Marie Jonsson Harrison » music

68. We’ve been to Bali too & Art

mariejon — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 06:15:22 +0000

ART & MUSIC

The title of this painting was inspired by Redgum’s song “I’ve been to Bali too” sung and composed by John Schumann. A man I greatly admire both for his music and also for his effort to make this world a better place and make us all think.

This artwork depicts the four of us on our first family holiday to the dream island of Bali, I think the kids were only five and nine at the time. Bryan and I had been to Bali once already, before we were married in our early 20’s. If I remember rightly we went there this time, in the September school holidays and it all came about because of the very miserable school holidays we had in July of the same year. All four of us had gotten the flu and spent nearly the whole two weeks sleeping and huddled together in the TV room at the farm. Too sick to do anything much more than venture out to the kitchen and get us something to eat and then just lay and sleep and watch telly, four misery gutses!

THE ART OF RECOVERY

Once we recovered and the kids were back in school I decided we must have a real fun holiday and make some memories together and obliterate that last miserable one from our minds. Bali here we come -our flight was great until the air hostess came around with the drinks service and gave everyone an orange juice in one of those plastic cups with an aluminum foil lid that you have to peel off yourself. Of course little miss Hillivi insisted on opening hers herself and it goes without saying that I thought that would not be a good idea and that I should open it for her. However in the spirit of diplomacy and for the sake of the poor passengers overhearing this long discussion I against my better judgment let Hillivi open it herself whilst I for one moment turned away to sort out Kai.

ANOTHER ARTISTIC INSPIRATION

What greeted me when I turned back was a little 5 year old girl-covered from head to toe in orange liquid, my- I did not realize one of those containers could hold such a lot of juice as to have her completely dripping wet! The look on her by now very pouty face was also so priceless that we just could not hold back the giggles as those airhostesses worth their weight in gold came to her rescue with the serviettes and mops!

PICTURE PERFECT IN DARWIN

We had a stopover in Darwin where we headed for the first loo we could find to change Hillivis former lovely blue dress (now orange) into something more appropriate. Thereafter we did a few touristy things ; spending quite a bit of time on a crocodile farm which had us all fascinated, seeing the crocks jumping up into the air and catching their food which was dangling on ropes and then having dinner on the Darwin wharf. So back to the airport we go to board our Bali flight, the kids were so excited as it was their first time overseas flying to a new country and we were eager to show them the picturesque island that we had come to love previously.

THE ART OF PERSUASION

But of course it could not be that easy could it-no of course not, now two hours before departure the customs fellow has decided that Bryans passport does not meet the requirements , admittedly there was a small crack on top of the photo as often happened with the old style passports. However this passport had been sighted by a dozen or so officials at this point before this fellow in uniform full of his own importance thinks that the photo has been tampered with and starts to pick at the edges of the photo with a knife and making holes rendering it way worse.

Bryan gets called in for a full on interview and meanwhile me and the kids are worried sick. When Bryan finally emerges he has been told that he can travel but does so at his own risk as most likely the Indonesian custom will put him on the first plane back home (the travel insurance would not cover this as now, we had been warned)leaving the kids and I to spend the time in Bali alone. Fun, fun,fun in the sun,sun, sun-Not!

Well that put a dampener on our spirits, however we decided to give it a try as we have nothing to hide(and nothing left to loose) and with the broadest smiles we could muster got through the custom in Bali without a hitch and spent the holiday doing the one-finger-salute (metaphorically speaking of course) to the customs fellow who nearly ruined a perfectly innocent family holiday.

MUSIC AND ART

Just recently at a Christmas party I got introduced to John Schumann’s lovely wife Denny and proceeded to tell her how John and his Redgum music has inspired my art etc, whereby she ducks away and brings him over. We had a lovely chat and he is just as inspirational in real life, and to boot –complimentary about my art too.

So all is well that ends well and this next quote by Samuel Johnson (poet and writer 1709-1784) fits well in here, in relation to that nasty customs fellow.

“Fear is implanted in us as a preservative from evil; but its duty, like that of other passions, is not to overbear reason, but to assist it. It should not be suffered to tyrannize”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie xxx (c)

If you fancy a read of another art blog set in Bali here is a link 45.Happy Hour & Art

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.

25. Shake Rattle and Roll & Art & Music

Marie — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 06:01:28 +0000

ARTISTIC INSPIRATION

This painting is of my brother Matt’s band Clowns of Decadence, they all came from the Northern suburbs of Adelaide South Australia and the music grew out of the punk genre and they became a very well known pub band during the early 80’s and 90’s touring around Australia and also New Zealand.

A very Arty band of course due in part to my brothers influence. The Clowns of Decadence ensemble was large scale which also included fire eaters and other various artistic acts in its repertoire.

Matt Jonsson was the drummer and in charge of designs of backdrops and album covers and other visual influences, however all the band members were all very creative and talented and they made a fantastic team.

They still have a fan group on Face book all these years later. So this painting was obviously a lot of fun to create.

BANDS & ART

This particular night was at the Entertainment Centre in Adelaide where they had a live cross to Hey Hey It’s Saturday, (television show) and an interview by Molly Meldrum.

There was another 3 bands I think performing that night as well. I went there with Bryan (husband) and met my mum and dad in the car park.

ARTISTIC MOTHER

What made me laugh was that my darling mother had been to a Melbourne cup luncheon recently and had made herself a rather unusual hat. My mum is very good at sewing and not afraid of standing out in the crowd even though at this stage she was in her 60’s. You can spot her in the left hand corner with the rather tall top hat with a horse on it, a real artwork.

My Dad was mortified and tried to talk her out of this hat before we went in, but mother would not be convinced of otherwise. She was going to wear this hat come hell or high water to her son’s concert.

I must say I applaud her courage. It is a fantastic thing to be and individual and proud of it and most probably some of my getting out on a limb also comes from mum, although most people say the artistic side is from my father’s side but I think it’s a bit of both. So the man with the beard is my father and then there is my husband and me dancing next to them.

Check out the action under the sound guys table.

What a wonderful night.

From the wit and wisdom of Oscar Wilde here is another saying that I like,

“All women are like their mothers. That is their tragedy.

No man does. That’s his.”

Hope you come and visit me soon again till then happy painting and sculpting everyone!

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.

20. Antonis Tivoli Art

Marie — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 05:42:32 +0000

SCULPTOR TED JONSSON

This painting “Antonis Tivoli” is one I painted for my father SCULPTOR Ted Jonsson and depicts him and his family, my grandparents. They spent nearly all their lives travelling around Sweden and nearby countries with their side shows and entertainments which also had a dance venue with a live band.

CIRCUS LIFE

They usually travelled for 6 months during the warmer weather then came back to Stockholm where they spent the winter months doing repairs on the sideshows trucks and tents.

They had 5 children, 4 of whom joined the Tivoli, however my Dad was the youngest and he had to stay at home and go to school. He would live in their large 2 story home all by himself from the age of around 10, for six months at a time.

PAINTING IDEAS

My father describes this time as very scary and also very exciting as he got older. His parents would leave him bags and bags full of coins (small change from the Tivoli) to use for food and whatever he needed. They also arranged for the local deli owner to give him credit.

Can you imagine nowadays leaving a child of 10 alone for half a year, however in those days things were different and when my grandparents were home they were great parents from what I can understand.

My dad would come home and check the whole house for ghosts and burglars with a large knife in his hand, walking from room to room. His nutritional value count could well have been low lol, as he remembers eating a lot of cornflakes during those months.

My grandfather Anton joined the circus at the age of 16, working as an acrobat artist and did a high-wire act. My grandmother Vera ran away from home at 15 (as I did when I was 14 but that’s another story) and she went out to sea, joined on as a kitchen hand. They eventually met and ran away to join the circus, well made a circus in their case!

On this painting my grandmother is tied to a spinning wheel although that may be my artistic licence, what is true however is that she was blind folded and tied up and my grandfather also blind folded, would throw knives around her. My father describes their marriage as a good one but very volatile and remembers many a time when they would have big fights just as their music would start up and their names were announced to go on stage. He remembers holding his breath hoping that his mother would not get hurt. She herself had no such qualms however knowing and trusting that Anton would keep her safe, such faith!! (to be continued)

So I am very glad this next quote was said by Thomas Hart Benton (politician) and not my grandfather!

“I never quarrel, sir. But sometimes fight, sir, and whenever I fight, sir, a funeral follows”

Hope you come back and visit me again, till then happy painting and sculpting everyone!

Love Marie xx (c)

The continuation of this art blog here 21. Life in a Circus Tent