Carols by Candlelight is such a lovely Australian Christmas tradition.  Last week my art blog and painting featured the acrylic painting of Swedish Lucia which was used for Project mapping on the Swedish Embassy in Poland see this story 205 Projection Mapping & Art in Animation This week however the artwork is a wall based sculpture and made from handmade ceramic and mosaic and captures my memories of the Carols by Candlelight celebration in Elder Park here in Adelaide.

AUSTRALIAN TRADITION

The history of the tradition heralds back to the 19^th century in Moonta, South Australia where the Cornish Miners would get together on Christmas Eve with candles stuck to the brims of their safety hats and sing Christmas carols.

The tradition then spread to Victoria and Melbourne and was made popular by a radio personality named Norman Banks.  According to Wikipedia,  Norman was walking home from his night time radio job when he walked past an elderly woman sitting up in bed listening to Christmas carols being sung on the radio.  The woman’s face was lit by candlelight as she sang along and this made Norman wonder how many other people spent Christmas alone.  This in turn gave him the idea and the first ever event was organized in Alexandra Garden Christmas 1938 where 10,000 people attended.

ARTISTS & STARS

These days we celebrate Carols by Candlelight all over Australia in all the capital cities and smaller country towns and they are held on many different dates all throughout December.   The tradition has now spread around the world and people gather usually outdoors in parks and sing carols in choirs and usually accompanied by bands.  Lots of talented artists both very famous and up and coming stars do the rounds of the different shows and they are compared for the most part by Radio and Television personalities.  The audience of course sing along and everyone has a candle or two which they hold up and sway from side to side with the music at times, a very atmospheric sight.

THE ART OF A GOOD CHARITY

The Adelaide event was sponsored this year by Woolworths with the funds raised going to the Women’s & Children’s Hospital Foundation due to the hardworking Marta Harbuzinska, Christina and Natalie Angus and their team and some of the acts featured here were Samantha Jade,  The Collective as well as Humphrey Bear.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATION

As a family we started going to the open concert after our son Kai was born and have only missed a few along the way.  We used to arrive early in the afternoon to stake our claim on a spot close to the stage put down a picnic blanket with a basket full of delicious goodies and lovely wine.  It was a quite a few hours wait before the show began at sunset and we would take turns to head up to the city to shop and walk about.  These days we arrive a little later but it is still something we look forward to very much.  However there was one year that nearly turned us off for life when the weather suddenly changed and turned so nasty we thought we would freeze to death, lol.  We still talk about how the coldness that night was equal to shopping down Canal Street in New York at Christmas time, well nearly anyway!  All wonderful memories for more sculptures, paintings and artworks in the future.

THE ART OF LIGHT

So next year if you haven’t been go along to your nearest Carols by Candlelight no matter what religion or culture you come from it is a lovely event for all concerned.

So here is a quote I think fits well here by Earl Nightingale;  “We all walk in the dark and each of us must learn to turn on his or her own light”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and maybe carol singing 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.

This week the people of Sweden and Swedish living abroad will celebrate Lucia and the celebration will look very similar to this painting with Santa Lucia arriving with candles alight in her hair.  More about the Swedish tradition later but first I want to share with you some exciting news.

ART NAIF FESTIVAL

I had a lovely email a few weeks ago from Błażej Krajczewski in Poland who had come across this painting of mine above.  At first I thought he may have been familiar with my work and naive art through the Art Naif Festival in Katowice, Poland where I have been exhibiting for the last 3 years but as it turns out he had just found my image on the internet somewhere.

In any case he had been commissioned to make an animation to celebrate Lucia and Christmas which will be shown on the facade of the historic building; the Embassy of Sweden in Warsaw Poland, at the entrance of the Royal Baths this weekend.

PROJECTION MAPPING

This will be done by something called Projection Mapping (video mapping) formerly known as spatial augmented reality.  By using special software photos, films, paintings, animations are then projected onto buildings and the images can fit onto any size of industrial landscape.  It is often combined by sound to create an audio-visual narrative and in this case the music is all Swedish Christmas Carols and Lucia songs.

SPATIAL AUGMENTED REALITY

Projection mapping is rather new however the history goes back to Disney and 1969 when Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride used 16mm film and projected fake disembodied heads to make them look real through optical illusions.  Later on artists and advertisers started to catch on to this idea and were greatly helped by Microsoft and their technological advancements.

PAINTINGS IN ANIMATION

So I am so excited to have this painting brought to life by animation and really wish that I was in Warsaw this weekend to see the festivities in real life, to have my work shown in this beautiful European city on a cold and snow covered landscape projected across the whole building for all to see would be a treat.  Blazej has promised to film the event and I hope to be able to share this with you on Youtube eventually.

If you would like to know a bit more about the Swedish Lucia Traditions and how my family celebrated it here is a link 113 Art & Swedish Traditions, Another weird one

SWEDISH TRADITIONS

Another version of the Lucia tradition is according to folk tales the nights of the 12 and 13 December were the longest and darkest nights of the year and very dangerous as the animals spoke with a human voice and had supernatural powers.  So it was recommended for the people not to go to bed.

THE ART OF LIGHT

Luckily then arriving was Lucia the girl dressed all in white with bright burning candles on a wreath in her hair bringing light to brighten the terrifying darkness.  She would lead the procession dressed in a long white gown and have a bright red sash around her waist and of course the wreath with candles all alight in her hair.  ST Lucia was followed by Tarnor, who would also be wearing white although their wreath was somewhat smaller and made out of silver tinsel.  Not to be outdone the boys would also join in, some dressed in the long white gown too with a long white pointed hat (LOL actually the hat would look like one of those dunce hats you wear in the naughty corner) although it was decorated with stars and the boys were called sjarngossar – starboys!  All carrying a burning candle in their hands.  A couple of boys would also be Santa’s little helpers dressed in red.

These days the processions with St Lucia visits every workplace and school with the celebrations starting early in the morning and celebrated with traditional cakes, biscuits and coffee.

So if you are in Warsaw this weekend come along enjoy the festivities and eat some gingerbread at the Swedish Embassy too.

Here is a quote by Edith Wharton which I think fits well here;

“There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. “

Till next time happy painting, sculpting and projection mapping 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.

One thing I really miss about living in Australia is the Sankta Lucia tradition, and yes I know some of you are going – What’s that?  This acrylic painting should help to paint the picture for you.  (Although something awful must have happened to the girl on the very right of the picture, don’t know what that is on her face!)

THE ART OF THE SWEDISH MAIDEN

Sankta Lucia is like a shining angel coming to the Swedish darkness all dressed in white and has a wreath of candles burning on her head.  It is celebrated on the 13^th of December which is the longest night of the year.  Even though the celebration takes the name of the Italian Saint Lucia from the 4^th Century, I’m led to believe that it is really named after the Swedish maiden that appeared on the shore of one of the big lakes and proceeded to give out food to the starving masses during one of the famines.  She is said to have worn a crown or wreath of lit candles – well it was dark wasn’t it and since battery operated torches was not invented yet, what else could a resourceful girl do?

THE ART OF GETTING CHOSEN

When I lived in Sweden it was every girls dream to be crowned the new Lucia and the crown always went to the prettiest girl with the long blond hair.  She would lead the procession dressed in a long white gown and have a bright red sash around her waist and of course the wreath with candles all alight in her hair.  The rest of us could be Tarnor, and we would also be wearing white although our wreath was somewhat smaller and made out of silver tinsel (always the bridesmaid never the bride, lol) Not to be outdone the boys would also join us, some dressed in the long white gown too with a long white pointed hat (LOL actually the hat would look like one of those dunce hats you wear in the naughty corner) although it was decorated with stars and the boys were called sjarngossar – starboys!  A couple of boys would also be Santa’s little helpers dressed in red.

GUN JONSSON – THE ARTIST

My Aunty (father’s sister) Gun Jonsson was actually crowned the Swedish Lucia in Stockholm many years ago Miss Lucia 1947 – part of her prize package was a life time supply of Palmolive soap!  Gun went on to become firstly a dancer in an international dance troupe called “The Cassel Girls “and later became a famous actress.  She was in several plays directed by Ingmar Bergman and Gun is also a much admired director and producer, something which she still does today.  (‘Bad Javlarna’,’ Hem till Byn’ and ‘Sova rav’ are just some of her Swedish movies and TV shows, you Swedes know what I am talking about.)

Of course we would all be singing Christmas carols but the song we started and finished with would be this one.

Natten går tunga fjät
rund gård och stuva;
kring jord, som sol förlät,
skuggorna ruva.
Då i vårt mörka hus,
stiger med tända ljus,
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

Natten går stor och stum
nu hörs dess vingar
i alla tysta rum
sus som av vingar.
Se, på vår tröskel står
vitklädd med ljus i hår
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

Mörkret ska flyta snart
ur jordens dalar
så hon ett underbart
ord till oss talar.
Dagen ska åter ny
stiga ur rosig sky
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

The night goes with heavy steps
around farm and cottage;
round the earth the sun has forsaken,
the shadows are brooding.
There in our darkened house,
stands with lighted candles
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia.

The night passes, large and mute
now one hears wings
in every silent room
whispers as if from wings.
See, on our threshold stands
white-clad with candles in her hair
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia.

The darkness shall soon depart
from the earth’s valleys
then she speaks
a wonderful word to us.
The day shall be born anew
Rising from the rosy sky.
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia.

(Translated: by Chris Troy and based on an article by Elizabeth Dacey-Fondelius)

THE ART OF BAKING

When my own kids were little we would go to the Swedish Church in Adelaide and they would take part in the procession followed by coffee and cakes.  Traditional Lussekattor  (cats) which are baked buns made from saffron, so they were slightly orange colour and with raisins for their eyes, as well as lots of other Swedish biscuits mmmm…. makes me hungry just to think about it.

Then Father Christmas would turn up with presents for all the little kids (which their own parents would have bought and wrapped and put in the sack).

I will never forget when my son Kai was just a little baby and we were attending his very first Lucia celebration.  He had been enjoying seeing all the lights and singing and even did not mind being presented to Santa, however when Kai with a bit of help from me unwrapped his present, the poor little boy screamed blue murder and got the fright of his life.

His stupid mother “moi” had bought him a Jack-in-the-box and it scared him half to death.  To add injury to the insult I had paid good money for this toy bought at David Jones and he never ever played or even wanted to look at it again. LOL, not that I blame the poor boy!

Here is a quote by Franklin P. Jones which I think fits well in here;

“Children are unpredictable.  You never know what inconsistency they’re going to catch you in next.”

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

Love Marie xxx

Here are some links to stories about 2. SWEDISH EASTER & Art or Swedish Christmas and Swedish Smorgasbord. Enjoy!

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.

Happy Easter to everyone and I hope you are all having the loveliest of times wherever you are and whatever you are doing.

This acrylic painting “You and me and Bunny makes three” was one I painted many years ago when I first started out as an artist.  I have always been fascinated with animals and wonder how they are feeling and what they think.  I think we don’t give them enough credit and assume they only do things by instinct and not because they actually think about things.  I feel sure they are a lot more like us humans.

(Here is another link to my art blog and painting about how ants really live in apartments 70.  ‘’CONDO’S OF KATHERINE”)

That said perhaps I have gone a tad overboard in my depiction of how the rabbits live – but you never know – have you been down a rabbit hole?

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

Really, if I could I would have asked our darling dog Moses who lived to be 18 years old; he had the heads up when it came to rabbits and their dwellings.    When we lived in a renovated church, we had the grave yard right next to the house and the rabbits thought the grave yard was the perfect place for their burrows, so nearly every grave had a hole or two going down into it.  My little dog Moses thought it was so much fun to chase the rabbits down there, as he just fitted into the holes.  Quick as a flash he would be gone and I was always so worried when he disappeared as I thought he might get stuck underground, or even worse come out with a bone in his mouth and not of the rabbit variety, lol!

THE ART OF KEEPING COOL

We were told when we moved in,  that the graveyard was not used anymore, and we never felt one bit of unease living so close to it.  It seemed to me to be a very peaceful place however I was a little bit unsettled when I came home from work one day and found that a fresh grave had been dug and there was a big mound with flowers left over from a  funeral.  That feeling passed however and nobody that had been put to rest there ever came back to visit or haunt us.

THE ART OF CELEBRATIONS

We spent many wonderful Easters both in the church and at the farm and now this year will be the first one in the new house by the sea.   Things are still a work in progress around here but we will be joined by both kids and their lovely partners for a little celebration.  We won’t be having all the trimmings as there is only so much you can do when you live in on a building site, lol.

However I can guarantee that there will be lots of food and wine and laughs anyway.    How us crazy Swedes normally celebrate Easter is something I have already written about and if you missed this Blog 2. SWEDISH EASTER & Art I would really urge you to have a look as it is quite a scream and has enjoyed a lot of traffic on the net!

Here is a quote I like in the spirit of Easter from Kahil Gibran (Lebanese American artist, poet and writer)

“You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. “

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

THE ART OF THE SMORGASBORD

This story really starts here in this art blog 62. Christmas Again & Art !!!! where we have been doing some mad dancing and other festivities.   After all these goings on we have a little drink and a break before the massive Smorgasbord eating session begins which has been prepared by my father and mother and no doubt taken them days.

The table is laden with Swedish treats; gravadlax, smoked salmon, smoked ham, meatballs, smoked sausages, omelet, sauces, salads and a wide variety of breads from a dense rye to crispbreads.

As you can see we are all gutses…

This is a section of an artwork called “Over the teeth around the gums, look out stomach here it comes” Mosaic and Ceramic

However this too is done in its own traditional way because before we tackle the smorgasbord proper we have to eat the salted herring, boiled potatoes and beetroot salad.  Now you can’t actually eat this until you have filled a small glass with brännvin (we use vodka) which has been in the freezer for days.  It does not ever freeze just is icy cold and stops any yucky taste.

ART OF THE SCHNAPPS

Firstly we load the fork up with the herring etc, and then we raise the schnapps glass and sing ” Helan Gar” (Old Swedish drinking song about, having to drink the whole one (as in shot the glass) then you don’t get to have Halvan (the other half left in the glass etc) So we sing this all the way through and then raise the glasses and shot the schnapps and then quickly eat the loaded forks contents before the whole saga starts again.

So now you know where the drunken Swedes gets it from, it’s all Santa’s fault!   Traditionally the women folk try to calm the drinking a bit by hanging on the last note of the song …tral lalalalalalalalala………………….. to make the men wait just a little bit longer for that schnapps.  By now I imagine you think we are all falling off our chairs in a drunken stupor in the Jonsson-Harrison household but oh no, you have to pace yourself and the filling of the glasses slows down to just a little sip in the bottom of it before we tackle the rest of the food.  See by now you understand where all these painting ideas of mine come from, no?

Meanwhile the kids are all asking when we are going to finish with the eating and drinking and when is Santa coming, not that you can blame them.

MORE ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

So the time has finally come and of course my father then suddenly has forgotten to buy the newspaper and has to go down the street and do that.  Typical, right in the middle of the festivities and you think he would learn don’t you because every damn time he goes out to get that newspaper Santa arrives and he always misses the whole thing!

Yes you heard right Santa actually comes to the house all dressed in red, big beard and very rosy cheeks, some years he is actually a little worse for wear,lol  or has forgotten his glasses and has to enlist the children in the giving out of the presents.  After which there will be coffee and desserts and then everyone is usually so tired and no wonder because the time would be getting close to midnight by this stage.  So that concludes the Swedish part of our Australian Christmas and then another time I will have to tell you about what happens the next day the 25^th which is the Australian Christmas and celebrated usually with my husband’s family.

Here is another joke from the website Funniest Christmas Jokes that tickled my fancy,

Jennifer was a pretty 18 year old girl.  In the week before Christmas she sauntered up to the curtain counter, and was trying to decide which of the many types of tinsel she would buy.  Finally, she made her choice and asked the spotty youth who was manning the fabric section.  ‘How much is this gold tinsel garland’.

The spotty youth pointed to the Christmas mistletoe above the counter and said, ‘This week we have a special offer, just one kiss per metre’.

‘Wow, that’s great’, said Jennifer, ‘I’ll take 12 metres’.

With expectation and anticipation written all over his face, the boy measured out the tinsel, wrapped up the garland, and gave it to Jennifer.

She then called to an old man who had been browsing through the Christmas trees and said, ‘My Grandpa will settle the bill.’

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.

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.

We Swedes are weird, you know in a nice way, and it wasn’t until we immigrated to Australia that I realized that fact.  Well if you don’t believe me take a look at the painting below.  That’s an Easter painting that I was commissioned to do 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!

As a child we would dress up as Easter witches, raided mums or grandma’s wardrobe for long skirts wore colourful head scarves and painted our cheeks red, and then we would go from house to house in our neighbourhood and knock on the doors and be given lollies and sometimes fruit.  Much like the Americans does for Halloween.

PAINTING EGGS

We would also spend a day painting boiled eggs which would later be eaten for 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.

Here is the painting framed and now you can see the eggs on the side.  Yes we would receive an Easter egg to 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.lol

If you fancy seeing this painting animated with all the witches flying around use this link on Youtube Art and Music with Marie

Here is a true fact from the book “The mammoth book of useless information”

Chocolate contains phenyl ethylamine, the same chemical that your brain produces when you fall in love.

So eat up good folks and also happy painting and sculpting everyone!

Till next time

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.