Marie Jonsson Harrison » South Australia

146 Sala Artists Play at the Bay

mariejon — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 05:12:58 +0000

CELEBRATE ARTISTS

It is that time of the year again – SALA – when we celebrate the South Australian Living Artists and this year it is for the 15^th time. How time flies!

This Acrylic on Canvas Naive painting called ” SURFIN ‘N’ SA” is one of 3 artworks in the Sala Exhibition.

Sala an idea which grew from a seed planted by Paul Greenaway who thought we celebrated the dead artists at the detriment of the living and I couldn’t agree more. Sala is a showcase for us artists that are not dead yet and that is a club I want to belong to!

This year there are 3,453 participating visual artists exhibiting in 520 diverse ranges of venues. You will of course find art in Art Galleries, studios, public spaces, cellar doors, movie theater foyers, cafes and restaurants around the whole of our state.

ART TRAIL

However did you also realize that down in Glenelg they are presenting an inspirational art trail that offers a visual feast to stimulate the senses. Jetty Road in Glenelg has totally embraced the Sala concept and nearly every business on this road has artists work on display. This means that when you come to the bay you will also see art in hairdressing salons, chemists, ice cream shops, clothes boutiques, real estate agents, shoe shops and jewellers, yes all kinds of business have gotten behind the art here at the bay.

I feel very lucky to have lived where art is appreciated and embraced, for a long time it was in the mid-north town of Balaklava and now by the sea.

This year I have been too busy with overseas exhibitions in Europe, painting for ArtnBed and Giclee Link and various commissions so I am not having a solo show. Instead I am exhibiting with talented artists living in and around the bay. This mixed exhibition was held at;

The Bay Discovery Centre

Glenelg Town Hall

Moseley Square, Glenelg

Open daily 10am-4pm

(81799508)

3-26 August 2012

ART AT THE BAY

The theme explored is Play at the Bay with over 20 artists taking part including Clint Habib, Cat Leonard, Dave Archer, John Hamilton, Margo Miles and Sue McKenzie.

Sue McKenzie is an artist who is doing interesting work collecting discarded furniture from the roadside which she paints in bright bold colors. “One woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure” says Sue. Sue’s work is also on display at the Better Health Midnight Pharmacies.

Another artist with two separate exhibitions for Sala is Sarah Philip her abstract work inspired by the ocean can be found on Jetty Road, Brighton in the Enuf Burger Bar as well as her stunning works of beautiful people which are my favorites showing at Westfield Marion – Events Cinema.

Here is a quote that I think we should all live by from William W. Purkey;

“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.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES. Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

132 Age is just a state of mind in Art

mariejon — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:15:20 +0000

PUBLIC SCULPTURE

This artwork “Our Richest Treasures” made from handmade ceramic and mosaic is part of a public sculpture called the Federation Gateway Sculpture at the entrance to Balaklava a town in the Mid North, South Australia and celebrates the senior citizens which are among our richest treasures. Here is some links to more about this Public Sculpture; 109 Stories behind the Wall and 121 Volunteers our Backbone

CERAMIC AND MOSAIC

The 1901 wall depict 9 separate stories and the 2001 wall tells another 8 stories of both ordinary and famous people who have connections with our district. Their tales are told in pictures and words with my hand-made ceramic tiles surrounded by mosaic and the words which has been etched on aluminium plaque.

THE ART OF A SENIOR CITIZEN

As the Australian Government announced recently that they are going to pay employers a bonus for hiring and retaining older workers I thought this artwork of Mrs. Clare Bowers was topical for my blog this week. (More on Clare later).

The plan is to pay a $1000 bonus to employers that recruit workers aged 50 years or over for more than three months and the government are also extending programs that provide support to employers who promote older workers and will put more funds toward career advice services and also education for mature workers.

I am one of these people that think that age is just a state of mind and the thought that there is that age discrimination in the workplace is just ridiculous. A good mix of young and old and people from all different cultures and ways of life is the key. You need young people who can look at a task or problem with fresh eyes and ideas and also the older person with life experience and some mileage under their belt to provide a balance in most work areas.

That said my first occupation as a Fashion Model was a very youth oriented profession, although I have looked on with amusement as there has been quite a movement there too into the older woman who still looks great. To me it does make a lot of sense to have the clothes that are aimed at the more mature bracket modelled by the women that are actually going to wear them.

THE ART OF STAYING YOUNG

From my observation it all started by Lauren Hutton being retained by Revlon during the 80’s and 90’s and then followed by the likes of Elle MacPherson, Christie Brinkley and Jerry Hall. In the last couple of years the Couger trend has really caught on and the oldest model rumoured to be hitting the catwalk is Carmen Dell’Orefice who at 79 still looks fantastic (with a little help I presume).

Mia Freedman from Mama Mia said recently “ As far as I can tell, there are only two ages for female celebrities: Dame Judi Dench and 30. At Dame Judi’s end, it’s pretty lonely. Just her and Betty White. At the other end, it’s gridlock with everyone from Courtney Cox, 47, to Lindsay Lohan, 26, visually colliding at the age of 30.

This is weird. Especially when – like me – you fall into the twilight zone between 30 and Betty White.”

Mia does have a point and she is not suggesting that we stop dying our hair, fight wrinkles and go without makeup but she does go on to say that there is a time when you go from looking amazing for your age to looking a little weird and then seriously weird, lol.

These days the designers in New York and Paris are getting on the band wagon and hiring the older birds, much to the audiences delight who laughed, clapped and chatted throughout the shows which is not always the norm at these events.

THE ART OF AGING GRACEFULLY OR NOT

What has made me cross in the last couple of months though is the flack that both Demi Moore and Madonna have been getting from some reporters. In this day and age when so many of us are careful about what we eat and stay fit and healthy. Why shouldn’t Madonna be up there on stage for the release of her new album, dancing as if her pants were on fire! She is probably fitter now than ever, looks great and sounds great. Maybe there is something in the saying; “ that you are only as old as the man you feel.”

Madonna had the last laugh though as her album has shot up the hits list and went straight to number one. MDNA is Madonnas 12^th album to top the chart, beating Elvis Presley’s record which stands at 11. So obviously she still resonates with both the young and the older demographic. Demi Moores story on the other hand has been a little sad as we have watched her desperate attempt to keep up with her daughter and her young friends through a haze of alcohol and drugs after her very public breakup from her much younger man.

I would be the last person to cast a stone her way as I still love to party – if there is music playing I will still dance till the sun comes up and partake in a drink or two.

THE ART OF GROWING UP

Chili Davis quote “Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional”, which brings me back to this Centenary of Federation Sculpture and Clare Bowers.

When Clare was eighty years old she was most interested to see the silos being built in her home town of Balaklava. So on one of her shopping trips she asked one of the builders if it was possible to go to the top of the silo. The arrangements were made and at 5pm on the allotted day the residents to the local old folks home where Clare lived, were ushered outside to a prime viewing spot on the footpath. They were all very surprised to see Clare hoisted to the top of the silo in a safety cage.

Clare certainly had a zest for life and at the age of eighty-seven she again soared to great heights, this time as the eldest passenger of the Balaklava Gliding Club.

I think these quote fits well here the first one by Judith Regan;

“The key to successful aging is to pay as little attention to it as possible”

And the second from Henry David Thoreau who said;

“None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm”.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and staying alive to you all,

Love Marie xxxx (c)

114 Elders Fine Art Gallery.. never give up

mariejon — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:13:36 +0000

GALLERY DIRECTOR

This painting “Christmas for the Elders family” was commissioned by Jim Elders from the Elders Fine Art Gallery in Adelaide, South Australia, a man I much admire and without whom I would not be enjoying this wonderful career as an Artist.

I have told you how I started painting in How it all began, which is something that I did every minute of the day (in-between looking after a new baby & going back to modelling) early morning, late into the evening, when baby Kai had his naps, and all weekend when hubby took over the child minding.

PAINTING OBSESSED

Friends and family was highly amused at my newfound love of painting and would come over to see the latest artwork. They would giggle and laugh and I am sure in a lot of instances pat me on the head, shake their heads and think that at least I am amusing myself but it won’t amount to anything much, LOL.

JUNK ART SCULPTOR

Not that I thought it would either I just knew that I could not stop and if I wasn’t painting I thought about painting, dreamt about it or talked about it, like a woman obsessed. My dad, who is an artist himself but generally more in the abstract area or as a junk art sculptor, would encourage me and buy me paints and materials. After a while he said:” you know honey I think you are on to something – there is a genre in the art world called Naive Art and although it does not look anything like yours it seems to be in the same vein.” So dad got me a few books and I started to dream that maybe one day I could become a “real artist”.

It took about 2 years for this penny to drop and I thought I should see if I could get representation from a gallery. Now obviously as my father was already an artist with gallery backing and I had quite a public profile from being the Australian Model of the Year it probably would have been much easier to take advantage of that but I wanted to make it on my own arts merit.

CALLING ART GALLERIES

So armed with the Yellow Pages (Telephone Directory) I started calling galleries. I started with the less known and worked my way up the list. In the most polite of fashions I explained that I was a new artist and was wondering if at some stage I could either come in or send them an image of my work. Without fail every single gallery I called said: “sorry we are not interested in seeing any new artists, or we are totally booked out”, and some of them were rather rude and abrupt. At this stage there were only 2 Galleries left in South Australia (that I hadn’t called) and that was the two most famous ones 20 years ago; BMG (Kim Bonython’s) and Elders Fine Art Gallery, and as luck would have it I called Elders first.

Jim Elder answered the phone himself and I couldn’t believe it when he said; “sure come on in! I will warn you however that I very rarely take on any new artists but I always look”, and with that we made an appointment.

ART GALLERY APPOINTMENT

So on the allotted day I turn up, Jim is very busy getting a show up and hardly acknowledges me but points at where I should put my work along the walls on the floor. I had 14 works with me so it took quite a while back and forth from the car and finally it’s all in and eventually Jim comes to take a look.

His face gave nothing away, he looked grumpy to me and sort of huffed and asked what the price on this and that one is? I said that I had no idea at all what the prices were, so Jim said, well that painting I think would be 300 dollars, and this one 500 and the artwork with the flowers 950. By this stage my eyes were round as saucers as I listen to this obviously quite mad man, lol. But who was I to argue and when he then said he would buy, this one and that one and the other outright, counting up 10 of the artworks and taking in the other 4 on commission basis I nearly fainted. I left Elders Fine Art Gallery that day with a cheque for nearly 7 thousand dollars, which with a young family and a mortgage made me skip to the car!

The paintings sold the following weekend in their Christmas show and I now had a new career painting full time and the rest of it is history as they say!

So thank you Jim and Helen Elders, you provided the most wonderful start to my career and I am forever in your debt. It goes without saying, that if the Elders had not changed the gallery to an Auction house: Elders Fine Art & Auctioneers, I would still happily be on their books.

So here is a quote by George Allen, I think fits very well in here with light of what everyone thought initially about my art career, lol.

“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit. Most men succeed because they are determined to.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx (c)

100 Some like it hot in Art

mariejon — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 02:47:32 +0000

ADELAIDE ROYAL SHOW HISTORY

So the show is over for another year and a good time was held by all. The Royal Show in Adelaide has been held since 1840 which incredibly was only 4 years after the South Australia’s settlement which occurred in 1836. Early on the show was mainly produce based and featured potatoes, onions, the different grains such as maize, wheat, oats and barley, and cheeses. Then they combined it with the Livestock Show and added cows, horses, sheep, pigs and fowl. Although in those days they did not have all the fancy equipment to sow and harvest as my painting below shows.

The first show was held in the yard of the Fordham Hotel in Greenfell Street then moved to the Botanic Park and later on in 1925 to Wayville showground where it is still today. This acrylic on canvas painting is called John Shearer Show Day and was commissioned by them and hangs in their board room and has also been used for greeting cards and other promotional materials. John Shearer makes agricultural equipment as you can see from the artwork and here is a link to the newspaper story Elders Stock journal if you fancy a read (left hand side 6^th story down).

THE ART OF CARRYING THE SHOW BAGS

My husband has been to the show every year as he grew up in Adelaide and remembers attending as a child. At that time all the show bags (sample bags) were free and they would be laden down with all these bags full of all sorts of goodies; lollies, chocolates, biscuits and toys etc. He says that his brother came in very handy being in a wheelchair and the rest of the siblings would hang their show bags off the side of the chair so his brother Trevor could hardly be seen under them all. These days of course you have to pay for the show bags, a cheap one at $2 would be Bertie Beatle up to $30 for the fancier ones. However at the Melbourne show there was a showbag costing $999, called the Grand Ridge Brewery’s Beer Party Showbag, that one also included vouchers for 3 night’s accommodation with breakfast, dinner and other vouchers as well as a six-pack of beer.

THE ART OF FAMILY MEMORIES

We as a family have gone there together since the kids were babes in arms, so the show is full of happy memories. The Yellow Brick Road was always a favorite, whereby you buy and empty bag and a map and then follow the directions all around the showground to collect your goodies at designated stands, some cookies here a bag of carrots there and yogurts and a loaf of bread etc. It used to be really good value for money and lots of fun. However this year it was mightily disappointing as some stands only gave us brochures, another 2 potatoes and one stand gave out one biscuit! If they think people will be lining up for that next year they are kidding themselves, lol.

Of course there are plenty of rides and stalls, pig racing and dog and cat shows, wood chopping and the Grand Parade, precision driving, various horse events, singing and contortionists and lots of other things to do for free.

THE ART OF THE FREEBIE

My personal favorite has always been the Tasting Tent. I think that is a hangover from my modelling days in Tokyo where I used to love poking about in their big department store’s food halls and tasting all these weird Japanese concoctions. I think it is a habit that the whole family now enjoys and the kids have introduced to their friends as well.

Hillivi’s boyfriend Brett is now quite good at wielding a toothpick and went hell for leather at the small-goods stand, shoveling in the salami and the like. They made me laugh with their tale at the Chilli stand where the hotness of the chilies was presented from 1-10 in degree of hotness as they ate their way through the numbers.

Luckily for them the next stand had different fruit juices and they threw the samples down their throats whilst in between asking the lady ever so politely “What type of juice is this? etc, feigning an interest but really they were only after something to cool down their burning mouths. The juice lady turned out to be a sweetheart and kept up the supply of juice till they recovered.

So I will finish this blog Some like it hot, with a quote by a movie star Gina Lollobrigida, which I think gives us all hope, lol.

“A woman at 20 is like ice, at 30 she is warm and at 40 she is hot.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting everyone,

Love Marie xxx (c)

If you fancy a look at another art blog about places to go in Adelaide here is; 74.Pop-Eye II & Art

71.Post Cards at the Bay Art Competition

mariejon — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 01:13:48 +0000

PAINTINGS IN ART COMPETITIONS

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)

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.

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)