150 ART TRAIL & FATHERS DAY

Happy Fathers Day to my darling Daddy and to all you wonderful fathers out there.  I wish you a wonderful day.

Father’s day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June in many countries, but it is also celebrated on other days and here in Australia it is on the first Sunday in September.  If you fancy reading an art blog about mothers day here is a link; 134 Mothers Day and Mothers Guilt & Art or perhaps read about my talented father and his own art;20. Antonis Tivoli Art and  21. Life in a Circus Tent

painting of midsummer celebrations in Sweden

THE ART OF THE FATHERS DAY CELEBRATION

Sonora Dodd was the founder of Father’s Day in 1910 in Spokane, Washington.  She wanted to celebrate her father the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, who was a single parent and raised six children.  Her initial thought was to celebrate it on June 5^th which was her dad’s birthday.  It didn’t meet with much enthusiasm initially and by the 1920’s Sonora got busy with her studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and stopped promoting the celebration.  It wasn’t until 1930’s when she enlisted the help of some trade groups such as manufacturers of ties and tobacco, which would benefit from the holiday that the special day started to make small inroads.  You know the drill – money makes the world go around, lol.

The celebration was resisted by many as being too commercialized but the trade groups saw the benefit from such a day and continued the publicity until the rest of us weakened and gave in to the idea.  Well actually the American President Lyndon B. Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation honoring fathers with a special day in 1966 and then six years later President Richard Nixon signed it into law in 1972 – so you can thank him for that too and not just Watergate LOL!

Normally we would spend father’s day all together as a family, and catching up with both sets of grandparents  but this year we celebrated my dad’s day a couple of weeks early and had a really lovely time.

SWEDISH MID SUMMER PAINTING

Just as we always did in Sweden too, here is a painting of the Swedish Midsummer celebrations that we so enjoyed.  This acrylic on board painting was commissioned by my USA Gallery and sold there.

This time I had a day out with both my mum and dad, just the 3 of us and that was really lovely.  We met at the Holdfast Bay Discovery Center at Glenelg where I am part of the Sala Festival exhibition; Play at the Bay.  A great show with lots of uplifting and colorful art by some 20 artists, who for the most part live by the sea.

ART TRAIL AT GLENELG

We followed that up by venturing out on the Art Trail on Jetty road which advertises itself as a “Visual feast to stimulate your senses”.  It was great to see that the local shops had for the most part gotten on board and there were lots of signs advertising art in coffee shops and galleries on the side roads too.

THE ARTIST REG MOMBASA

We particularly enjoyed the exhibition at Sussex Street Art, Music & Books; seeing the art of Clinton Habib, Shelley Hughes, Chris White and Dean McPherson.  They also had some limited edition prints by Mambo artist and former Mental as Anything band member Reg Mombasa who I am a big fan of.

I was introduced to Reg once at a gallery and he said he was a fan of my work too, so that put a smile on my face!

Anyway after the diet of art we went to Indochine for some lunch and artistic discussions, followed by another meander down the street and coffee at Gloria Jeans.  A really lovely day, so Thank you mum and dad, love you both lots!

Here a quote that amused me about father’s day;

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”                                                                                                                                                                        (Author unknown)

This one reflects more accurately how I feel about my daddy also by an unknown author;

“Dad, your guiding hand on my shoulder will remain with me forever.”

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.