Marie Jonsson Harrison » Marie

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)

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.

59. Art & Hairy legs and Stuff

Marie — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 01:07:37 +0000

ARTIST INSPIRATIONS

Wow what a week,

I guess I better start to get used to this with Christmas coming up and all the extra functions and shopping and socializing that leads too. It has already started, as Monday night hubby suggests we should go to the movies.

This is rather an unusual thing for him as he is pretty much a homebody and it is me who usually runs the social calendar and often feel like I have to drag him out.
My excuse for going out is always that it is important for an artist to see and do stuff, for inspirational purposes only of course, lol nothing to do with champagne and fun!

It goes without saying then that I was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and off we went.

It is rather a novel thing for us to be able to do – go to the movies like that at the spur of the moment. As we have spent the last 25 years in the country and having an hour and a half’s drive for this type of venture, it is rather fun to just go down the road with not much effort.

Off we trot to a local Vietnamese restaurant, the food is very similar to Thai and yummy and then of to see “Red” rather a unbelievable tale of former spies who get nudged out of retirement rather forcefully a la Bruce Willis style.

It also starred Helen Mirren and Morgan Freeman and was fast paced and action filled like a James Bond movie. As both I and Bryan are both rather fond of this sort of tale we thoroughly enjoyed the ride!

Wednesday night was another movie night out with Kai and his gorgeous girlfriend Samantha when we went and saw The Social Network. I really found it interesting and thought the acting was great. The whole social networking thing is such a phenomena and something as a website owner that you have to be on top of. Crazy to think that before 2003 Facebook did not exist, it seems to me that it has been around for ages.

ART & RACES

In between all of these engagements I have been in the studio too of course and that then brings us to Friday and Orana 60^th Anniversary luncheon which was held at the Morphetteville Racecourse a rather “swanky do” and a fundraiser for people with disabilities which they help through various programs.

The invitation said” race wear” so one had to get spruced up of course.

So there I was in the car in my finery with Bryan driving when the sunlight just shone down on my freshly shaved legs, when I spotted my less than satisfactory job with the razor.

There seemed to be several little areas that were sprouting hairs and looking rather undignified. Time was of the essence and with no razor in my clutch I was very lucky to find the tweezers.

So if you spotted someone looking fabulous in her race wear pink suit but with her feet up on the dashboard plucking her legs, that was me,lol. Can’t take the girl anywhere says the long suffering husband.

ART& MUSIC

The food and wine at the luncheon was great but what I enjoyed most of all was a mad little boogie on the dance floor to “Swanee” (John Swan, who is the brother to Jimmy Barnes and a Rock star in his own right, never mind the rest of the band- they are all fabulous too).

I and a couple of girlfriends decided to give decorum and tact a break and just go for it and enjoy ourselves and dance wildly and we did. The day did not end there however we then went to a comedy show at the Norlunga Art Centre the same night.

For you who have not caught up with comedian Rod Gregory (the Old Fella), he is a must. As a matter of fact here is a art blog about him 65. That Old Fella

Saturday morning and start the day with a walk as usual and then Christmas shopping with my daughter which was an all day affair, but lots of fun with a nice little lunch. So busy busy busy but getting nothing much done at all!

In regards to the hairy leg situation Xi Zhi (philosopher) puts it perfectly, although I am not sure he really had hairy legs in mind when he said this-

“You should examine yourself daily. If you find faults, you should correct them. When you find none, you should try even harder.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting!

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.

58. A Lifetime of Pix – Photography

Marie — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 23:55:07 +0000

EXHIBITION OPENING

We had a most interesting weekend recently. I had been asked to open an exhibition for my dear friend Ted James who was celebrating 50 years of being behind the lens of his trusted camera. It was held at the Rustons Rose Garden and Convention Centre in Renmark, South Australia.

This Artwork Sold in America

ART IN PICTURES

I first met Ted as a 17 year old just after I had starting modelling and over the years he put me on the cover of a few magazines. In the hectic days of fashion and glamour, Teds shoots were always very different. They would take a whole day and involve some great locations, either down by a beach or in the middle of a wheat field just before harvest. Ted would always pack a picnic with dried fruits and nuts, cheese and crackers and fruit juices and everything would happen at a leisurely pace resulting in some great photographs. He also worked for the Australasian Post and Pix Magazine, Scope Magazine in South Africa as well as Pietro Press in Italy. Ted maintains that his favourite work was photographing beautiful girls, and who can blame him, great work if you can get it eh, Ted?

EXHIBITION IN NEW YORK

By no means was Teds photography limited by beautiful girls however much of a dream job that may seem to some of you! No, he also had many a distinguished clients, as he plied his trade from landscapes to river scenes, horses and cars, working for British Leyland, Volvo, Bank of Adelaide, and Faulding’s, just to name a few. Of course he also did a lot of fashion work for most of the designers of the time, including Lidwien and those photographs were exhibited at the Rockefeller Centre in New York.

GOLD PAINT

A couple of the artistic engagements that stood out for Ted was the “Golden Couple” from Holland, who as Ted put it were “starkers” apart from the gold paint that covered them from head to toe, whom he photographed at Noarlunga Beach. But it was as they were driving home that they really scared some other motorists, sitting there looking like “gold statues” in the car and then they suddenly moved and looked at the car next to them. “You should have seen the looks on those poor peoples faces, said Ted!” Another highlight in his career was photographing Swan Lake and several other Ballets for Michael Edgely and his first wife.

The most successful shot however was from a Bird of a Different Feather- a pelican no less. As it happened I had a very small part in that too- you see it was on the way home from dropping me off to Bryan after I had accompanied Ted on another job on the Murray Explorer, that Ted stopped off in Loxton at 6am in the morning and captured that photo which then was used all over the world for the State Government and other organizations, the famous, “Pelican on a Snag” which most of you would have seen one time or another over the years.

Another of Ted’s interests is Orchid growing and I feel very privileged to just have had a flower named after me, which was a great honour.

Here is another link to a modelling story in my art blog if you fancy a look; 12. Salvador Dali and C’est La Vie

THE ART OF AGING WELL

At 83 he shows no signs of slowing down and still goes out on the river and rows most mornings before he starts work. When we first met, Ted told me that he was going to live to a 130, and I believed him then and I believe him still, so I was not surprised when he just told me in an email recently, after I had bugged him with all my questions about his past, he said, “I am exhausted, you have put a “middle aged” man under pressure!”

Half his luck, I certainly hope that I follow his lead and Ted I wish you great success with the rest of your “middle age”. Just keep on enjoying Life.

And I think this saying by Peter Ustinov (actor) fits perfectly here.

“The point of living, and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best if yet to come”

Till next time 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.

57. Art & Signing the Contract

Marie — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 05:36:19 +0000

ART CONTRACT

I had been painting for about 5 years when my gallery in Melbourne called me to let me know that a scout for a Japanese gallery had been in to see them and were very interested in showing my artwork in Nagoya.

This painting depicts my Qantas flight over to Nagoya in Japan for my first exhibition, however there was a lot of I’s to be dotted and t’s to be crossed before that first trip. You see the Japanese do not do things by half and it took more than six months before that first contract was signed.

So in the meantime I lived on hope, as during both my days as a model and then in the art business I have come to know that you win some and you lose some, and I didn’t know which category this was going to fall into.

Firstly I had to send pictures of my artwork to Japan, price lists, mediums and sizes etc, and then they wanted to see some of the actual paintings in real life so a couple of paintings had to be sent over to Nagoya. Then there was lots of to-ing and fro-ing about the price I was to receive for each art work and the commission for the art gallery in Melbourne.

Eventually a representative from the gallery in Japan flew to Melbourne and they flew me from Adelaide for the final meeting and signing of the contract, which was held at the Melbourne gallery who were my agent in this new art venture.

ART & KIDS

I took one of my dearest friends Christina with me as well as my two kids, Kai and Hillivi. So off we go; Miss Hillivi my daughter was 2 years old at the time and had just sat down in her seat on the plane and fastened the seatbelt before she threw up all over herself, (there are quite a few stories like that with little Miss Hillivi) luckily I had Christina there to help me out.

I do know that first impressions are really important and thought my chances with the Japanese would not be enhanced by being covered in baby spew, so by now I was getting a bit worried.

ART MEETING

The problem was we had to go virtually straight from the plane to the Japanese meeting, as typically the plane was delayed. However as one door closes another one opened and I ran into an acquaintance on the plane that said we should come to his hotel and get changed. Saved by the man on a white horse so to speak as both I and Hillivi did not smell so good by this stage(brave man), so that offer came in very handy.

Then there was another small problem with taxis. Here in Australia you have to have children in seatbelts and in booster chairs when travelling if the child is under 7 and of course, I had not thought of that.( I am normally very safety conscious but tell me how you get around in a new city with kids and no car.)

We eventually found a taxi driver to take us (although we had to duck in the backseat all the way) and surprisingly enough still made it to the meeting on time. Christina, bless her cotton socks amused the kids in a café down the road whilst I against all odds and with nothing left but hope finally had that contract signed and sealed.

If you would like to know what happened on my first trip to Nagoya to attend my art exhibition there here is a link; 64. Flying to Japan (continuation of Signing the Contract)

So here is a saying from Lu Xun (writer) that I think fits rather well here.

“Hope can neither be affirmed nor denied. Hope is like a path in the countryside: Originally there was no path-yet, as people are walking all the time in the same spot, a way appears.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting!

Love Marie xxx (c)

56. ART & I DOOOOOOOOOO

Marie — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 06:56:16 +0000

ARTISTIC WEDDINGS

There are weddings and then there are good weddings and I went to one of the Great ones just recently, and no not conducted by a magpie like in my naive painting here! Now I may be biased as this was my darling nephew (who is just the coolest guitar playing guy around) and his beautiful Fiona, who already has been part of our lives for the past 7 years. Although I thought it was longer than that as I liked her lots right from the start and she is a person with a kind heart and easy manner and positive attitude that you enjoy sharing time with.

So that being said, I don’t know how you feel, but I know from my own personal experience, all weddings are different. Some you enjoy because the food is great, others because of the band or location or as in this case because you can see and you know in your heart that these two people are so right for each other that they will last a life time.

That’s not to say that at this particular wedding all those other elements weren’t there too because they were, if I have to pick on anything it would be they had the ceremony starting at 11.30 on a Sunday morning! Just as well the Hens night was a week earlier is all I can say to that. (I do believe I was nursing a rather large headache the Sunday before, and it was all Fiona’s fault.) If you fancy a read about the goings on at her Bachelorette party here is a link to the paintings and art blog, but do keep in mind the P… word is mentioned 53. Art & Bachelorette – A Hens night out

The ceremony was held overlooking the water at West Lakes Resort and then followed by a Greek Feast at Zacs, where every wish was catered for. Such a memorable day!

This acrylic on canvas board painting depicts the ceremony of birds of a different feather completely, the artwork sold in Japan, and I had lots of fun painting it! Oh and in the pretend story of this acrylic painting of course the birds were let out of their cages and lived happily ever after in the wild. That goes without saying!

In my own case people predicted our marriage would last six months tops (they of little faith!)Oh I do love proving people wrong, as we just celebrated our 28^th wedding anniversary, so you never can quite tell.

ART INSPIRATIONS

That reminds me of another friend of mine, who got married in the 80’s, this marriage unfortunately only lasted a year. The wedding itself was a rather splendid production at the finest locations and no expense spared and a total bill of $60.000.00 which for the 80’s was a rather large amount to pay for a wedding. Rather a waste of money, just for one night I thought at the time, but hey we had a fantastic night!

We have been to a lot of wedding over the years and another one that springs to mind was also a splendid affair at a seaside location followed by the reception in the top hotel of the time in Adelaide with a 20 piece orchestra and silver service all the way.

So there we were at this glitzy Do with half of Adelaide’s “who is who” in attendance and what do I do- well klutzy me had to go and spoil it, lol – I managed to dribble half my dinner on my taffeta dress (you do remember the taffeta dresses of the 80’s?) The spill was not somewhere low down where it could be hidden, but right up top on my chest, where some sticky mess looked mighty unsightly.

FABRIC PAINTER

Long suffering Bryan takes quite a delight in his wife’s history of food dribbles, as he thinks it is all rather funny to see this model looking bird dressed to kill with food stains, isn’t he mean! LOL

Off to the ladies loo I go as I thought I better try to wash it off, easier said than done! Have you ever tried to wash a dark purple taffeta gown in a public toilet (well a Hilton toilet but still!) There I was trying ever so hard to get rid of this stain but instead of making it smaller it actually seemed to be spreading all over the dress, no matter what I did. Who ever invented those horrible hand dryers that you have in toilets, they are absolutely useless when it counts, or should I say absolutely useless at anytime, especially useless at drying hands for which they were invented I do believe.

I missed some of the speeches and the cutting of the cake as this procedure took half an hour to accomplish. Needless to say I spent the rest of the night with my hair covering the stain, thank god for long hair!

So here is a bit of wisdom for you who may be contemplating marriage from Pythagoras (philosopher)

“The oldest, shortest words – “yes” and “no” – are those which require the most thought.

Oh and by the way if I find any advice from any other philosopher on “How to avoid food stains” I will be sure to let you know.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx (c)

55. Art & The Rise and Fall of the Tooth

Marie — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 01:12:37 +0000

ART OF PAINTING SMILES

I must be very fascinated by teeth I think, as I always paint the big broad grins in all my paintings and sculptures, or is it that I want the whole world to be happy and gay the Laxit way! (to borrow from an old Australian commercial)

As you can see in the snippets of these artworks lots of teeth are the go. So it goes without saying then that I have another couple of stories up my sleeve about teeth.

If you want to see the whole of this sculpture “If you remember the sixties you weren’t there” and read the art blog here is a link 10. If You Remember The Sixties, You Weren’t There, ART

ART INSPIRATIONS – OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES

When my adult teeth came along as they do round about 7 years of age I had a gap in between my front teeth, everyone said that it looked charming (but I don’t think I ever believed them)

So during my modeling years I would if the job called for, wear like a little gadget that fitted over the front teeth and made them look straight from Hollywood so to speak.

However eventually in my early thirties I decided that with the inevitable wrinkles about to land on me, perhaps it was time to finally have perfect teeth.

And so it was and they were very nice, until my daughter was around 4 years old, suddenly whilst eating a sandwich, I felt that there was something else floating about my mouth and it was not part of the sandwich filling!

Off to the bathroom mirror I went and shock and horror, one of the caps of my front tooth had come off. Now I do not have to describe that to you, how I looked was not a pretty sight.

So I rang the dentist and had an appointment to get it fixed the next day, thank god.

However in the meantime life had to go on at home and the kids came home from school and kindy and I greeted them with one hand held firmly over my mouth.

Kai my son took it all in his stride but baby girl Hillivi, who would never accept the word NO, did not give up and asked me at every turn, to take my hand away and show her my mouth and the missing tooth.

She nagged and nagged me all day until bed time and then she said ever so sweetly as only a little 4 year old girl can do “Mummy I love you so very much and I don’t care what you look like I will love you anyway, and you are my beautiful queen, so don’t worry and just show me”

So how could I resist such comforting words and her sweetness got the better of me and I did show her very quickly. She took a good look with her eyes as big as saucers and then she said “Oh mummy I still love you, my darling little WITCHY POO!” Out of the mouth of babes, right? (Where had the beautiful queen gone now, I wondered, lol?)

SCULPTURE & ART BLOGS

The above detail is from the ceramic and mosaic wall-based sculpture; “Apple juice is fine but we rather have a wine” – (Adam & Eve) If you fancy seeing my artworks of Adam & Steve as well as the art blogs, here is a couple of links; 14. Adam & Steve 2 Sculpture and 35. The First Adam and Steve Artwork

MORE PAINTING IDEAS

Another friend of mine, a lovely lady just told me her tooth story and it goes something like this.

She was 11 years old at the time and playing netball (a game similar to basketball) when she fell over and broke all of her front teeth and consequently had to have false teeth made and fitted.

Some time passed and then one day at school, those pesky teeth fell out of her mouth and broke and of course she did not want any of the boys to see her with no teeth, so even though they were broken she put them back in.

But the story does not end there, she finally got home from school and sat down to have her dinner, and you guessed it, she swallowed them! Off to the hospital it is with the parents in tow for x-rays and the medical staff could not believe that this child had actually swallowed her false teeth until they saw the evidence before them!

So to all of you who now feel terribly worried, fear not I say and keep these words of wisdom from Benjamin Franklin (statesman) in mind.

“Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx

54.Art & The Place of the Ground Frog (All Roads lead to Mallala, part 2)

Marie — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 07:05:47 +0000

ART & FROGS

Unlike this painting, this little country town is actually rather quiet with only a population of 500 and according to Wikipedia the name is aboriginal for ‘madlola’ which means ‘place of the ground frog’. Not that I saw anymore frogs there than anywhere else, but maybe that’s how come I picked up the frog inspiration because I do like to paint them, for you who are familiar with my naive art. Here is another art blog & painting where the detail of the frog above comes from 49. By the Seaside & Art

Below are two different versions of the painting “All Roads Lead to Mallala”.

ARTISTIC LICENCE

At various times in the time we lived in Mallala, there actually were both cows, sheep and runaway horses that raced through the streets, my artistic licence is just that they did not all do it at the same time!

The yellow school bus you see is one that stopped outside our church and took Kai the 10 km in to the local primary school.

A lovely little country school with nice teachers and principal, as a matter of fact the first time I met the principal he was dressed up from head to toe in a purple monster suit, a friendly monster I should add, being the Purple people Eater on a “school dress up day”.

To me that was quite amazing, coming from Sweden where people were more stiff and formal and you would never on your life catch the principal in a dress up costume (well not during office hours anyway, I am sure they have their scandals too just like the British and their polititians in suspender belts and the like.)

The pub on the right is where “Smokey the Chip eating sheep” was raised, and the white ute (pick up truck) in the top picture was Bryan’s car that Smokey came home in, 11. “SMOKEY” The Chip eating sheep Art blog

This pub has been owned and run by several different owners and continues to thrive, now perhaps the most popular it has ever been with delicious meals and often a band rocking the night away, and it is a popular spot for country folk.

MALLALA CAR RACING & ART

Mallala is quite famous in its own right for its Motor Sport Park which regularly hosts national and international car racing.

The Royal Australian Air force originally established their base there in 1939 where they used to train their pilots until they closed down in 1960 which is where the car racing now takes place.

With the Air force in mind here is a quote by Toni Morrison (writer) that I like.

“Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down”.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and maybe I should say happy car racing too,

Love Marie xx

53. Art & Bachelorette – A Hens night out

Marie — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 01:29:09 +0000

THE ART OF THE BACHELORETTE PARTY

The invitation read” HENS NIGHT, come and join Fiona and dance the night away before she walks down the aisle on her wedding day! Girl’s Night Out with fabulous food and wine, Dress code Bling”- and Yes it was and Yes we did! We had so much fun but I must say that hen’s nights had changed a lot since when I got married, and this certainly inspired me to both paint and write art blogs.

Funny thing is I cannot actually remember my own hens night, maybe that is because I did love to party and probably had a dozen girls nights out before I actually walked down the aisle, or maybe that is also something that we should blame on the champagne. Oh the champagne has a lot to answer for!

THE ART OF THE BUCKS NIGHT & STAG NIGHT

I do remember that Bryan had a bucks night though, well maybe that is because there is pictorial evidence documenting the terrible deeds! That was in the day when the groom would get tarred and feathered. So there is a photo of a rather worse for wear groom standing in his jocks with shoe polish all over him, and I mean ALL over him.

Lucky for both him and I that it all ended well as some stories I have heard of what the so called “mates” do to each other sometimes ends in tears. This next story is a classic example. One” groom to be” was tied up after a very heavy night of partying to the pole of a jetty, by his best man and some mates. It was a hot balmy night and the tide was out so the lads figured all was sweet and left him there and continued to party up the street.

THE ART OF SURVIVAL

Well a few hours passed as they do when you are having fun and finally they thought they better check on the groom, who at this stage was now millimeters away from drowning, the water was lapping up under his nose and he had to time his breath after each wave. If they had waited another couple of minutes there would not have been any wedding to go to. He lived to tell the tale but the story ended bitter sweet anyway as that was the last time that the best man and the groom ever saw each other, he and the other couple of mates involved were persons non grata at the ceremony and 20 years later they haven’t spoken to each other again, the bride saw to that and who can blame her.

This painting depicts seals at the Zoo (which sold in Japan) and the only thing it has in common with this story is the being up to ones neck in water!

ARTISTIC IDEAS FOR FUTURE PAINTINGS

Anyway us girls are a little more kinder to each other and these days the last night of freedom (as it were) are carefully orchestrated affairs with every little detail taken care of by very dedicated and wonderful bridesmaids and maids of honors. At this one for my gorgeous niece Fiona (who is marrying handsome nephew Regan) held at the Ambar Lounge at the Ambassadors Hotel, there were hors D’oeuvres and drinks, a scrumptious main meal and for dessert a Penis cake.

Mmm…haven’t I mentioned that word yet!!! That’s funny as they were everywhere on this night. Just the generic brand actually and not attached to an actual man or anything! There were lots of games both guessing ones, like” What part of the body does the groom prefer on his bride to be”, and each right answer was rewarded with a small gift which was a little bit naughty.

Then there was “Pin the tail on the Donkey” although in this case “he” was definitely not a donkey and “it” was certainly not a tail”.

Would you believe that I was the winner of that game, go me! I obviously know where they grow, lol, although I will have to admit the blind fold was not done up too tight and I actually had a little peek. Naughty me, and that won me a tube of Chocolate Body Paint, funnily enough my daughter came second and she got a funny little toy in a box, we haven’t figured out what it is yet, looks like a little torpedo, lol.

SEX & ART

The Penis cake was to die for and both I and my daughter was wildly excited it was also gluten free, so we could actually eat some. It was presented with lots of little chocolate penises around it on a silver tray and the chief bridesmaid had made it herself, obviously another artist in the making!

She said her husband came home unexpectantly whilst she was baking and wondered if she always made penis cake and chocolates whilst he was away. She also pointed out that the cake had collapsed a little in the middle but she had got over that problem by filling that part up with cream, which all us girls thought was rather authentic anyway!

The rest of the girls went out clubbing afterwards and I should have too, as life is too short to sleep it away, next time! But this time I caught the train home with my little box of goodies- oh did I forget to tell you about them, all of us got a little box full of little naughty sweets, yep you guessed it in the shape of you know what!!

So there I was, sitting on that train which was absolutely full of people, some perhaps a little bit worse for wear just like me (well it was 12am on a Saturday night) and I could not help having a little giggle to myself thinking about what my little box contained!

So here is something I’ve learned said by J.A.Wheeler (physicist)

“If you haven’t found something strange during the day, it hasn’t been much of a day.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie xx

52.Art & All Roads lead to Mallala

Marie — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 05:05:00 +0000

ART IN THE GRAVEYARD

All roads lead to Mallala, is the name of this painting and when we first moved out to the country from the big “smoke” this is where we moved to, well nearly, 10 km from here, as you can see there is a lot that goes on in the country too depicted in my naive art way.

We lived in an old church which had been converted into a 2 story house, surrounded by paddocks and with a graveyard over the back fence.

A lot of people would comment that we were brave to live there, but even though I am a scary cat in other aspects the graveyard never affected me, it was a serene and peaceful place.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

We were told when we bought the place that it was no longer in use, so I must say that once when we arrived home and there was a fresh grave there it was a little confronting, lol.

But still no ghosts or any funny goings -on, the only funny business came from our dogs at the time Spike and Saba and the rabbits that lived under the graves.

Spike our small terrier used to chase them down the rabbit hole and I would be beside myself wondering if she would come out alive, or get stuck there forever, or goodness gracious- bring up a bone that did not belong to a rabbit!

If you enjoyed that dog story you may just enjoy this art blog too 8. Thunder in the Thunder Box & Art

Mallala was our first taste of country life and we were welcomed to the district with open arms and met such a lot of nice people, some of whom we count as our best friends even today 20 something years later.

ART OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

However there was one less than friendly person there, who shall remain nameless lol. In any case this woman was not from the district but opened a video hire outlet there in conjunction with the local takeaway.

She was grumpy as, heaven forbid you should bring a video in a minute after the allotted time, or even worse actually had faulty video that you could not watch and then complain about it.

It would be like facing the Gestapo; you would tremble at the thought of bringing the video back and telling her about it. Of course she would insist it was your fault and that you deliberately broke the video and you better pay up or else.

Lol luckily this particular woman did not last long in this business. Funny don’t you think when people run their own business and have a shop front and then have not learned to be friendly to their customers, they do not realize that repeat business comes not only from the product they sell but also from their demeanor too, you know customer service. You can see the Video shop a little left of center in the artwork.

Here is a quote from Victor Hugo (writer)

“Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters”

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

Love Marie xx

51. ART of Laughter is the best medicine mmm…. and maybe a little bit of snake

Marie — Sat, 23 Oct 2010 06:27:12 +0000

THE ART OF FRIENDSHIP

My long time friend Debonella (my nickname for her) had her birthday this week, and although she lives in another state and we see each other very rarely, I still treasure our friendship and the mad times we had together and she is every bit as beautiful now as she was in her modelling days a real artistic inspiration.

Debonella is crazy mad about horses and always have been and has represented Australia in horse events overseas. As she is a very private person I won’t tell you in what events but she is certainly up there with the Champions!

This painting depicts us just laying about and drinking champagne which if we had been asked what our hobbies were we may have included on the list- oh those were the days. I must confess I neither remember the name of this painting nor where it sold, not from too much champagne drinking though,LOL. If you enjoy the artblog below you may also enjoy this one 12. Salvador Dali and C’est La Vie

THE ART OF FASHION

Anyway the time I was going to tell you about here, was when we were in the Philippines for 6 weeks on tour with a fashion parade.

We spent 4 or so weeks in Manila doing a daily lunch time show in one of the top hotels and then the next couple of weeks flying to the provinces around Philippines and doing the same. It was lots of fun but also hard work as in-between doing the parades there were always publicity shots to be done and interviews and television appearances, etc.

So at the time we were quite exhausted (not to mention all the partying we would be doing at night too, oh that glamorous life can be so tiring.)

Anyway Debonella spotted some locally produced tonic drink, advertising that you would be good as new and get that missing” spring” back in your step.

THE ART OF THE SNAKE

On closer inspection it was also noted that it did contain Snake! As I am a vegetarian that put stop to the consumption for me however my mad friend was still keen to try some. I should tell you now that us Australian girls are quite down to earth and always like having a laugh and maybe I and Debonella would always egg each other on even more, to amuse ourselves and particularly so when we got a bit tired.

So there we were in this 5 star hotel lobby just having been to the shop and bought the snake tonic drink, which Debonella finished in one swift skull when she thought she should show me how great it made her feel.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

So to set the scene, the lobby is vast with a beautiful marble floor and décor to match, the people milling around are in Armani suits and other designer gear dripping with diamonds, when suddenly Debonella (looking stunning and statuesque as usual in full model makeup) starts to do giant leaps around the lobby like something out of Swan Lake with a few pirouettes thrown in.

Her friend, moi, looses the plot completely and I’m doubled over crying with laughter, whilst the whole lobby has come to a standstill and everyone are looking very surprised and slightly amused at us.

So nothing ventured nothing gained I figure, you have to live your life so that you have lots of fun memories to amuse you in your old age. As my old age is still far away (well that’s what I tell myself anyway) I hope to make plenty more for the memory bank!

So here is a quote I like and which fits perfectly here, said by Horace (Poet).

“Mix a little foolishness with your prudence: It’s good to be silly at the right moment.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting!

Love Marie xx

42. Art & All That Packing ..mmm Better have a Holiday

Marie — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 04:00:50 +0000

THE ART OF MOVING

Now who was the idiot that thought that would be a good idea!!!! Fourteen days in Bali sounds nice, yea right! Mmm…might have been moi ! (well Bali was fantastic, it was the aftermath that sucked! Lol) You see the timing of this little holiday really sucks but it worked out this way as we had our house on the market for a while and decided to live our lives as we always do regardless which meant painting and sculpting and also having holidays.

We had no idea that the week after sunning ourselves in Bali (at the time of booking the holiday) we would also have to move the entire contents of the previous 17 years of our lives out of our huge farm house. We tried to change the settlement date but had to work in with the new owners, so for the first part of the holiday we were feeling decidedly STRESSED, so much to do and so little time! Not only did we have to shift all our stuff but also all the animals we own, birds and cats as this painting shows and also the dogs too.

COMEDIAN; THE OLD FELLA

I suppose I only have myself to blame with the timing of this but I couldn’t help but laugh when a comedian friend of mine Rodney Gregory, you probably know him as The Old Fella from the Australia’s Got Talent (check him out on Youtube here) said:

“Good luck with shifting, great idea to go away in the middle of it??” I might try that, we are shifting in about 3 weeks, can hardly sleep in anticipation”.

There is no way in words to describe, what a terrible and stressful time we had for that last week at the farm, as we sorted, gave away, threw away, burned, packed, dusted, scrubbed and cleaned and I thought it would never end. As the settlement deadline loomed closer and closer we were 5 people working our fingers to the bones, including our cleaning lady and the window cleaning guy and my baby boy.(here is the window cleaning guy, Craig as he has appeared in a previous artwork, in ceramic and mosaic)

THE ART OF SORTING

Of course we could have hired removalists, however as we were downgrading and only taking half of our belongings we actually had to go through everything ourselves anyway. We had of course started packing before we went away but we are talking 17 years of accumulated stuff.

We also have many objects of value and sentiment, however I cannot understand why I agonize so much about throwing away stray bits of paper and ornaments with a chip in it and clothes that are out of fashion, never mind the perfectly good rubber bands and paperclips and the like.

Why do I think it will all come in handy one day lol! Someone SAVE me and just put it all in a big skip!

For the last 2 nights Bryan and I only got 3 hours sleep each night, the pace was that frantic that I’m surprised we didn’t have heart attacks so I can only deduct from that our hearts are probably quite healthy! We still managed to go over the time limit by 2 and a half hours but the new owners were very gracious and did not complain.

So here are some wise words from Ernest Hemingway (writer) that I think fit well here. “Never confuse movement with action.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you.

Love Marie xx

41. Art & Collecting Cackleberries and Thank you Balaklava

Marie — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 02:34:37 +0000

(continuing blog from Tree Change to Sea Change , see story below)

ARTISTS INSPIRATIONS

There are other things we will miss very much and appreciate about living in the country too. In this painting called “Collecting Cackleberries” we are of course collecting the eggs, the four of us and every one of our chooks had names, boy they were hard to remember!

Can you imagine sometimes I wrote birthdays cards with everyone of the chooks mentioned by name and not to forget the ducks, parrots cats, dogs and horses, cows and sheep.

That soon wore thin and now only us and the dogs names gets on the cards!

GALLERY & BALCO ART AWARDS

We were so lucky to have been made so welcome in this little town that is so supportive of the arts as well.

They have the cutest art gallery which used to be the Courthouse, entirely staffed by volunteers where they have exhibitions all year round and also run an art competition called the Balco awards, with entries from artists far and wide, which I have been lucky enough to have won the major ART price one time and minor prizes quite often.

COMMUNITY ARTS

The whole town have come out in support for the different art projects and sculptures and they have a first class theater group called the Balaklava Community Arts.

They put on at least one major show each year such as Oliver, Wizard of Oz and Jesus Christ Superstar, with amateur actors some whom could get a professional gig if they wanted to pursue it further. It is also so endearing to see the local teachers, shopkeepers and people around town strutting their stuff on the stage!

Our children did most of their schooling here and I think they were very lucky to be able to go to a small country school that was still able to provide nearly all the facilities and support that you get in the city.

However what we valued so much was the personal attention and interest the kids got both from the school and sporting organizations but also from the local community. Smiling faces and caring people who look out for one another that is something that we will really miss.

FARMING IS AN ART

I am happy too, that we had a chance to experience the farming life (although we had a share farmer do all the heavy work) we understand now the changing of the seasons and the heartbreak when the rain does not fall and you watch your crop whittle and die on the paddock. I get it now when the farmers complain when the drought sets in and the animals have little to eat, and the devastation when your animals contract a disease, when you have done everything in your power and there is nothing else that you can do.

Whenever I miss you Balaklava, I will try to think of the things I did not care for; such as the flies and dust and the scorching hot days when you can’t even take a breath without burning your oesophagus in 47 degree Celsius heat.

But I bet you my thoughts will center on the laughter of the kids playing and running around our big farm house and yard, how they were chasing after chooks and dogs, and their surprised faces when the rooster turned around and chased them.

How can I forget riding our beautiful horses around the paddocks, rugging, feeding them together with the kids and then taking walks along the river on a moonlit night and seeing the starry sky, so chockablock full of bright stars like nothing would ever prepare you for?

So THANK YOU BALAKLAVA you will be forever in our hearts.

I will have to remember in the coming days this quote by Boethius (statesman and Philosopher)

“Nothing is miserable unless you think it is so”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting, and for you farmers happy farming too

Love Marie xx (c)

40. Tree Change for a Sea Change & Art

Marie — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 01:32:02 +0000

ARTIST INSPIRATIONS

This painting is one I painted early on in my career (which sold in America) which was inspired by our new life on the farm, and what a lovely time it has been too.

Here we are unloading the truck with the dairy cows that we had on agistment each summer, they actually came on foot so the red truck is artistic licence.

We have lived here for the last 17 years and loved every minute of it, if it wasn’t for the fact that our children both now need to live in the city and find it hard to work such long hours and study at uni at the same time we would probably never have thought about leaving the country. I must admit I have had quite a few changes in my life from international model to artist for one! Leaving the farm though will be hard.

Now however it has finally happened and we don’t know whether to be happy or sad about the next chapter of our lives by the sea and with only 30 minutes to the city centre.

To wake up to the twitter of little birds and loud screeching of Galahs and Corellas is something that we will miss (oh maybe not the screeching bit, lol)

Speaking of Twitter if you would like to follow me there, here is a link https://twitter.com/Naiveview

Other things we will miss is the serene 40 minute river walk on our own property that we do each morning, often seeing the kangaroo who lives part time in our paddock and also ducks and other river birds that visit from far flung places.

The possum who comes to visit us at night looking for an apple or some bread, a wild animal who reaches out and grabs the treats with his little hands so trusting that we won’t harm him (we won’t miss the little brown pellets he leaves behind though lol)

HORSES AND ART

Our two remaining horses Pringles and Zipper, miniature ponies, have already found a wonderful place to live, with rolling hills and lovely people who spoil them with treats.

Our horses inspired many paintings and art blogs and here is a link to one of those with some artworks 61. Can Horses Write ?

I will sorely miss the open fires, the rain on the iron roof, the smell of the freshly cut lawns and rain, the peace and quiet and not a neighbour in sight. Not to mention; our permanent waterhole and the river when it flows and the whole area rebirths with new life and the trees full of figs, apricots and oranges.

Our 2 dogs and the birds will be coming with us and also Milo the cat, however we are going to have to plead our case with the new owners for Ozzy (yes named after Ozzy Osborne) our other cat, as he never took to being inside and likes roaming the country side. I must say that it is very rarely that we find a bird eaten, he is however quite the Mouser so he earns his keep so to speak, and with the current mouse plague that is quite an asset.

This saying by Titus Livy (Historian) fits well here I think.

“In difficult and hopeless situations the boldest plans are the safest.”

Till Next time happy painting and sculpting to you all.

Love Marie (c)

39. Our Skyshow Art Inspiration

Marie — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 06:27:58 +0000

PAINTING INSPIRATION

We first started going to the sky show when our son was about 10 months old in 1988 and that is the inspiration for this naive art painting.

The Sky show was held as an annual event and started in the middle 80’s to celebrate Australia Day with an amazing fireworks display synchronized to pop music and sponsored by a local radio station called SAFM and later on joined by the hardware store Bunnings. It was held in Bonython Park along the river and attended by an estimated 150.000 people at a time, but watched by many more from several vantage points in Adelaide, it was of course with my artistic eye a painting just waiting to happen!

We actually tried to watch it one year when we were unable to go from the farm 100km away, but that proved to be a tad optimistic!!

THE ART OF THE PICNIC

Every year we would pack a picnic and drive the one and a half hours into Adelaide park the car and then walk along the river for another 20 or so minutes to reach the spot with bags and picnic blankets, esky and with the kids in tow, together with what seemed to be the entire Adelaide population.

With the atmosphere of anticipation in the air we would make our way along whilst the kids ran up ahead and one year even brought their scooters (you know the kind without a motor that you kick along with your leg on the ground) that they got as Christmas presents and whizzed up ahead.

Our son Kai (red top & blue jeans on painting detail) as I said was only a baby when we first attended and we were a bit worried that he would be frightened by the noise of the rockets going off and the loud music, but no worries, he was good as gold and just laid there with me on a big picnic blanket looking up at the sky with the biggest of eyes, our daughter Hillivi (pink dress with hearts on painting detail) was much the same 4 years later when she came into the world.

We would set ourselves up in a particular spot each year far away from the stage but right by the river, where the kids could run around and chase ducks and play after which we would have an amazing feast of dips, crackers, olives and the like, followed by a “main course” of sorts and cake and coffee.

Then as it got dark we laid down ready for the main event which never failed to disappoint us. Over the years we were sometimes joined by various friends and also my mum and dad (which is the time depicted in this painting, we are all sitting on the lilac picnic rug the 6 of us with the esky, my father; sculptor Ted Jonsson is the one with the beard. )

ART EXHIBITION IN NAGOYA, JAPAN

As you can see from this Japanese art invitation I was in rather good company in this exhibition-just the 3 of us! Being part of an art exhibition featuring art by Andy Warhol and Steve Kaufman is something you as an artist just dream about!

SPIRITUALITY IN ART

Lying there next to the river watching the wonderment of the black sky with the stars followed by pulsating music and then the crack and light explosion of a million rockets going off and tumbling down all over the sky was amazing – You know how sometimes you feel the godliness (whether you are religious or not) when something stirs deep inside you and you have your loved ones close and you just want to capture that feeling forever, well that was the sky show for us.

So as we sat by the river taking it all in I remembered this quote from A.A Milne (writer)

“Rivers know this; There is no hurry. We shall get there.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie xxx (c)

38. Little Birdy Floyd painting

Marie — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:32:50 +0000

BIRD PAINTINGS

In this painting “Spring at last” is a sweet little bird named Floyd, a cockatiel whom we shared our life’s with for several years after Bryan and I got married.

You see, at that stage we lived in an apartment and the rules were no pets. Well I think a bird did not count with the landlord, at least I hope so because Floyd was there.

He was our “Practice child” if you like. You know how it goes you do not feel ready for real children but you want to nest and share your life with the patter of little feet and in this situation they were very little indeed.

Floyd was an absolutely gorgeous bird, and I cried buckets when he died very young after only a couple of years.

ART OF BEING PARENTS

Poor Floyd, you see as far as a ‘practice child’ goes, we were terrible parents, well I haven’t had it confirmed because the vet told us an autopsy on the little bird was out of our price range at the time. However Floyd did develop kidney problems and I have a strong suspicion that had to do with his party trick of loving to drink out of our wine glasses when we had a party, much to the delight and amusements of our guests.

We were obviously young and stupid and very lucky he was not of the human variety or we would be facing serious charges by now for being bad parents. If you fancy another art blog about birds with a funny and happy ending here is a link for you 16. In a Jam with ART

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

Another thing Floyd used to do just for kicks was to totally trick us. He lived in a cage in the kitchen mostly, although he would fly around our apartment quite a lot, much to the dismay of our cleaning lady whom thought bird poop on the curtain rod or the tops of the doors was a bit much. So even in that area we had a lot to learn about keeping house and looking after offspring, lol.

Anyway in kitchen at the time we had one of those kettles that would whistle as loud as can be until we came running to turn it off (technology has moved on somewhat!)

In any case Floyd learned to imitate the kettle perfectly and had both me and Bryan running into the kitchen constantly as if you didn’t turn that damn kettle off it would spill water all over the place and just continue with the noise until you did.

Clever little Floyd ran that house hold and fooled us time after time, whenever he felt like a bit of company.

I am happy to report our parenting skills improved and I think Flannery O’Connor (writer) quote fits in here.

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie (c)

37. The Golden Years of Modelling in Art

Marie — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 06:34:29 +0000

ART INSPIRATIONS

This painting “Happy New Year at Regine’s” was inspired by my mad modelling days, and crazy mad they were too, but sooo much fun.

As you can see from this artwork (which sold in Japan) we models know how to kick our heels up and we did!

However I have to admit to overdoing it a couple of times too, so if you look closely at the painting you will see a crossed eyed girl behind the sports car which could have been me, but in this particular painting I am standing with my long-time friend Debonella (her name was really Deb, I just always called her that,lol) You can find us on the right hand side with our heads together, the blond and the brunette.

THE ART OF PARTYING

We would party till the milkman came around (and for you familiar with the milkman that would be in the very early hours of the morning) and I remember one particular night when we obviously had consumed more than our fair share and we were caught- throwing up in the rosebushes, together mind you-well that’s what friends are for! Luckily most of the time we were lady like and behaved ourselves, that is what we preach to our daughters anyway (guess we will be caught out now!)

I have many tales of our terrible deeds coming up later on in other art blogs, however what made me think about this now was that I just received an invitation to a very swanky “DO” that’s being organized in town by former model agent owner Sandy Clark, who after she sold her business went on to have another very successful career as an event organizer and later as a public relation journalist.

We have recently lost a dear friend and fellow model Adriana Xenides, who died much too young and made us all question our mortality. For those of you not familiar with Adriana, she was the longest serving hostess on the TV game show called Wheel of Fortune here in Australia.

Well Sandy decided to do something about that and we all take our hats off to her. She had organized the most fantastic event at our new international hotel the Crowne Plaza here in Adelaide invited all past models, clients, lecturers and past students and anyone connected to the industry for a wonderful cocktail party to reminisce and celebrate “that we are still here!” (borrowed from Monty Python’ s “we are not dead yet!”)

PAINTING FOR CHARITY

The funds raised went to “Teen Challenge for the homeless” and “Variety Children’s Charity” including what was raised from the painting I donated to the event as well. Here is a link to that and to the art blog about the night in question 50. Not a trout pout in sight

Just a little thought for you, why not try to contact the people that were important in your own life, see how they are travelling, catch up for a drink or a meal, talk about old times. Life is short, WAY TO SHORT- so let’s make the very best of it while we can.

Here is a quote I like from the Mammoth book of useless information-

“One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to everyone!

Love Marie xx (c)

36. How it all began in Art

Marie — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:08:26 +0000

WHY I STARTED PAINTING

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)

35. The First Adam and Steve Artwork

Marie — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 02:21:59 +0000

CERAMIC AND MOSAIC SCULPTURE

This artwork is the first Adam and Steve (ceramic and mosaic 100cm x 150cm ) that I did and it was inspired by my cousin and his partner. I have since made another Adam and Steve wall based sculpture and there was a funny incident at the art gallery where that sold, here is the art blog about that; Adam & Steve 2 Sculpture

My cousin Dan had previously been in a relationship for 13ish years with a lovely lady whom we all really liked and we saw both of them a lot. So when they finally broke up we were all upset to lose her, although we do still keep in contact from time to time.

However in hindsight we should not have worried as his new partner is just the nicest of men and he has brought so much joy and love with him into our family as well.

Johnny has two grown up children and a dear mother who is 88 and none of them are at all bothered by this new relationship.

We now have gained more members to our family and celebrate birthdays and Christmas together as one big happy family which I think is great, particularly because apart from my immediate family the rest of our relatives are all in Sweden.

CELEBRATE IN ART

So I wanted to do an artwork to celebrate that fact, the tall blond one is Dan and Johnny is the darkhaired fellow.

Dan runs his own very successful underwear internet store and Johnny’s work as a motivational speaker for large corporations takes him on frequent interstate trips. He also manages to compete in the Masters Games in sprinting and has won countless of medals, bronze, silver and gold for his age group and also competed overseas a few times with great success I wanted to do an artwork to celebrate that fact.

The Artwork itself first won an award at a regional Art Show and then was bought by D&J and hangs outside on the wall in their pool area.

ARTISTIC ASPIRATIONS

A couple of years ago they bought a fabulous house overlooking the sea and our jaws dropped at the fantastic view. We had never really contemplated moving away from the farm but this view played on our minds. So much so that we after a lot of looking finally found our own fabulous house with a view which we promptly bought. At this stage it is being rented and enjoyed by another family and we sometimes drive past and dream, one day.. ……………

Here is a thought from Kirk Douglas the actor which we can hopefully all learn from.

“Mistakes that are perceived as mistakes are often not mistakes at all.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie (c)

33. Art & Dont worry be happy

Marie — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 01:56:52 +0000

HAPPINESS THROUGH ART

Well that is easier said than done sometimes isn’t it? For me it is something that I understood with time and to make oneself happy may not always be through art necessarily but I do think it comes from making a decision and getting absorb and involved in something other than our own feelings and what ever it is that is troubling us at the time.

I have just had one heck of a day and don’t you just hate that. You are minding your own business going about your life with all its ups and downs when someone throws a curve ball at you for no good reason whatsoever. I think sometimes because they are unhappy with their own life and see others happy around them and want to take them down a peg or two.

ARTFUL AUTHORITY

It seems very strange to me that people get very militant about the smallest of issues when they are part of a committee. It seems that when some people do not have enough authority over their own life and are unhappy within themselves they feel the need to exert their authority over others no matter how silly their arguments are. My wish for people like that is that they would find something creative to do that would give them peace.

ART OF THE MIND

It made me think very much about this painting that is one of my early works.( excuse the quality of the image) ‘HAPPY AS A PIG IN SHIT” And no I refuse to call it mud, because shit was how I felt when painting it, well not the whole time obviously lol but I realized that I could take away my own pain and worry by getting totally absorbed in my art, and that you can make yourself happy and that happiness is a state of mind, something you choose to do.

That said let’s not diminish the fact that in some extreme circumstances that may not be possible to do for a long time, as when a loved one dies or other tragedies. However I do believe that eventually when the pain and hurt settles somewhat we can again choose to be happy, perhaps not happy all the time but at least some of the time, well that is my naive view.

HEALING THROUGH ART

You see at the time I discovered that I could heal my own pain was about 22 years ago. I had been painting for about a year, and had gone to The Northern Territory for 8 months, we had a large mortgage on our house in South Australia and lived in a caravan in the Northern Territory whilst my husband worked on the Tindal Base, and had a little 1 year old child.

I had left my glamorous life as a model to become a mum (being a mum was something I totally loved) although I had not counted on the isolation or the fact that I had relationship troubles with my own mum, and shortly after that problems within my marriage. I was feeling homesick and living in a caravan and coping with the heat. My darling dog died from rat poisoning in SA and to top that all of we suddenly found ourselves in big financial trouble. Yes you know the drill – one thing after the other happened. So my rescue from all these troubles was being able to get absorb in my paintings and making myself happy.

So life happens to you whilst you are busy doing other things as John Lennon is famous for quoting.

Another interesting fact I found out is that the saying Don’t worry be happy was originally said by the Indian mystic Meher Baba who lived 1894-1969, and not as I thought by Bobby McFerrin who made those words so famous in his song by the same name. What a wonderful gift they both gave us – “DON’T WORRY BE HAPPY”

Till I see you again, happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Much love

Marie xxxxxx (c)

32. Art & What, a thalidomide budgie?

Marie — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:16:51 +0000

CAT & BIRD PAINTING

This painting was one of several I painted on this theme of Cats and Birds for my gallery in Japan.

Obviously I am an animal lover so it is not too much of a stretch to be inspired by them, and over the years we have shared our lives with many gorgeous little creatures.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATION

So let me tell you about the Thalidomide Budgie, well in a minute I will, let’s just make it clear first, that I am the type of person who always feels sorry for the broken winged among us and it does not even have to be alive either.

My mum and dad always tell the story when I came home from a stay with my grandparents with an old mangled and very rusty letterbox.

You see I was out walking with my Morfar (Mothers Dad-in Swedish) and we spotted a very old rusted letterbox lying in a ditch, and right away I felt so sorry for it, discarded like that, it used to be such a proud shiny fellow, I imagined. My poor grandad thought we should leave it there, He said; it was just old rubbish ( he knew that he would be the one, to lug it all the way home too, poor Morfar, but I insisted.) I also could see that it could regain its former glory, and it did after my artist dad had the same vision and restored and painted it and we had the most interesting letterbox on our street! Anyway I digress, back to the budgie.

ART OF RECOVERY

We now lived at the church (another story I have to tell you about) and had a big aviary, so I went to the Pet shop to buy some budgies, just a few to start.

Well I asked the shop keeper what‘s the story with the bird walking down on the floor looking a little forlorn, he said; never mind him he hasn’t got any wings. This little birdy looked very peculiar with little stumps for wings and just walking everywhere and very cute so of course I had to buy him, along with a few of the normal variety!

I think all the birds must have liked the country air just like us, because they breed like rabbits and before long we had 14 budgies. Lo and behold eventually the little Thalidomided Budgie started to grow some wings too, which was almost a shame, because he was ever so cute without them, lol.

Anyway one day the door to the aviary had been left open accidently and we lost the lot, they just all flew away.

We left the door open, whilst I moped around and went to work as usual and then 2 days later I was met by an aviary full of Budgies again, funny thing was though that now there were 15 of them, one extra!

Guess they found a wild one and convinced him life was easier with us then out there fending for yourself.

Here is another story & naive art in my art blog about another bird we shared our lives with 38. Little Birdy Floyd

So I think this saying fits perfectly here said by Toni Morrison (Writer)

“Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weights you down.”

Hope you come back and see me soon, till then happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie x (c)