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.

Sometimes I paint from personal experience and sometimes I paint and then experience and that is what happened here.  Some artists that I know hate doing commissions, I feel the opposite entirely, and I love doing them.  I think it is because it makes me take a look at a subject that I may not have painted otherwise and I strive to please the client, however I have been very lucky and most of the time get just guide lines and then my imagination can roam free.   The hard part is that you have to research the subject matter, but at the same time you then acquire knowledge and you never know where that can lead to.

This painting of San Francisco was a commission again for my US gallery and ended up being bought by an interior designer.  I had so much fun pouring through travel books and coffee books on SF, that I felt I had really been there, and finally last year we went.

THE ART OF TRAVEL

Our daughter went to Ecuador, son flew in from London and went to San Diego (we were to meet up later in LA) and me and Bryan hired a car for the drive from LA to SF.  What we did not realize was that it was the Thanksgiving Weekend which is the busiest time of the entire year on the roads!  So what should have been a 5-6 hour trip took us more than 12 to complete.  It was amazing to me that we got there in one piece as the multi lane highway is very scary not to mention they drive on the opposite side of the road, luckily Bryan felt confident to drive (and had been there and done that before anyway)  I on the other hand nearly held my breath the whole way and almost relished the traffic jams so that I could rest a bit.

MORE IDEAS FOR ARTWORKS

All experiences find their way into my art blogs or paintings in one way or another!  Anyway we finally arrived in San Francisco but then were unable to find our hotel, so after a lot of map looking and going on and off the freeway, we decided to ask in a liquor shop for directions (the idea being; get a bottle of wine for the hotel room and some takeaway Thai as now it was nearly 10pm and too late for a hotel dinner).

Bryan went in and I stayed in the car, but it wasn’t long before I realized this may just be the seedy part of SF as I had a passing parade of girls in miniskirts and people decidedly worse for wear walking past.  I tried to busy myself in the car (trying not to make eye contact) paying great attention to the contents of a rather boring handbag.  I was getting a bit worried I may soon get a job offer from some unsavoury characters and besides that there were 2 fellows drinking out of paper bags  right  outside the liquor shop were Bryan was.   I was trying to call Bryans mobile as 25 minutes had passed by and I couldn’t go looking for him (might get dragged into a dark alley lol) but that did me little good as his phone rang beside me on his seat!

Thought at this stage maybe Bryan had been pulled into a dark alley himself, however when he finally got back to the car, he also had a long tale to tell, with a handful of directions on several bits of paper.  The funny thing is that all of those directions differed from each other, the store keeper gave one version as did his wife, then a customer had called his wife as she worked close to the Hotel, and someone else said that was not right and gave another version.  Finally a totally legless man had come in and said they were all wrong and given his version.  Would you believe the very drunk mans directions were spot on, and the others did not have a clue, as it happens!

(to be continued)

Here is another saying I like by Ernest Hemingway;

“Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk.  That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie

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.