This week the people of Sweden and Swedish living abroad will celebrate Lucia and the celebration will look very similar to this painting with Santa Lucia arriving with candles alight in her hair.  More about the Swedish tradition later but first I want to share with you some exciting news.

ART NAIF FESTIVAL

I had a lovely email a few weeks ago from Błażej Krajczewski in Poland who had come across this painting of mine above.  At first I thought he may have been familiar with my work and naive art through the Art Naif Festival in Katowice, Poland where I have been exhibiting for the last 3 years but as it turns out he had just found my image on the internet somewhere.

In any case he had been commissioned to make an animation to celebrate Lucia and Christmas which will be shown on the facade of the historic building; the Embassy of Sweden in Warsaw Poland, at the entrance of the Royal Baths this weekend.

PROJECTION MAPPING

This will be done by something called Projection Mapping (video mapping) formerly known as spatial augmented reality.  By using special software photos, films, paintings, animations are then projected onto buildings and the images can fit onto any size of industrial landscape.  It is often combined by sound to create an audio-visual narrative and in this case the music is all Swedish Christmas Carols and Lucia songs.

SPATIAL AUGMENTED REALITY

Projection mapping is rather new however the history goes back to Disney and 1969 when Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion ride used 16mm film and projected fake disembodied heads to make them look real through optical illusions.  Later on artists and advertisers started to catch on to this idea and were greatly helped by Microsoft and their technological advancements.

PAINTINGS IN ANIMATION

So I am so excited to have this painting brought to life by animation and really wish that I was in Warsaw this weekend to see the festivities in real life, to have my work shown in this beautiful European city on a cold and snow covered landscape projected across the whole building for all to see would be a treat.  Blazej has promised to film the event and I hope to be able to share this with you on Youtube eventually.

If you would like to know a bit more about the Swedish Lucia Traditions and how my family celebrated it here is a link 113 Art & Swedish Traditions, Another weird one

SWEDISH TRADITIONS

Another version of the Lucia tradition is according to folk tales the nights of the 12 and 13 December were the longest and darkest nights of the year and very dangerous as the animals spoke with a human voice and had supernatural powers.  So it was recommended for the people not to go to bed.

THE ART OF LIGHT

Luckily then arriving was Lucia the girl dressed all in white with bright burning candles on a wreath in her hair bringing light to brighten the terrifying darkness.  She would lead the procession dressed in a long white gown and have a bright red sash around her waist and of course the wreath with candles all alight in her hair.  ST Lucia was followed by Tarnor, who would also be wearing white although their wreath was somewhat smaller and made out of silver tinsel.  Not to be outdone the boys would also join in, some dressed in the long white gown too with a long white pointed hat (LOL actually the hat would look like one of those dunce hats you wear in the naughty corner) although it was decorated with stars and the boys were called sjarngossar – starboys!  All carrying a burning candle in their hands.  A couple of boys would also be Santa’s little helpers dressed in red.

These days the processions with St Lucia visits every workplace and school with the celebrations starting early in the morning and celebrated with traditional cakes, biscuits and coffee.

So if you are in Warsaw this weekend come along enjoy the festivities and eat some gingerbread at the Swedish Embassy too.

Here is a quote by Edith Wharton which I think fits well here;

“There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. “

Till next time happy painting, sculpting and projection mapping 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.

Even during this economic downturn in Europe the members of Fivan, Szyb Gallery and Jacques Dubois particularly, has manage to pull off the impossible – another successful Naive Art Festival in Katowice, Poland.   As this exhibition is continuing into August I sincerely hope that you will try to some and see it.

This painting “Playing hide and seek” was in last year’s festival in Poland and crisscrossed the world as it ended up selling to a Japanese client.

This exhibition whereby artists from 32 countries around the world are chosen to take part is only the 5^th Art Naif Festival held in Poland and the host gallery is again the amazing Szyb Wilson Gallery.  It is the privately owned gallery in Poland and I would think one of the largest if not the largest private gallery in the world at 2500 square meters on two big halls and a balcony.  It is situated 10 minutes away from the city center in the Nikiszowiec district which is a historical settlement of Katowice.

The area where Szyb Wilson Gallery stands was in fact an old coal mine construction, a virtual wasteland.  As Jacques says it is very fitting that the naive festival is held in this place: “to change the image of a dirty and black city into a place where happiness and colors are together to warm the heart.  There’s nothing like naive artists to believe in things like that.  Improve the world, little by little and all together.”

ARTnBED

Last year Cuba was the guest country and this year we celebrate Israel and their wonderful Naive artists, they have a great history of Naive art with a terrific gallery that supports them in Tel Aviv called Gina Gallery of International Naive Art.  It is also from Israel that my latest venture with ARTnBED comes from with art works on duvet and shams (quilt covers and pillowcases) that were recently released both in Israel and USA.

NAIVE ART IN ISRAEL

The philosophy of Dan Chill the owner of Gina Gallery is as follows “GINA Gallery seeks to support the naïve artists‘ quest for “Paradise Lost;” to encourage them to share their timeless vision of everyday life; and to provide them with a forum to bare the child-like ruminations of their hearts and souls. In parallel, GINA Gallery hopes to facilitate the entry into this field of talented, mostly self-taught artists (young and old) who strive to relate – by means of brush, paint and canvas — the fairy tale figments of their fertile imaginations.

ART WORLD

GINA Gallery also seeks — by gathering and displaying worldwide naïve art — to expand the existing art lovers‘ awareness and appreciation of this multifaceted art form, and to introduce the wondrous beauty of this unique, easily-accessible genre to those who have been reluctant (for whatever the reason) to visit art galleries, thereby allowing naïve art, and those who paint it, to assume their proper place in the pantheon of the art world.”

ART WINNER

Last year’s winner of the Grand Prize of the Public 2011 was Stefen Lewis from Tanzania which means he has the honor of designing this year’s poster for the Festival.  This year Museum PASZIN, located in south eastern Poland was invited to submit 100 sculptures dating back from the early 60s.  Also the Museum of Lodz followed suit and presents 50 pieces on the theme of Mary, mother of Jesus.

This year even the best major Taxi companies have gotten behind the festival and are acting as “Ambassadors” handing out cards to the tourists with naive paintings on the back.  This is another ingenious idea by Jacques Dubois and his wonderful team from Fivan, Szyb Wilson Gallery and helpers from Poland and France.  We salute you!

Here is a great quote from Danny Kaye that I love;

“Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx

If you enjoyed this art blog you may also like this one: 117 Henri Rousseau Naive Artist

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.

Ever since I started painting I have been a big fan of Henri Rousseau’s work. My father said that the art I was producing had something in common with the naifs and bought me a couple of art books; one on Grandma Moses and the other on Henri Rousseau.

HERO ARTIST

So Henri has been one of my heros for such a long time, so you can imagine my joy when I was invited by the organizers of the annual Henri Rousseau exhibition in France to participate. I jumped for joy! The curator is Jacques Dubois who also is involved in the Art Naif Festival in Katowice, Poland which I took part in last year. Jac is very heavily involved in promoting Naive art in Europe and throughout the world really and his wife Martha Dubois is a very well known and talented naive artist herself.

FRENCH EXHIBITION
This year the Henri Rousseau exhibition will take place in the Abbey of Montivilliers in Normandy opening on Saturday 21st January until 19th February with an auction of the paintings being held on 12th February at 3pm. The exhibition itself is open 7 days a week and it is not to be missed.
Henri Rousseau was called Le Douanier which translates to the customs (or customs officer)a name he got from his job as a tax collector on goods entering Paris. Henry married twice, first Clemence Boitard with whom he had six children and after she died he married Josephine Noury.
Henri also tried his hand at music and writing but it was painting that was his first love, which he started doing seriously in his early forties and by the time he was 49 he retired from his job to pursue the art on a full time basis. Rousseau was represented in the exhibitions of the Salon des Independants from 1886 onwards, and his pictures hung side by side with Matisse, Cezanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh and Picasso.

INVITED ARTISTS

This year 2012 there were 88 artists invited from around the world with 20 different countries represented among them France of course and Spain, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Cuba, Belgium, Italy, Japan and “moi” from Australia just to name a few.
As this is an exhibition in homage of Henri, most artists are sticking to that theme and I had so much fun painting “You Rock, Henri Rousseau”. I wanted to do a contemporary celebration and incorporated elements of Henri’s art into it by putting in a detail of “The Dream of Yadwigha” (the naked lady lying on the couch).
The Dream of Yadwigha was the last painting that Henri painted before his death in 1910, in it the lady in question is laying on a red velvet sofa with a luxurious jungle behind her listening to the notes of a single magic flute. I of course painted a myriad of musicians and singers, artistic license and all that, LOL. If you look a little closer at my painting you will also see the influences of two other of Rousseau’s work in “The Sleeping Gipsy” which is the woman sharing the couch in the striped outfit.

HENRI ROUSSEAU ORIGINALS

In Henri’s original artwork a lion is standing over her as she lies dreaming under an ancient green sky in the solitude of the desert. Some say this is the lyrical prelude to Surrealism, with a mandolin and a jug which stands beside the sleeping figure, these objects would inhabit the dreams of the Surrealists and the space of the Cubists.
The third painting of Henri’s represented in my artwork is of Henri himself, from his self portrait painted in 1890 “I – Myself Portrait-Landscape”, he is holding a palette of paints and a brush and in the original painting he is standing on a road in front of a bridge, although he does look like he is standing in mid air, lol.
NO ART RULES

That is the naive charm, us naives are so lucky that we can just paint whatever we feel and see without having to worry about rules and other people’s perception of how things should look. As the whole idea of perspective is totally lost on me that is really lucky!!
Thank you Henri Rousseau – you gave me the freedom to be me, to paint in my own style and not to be embarrassed by the child in me. Instead my childishness it is something that I celebrate and hope that I will never grow up, or out off- but wake each day full of wonder and excitement.
So Henri I hope you approve of me painting you like a Rock Star, complete with women swooning at your feet and throwing their knickers at you. There is wild music supplied by a rock band and a brass band as well as the choir and Can Can girls dancing and pirouettes by ballerinas and of course no party is complete without balloons.

So here is a quote I like by another Henri – Henry Ward Beecher who said;
“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,
Love Marie xxxx

If you have enjoyed reading about this artist perhaps you may like to see this art blog too; 91 He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother, the Artist

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.

One of the most important festivals for Naive art is currently underway in Katowice, Poland where until August 17, you will be able to see more than 190 naive artists from all over the world and 40 of the artists participating are from Cuba this year.   Cuba is this year’s guest country and the Cuban Vice Minister of Culture was in attendance at the opening which was a cultural feast.  The highlight was a 4 piece Cuban band dressed in white suits, hats and black t-shirts with 2 dancers complete with headdress and costumes in yellow and green straight from a carnival.

ARTLINK MAGAZINE

This detail image is from one of my paintings on the cover of an art magazine called Artlink, this addition was dedicated to naive & outsider art, if you look closely there is homage to Picasso there too.  If you would like to see one of my own artworks on show in Katowice here is a link to it and another art blog 73 Snack attack at hungry jacks

MONDIAL D’ART NAIF

Oh I so would have wanted to attend myself – all of us; exhibiting artists were invited to attend and they had even organized a special artist dinner.  The timing wasn’t right for us this year as we are in the middle of renovations and also planning a trip to Europe for next year.  Here is a link to this wonderful exhibition and website Mondial d’art naif

SZYB WILSON ART GALLERY

It is my idea of total bliss to have so many wonderful naive artists work on show in the same place, at the same time, all that wonderful, innocent and colorful work under one roof.  That is so exciting too, the place itself that is housing this exhibition – which is the Szyb Wilson Gallery in Katowice.  It is the largest privately owned gallery in Poland and I think it would be rivaling most private galleries in the world as it offers more than 2000 square meters on two levels and it’s a huge building, 10 minutes away from the city centre in the district of  Nikiszowiec the historical settlement of Katowice. Another fascinating place to have a look at there would be the “Spodek” which means flying saucer in Polish and is a multipurpose arena complex which can hold up to 11,500 people.

The area of Szyb Wilson Gallery was in fact an old coal mine construction, a virtual wasteland of late.   It so happens too that one of the naive artists participating in this festival was a mine worker at this very mine for some 35 years, where now his work hangs on their walls.  His name is Erwin Sowka and he is part of the legendary group Janowska in Poland and he was awarded a special prize at the opening of the show.  (Erwin Sowka is the only surviving member of Janowska – “Amateur Painters Circle” whos origins date back to the 1930’s and there was even a film made about them in Poland called Angelus.)

ART PRIZE WINNERS

Other prize winners were artist Sylvie Marcel from Marseille in France, who won the “people’s vote” during the 2010 festival and was therefore invited to create the poster for this year’s festival, her image was also used for the large banners advertising the show, and she attended and picked up her trophy; Grand Prix du Public 2010.

Another prize awarded was to a sculptor Eugene Zegadlo who has during the last 52 years made nearly 3000 sculptures and exhibited in 20 countries in over 150 separate exhibitions.

JACQUES DUBOIS & NAIVE ART

Of course this naive  art exhibition could never have existed without the hard work of many and it is the French non-profit association Fivan that has organized it in conjunction with the Szyb Wilson Gallery.  They have designed this event to promote naive art and to sell paintings in a festive atmosphere, which is something they have totally achieved.  There are without doubt many people to thank for this wonderful event but I would like to mention one very special man Jacques Dubois who has worked tirelessly and could not have been more accommodating and nicer liaising with all the artists, so Thank you Jac!

Naive art is currently experiencing resurgence in its popularity and there were some 2000 people who attended this year’s opening with many people flying in from across the world.  Naive art has become a status symbol for many professionals and collectors and the waiting rooms of doctors and dentists just are not complete without one.  We can thank the naive artists that paved the way for us current artists,  ones like Henri Rousseau and Grandma Moses and the like and also of course Pablo Picasso who was the one that discovered Henri Rousseau in the first place.

So here is a quote from Pablo Picasso that I think the naive artist has actually mastered;

“Every child is an artist.  The problem is to remain an artist once they grow up” and this one

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

However it is perhaps this Picasso quote that will make all of us feel better;

“We don’t grow older we grow riper.”

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.

Isn’t it a drag that we can’t just eat whatever we want and not put on weight!

This ceramic and mosaic artwork “Snax attack at Hungry Jack’s” was a delight to make.  I do love food, although for the most part I do eat healthy, I too dream about all the naughty foods that I enjoy, hamburgers with the lot (although in my case, without the meat, lol chips, milkshakes and yummy pizza.)  I had so much fun sculpting all the food out of the clay and then painting it all, I was constantly hungry the whole time!!   So when whilst in the kiln the breast exploded and fell off on this artwork I instead of feeling upset, thought it was just karma and decided it fitted very well with this subject matter.  That could happen if you eat too much,lol.

The  Snax attack artwork sold at  The 4th “Festival Mondial d’Art Naif” in Katowice, Poland along with some other artists paintings for the worldwide naive exhibition at the Szub Wilson Gallery during 17th June – 14th August 2011.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

How nice would it be to wake up to a Buffet every day, you know the one that you get on holidays,  a whole room full of food, there is 6 different types of cereals, yogurts in every flavor, low fat, full fat and birch. Then you see a tropical color delight with all the different fruits of the world. Oh I know it all sounds pretty healthy so far – but wait a minute then we go to the fry ups, sausages of every country, and ham and then as you get in some of the Asian countries there is beef ham-what the?

Fried eggs, sunny side up, poached, scrambled, boiled or an omelet with whatever you wish thrown in. Never mind all the different breads, white, whole meal, mixed, kibbled, rye, sourdough, lavash, damper, bagels, pita & naan.

Then there is all the really Asian food – now I for one absolutely love my stir-fry’s and curries, sushi, laksa and all the rest.  However I must draw the line at eating fried fish and miso soup first thing in the morning and what about the porridge?  Nothing wrong with porridge I hear you say; that is good old fashioned food.

THE ART OF THE DIET

Well perhaps it is just me being a vegetarian that I cannot stomach the combination of breakfast porridge and chicken – that you get in Bali and Malaysia – what’s with that?  My stomach is a bit delicate in the morning, but show me all the delicacies and I am all yours if it is later in the day! I have always loved food and at times been totally obsessed with it.  Most probably it all stems from my modeling days and the fact that you seemed to be on a constant diet.  In a way though later on in life I am glad of that discipline as I have been reliable informed that most people increase their weight by 2 kilograms each year.

The funny thing is that just 2 kg is nothing that you would really notice over a 12 month period, but then the next year rolls around and suddenly there is another 2 and that makes 4, right?  Most people put these kilos on during the Christmas – New Year period or holiday time.  All of us have good intentions to lose the weight but somehow or another suddenly there is the holiday coming up again and here we go again.  So it’s no wonder then that so many people become obese over time- 2 innocent little kilos over say a 20 year period suddenly amounts to 40 kilos of fat!  Oh what a bugger!

THE ART OF FOOD & EXERCISE

Perhaps you need to surround yourself with a few more brazen thieves whilst you have your brekky, so that you can finish the meal of with a hearty run up stairs and all around the hotel lobby to try to catch him. Well that is what we did on a family holiday in Penang recently.

My husband is one of these people that “people watch” and that keeps him amused no end and he can always spot when something is not quite right. So there we were enjoying one of these wonderful Buffet breakfasts when hubby pointed out this fellow to me – he was sort of skulking around, but I put that down to that he was looking for his group or family.  Then there was the fact that in the very hot Malaysian morning he was wearing long pants and a light cream jacket, well again I said to Bryan some people feel the cold more than others.

So it goes without saying that I got a surprise when this fellow made a very swift move and dove like a swan onto the back of the chair of the couple a few tables up and made off with a handbag, quick as a flash and he was gone up the stairs into the lobby.  Of course hubby saw the whole thing and both he and I and the kids ran after him but to no avail – as far as we could understand he must have had an accomplice with a car waiting to scurry him away. The lady tourist in question wasn’t too bothered, the thief had made off with some change, a comb and a lipstick but what did irk her were the scripts for some heart medication, so I think he would have been rather a disappointed thief that day, looking at the loot he ran so fast for,lol.

If you feel like having a look at another art blog on the topic of food here is 83 Are you fond of Fondue and here are some other ceramic and mosaics for sale  Ceramics for sale

So here is a quote I think fits in rather well here, in relation to that thief, lol, said by Ernest Hemingway (writer)

“Never confuse movement with action”

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 SALEand SCULPTURES for sale or WALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.