This Saturday the 12^th April is certainly a celebration for me, not only is it my gorgeous daughter Hillivi’s birthday it also is the opening of another art exhibitions with my art in Europe.

GALLERIE KNUD GROTHE

It is with the very prestigious gallery in Copenhagen, Denmark called Gallerie Knud Grothe and this Easter Exhibition is the 30 year celebration of this Naive show.  Knud does not do things by half so there will be a Jazz Band playing, chocholate eggs by Michelsen and they will be serving lots of red wine!  Such a shame I will not be able to attend in person, but I will be going there after the show finishes so at least I will be able to see this gallery first hand.

CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS IN DENMARK

Gallery Knud Grothe was established in the 1970’s and is still going strong exhibiting a rich mixture of contemporary art from around the world as well as Denmark of course.  Knud says his favourite genre of art is naive paintings and he has a yearly exhibition at Easter showcasing the naive artists in his gallery.

NAIVE ART IN DENMARK

There will be 300 paintings on show from 44 different Danish Naive artists, a couple of Swedish artists, one French and me!  So with all this wonderful talent I was very thrilled and humbled to have my painting called “The Dane and the Tassie Devil” on the invitation.  The talent among naive artists is incredible in Denmark some of the best I have ever seen, so it is wonderful to be in such company and I hope that I will be able to meet some of them in real life later on.

THE DANE AND THE TASSIE DEVIL

In this artwork you will find if you look closely Prince Fredric and Princess Mary on the sailing boat dressed up to the nines with long dresses, sashes and tiaras, just the type of gear any Royal worth their salt would wear for a relaxing summers sail trip.  I feel sure the Royals will share the joke with me as they seem such a down to earth type of couple which is reflected in everything they do.  As I paint I make up a little story in my mind so to me the paintings comes alive and I can feel what the characters are thinking and feeling.  That is how I amuse myself and enjoy every day of my life in the studio.  I guess as an artist you do have licence to be a little bit eccentric, well that is what I tell myself anyway.  I daydream about the reactions of the audience that views my work and hope that they have a little chuckle and laugh, spreading a little bit of happiness is my aim, lol.

ART GALLERY IN DENMARK

Charlottenlund is one of the most affluent suburbs in Copenhagen and got it’s name from Princess Charlotte Amalie, she is the daughter of King Frederick lV and the sister of King Christian Vl who rebuilt the Gyldenlund Palace in 1733 and named it Charlottenlund Palace after her.

DANISH CELEBRITIES This suburb Charlottenlund is also the home to Danish celebrities and corporate executives and lots of other wealthy individuals and families, the suburb has lots of gorgeous ocean views and most of the mansions and estates are around the Strandvejen (Beach Road).

ARTISTIC HISTORY

I have shared with you in another artblog that I have recently had some other art exhibitions in Copenhagen, Denmark and you may be forgiven to think that it was  GALERIE KNUD GROTHE I was exhibiting with, but no it was some other gallery and if you fancy you can read about one of them here;   177 ART EXHIBITIONS IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK & SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA Also here are a couple of blogs about Knud and his incredible generosity and the history of how my participation in this show came about; 182 GIVING PAINTINGS AS GIFTS and 180 ART AND THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS and 193 NAIVE ARTIST Walther Schaldemose

Here is a quote I think fits well here by William W. Purkey;

“You’ve gotta, dance like there’s nobody watching, Love like you’ll never be hurt, Sing like there’s nobody listening, and live like it’s heaven on earth”.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and maybe just drinking red wine!

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’sPAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE andSCULPTURES for sale orWALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

Funny isn’t it this thing about being pigeonholed, fitting in under a banner or label.  Well I guess if truth shall be known I have never really fitted in anywhere with anything – always been a bit rebellious and found my own way.

DECORATIVE ART

So why should anything be different now with my Art – I have for the longest time been told that the way I paint was Naive and yes that label has fitted me pretty well – however as it has been pointed out to me many times the naive title conjures up a Nice and Pretty painting.  Yes some of my paintings and artwork are just that no doubt but often there is “more”.   The “more” for the most part, is that often there is a often a subtle message or should I say a commentary on the world I see around me, I poke fun at the world, just letting you the viewer know not to take yourselves so seriously.   Also just a gentle poke at myself at the same time not to sweat the small stuff which I have a habit of doing!

NAIVE ART

Some people also think that as an ex model I don’t fit the innocent naive label either, why my past profession should have any bearing on the way I paint I don’t understand.  Oh I do paint subject matters from my past but it’s not like we learned to paint in modelling school exactly!  The fact that one can remain innocent in the way I view the world and hope the world would be, is perhaps what saved me both as a street kid and later as an international model with the Australian Model of the year title many years ago.  In my world happiness reigns and everyone are “Happy as a pig in shit”! The title of one of my first paintings which I painted incidently because I was going through a crisis in my life and painting little pigs having fun made me forget my troubles for a little while.  Here is a link to that painting and the Art blog that goes with it; 33. Art & Dont worry be happy

SELF TAUGHT ARTIST

I am self taught artist and have never even taking an art class either unless you count my primary education,  where I was ridiculed by the teachers for not seeing perspective and not being able to draw and paint which lead to me not touching art materials again till my late 20’s.    Instead I left school at 14 when I ran away from home and never went back.  What I learned in those initial 8 months fending for myself made me street smart if nothing else.

OUTSIDER ARTISTS

So am I an Outsider Artist?  Again some so called experts say yes and some say no.  What seems to irk some people putting me into this category is the success I have enjoyed as an Artist.  As an Outsider artist you are not supposed to produce art to exhibit or for fame or monetary reward.

What these so called experts forget on this topic is that I painted for several years with a love and compulsion that I didn’t understand myself and I had no idea there was such a thing as Naive art or Outsider Art until it was eventually suggested by my father.  That was not mentioned for a long time as I just feverously painted every second I had spare, long before any thought of exhibitions or fame or fortune was even a glint on the horizon.

So what about the mental illness aspect – does an Outsider artist have to be mentally disturbed?  Well some ARE undoubtedly however you do find people in all professions dealing with mental illness and you don’t just classify someone who paints landscapes or photographic (realistic) portraits and has a mental illness as an Outsider artist, right?

CONTEMPORARY ARTIST

So what about the term; Contemporary artist, I have been classified as that as well.  But as usual the camps are divided by that too. Can a  contemporary artist paint colourful happy paintings for the main part and get her social commentary taken seriously, mustn’t they be all broody and deep with long explanations of what their art actually means.  Oh my, she hasn’t attended Art School either, fancy that – not a clone of an art teacher!  Now that is probably a touch mean of me to say and not entirely true as there ARE many wonderful art teachers out there I know, mentoring the pupils to be the best they can be without influencing them too much and taking away their individuality.   I just hope that the ones that thought I was terrible in school can see me now!

PASSION IN ART

To me Art shouldn’t be Rocket Science, Art should make you feel!  Feel something either for the subject matter for the artist or tweak some memory deep within.  Passion is good whether it is happy or sad, angry or give you the giggles, when you look at art and it stirs up a “feeling” any feeling then it’s good art in my opinion.  So perhaps the label I am most comfortable with is an Outsider Contemporary Naive Artist – yep perhaps that is the label for me!!!

Here is a quote I think fits well here by Henry Ward Beecher,

“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.”

Now I would like to invite you to a wonderful exhibition of so called Outsider Artists – some more so and some less so!  The show is on until the end of December.

ART EXHIBITION OPENING

Official opening

Sunday, 1

December

2:00 PM

The West Torrens

Auditorium

1, Brooker

Terrace, Hilton

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all.

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’s PAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.