Marie Jonsson Harrison » landscapes

110 Artists Lunch

mariejon — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 02:52:52 +0000

DISCUSSING ART

On Tuesday this week it was my very overdue turn to have “The Artist lunch” at my house. You see a bunch of us have been meeting every now and then for the last 20 years, getting together over a good meal and some drinks and talking shop! Well not just about art, life in general too and along the way we have shared in the ups and downs of life and as you would expect over time there has been plenty of those too.

THE NAIVE GROUP

We were trying to figure out how we met the other day – there were 3 of us “core” people, all 3 naive artists that initially got together, we think it came about when another naive artist Howard William Steer (Story Art) had wanted to meet the new kid on the block, moi! As he and I had a joint exhibition over in Melbourne very early on in my career, I did not attend the opening so Howard came to visit when we lived in the church and brought Ursula Kiessling with him.

ARTISTS OF ALL GENRES

Ursula paints bush and wildlife in a semi naive repeated pattern – her use of colors is second to none. How we then met Bronwen Roodenrys (who paints gorgeous sophisticated naive ladies and big cats) is for now a blank, lol but anyway glad we did, and we have added more “core” people to the group and not just naïf but all sorts of artists. Catherine Fitz-Gerald who paints mainly large succulent and delicious fruits that cover the whole canvas, which makes me hungry every time I see them and Lynley Cooper who can turn her hand to any medium and style and always experiments and surprises us every time often with large scale contemporary works. My image above is from another lunch that whoops, lol turned into midnight, funny how that happens. It is handmade ceramic and mosaic and if you look closely on the left hand side you can see me with the ponytail sticking up in the air and hubby a little worse for wear spilling his beer. Fun time had by all!

ARTISTS & ANIMATORS & WRITERS

The person that hosts the lunch can invite whoever they please and can add and subtract the invitation list as they chose which makes it very interesting. So in attendance on Tuesday at my place were apart from the aforementioned were Valli Palmgreen, a Finish/Estonian artist who I have admired from afar for many years, she paints quirky pictures with the feel of Beryl Cook but in her own way. Sarah Philip, the wife of our electrician that did our new house and as it turns out she lives on the same street as us and is a talented muralist and abstract artist. Jenni Mumford paints in oils in Post-Impressionistic styled landscapes and still life and lives in Encounter Bay with views to die for which no doubt inspires her work. Also in attendance was Suzie Flashman, my neighbour whose talents include animation (she did my animations on my website) and wildlife photography and she has also recently started drawing in pastels. Of course we cannot forget Nadine Williams, journalist and award winning Author of the book From France with Love, which is optioned for a movie. She also runs her own website which is in magazine style and always very interesting.

ART AND FOOD

The only problem now was what to feed these lovely people as I don’t cook, well unless you count burned toast and boiled water as a good menu for a dinner party! Lucky for them I had a flash of an idea – I am good at assembling, lol. So off to the supermarket I trot and with help from a great guy behind the counter, who was very amused at my lack of knowledge in the small goods section (as a vegetarian that is not my forte, lol ) I came home with shaved smoked ham, turkey, roast beef and salami. To that I added cheese, dolmades, boiled eggs, tossed salad, olives, broccoli and capsicum sticks, crackers and dip, red/white wine and sparkling red (my favorite). The artists brought dips and bread, chicken, coconut rice, fruit and cake, wine and champagne and so we had a feast fit for a king. Hubby who was supposed to have a rest day could not keep away and was like a bee in the honey pot! This time around all the artists was women, but that is not the rule! We finished up just before 5pm and I look forward to the next one!

Another naive artist I greatly admire is Grandma Moses who lived to the ripe old age of 101 and I named my darling dog Moses after her and just like his name sake Moses lived to the grand old age of 18 which for a dog is pretty good. Grandma Moses didn’t start painting until her late 70’s, a late bloomer so to speak and spent her old age as an American celebrity. Here is one of her quotes that I like:

“Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and whatever else you are doing,

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.

14. Adam & Steve 2 Sculpture

Marie — Thu, 13 May 2010 00:55:44 +0000

CERAMIC AND MOSAIC

I have actually painted a couple of paintings on this theme, as well as the original “Adam and Eve”, which I will tell you about another time. What inspired this particular artwork which is done in handmade ceramic and mosaic was that my gallery here in Adelaide was having a Christmas show called Erotic and Exotic, and as I discussed this fact with a fellow artist (who paints wonderful landscapes mainly) she suggested the scene of Adam and Steve in the bridal getup.

ARTISTS SUGGESTION

The second she said it, I saw the whole finished image in my mind. That is a funny thing with me, it often happens like that, one sentence and the finished painting or sculpture is already formed.

Well in any case home I went to start it, but it never made the Christmas show instead I kept it for my solo exhibition where it sold before the opening.

This conversation was related to me by the gallery director, and I found it quite amusing.

An elderly client in his 80’s came in to have a look with his elderly wife and after having looked around the exhibition for a while he pointed at “Adam and Steve” and said that he would like to buy that one.

His wife was up in arms over this suggestion and told her husband in no uncertain terms; “Goodness me, whatever for, you are over 80 years old and for goodness sake, what are you going to do with THAT artwork?”

Whereupon the elderly gentle man replied “That is exactly why I would like to purchase this artwork, because I am TOO OLD to do all the things I used to do or would like to do, but what I Can Still Do is to sit at home and look at this artwork and be amused by it.”

And without further discussion he went ahead and purchased the piece. (I may also have to paint that interaction at some later stage. Lol)

ADAM & STEVE IN A BOOK

It should also be said that this image was use for a book published in America (Hendrickson Publications Peabody Massachusetts USA )

Here is a quote I think fits here by Walt Kelly (cartoonist) from the book which I find very amusing called ‘Don’t forget to sing in the Lifeboats’

“Don’t take life too seriously. It ain’t nohow permanent”

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

Love Marie xxx (c)