Each year before the Christmas season starts outsider artist Stefan Maguran as project manager organizes an outsider festival, it is and always has been a love affair of Stefan and his wife to which they have had to make sacrifices along the way to keep it going.  They believe it has been very worthwhile and plan to keep the show up and running for the next five years.

PAINTING PORTRAITS

This portrait painting was painted by Stefan himself and he surprised me with this as a gift when I came to drop of my paintings for this year’s show.  Wow what a lucky girl I am, such a generous thing to do and so much fun for me to have.  I was genuinely touched and felt very special, Thank you so much Stefan, you made my day, that’s for sure.  I really like the composition with my mosaics in the background with all the hearts and also with the text; far och mor, which in Swedish means Father and Mother (whom both are much loved by me)  Stefan also expressed an idea for a further portrait of me, something special he had in mind, so I will keep you posted on that.

FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY ART SHOW

Anyway this year is very special as it is the 5^th year anniversary show and it is free to participants and the public with artist from far and wide, this year the USA, France and Argentina are represented as well as the Australian contingent.

OUTSIDERS ART FESTIVAL

Stefan says;” From the onset the name Outsider Festival has caused controversy, as it is a name mostly used by Insiders to describe a certain type of work, rather than to describe people from the outside of the establishment. It has been named a low-key event by people getting tens of thousands of dollars from the public purse to organize similar events on a larger scale and with strict entry rules that are non-existent here. The festival has been marred by strange events such as one artist being asked by a well known gallerist ( no longer operating, sadly) to pull out on the first Saturday after the opening, another artist being threatened if he took part by one of his mentors.”

ART CRITICS

So as you can hear this festival it is not without it’s critics, which is another reason I LIKE to take part.  I like the idea that anyone who wants to can take part and the fact that Stefan puts the show on for the love of art.   I like the interesting artists and artwork on show and the library location makes it accessible to people who may not otherwise go to an art gallery.

I don’t strictly fit into the category of an outsider artist neither by the art critics’ categorization nor by Stefan’s either as for the most part the artists are unrepresented by a gallery as in my case that is clearly not the case.

OUTSIDER ART

So what is Outsider Art I hear you say?  Well it is a little bit hard to define and it depends upon who you are talking with.  However the general conscientious is that the work is out of the mainstream so to speak.  The artists are usually self taught and follow no rules and paint for themselves and because they have to, want to and cannot stop.  Their work does not conform to the fashion of the day and the techniques can be unconventional.  Another word for Outsider art is Art Brut which means art in a “raw” state, uncooked so to speak.

ART BRUT

I have seen it mentioned that there is a distinction between “art  brut” and Naive art, and that is that the Naive artist remain within the mainstream of painting proper, and they do this because they hope for public recognition.  However I cannot agree with that all, I have seen many artists work that straddle the two worlds and morph into one.

NAIVE ART

From an Naive artist perspective if anything is a point of difference between the two genres it would be that the Outsider art shows often a more troubled soul with work in the muted tones perhaps a bit more confronting and darker.  Whereas the Naive artist’s artworks in general depict a colorful and happy world.

Artists taking part this year:

Stefan Maguran, Marie Jonsson-Harrison, Jungle Phillips, Claudio Braier – Argentina, Jeff Roland – France, Edward Kingsbury III – USA, Mike Retter, George Pivas, Jeanette Nash, Frederique Albou, Liz Parkinson, Sunyata, John Douglas.

This show will be open from this week until 10^th December at the The West Torrens Auditorium

1 Brooker Terrace Hilton, opening hours as follows; Mon-Tue & Fri 10am – 6 pm, Wed 8am – 6 pm, Thu 10 am – 8 pm Sat 10 am – 4 pm Sun 1pm – 4 pm

Here is a quote I think fits well here by Alan Sherman;

“A “Normal” person is the sort of person that might be designed by a committee.  You know, “Each person puts in a pretty color and it comes out gray.”

So come along and see the show and perhaps I will see you there,

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 SALEand SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED 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.

This acrylic painting was the cover of Artlink Magazine for the summer edition 1992-1993, and I was absolutely thrilled.  I had only been painting for about 5 years at the time but was already working full time at it and loving every minute.

PLAYBOY MAGAZINE COVER

In my previous career as a model I had of course appeared on quite a few covers over the years, among them this Playboy Magazine cover.  Oh I know what you are thinking, lol but there is no need for anyone to go out and order any back copies of the magazine as I only appeared on the cover and it was a head shot too, bad luck, lol!   I was overseas modelling when the Playboy cover came out and had broken off with my boyfriend (whom I later married) and he said he got the shock of his life when he walked into a shop and saw it.  His mate that was with him promptly bought the magazine and “hubby to be” was apparently mightily pleased I wasn’t a centerfold!

ARTLINK MAGAZINE COVER

So to be commissioned to do a cover of a magazine in a completely different profession pleased me very much.  The brief was to create a cover that had something to do about art.  So I painted 2 paintings (the other, I will tell you about another time)on the art theme, if you look closely at this painting, “The Artist Camp” you will find a lot of the different forms of art represented.

FROM TOPIARY ART TO BODY ART

Starting from top left and going across you will see; Topiary– which is the art of clipping and training bushes and trees into different shapes, a form of living sculpture.  Then there is a Landscape artist and the nude model posing for a Figure painting, a small detail from Picasso representing both the Cubism and Abstract Art, followed by Body Art.

FROM FABRIC ART TO TATTOO ART

Next row down the lady is doing some Fabric Art and the stereo typical Outsider Artist, Art Brut or Art Raw with the Physiatrist and the patient in the straight jacket.  With all this political correctness my portrayal of that may offend however as I count myself in that bracket too as a Naive or Naif Artist I hope it is met with the humor I intended.   Next we have a so called Sunday painter with a Portrait of a cat and Aboriginal Art followed by a Graffiti Artist, Art for Therapy in prison and finally the Tattoo Artist and the little girl being inspired to love art by all of them!  I think the Bull Terrier is up to no good with the bike though,lol, not sure he has art in mind.

ARTISTIC TALENT

Whilst I do appreciate art schools and the skills they teach to art students, I do believe that a lot of the time they turn out artists who paint just like their teachers and sometimes their own fresh ideas are belittled.  My own take on the matter is that EVERYBODY has an artistic talent of some sort, some find that talent early whilst for others it may be a life time exploration.  However what I think matters most is the passion and enjoyment of creating and not necessarily the final result.  I would encourage everyone to find the inner child, to borrow from Mark Twain – explore, dream and discover but this time in relation to art and not travel.

Here is some lyrics from a song I really love called The Cape by Guy Clark which I think fits well here;

“He’s one of those who knows that life
Is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath
Always trust your cape”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting or whatever turns you on,

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.

So let me introduce you to a fabulous emerging artist in the Indie genre, a bit folksy and rootsy with a dash of blues, his name is James Abberley and he reminds me very much of John Butler from The John Butler Trio.

He was born the same year as my daughter Hillivi and grew up in the mid north town of Owen and attended  Balaklava High School, so it has been  very interesting to see his talent take form and start to soar.  James was given his first guitar at the age of 15 and soon learned to love playing and writing his own music.  The above Youtube video images of my paintings with James song was put together by my son Kai.

ARTS IN THE COUNTRY

Balaklava is very good at producing creative people, it is very much nurtured, embraced and valued which I think is perhaps a little unusual for a country town where sports is normally the be all and end all.  Perhaps it stems from that the town was blessed with four dynamic women in Di Spence and Bronny Cottle in the performing art side and Joyce Ross and Jo May to guide the visual arts.

THE ART GALLERY

Not only does Balaklava have their own art gallery “Courthouse Gallery” with monthly exhibitions  and a yearly art competition called the “Balco Awards” but also a theater group called Balaklava Community Arts which puts on major shows every year with a full ensemble which everyone from the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker audition for.

EISTEDDFOD

Then there is of course the Eisteddfod – which is an old Welsh word meaning a “sitting” but now used to describe gatherings of musicians, artists, poets, actors and crafts-people to compete, compare and learn from each other.  The town population swells to twice the normal size every August when the Eisteddfod are on, so for any budding performer eager to take part use the above link.

SO CREATIVE

So with such a rich hot pot of creativity it is no wonder that the area keeps on producing wonderful talent such as James Abberley.  His new album is called “Some kind of Relief” and 2 of my favorite songs are Ghost and I’ll be a Bird, make sure you listen out for the fiddle playing by Richard Tonkin – just sounds so good.

James writes his own music, sings plays drums, didgeridoo and bongos, he collaborated with his sister Amanda on Green Hills and Dollar Bills where she sings backup and recorded both at home in his bedroom and at Fish Shop Studios in Port Adelaide for his debut album.

INSPIRATIONS FROM GOTYE

Gotye who has now gone on to international fame with his song “Someone that I used to know” and Jose Gonzales, Lior and the Butterfly Effect are some of James inspiration, and he finds that he writes mostly from personal experiences, the things he sees around him and of course about Love.

His goals are to play at the Fall’s Festival, Woodford acoustic Festival, Splendor in the Grass and of course Big Day Out and I have no doubt that he will play at all of them and then some!  For now if you would like to see James  live come down to the Governor Hindmarsh Hotel, where he has a permanent residency every Friday night.

THE ART BEHIND INDIE MUSIC

Indie music or Independent music is a genre that has it’s roots in the UK and USA, and is extremely diverse with lots of so called sub-genres.  The “Indie artists” at least starts off as “outsiders” to the normal path by being independent and not attached to the major record labels. They do their own thing without bending to any rules or being influenced by contractual obligations of the music industry.     As the internet crept into all of our lives in the early 2000 it was clear that you could actually have a major hit on your hands and enjoy commercial success on your own from the bedroom so to speak, if you had the talent.  The question then to ponder is whether an artist remains an Indie artist after he/she has been signed to a major label which has happened to many, just think of Nirvana for example!  It is a little like the term Outsider Artist and Naive Artists and the problem the academics have of trying to pigeonhole us.

Speaking of birds, lol, James says that his song I’ll be a Bird was written in inspiration of dreams that he would have of flying.  “We all have those dreams so I thought it would be a nice feeling to recreate.  I hope that whoever hears this song can relate.  We would all love to fly” he says.

Here is a quote I like that fits in with both Indie music and James Abberley, by William Blake

“No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and singing,playing or whatever you love to do to you all,

Love Marie xxx    (c)

If you enjoyed this music and art blog here is another you may fancy; 116. Art and Music with 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.

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