I have recently come back from a wonderful 4 day trip to the Gold Coast with babygirl Hillivi and what a wonderful time we had.  I really should have stayed by the easel in my art studio painting but my daughter gave me quite the sales pitch, lol of why the 2 of us should fly up to Queensland together for a little getaway!

I must say that I am so glad she convinced me as we had so much fun, staying at the Chateau Beachside right in the middle of Surfers Paradise on the beach in a studio apartment with a sea view.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

Even the flight up was really interesting when I sat next to a cute and talkative former soldier with a penchant for travel who recently returned from his deployment in Afghanistan and been part of some very hairy situations.   We declined his offer of a guided tour of Surfers and instead went and picked up our hire car.  As we had already taken out some extra insurance we debated back and forth on having to pay another lot that the car company was selling but in the end we signed up for that too (and as it turns out lucky we did).  Settling into the hotel, sightseeing and a Thai dinner followed.

Anyway the first day was spent at Movie World and wow what a time we had, after a fun start with a 4D Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs, we then got cracking with the rollercoaster’s good and proper.  For those of you who think that’s just for kids and teenagers you are soooo wrong, lol I just love a good ride!

MORE PAINTING IDEAS

First it was on to the Lethal Weapon coaster which had undergone some terrifying modifications and name change to Arkham Asylum and reaching speeds of up to 85km and pulling 4.5Gs.  Your feet hang in the air and miss the posts and poles by a toe length!  Now we are into it big time and run between that and the Green Lantern, Scooby-Doo and another of the favourites; Superman for the rest of the day.  Quite amazing we kept our lunch down as we spent more time upside down that upright I’m sure.

THE ART OF BIG BROTHER

Then after a quick drive and spruce up it is off to DreamWorld to be part of the audience for the Big Brother eviction night.  That was lots of fun too, being avid Big Brother tragics (yes I know, reality TV and all that, but apart from the fly on the wall intrigue I love the psychology of it too, and if you give it a go you can actually even learn some life lessons from the show yourself I find) But it is a program you cannot dip in and out off, unless you watch it from the start you won’t be able to follow and really get the gist of it.   In any case we caught up with Caleb one of the evictees (had seen him down the mall the night before too with Layla from last year) and he was every bit as nice as he seemed on the show.  The perfect gentleman and not just nice to the pretty girls but genuinely nice to everybody, so good on you Caleb the Fireman!

After seeing Heidi as the evicted housemate much to the surprise of the audience who had Tully pegged to go, we took off for Surfers for a late dinner and a squiz at the beachfront markets.

The rest of our trip will have to become another art blog for another day.  So I will finish with this quote that I think fits well here on psychology by Jerome Lawrence;

“A neurotic is a man who builds a castle in the air.  A psychotic is the man who lives in it.  A psychiatrist is the man who collects the rent.”

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 SALEand SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

It’s no secret that I have always loved the sea, sun and beach, however I think the real reason behind that is the handsome surfer guys, lol.  Who can resist a tanned body and long unruly sun bleached hair? See what I mean in the Hang Ten painting of surfers below.

THE ART OF BEING BOY CRAZY

When my parents first started talking about moving to Australia it was the surfers I was keenest to see, much more so than any kangaroos or koalas.  I was 14 years old at the time and boy crazy, not quite sure I am over that affliction yet actually, although being very happily married I go by the rule of “Just because you are on a diet does not mean you cannot read the menu” right?

So here is my homage to all the gorgeous surfer guys past and present, this acrylic painting, sold in Japan I think (I should have paid more attention, and documented where they all sold over the years, a lot even left the art studio without me getting a chance to photograph them too, such a shame.)

SURFING AND ART

My own son Kai wanted to learn to surf and on a holiday to Queensland did just that.  I have to admit I found it really hard to watch (too many movies like Jaws over the years) and Kai who was around 15 at the time and assured us he did not need the parentals hanging around cramping his style.  He went the few streets over from the hotel and enrolled in the surfing lessons with a bunch of others whilst I stayed in the hotel and bit my nails (oh the joys of motherhood!)

Anyway, we were lucky, he had a great time, learned to surf over the week that we were there and came to no harm from the sea.  He did have one mishap though but that was right after he had finished his surfing lesson.

The four of us met up at a little café in Surfers Paradise that promised a delicious Big breakfast.  We had just been served this huge plate each of toast, eggs, bacon, sausages and tomatoes.  Kai fresh back from his adventure was feeling pretty independent and when his mother “moi”, said that he should push his plate away from the edge, he took no notice (as teenagers never do, lol) but instead thought and pretty much said that I should be zip it and not stress.   Well LOL, my husband, I and Hillivi can still recall what happened as if it was in slow motion – Kai put his knife and fork down on the plate to start cutting the sausages and the entire plate tipped upside down whereby he had the Big breakfast lying rather neatly in his lap.  The look on his face was priceless and I know it would have been kinder to have pretended not to see, lol but the 3 of us just could not contain ourselves and totally cracked up and laughed and laughed and laughed.  Sorry Kai but it was really funnnnnny!

HISTORY OF SURFING

Surfing whilst it was originally a Hawaiian pursuit dating back to the 15^th century first came to Australia and USA in the in the 20^Th century.  It is performed whilst standing on a surfboard riding on top of a wave. These days the surfboards are usually made from polyurethane (foam) or fiberglass but originally they were made from solid wood and were much larger and heavier, and could weigh as much person.

The most popular destinations for surfing would be Hawaii, California, Florida, Rio de Janeiro, Costa Rica and Australia.  In Australia it is Bells Beach, Victoria (not far from Torquay) which has been a favorite with the surfers since 1939.  It is also where the world’s longest running surfing completion – the Rip Curl Pro Surf & Music Festival (Bells Beach Surf Classic) is held.  The first one started in 1961 and since then has been an annual event every Easter (apart from a few times when the waves have let them down).  The surfers have an Olympic wrestler named Joe Sweeney to thank for the road or track to Bells Beach.  He apparently hired a bulldozer and cleared the road along the cliff and charged one pound per surfer to recover his expenses.  (ref. Wikipedia)

SURFING, MUSIC AND ART

Of course most of you would be familiar with the Beach Boys and no self respecting surfer would go without having Surfin’ Safari/USA, Good Vibrations, Fun Fun Fun and California Girls blasting from their kombi vans stereos.  So the whole surfing thing became a real culture with not only a carefree way of life but also a fashion of boardshorts, singlet’s, t-shirts and thongs (flip flops).  Today businesses like Billabong have grown to become hugely popular all across the world for their surf wear clothes and accessories.  Billabong was the brainchild of ex-Maroubra surfer Gordon Merchant and started from his flat in Burleigh Heads and the rest as they say is history.

So here is a quote I like from Kary Mullis;

“Sometimes in the morning, when it’s good surf, I go out there, and I don’t feel like it’s a bad world.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all, oh and surfing,

Love Marie xxx                (c)

If you enjoyed this art blog you may also fancy this one with a painting of  a nude beach 12. Salvador Dali and C’est La Vie

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.