if you just like me need some time out and just chill why don’t you pour yourself a nice glass of wine click on my new YouTube contribution and relax with James and I.

So here is a quote just in case wine is not your drink of choice by an unknown author;

“Take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lime, and a shot of tequila.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx

60. Animations in the Burbs

Marie — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:25:16 +0000

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)

18. The Art of Listen to your Children

Marie — Sat, 29 May 2010 05:24:03 +0000

What’s that all about, why should we listen to them?

Don’t we as adults always know best? Sad to say, lol that I discovered probably when my daughter was around 4 years old that this was not the case. My son who is 4 years older than her, always accepted that we, the parents knew better, however our daughter challenged us on every occasion and boy I am glad she did.

ART BUSINESS CARD

We learned a lot of valuable lessons from both of them, and the one that stands out the most for me is listen to them, pay attention, we can learn and awful lot, not just about them but about ourselves and the world around us. Certainly also about technology, how many of us enlist the kids help when it comes to dvd recording, computers and the like.

So just the other night I had conveniently forgotten this fact, (Listen to your children), as I was showing my darling daughter the new art business card I had designed for myself.

You see I have been making my living rather successfully as an artist for the last 20 or so years painting, making sculptures and thought I was pretty good at graphic design too, when I was quickly taken down a peg or two.

ARTISTIC BACK-PEDDLING

Oh! Hillivi did it ever so gently but she did not like my card one bit, and guess what she was so totally right. I had niggling doubts too myself in the same areas that she pointed out. Although my first reaction was to defend my position, well that’s like a reflex isn’t it? None of us like to be told – however I soon came to my senses and realized she was completely right. So here is the front side of my card designed by my talented daughter Hillivi.

She is currently doing a nursing degree and also a model in her own right with a front cover of this bridal magazine.

She obviously does know more, as she was booked to do her first cover 2 weeks after joining her Agency, whereas her mother had to wait a year for that privilege many moons ago.

Here is another quote that I like this time by Walt Disney, whose drawings and cartoons are also favourites of mine.

“You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”

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

Love Marie xxx (c)

17. The Jail Bird in Alcatraz (the last bit of the San Francisco tales)

Marie — Tue, 25 May 2010 08:04:48 +0000

ART & TRAVEL

If you have just joined my art blog recently, you may want to check out numbers 6 &7 in the Blog archive for the start of the San Francisco travel tales.

You can’t go past the wit and wisdom of Oscar Wilde who quotes; “It is an odd thing, but everyone who disappears is said to be seen at San Francisco. It must be a delightful city, and possess all the attractions of the next world.”

ARTISTS INSPIRATION

And yes it is, utterly delightful and full of interesting places and people; you can even surf under the Golden Gate Bridge, but only for the most experienced! These images are details of my San Fran painting and going here has really inspired me as an artist, the ideas are swirling in my head of future sculptures in mosaic & ceramic and lots of paintings.

A day after we went on our Golden Gate Bridge bike ride, we decided to go down to the bay and catch the boat over to Alcatraz which we were told was like a village where some Prison guards and the Warden and his family lived and the kids went to school there too.

ALCATRAZ THE ART BLOG

What an experience that was, the prisoners long gone but their former home just as eerie as if they were still there. In one way they still were, because as soon as you got up to the main prison building, you went to the place where the prisoners used to exchange their clothes for the snazzy black and white numbers. We were handed a set of head phones, whereby the former INMATES, PRISON GUARDS and WARDENS started talking to you, about their trials and tribulations.

Now I should tell you that I’m not one for old houses and museums as I’ve said before I’m a party kind of gal with a penchant for dancing, so Bryan did well to talk me into this and besides as I had already painted Alcatraz, I did feel the need to see it in real life and I did not regret that for a second.

They walked you around the whole prison and it was absolutely fascinating. We were perhaps 400 people wandering about totally in silence engrossed in the Alcatraz tales.

Half way through I stopped my recording, took off the headphones and to my amazement, you could have heard a pin drop. Never have I ever been with that many people at one time, where not a sound was uttered.

Here is a saying which you can contemplate by Charles Bukowski (writer);

“If you want to know who your friends are, get yourself a jail sentence.”

Till next time, happy painting and sculpting everyone!

Love Marie xxx (c)

12. Salvador Dali and C’est La Vie

Marie — Thu, 06 May 2010 00:06:17 +0000

SCULPTURE BY GAUDI

My son Kai has recently been to Spain a country that I love.

I spent a considerable bit of time there in my modelling days, enjoying lots of great work, great food, people, language and culture. Most of my time was spent in Barcelona, where I actually did manage to go and see the wonderful artwork of Gaudi, images that stay on my mind. He built houses and sculptures like no one else I have ever seen. (And as I have said before about my party days, I think I did rather well to fit that into my busy schedule.)

I spent fantastic days and nights on Ibiza, my most favorite Island in the world when I was young, and would go there whenever time permitted.

This painting “Let it all hang out” was purchased by the Australian artist Pro Hart and hung in his house.

The image of this painting is probably a cross between Ibiza and Maslin’s Beach (designated nude beach) here in South Australia. I can almost smell the scent of the sea and feel the pulse of the music from the amazing nightclubs in Ibiza (well we called them Discos then and I was the Dancing Queen. lol)

SALVADOR DALI

I remember doing a swimwear catalogue in Sitges, the town by the sea that Salvador Dali called home. At the time I was only interested in that fact because my father is an artist and liked his artwork.

Now when I think back on that time and remember, I was on Salvador Dali’s doorstep for the most part of a week, doing bikini shoots all day with hairdressers and makeup artists fussing over me and then wined and dined at night. I think, boy I should have paid more attention, what a fabulous opportunity to see and find out more about one of the world’s most amazing artists. Oh well, C’est La Vie, no regrets, it could do your head in to think about all the what’ Ifs’ in life.

Here is another saying I like from The Mammoth Book of Useless Information

‘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’

Till next time, happy painting and sculpting.

Love Marie xxx (c)