Marie Jonsson Harrison » photographer

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.

50. Not a trout pout in sight in Art

mariejon — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 22:42:17 +0000

ARTIST & MODEL

Wow had an awesome night and got to bed at 3.30 am a little worse for wear! So today I have to use my face as the canvas and paint on a pretty face not in my normal naive art style though!

Last night was the Model Reunion for one of the modeling agents in town and even though I was a” ring in” (I modeled for the opposition at the time) I still had a great night.

One thing that we all commented on was that’ back in the day’ it was not a bitchy profession and most girls actually had each other’s backs covered and all got on really well. Which is why I felt quite comfortable being in the ’oppositions camp’ as it were!

This painting the’ Golden Years of Modeling’, was auctioned off on the night and I was delighted to see vigorous bidding for it, even nicer was the fact that it was bought by Sue; someone I used to model with and have not seen for maybe 20 years or so.

Sue was working at the time for a manufacturing agent called Saville Row where they designed men’s shirts and also handled a few other ranges of women’s clothes and they hired me to be the in house model/receptionist a job I shared with her.

At the time it was my first modeling job at 17 years old and I was in awe of Sue who was a couple of years older than me and very sophisticated and gorgeous. So I was really thrilled to see that my artwork will be hanging on her wall and I hope it will bring back great memories and amuse her whenever she looks at the painting.

The night was full of models, photographers, agents, journalists and advertising people some still in the business and others long ago retired.

ART IN A NATURAL WAY

I did expect to see a lot of ‘trout pouts’ but am happy to report that most of the beautiful people were still beautiful in a natural way, there may have been a tuck here or there but nothing obvious.

We had all gotten older though and some had put on a few pounds but everyone that turned up, were still gorgeous and several could still give the new girls a run for their money if they hit the catwalk.

We giggled and laughed and reminisced, drank champagne and wines, ate canapés. The night was handled superbly by Jane Reilly from Channel 10, and there was even a 35 minute DVD of photographs and old commercials which brought back memories. Jane and I initially met many moons ago in the Beach Girl Quest long before I was an artist.

There was loud cheering and whistling by some of the models children when they saw their mothers strut her stuff in a segment of the Rocky Horror Show, they were so proud, whilst their father tried to quiet them down. All in all a very fun night!

We had good intentions to catch the last train home at 12pm but guess we missed that by a long shot, so taxi it was.

MORE ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

As it turned out it was a very nice ride home, our taxi driver was a turban wearing Indian sheikh a lovely chap and we chatted all the way home.

He was going home to get married in December to a girl arranged for him by his parents which is their custom.

We got on so well he actually invited us to the wedding and even offered us a place to stay. The wedding is in the north of India in the Punjab area and takes place over several days. The first day there will be 500 guests and the second day 800 are coming (so I guess 2 more will make little difference he thought.)

My son pointed out when I told him that no wonder there are so many coming if he invites every Tom, Dick and Harry that goes in his cab to the ceremony, lol

So perhaps this saying should be something for us all to consider by Pythagoras (philosopher)

“The oldest, shortest words-“yes” and “no”- are those which require the most thought.

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all.

Love Marie xx

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.

48. Art in a Surprise Package

mariejon — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 03:34:49 +0000

THE ART OF FRIENDSHIP

You know sometimes you meet people and you just love them right away and wonder why you just haven’t been friends forever such inspirational people both for paintings and art blogs and life in general.

That has just happened to me-I have just met a couple of new friends, I guess the only unusual thing is that these two new friends are quite a bit older than me- so if you ever think age is a barrier to friendship you may have to think again. In the future this painting or any others I do of the older generation will have to depict them doing much more interesting things than knitting!

I will tell you about Helen first, she was introduced as the mad cousin of a photographer friend of mine. Helen told me she likes a chardonnay or two and that she doesn’t do mornings and then proceeded to have me in stitches telling me not to be surprised if she dances on the bonnet (hood) of the car by the end of the night, as that has been known to happen!

THE ART OF AGING

Not unusual you say- well maybe just a touch if you are 81 years old! My husband Bryan was sitting next to Helen and opposite me for dinner, and the whole time he was crying with laughter and had tears rolling down his face as this gorgeous and vivacious woman told her tales and entertained us all night long.

Making us laugh about birth, death and everything in between. One such story was this one:

Helen had promised to take her rather new 95 year old friend out for her birthday. The lady in question was in a nursing home and did not get out much. Helen had been very busy with this and that and had not got around to cleaning out her car, however just before she was due to pick her friend up she had the guilts about that and got the vacuum cleaner and car polish out and made the car shine.

THE ART OF DOING THE RIGHT THING

She had set the table like a 95 year old would appreciate with nice crockery and doilies and flowers and the like, and then set off to the nursing home to pick her up.

When she got there her friend was sitting in her room in the wheelchair all dressed in her fineries with a hat on her head looking like she was asleep, and the nurse told Helen to just wake her up and get going. However that was easier said than done as the lady in question was really quite dead, stiff in fact. However that did not seem to register with the nurse who started to call in her walkey talkey and asking for the oxygen to be brought in, as Helen tells it- that might have helped an hour ago but it wasn’t going to make any difference now. LOL

Helen stayed around and called the next of kin (although she did not know them or the lady that had died terribly well) However she did the right thing and helped with what she could. Anyway a few days later this woman’s two daughters appeared on the doorstep of Helen’s house and Thanked her ever so much for everything and said that they had some things of her mother’s that they would like Helen to keep as a thank you.

MORE ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

Helen told them there was really no need as she did not want for anything and she thought the girls should keep all the possessions for themselves. But they insisted and said they could not think of anyone else who were more deserving of this small inheritance. Helen did not know how she could contain her laughter when they finally revealed their gifts to her; they were a Mega pack of Steradent ( a type of false teeth cleaning tablet) and a MEGA pack of incontinence pads!

Helen graciously thanked them very much before they left, never revealing her true feelings, lol, she may be 81, she knows that, but for goodness sake she needed neither. She said she uses the Steradent to clean out her red wine decanters and they do a very good job of that, and she thinks she may have to use the incontinence pads to take of her makeup with.

Another art blog featuring a Public Sculpture that I made on the topic of living life to the fullest no matter what your age is this one;132 Age is just a state of mind

I so wish I had met her earlier and also met her late husband Stan, apparently he was a character too. He loved his garden and would go out and water his flowers and plants every morning-in the nude-mind you, well maybe not completely as he always wore a hat and tie, but nothing else. What a sight for sore eyes.

So I keep telling myself do not judge a book by its cover, you never know what treasures you may find inside.

I feel sure this quote is one that Helen does not live by, lol as said in jest (I’m sure) by Janeane Garofalo.

“The glass is always half empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie xx