I just stumbled on an interesting fact as I was writing another art blog about my art being on duvet and quilts featuring the rather new crisp looking white Hindley Street set.

I was amazed that it seems to be a Swedish invention: my home country and here is a great article by Kate Watson-Smyth which was published in The Independent this week.

THE SECRET HISTORY OF:THE DUVET (by Kate Watson-Smyth)

“It was the 1950s, before the halcyon days of the swinging Sixties. Sir Terence Conran was in Sweden. With a girl. And he found himself lying under a strange cover that was a bit like an eiderdown but with no sheets or blankets between him and it.

He enquired casually what it was and was informed that it was a Slumberdown quilt. A few years later, he would be the first person to sell duvets in Britain in his new shop on the King’s Road in west London.

Habitat opened on 11 May 1964. It was selling a lifestyle and stocked new and interesting homewares – the chicken brick, the wok and, of course, the duvet. When the catalogue was launched in 1966, it became a coffee-table book in its own right and the store expanded rapidly throughout the country.

Sir Terence recalls: “People do credit me with bringing the duvet to Britain. I had been in Sweden in the 1950s and was given a duvet to sleep under. I probably had a girl with me and I thought this was all part of the mood of the time – liberated sex and easy living. It was wonderful that when you came to make your bed, it was just a couple of shakes.”

You have to admit that it was rather sweet that after his liberated sex, he even bothered to think about making the bed. Anyway, the continental quilt, as it was more usually known until the mid-1970s, wasn’t an instant best-seller. James Greig, the assistant producer of If Walls Could Talk, an intimate history of the home (to be shown on BBC 4 later this year), says: “When they first came out, people were very reluctant to give up their sheets and blankets, which might have been wedding presents. But the duvet was really pioneered by the housewives who loved the idea that it was so quick to make the bed. Habitat even had an advertising slogan: ‘the 10-second bed’. I think they had a few in some stores to see how they went and the advertising tended to include a series of illustrative pictures so people could see how they worked.”

Greig has been unable to pinpoint the very first appearance of the duvet, but says it was used mainly in Scandinavia and the colder alpine countries.

To start with, Habitat sold more single duvets than doubles as they were initially regarded as something that was good for children. But gradually they became accepted by everyone. Today, it’s practically impossible to find anyone who sleeps under blankets any more.”

ART ON BEDDING

I of course remember growing up in Sweden and sleeping under a quilt cover (duvet) so it makes me extra happy and proud to be having my art shown in this way by ARTnBED.  Just to make the connection a little more amazing for me was that the name duvet is what they were originally called in Australia (the country I know live in) now for the most part in Australia we refer to them as a Doona and the cover a Quilt cover.  Here are a few more links to see the other blogs and pictures of the bedding available.  I hope you like it. 140 ART n BED and 188. ARTnBED and the painting Pottering at the Port and here is ARTnBED website where all their artists and bedding products can be viewed.

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.

So it’s the week of Easter and this year my Easter surprise was that my website crashed for 4 days!!  Apologies are in order to those of you who tried to unsuccessfully access it, nice to know that it was due to a lot of traffic, so thank you.

EASTER AND ANIMATION

Anyway the story this week is of course about Easter and this will be our third one here by the sea, time flies when you are having fun.  The animated painting is of course a scene from my background as a Swede and the Swedish Easter painting is animated and set to music by my friend Susan Flashman.  I can sense the confusion on your faces as to what witches has to do with Easter so here is the story about that.

COMMISSIONED PAINTINGS

We Swedes are weird, you know in a nice way, and it wasn’t until we immigrated to Australia that I realized that fact.     I was originally commissioned to paint a Easter painting by my American gallery a few years ago.  The owner like me is Swedish and I had free reign to paint whatever I choose as long as it was to do with Easter.

Notice something strange about it, what’s with all the witches on broomsticks I hear you say?  Well that’s perfectly normal – no little cute bunnies for us Swedes, no we have witches flying around and flying off to Blakulla (the Blue Mountain) to meet the man downstairs, you know who I mean!  I think the animation and the naive painting really suits Halloween too.

THE ART OF EASTER

When I was little in Sweden we would dress up as Easter witches, raid mums or grandma’s wardrobe for long skirts.  We wore colorful head scarves and painted our cheeks red, and then we would go from house to house in our neighborhood and knock on every door and be given lollies and sometimes fruit.  Much like the Americans do for Halloween.

PAINTING BOILED EGGS

We would also spend a day painting boiled eggs which would later be eaten during the Easter celebration together with a smorgasbord feast.  We would go and pick small branches and twigs of willow and birch (the ones with lots of soft little fury buds, so cute!) and then we would decorate it with feathers and small witches on broomsticks and other decorations much like a little Christmas tree.  Every Swedish household would have a vase of these on the table.

ORIGINAL PAINTING

The original painting was framed with the Easter eggs on the side.  Yes we would receive an Easter egg too but not one made from chocolate, instead it was made from cardboard with bright pictures on it or from plastic and usually filled to the brim with lollies and chocolates.

But of course mine was a bit different, always being the eccentric (oh yes I do admit that).  So what do you think mine was filled with, something really yummy, that I could not usually eat as much of as I would like of course….a jar of peanut butter that’s what.  Weird kid, weird Swedish kid!

This quote by Matt Lauer made me laugh today:

“Researchers have discovered that chocolate produces some of the same reactions in the brain as marijuana. The researchers also discovered other similarities between the two but can’t remember what they are.”

Hope you are enjoying your chocolates!

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie xxx

If you enjoyed this one you may also like another art blog on  Swedish customs 113 Art & Swedish Traditions, Another weird one

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’ve just had Chevy Chase here to stay, all the way from California via Sweden, without a word of a lie – see for yourself down below is the picture to prove it.  Well ok then maybe just a little untrue, but you have to admit he is a dead ringer for him, my cousin’s boy Kalle.  As delightful as it has been to have Kalle and his friend Kristoffer staying with us, it is Kalle’s father, my cousin Bjorn that I would like to tell you about.

PAINTING IN SWEDEN

This acrylic painting was bought by his mother when I had an exhibition in Sweden and it pretty much depicts where Bjorn actually lives today, although when I painted it, their little red cottage in the woods by the sea did not even exists.  Perhaps I inspired him to build one, who knows.  Anyway Bjorn is in the corporate world of IBM and has pretty much traveled the world with his job, currently working mostly out of the UK.  But he calls the little red cottage and Sweden his home and goes there as much as time will allow.

ROUND ABOUT DOGS SCULPTURE

You see that is where Rondellhund.com (Roundabout-dog) was born, in the shed at the back of the cottage.  It was in 2007 that Bjorn Andersson decided to combine his love of dogs and the tinkering in his shed by making some Roundabout dogs and giving the money raised to charity.  According to all that know him – Bjorn has a heart of gold and his vision is to keep Rondellhund at Philanthropic Street Art level and give a moment of enjoyment to all people traveling by car.  His dogs have traveled the world to places in the USA, Australia, UK & Germany to name just a few.

RONDELLHUND ARTIST

The first Rondellhund was actually made by Peter Nyberg and his intention was to “mock the state-employed artists, who get so much money to make sculptures that we can do just as well ourselves”  he said.  From what I understand, that was after there had been an official roundabout installation in Lindkoping by sculptor Stina Opitz, made in concrete.  This sculpture was vandalized and got some media coverage and shortly after anonymous people started placing little wooden dogs in roundabouts. (ref. Wikipedia)

PAINTING ON WOOD

The dogs Bjorn makes are of scrap pieces of wood and then painted in every way imaginable, with spots, stripes, checked, stars  & flowers.  He even made some for the Royal weddings between Sweden’s Crown princess Victoria and Daniel as well as the English Royals, Kate and William; with the crowns on their heads of course.   The idea is to sneak out in the middle of the night and place your dog sculpture in the middle of a roundabout or in some other public place to be enjoyed by as many people as possible.  Now lots of family groups come to the shed to help build & paint the dogs, and they are also available as flat packs (like Ikea) to send across the world.  The dog sculptures all have a tags on them, as quite often they go missing, and it is asked if they are “stolen” that some money is donated to charity and this seems to be the case too – nice honest thief’s lol.

So come onboard and make a dog yourself or sponsor someone else to make one.  So far the money raised has gone to a local dog rescue center, Starlight children’s foundation UK, Guide Dogs UK & many other charities.  You will find an easy instruction on how to make your own dog and see pictures from Rondellhund across the world on this link.  You can also join Rondellhund on Face book.

The quote for today comes from my cousin Bjorn who says on his website;

A few simple situation I wish for but I will never know ………..

When the family see a rondelhund in an roundabout they smile and stop to buy ice-cream.

When Steven see a rondellhund he smiles and call his mother to say how are you, I’ll stop by for coffee.

When Rosanne see a rondellhund she smiles and stops the car and hug her kids.

When Jane see a rondellhund she smiles and start thinking of new ideas for her class.

When Peter see a rondellhund he smiles and new music ideas start developing in his mind.

When ………..

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx        (c)

If you enjoyed this you may also like this art blog about my artist brother Matt Jonsson; 91 He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother

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/88-chevy-chase-and-roundaboutdogs/feed/ 1 http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/62-christmas-again/ http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/62-christmas-again/#comments Mon, 27 Dec 2010 04:01:28 +0000 http://www.mariejonssonharrison.com.au/new/?p=1858 CHRISTMAS & ART

Christmas is here again, comes around at break neck speed these days, but still warmly welcomed by me and my family, we love Christmas time.  This year will be a little better than last year as we will be all together again,  our son is back from his European adventures.  When we first arrived in Australia from Sweden it took us a little while to get used to summer and Santa as this painting below shows, being used to the Swedish Christmas with snow and freezing weather.

Father Christmas actually comes to our house on the 23^rd, go figure, probably as he has so many houses to get too!  He comes during the night and dutifully eats his cookies and drinks his milk and often leaves his footprints on the floor from the ash in the big fireplace in the lounge.  However this year I have got no clue how he will get inside as this new house does not have a fireplace at all!!

This year I said to the kids “I will just put all the presents under the tree when I have wrapped them” however Miss Hillivi (daughter) who now is 19 won’t hear of any changes and insists that we should keep the traditions just as we always have and that Santa is REAL, and is a bit miffed that we have not yet found her Christmas stocking to hang on her door (so Santa can put one present in there on his way out).  So I guess someone still has to do the sneaking around late at night, I can see another artwork coming up.

We will get up on the 24^th to a tree full of presents and have a little family celebration of our own before the big celebrations begin.  The” big one” happens usually around 3pm and starts with the Swedish tradition “Dop I Grytan” what is that I hear you ask?  Well it goes something like this;

MORE ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

In the olden days in Sweden when the big landowners had a lot of staff on their farms they would invite the hired help in for “Dip in the Saucepan”.  Not sure that it really was that generous of them as what they offered was the left over juice from the boiled ham.   The staff would all gather around the stove and were given bread which they dipped into the ham juice, put on mustard or cheese and ate it served with beer and also punch (pronounced POONCH; a sweet alcoholic beverage).  The ham juice is actually is very delicious though (I get the vegetarian kind boiled up especially by Mum and Dad) and fun way to start the day’s proceedings whilst standing in the kitchen and having a chat.

A PIECE OF ART – THE SMORGASBORD

Then we have a little break before the big Smorgasbord so several things will be on offer, perhaps a little walk around the neighborhood or a swim in the pool (its hot here remember) or perhaps a few will gather to play a board game or just sit and relax.  Then my mother the Matriarch and Game Master will get busy with various Christmas Stocking games and the Pièce de résistance; the big dance around the Christmas tree.  Don’t you try to get out of that one – not a chance to sit it out, I think even with a broken leg my mother would insist!

THE ART OF DANCE

Oh but all in good fun and I am so glad she does, because once you get up and get going IT IS JUST SO MUCH FUN!!!  So this year there will be 14 of us and we will go through all the songs from my childhood in Sweden and act them out such as –Sma Groderna,  Nu gar vi runt ett enerbars snar,  Bjornen Sover, Vi aro Musikanter and to finish of the Rocket.  In this finale we all lay down on the floor around the tree and slowly slap the ground with one hand after the other and then increase the tempo until it is as fast as we can go and then we stand up and go WHEEEeeeeeee and throw our arms into the air.  LOL now you may be excused in thinking that we have a heap of kids here all doing this, but oh no in that you are wrong.  There are only 2 kids present, my niece 6 and nephew 3, the rest of us are all adults!

This year will be the first for the newest member to our family, Kai’s girlfriend Samantha, so it will be interesting to find out what she thinks of this mad family’s goings on!  Brett, Hillivi’s boyfriend is an old hand at it by this stage as this will be his 5^th time and now he actually looks forward to it.  I remember the first year he tried very hard to stay in his chair when the Call to Dance came from my Mum, lol but as I told you earlier, no one has a chance to sit when the festivities begin!  If you would like to hear the continuation of this story here is another art blog for you 63. Smorgasbord (continuation of the Swedish Xmas celebrations)

Here is a something that amused me from the website Funniest Christmas Jokes,

“Waiter- There’s a fly in my Champagne”

A multi-national company held a reception to celebrate Christmas. The waiter gave each guest a glass of champagne, but on inspection, each guest noticed that their glass contained a fly.

• · The Swede asked for new champagne in the same glass.
• · The Englishman demanded to have new champagne in a new glass.
• · The Finn picked out the fly out and drank the champagne.
• · The Russian drank the champagne, fly and all.
• · The Chinese ate the fly but left the champagne.
• · The Israeli caught the fly and sold it to the Chinese.
• · The Italian drank two thirds of the champagne and then demanded to have a new glass.
• · The Norwegian took the fly and went off to fish.
• · The Irishman ground the fly and mixed it in the champagne, which he then donated to the Englishman
• · The American sued the restaurant and claimed for a $50 million compensation.
• · The Scotsman grabbed the fly by the throat and shouted, ‘Now spit out all that you swallowed.’

Have a very Merry Christmas and see you next time,

Till then 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 SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

Dancing asparagus I hear you say, mmm…well moi have always been a little bit crazy and that probably is and asset when you are an artist! Lol Anyway this painting was the first one that I actually painted, on canvas that is.

MURAL ON THE NURSERY WALL

You see I was pregnant with my first child and was getting the house ready for this little bundle of joy (and as it turned out he was too) I asked my brother who is a very good artist if he could paint me a mural on the nursery wall.

So he came and started, laid down the background of grass and hills and a sky with the start of a train running through the country side.  However at the time he was the drummer in a band called Clowns of Decadence, and they had a very strong following and were always out on tours.  So I would be calling Matt up and asking when he would be back in town, and it would be “oh sorry sis, we are touring New Zealand now and won’t be back for a month.”

In the meantime I was getting fatter and fatter and fatter, and being a bit of a perfectionist there was no way that my baby was going to arrive with a half painted nursery.

So I thought to myself there is nothing to do but roll up ones sleeves and get on with it and start painting .

Now there were a couple of things wrong with that idea, one was that I had some complications with the pregnancy and should be mostly having bed rest.  The other was that I could not paint my way out of a paper bag!  I mean that literally, you see both my father and my brother are fantastic artists, very skilled and can do anything, whatever I had ever tried to draw or paint was usually laughed at, well not in a mean way but probably slightly mixed with pity,  lol.

ART IN SCHOOL

On top of that during my school years in Sweden I would be receiving maybe an F for Art,  I remember distinctly having to paint a still life; fruit bowl and mine was very hard to figure out what it was.    Us naive types find it very hard to see perspective (and hey maybe we don’t want to, maybe the world is just better when everything is close and within your grasp!)  In those days you were only considered good in art if you could reproduce something like a photograph.  So therefore I had not drawn or painted for years.

But as I was a woman on a mission and nesting,  watch out!  I got the paints out that my brother had left and off I went, and you know what, with an eye blink it was lunch time, too busy to eat. Kept on painting although I would lie down on the floor from time to time and look at my handy work (doctors orders you know) I blinked my eyes again and now it was night.

FEELING LOVE & HAPPINESS THROUGH ART

The next morning I woke up, feeling so very excited and energetic and I did not know why, I was 8 months pregnant and usually exhausted, so I laid there and tried to figure it out.  Well you know what, it was LOVE, I had fallen in Love and not with another man, no with painting.  I did not care what anyone else thought of my handy work, but I loved it, I loved painting it and I loved looking at it and it made me feel good.

That was how it began and if you are curious how this led to my life as a full time artist in the Naive genre here is a link for that art blog 114 Elders Fine Art Gallery.. never give up

So take heart you budding artists out there, don’t let anyone say you can’t and that you are no good, if it makes you happy then DO IT.

This saying by Winston Churchill fits very well here;

“Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.”

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.

This painting “Antonis Tivoli” is one I painted for my father SCULPTOR Ted Jonsson and depicts him and his family, my grandparents.  They spent nearly all their lives travelling around Sweden and nearby countries with their side shows and entertainments which also had a dance venue with a live band.

CIRCUS LIFE

They usually travelled for 6 months during the warmer weather then came back to Stockholm where they spent the winter months doing repairs on the sideshows trucks and tents.

They had 5 children, 4 of whom joined the Tivoli, however my Dad was the youngest and he had to stay at home and go to school.  He would live in their large 2 story home all by himself from the age of around 10, for six months at a time.

PAINTING IDEAS

My father describes this time as very scary and also very exciting as he got older.  His parents would leave him bags and bags full of coins (small change from the Tivoli) to use for food and whatever he needed. They also arranged for the local deli owner to give him credit.

Can you imagine nowadays leaving a child of 10 alone for half a year, however in those days things were different and when my grandparents were home they were great parents from what I can understand.

My dad would come home and check the whole house for ghosts and burglars with a large knife in his hand, walking from room to room.  His nutritional value count could well have been low lol, as he remembers eating a lot of cornflakes during those months.

My grandfather Anton joined the circus at the age of 16, working as an acrobat artist and did a high-wire act.  My grandmother Vera ran away from home at 15 (as I did when I was 14 but that’s another story) and she went out to sea, joined on as a kitchen hand.  They eventually met and ran away to join the circus, well made a circus in their case!

On this painting my grandmother is tied to a spinning wheel although that may be my artistic licence, what is true however is that she was blind folded and tied up and my grandfather also blind folded, would throw knives around her.  My father describes their marriage as a good one but very volatile and remembers many a time when they would have big fights just as their music would start up and their names were announced to go on stage.  He remembers holding his breath hoping that his mother would not get hurt.  She herself had no such qualms however knowing and trusting that Anton would keep her safe, such faith!!    (to be continued)

So I am very glad this next quote was said by Thomas Hart Benton (politician) and not my grandfather!

“I never quarrel, sir.  But sometimes fight, sir, and whenever I fight, sir, a funeral follows”

Hope you come back and visit me again, till then happy painting and sculpting everyone!

Love Marie xx   (c)

The continuation of this art blog here 21. Life in a Circus Tent

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 drive my kids nuts, but hey that’s a mothers job, keeping them safe and out of danger.

Happy Mother’s day to all you wonderful mothers and being one is the most fantastic gift but at the same time a guilt ridden curse.  It was hard enough when they were little but at least then I was the boss and could tuck them safely into their beds at night and keep the monsters from the door.  Now I need a Lear jet and an Uzi to be of any use.

This Painting is one of several artworks I have painted over the years on the trial and tribulations of motherhood. Having a family is very inspirational for an artist and this acrylic on canvas painting is called ” A Mothers work is never done”.

ARTISTS AND IMAGINATION

Just had a call from my baby boy Kai, well baby boy is a bit much he would say, after all he is 23.  Funny though I know that, but he will always be my baby boy and I will probably be annoying him and his sister till I die, with various warnings of imminent danger just as I have done now.  I wonder if my imagination and worry is worse because I am an artist?

You see he has just called from Sweden in transit to London, and as you know they have had a terrorist attacks there, never mind that said baby boy has been living and surviving perfectly fine in London for the last 10 months or the fact that his’ imminent doom preaching mother’ takes us all off to Bali nearly every year for a holiday.

But oh no, that does not count, I am there to protect them.  Like Darth Vader against a terrorist bomb, that’s me! Then there is the volcano to worry about, he already had his flight to Sweden cancelled for a week.  Let’s not forget there is also swine flu, Pick pockets, the Bangkok riots, sitting no further that 7 seats from an exit on the plane, drink spiking and gangs with knifes!

( our family is the 4 people on the right on the detail of the painting below)

Oh grow up girl and get a grip, I know I should, but my children are so precious, bad enough with baby girl here in Adelaide, I know I drive her crazy too.  Poor baby girl 19 years old now and still having to text her mum after every car trip to say she is safe, never mind the fact that one could get ones eye poked out with a sharp stick (lol that was always my ARTIST dad’s warning too, as soon as me or my brother did anything remotely dangerous).

The Swedes have a very good word for my behavior and that is “Mesar” which is a bird in Sweden that is known as a little coward, wimpy, so that’s what an overprotective mother preaching excessive caution is called!

So Mums take a deep breath and enjoy your day, relax, permit yourself to get pampered and forget about the worries for one day.

Oh Bugger I wish I could….my baby boy is still in transit, London-Bangkok-Adelaide, I guess I will have to wait till next year……

Here from Douglas Pagels book “30 Beautiful things” -a thought, I wish for all of you.

May trouble, worries and problems never linger; may they only make you that much stronger and able and wise.  May you rise each day with sunlight in your heart, success in your path, answers to your prayers, and that smile – that I love to see – always there in your eyes.

Love Marie xxx

( Thanks Sonja and Jimmie )

Happy painting and sculpting to every one and a Big Happy Mothers Day to Nanna and Mormor and all of you too 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.

(c)

]]> http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/13-happy-mothers-day/feed/ 0 http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/5-childhood-memories-through-the-eyes-of-my-son-2/ http://mariejonssonharrison.com.au/5-childhood-memories-through-the-eyes-of-my-son-2/#comments Tue, 13 Apr 2010 04:03:13 +0000 http://www.mariejonssonharrison.com.au/new/?p=506 MIDSUMMER PAINTINGS

When I wrote this Art Blog my son Kai was working and living in London while on his gap year from uni.  Whilst there he decided to follow his roots and visit my birth country and home for the first 14 years of my life; Sweden.

Here is one of my paintings on the midsummer theme from my wonderful childhood.   What I only just now found out was, that my Swedish exhibition had been a sell out and that my dear auntie and cousins had traveled half way across Sweden to purchased some of my artworks.

My son stayed with several of our relatives and was looked after so well and given a big insight into the Swedish culture.  It was amazing to hear all about his adventures from the other side of the world.  Kai visited my childhood home that my father Ted (also an Artist) built, the new owners showed my son throughout.

Then a visit to my mother’s home where she grew up, and the graves of my much beloved grandparents, Hillivi and Erik, whom my children were named after.  Lunch in a cafe my grandmother worked in and then across town to see my father’s school and the house he grew up in.

MODEL & FASHION SHOOTS

I was thrilled and very moved that my son at 22 took lots of pictures and seemed genuinely interested, a far cry from his naughty mother who went to Europe to model at around the same age.  Apart from working, the only other sights I saw were the insides of discotheques.  Oh perhaps I saw some sights in the early morning light as I walked back to the hotel, whilst carrying my shoes.

Thought nothing of partying all night and still being able to look the part and have the stamina for the fashion shoot the next day.  I can’t do that too often these days, although I do give it my best shot sometimes. Lol….

Here is another quote which amuses me…..

‘I like to have a martini, two at the very most.  After three I’m under the table.  After four I’m under the host.’

Dorothy Parker

Hope you come back and visit me again, till then 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.