Like millions of women across the globe I have been reading Fifty shades of Grey and just finished the first book in the trilogy (Fifty shades of Darker and Fifty shades of Freed).   I had actually had the book in my possession for about 3 months without reading it.  The reason was that I am much more of a biography type of girl and like to read what real people are doing and usually get a tad bored with fiction when I know it is not actually based on a true story.  I must admit I did read the first couple of chapters early on but found it boring and skipped through to some of the “good bits”.

However when I recently caught up with a girlfriend who is in her mid sixties, an ex librarian and very well read, who said that she actually enjoyed the book and was amazed at how the author could write the sex scenes with such fevor and variety, my interest was sparked again.  Furthermore she said her own daughter who is in her late 20’s read the 3 books over one weekend, which peaked my interest even more.

As you can see by this wall based sculpture “Adam and Eve” or the alternative title “Apple juice may be fine but I rather have some wine” (handmade ceramic and mosaic artwork) I always like exploring the theme of sexuality and you may also like to read these 14. Adam & Steve 2 Sculpture and 35. The First Adam and Steve Artwork

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

What is it with this book, Fifty Shades of Grey that crosses the generations and makes millions of women across the globe, yummy mummies, singles, married, rich, poor get all hot and heavy as they read about Christian Grey and Anastasia’s escapades?

Exploring this thought brought me back to thinking about the cavemen days, how did it work then? Did the caveman just drag the women by the hair into a bush or a cave and had his way with her.  Is there something in our DNA that still lingers on and makes us a “little” submissive?

I say a “little” submissive as the above scenario would be totally abhorrent if the caveman was a “sweaty one toothed Oaf” and the encounter was rape instead of a mutual attraction.

I think that is the key isn’t it, there has to be that spark of electricity that you can feel in the air when your eyes meet and sex is the foremost thing on your mind.

ARTISTIC LICENCE

Not that the couple in my Caveman acrylic on canvas board painting would have much privacy to get hot and heavy with all those children running around, but they must have found the time I figure!

It has been very interesting listening to the discussions around this book both in the media and also with friends.  One male friend who has not actually read the book is totally perplexed as he thinks all his perceptions of women and women’s lib has totally fallen by the wayside with the topic of S & M of Fifty shades of Grey.  However I was trying to tell him that after reading it I think he has totally missed the point – a point you only understand if you do read it.  For myself the thought of the Red room of Pain with some weird guy dressed like Hannibal Lecter would make me run for the hills (if I was able) and perhaps that is the idea some people that haven’t read the book think it is all about.   On the other hand if we are talking silk scarves or ties and there is trust and a strong mutual attraction, then that’s another thing, right? Personally I also really liked Anastasia’s feistiness and the clever use of words in their email banter.

THE ART OF CHOICE

Well E.L. James must have hit on a collective nerve.  Perhaps it is that in this day and age when we women for the most part are strong and independent.  We have the choices to live our lives the way that we want, have casual encounters, marry or not, travel the world, stay home with children or work.  Maybe even so, far down in our DNA we also have a need for the man to take charge.  Perhaps not all the time but there is something extremely sexual about giving over your control and not being in charge at least in the bedroom.   Also I think women enjoy the erotic mystery of the written word where as men are more visual creatures and like seeing (the old lights on lights off debate)the sexual act and are more turned on by pornography than women as a rule.

AGEING & THE ART OF SEX

Which brings me to a great article a girlfriend of mine Nadine Williams has written called “Brown’s long magazine life “Sex-cess” on her website, which is a must read.  Helen Gurley Brown recently died at the ripe old age of 90, she was a trail blazer and as Nadine says “her magazine mantra metamorphosed the sex lives of the modern woman.     The author of the 1962 best-seller Sex and the Single Girl reckoned if women weren’t sex objects, they were in trouble and while good girls went to heaven, bad girls got to go everywhere.”    I have always loved that quote as well as everything else that ever came out of Mae West’s mouth – another trail blazer for the modern woman.  If you fancy a read of my Art blog on Mae and see the Mae West painting here is a link 72. Mae West “Come up and see me some time” & Art

Anyway another thing that Helen Gurley Brown said;

“My own philosophy is if you’re not having sex, you’re finished.  It separates the girls from the old people”

And for what it is worth – I think she has a point, a good point!

I always sign off with Happy painting and sculpting, however this time I will also borrow from the movie with the music of the fabulous group ABBA called Mamma Mia and say Happy ….

Love Marie xxxx

Ps  I would really love to hear what your thoughts on the subject are so make a comment!

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 interesting how friendships are, how people come and go in your life?   Some are there all the way others appear and disappear only to reappear again.

Just like I imagine these cats do in my painting “Cats in Case” in a Louis Vuitton bag (which is also available as a limited edition Giclee Print)

If I think about my own friends and I do have quite a few, although I could probably count on 2 hands the ones I could run to if I was really in trouble and know that they would come to my aid.  That’s not saying that I don’t treasure the rest any less as each and every one of my friends has added value to my life.

THE ART OF THE FAIR-WEATHER FRIEND

Now I won’t count into that number the “fair-weather” variety that did me wrong over the years. Oh yes I have had my share of those, as I think most of us have.  You know the type they come across all sweetness and light and you just love them to bits when suddenly you find they have just pulled the carpet from under your feet.

You are just like “I swear I was just standing on carpet a minute ago, what AM I doing here lying on the floor”!   With time you learn to dust yourself off and get on the bike again although it does hurt just as much as when you were little, it is lucky that with the years you learned some coping skills.

We just had this discussion with the nephew who said he has many different circles of friends and we are just the same.

FROM ART TO MONEY

There is the” Hippy Variety” – into having a good time and looking after the environment, “ The Cashed up lot” – when we go out with them we end up spending a week’s wage on one meal and need the magnifying glass to find the food on the plate,lol and have to stop at McDonalds on the way home!

“The Teacher group” – loves books like me & always interested in everything,  The “Arty-Farty gang” –  doing the art galleries, film and theater events,  “The Swim friends” – where it’s all about health & diets and the “Farmer mob”- oh you guess it, all about the weather at first, but then you peel a layer and there is lots more to them too.    I still see some of my “Modelling friends” where it’s about old times, botox and menopause, lol  – it used to be more fun when they were into sex, drugs and rock & roll!

THE ART OF LIVING LIFE

Not forgetting our kids, their friends, nieces and nephews as well, I have to admit I am rather fond of the younger generation – they are lots of fun and haven’t gotten that grumpy old man or woman syndrome yet either which is always a bonus.

Anyway what’s with the grumpy syndrome anyway – take a chill pill and enjoy life it’s way too short to waste on negativity (I do make exception for one grumpy friend lol somehow he is cute & grumpy and makes me laugh)

The thing is I enjoy all of their company and feel very lucky to have such a broad range of people who are all interesting in their own way.  So with such a cross section of friends there is not a chance to get bored.

Now over the last year I have acquired a new category the Facebook friends – and yes a lot are of course just acquaintances; however there certainly are some of those with whom a deeper relationship is developing, reaching out across the world from Scotland to South Africa, Indonesia to Hongkong, Turkey, France, USA, the Middle East and even Russia.

ARTISTIC WEBSITE

A rich diverse and very interesting lot they are.  So today I would like to share a poem from one of these friends, her name is Annamarie Causer and she is a writer, columnist and author of many poetry books.  She also writes for a website called  CRAIGMILLAR (look under Memories for Diary of a Countryside Lady) or find her on Facebook FB CRAIGMILLAR (for news, opinion, history and events)  Annamarie was inspired to write this from the “Cats in case” artwork, and I hope later on to share more of her work with you.

“ODE TO FUZZY FELINES
Kitties to the left of me,
kitties to the right.
out the box
they pop,
playfully causing fright.
Some with white sock.
A suitcase laced
with a li’l
bitty
kitty.
Legs braced
agin their tangling,
wrangling,
and dangling
furry body.
Their whirlish dervish
and devilish laced
antic
cause endless frantic
a worrisome flurry
and such a worry
(but only to cat haters)”

Here is a quote I like from Abraham Lincoln,

“No matter how much cats fight, there always seems to be plenty of kittens.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you,

Love Marie     (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.

Funny isn’t it how life is, you go along and suddenly you have an epiphany, well in my case I just realized that perhaps I have been influenced by someone far away from my own upbringing in Sweden and later on in Australia.

Mae West – how strange this realization is, but I have to say I have always admired her hutzpah , she was in the forefront of the sexual revolution and certainly one of the most outspoken and openly sexual women of her time.  This acrylic on canvas board painting “Come up and see me sometime” was inspired by one of her sayings, which I heard growing up.  This artwork can also be found on the E-card page of my website (free of course), so why don’t you send it to someone you fancy!

Mae West was 87 years old when she died in November 1980 after suffering a series of strokes and was buried in New York.  Her last film was made in 1978 called “Sextette” and co-starred Tony Curtis; you could say she was the original Cougar!    However it was her dry humor and quick wit with the sexual innuendos and her way at poking fun at the straight laced society that appealed to me.

For you who may not be familiar with the lady (but I am sure you still have heard and may quote some of her sayings) here is a brief run through of her life.

MAE WEST A WORK OF ART

Mae was born Mary Jan West in 1893, her parents earned their living in vaudeville (surprise, surprise) and she joined them by the time she was five years old.  She was billed as “The Baby Vamp” when only 14 years old and studied dance and later began to write her own plays.  One of her more famous plays was called “Sex” which landed her in jail for ten days on obscenity charges in 1926.

My god can you imagine how ahead of her time she must have been.   If you think about your own life and the outrage that would have attracted even as late as the 70’s, and really today too it would be controversial with the “political correctness “ creeping into everything that we say and do.

Mae made her Broadway debut in a play called “Diamond Lil” that she had written herself and caught the attention of one of the Hollywood studios, which later led to her first movie role.

I think the movie was called Night after Night and in it she was able to show her incredible wit that was to make her famous all over the world.  She became a box-office smash and broke all attendance records.  Her next film “She Done Him wrong” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best picture and also helped to make Cary Grant a star.

THE ART OF THE SEXUAL INNUENDO

Mae was really known for her double talk (her sexual innuendos) which really came about because of the Motion Picture Production Code, which was established after her first two movies to regulate what was allowed to be said in movies.

CENSORSHIP IN ART

As a result of these new codes, Mae very cleverly began to speak in double talk, so she could get around the censors.  By her double speak, the listener could take the phrase anyway they wished, quite innocently or perhaps with a more sexual connotation.  That is really what so appeals to me, her double speak, the hint of sexuality without it being overtly so.  I myself am not a fan of explicit sexuality whether it is visual or in the written context, but think it is great fun to play with just the slightest suggestion of it.    How ahead of her time she was, and I leave you here with a few of her more memorable quotes, as she lives on in the minds of many of us.

“Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?”

“When I’m good, I’m very good. But when I’m bad, I’m better.”

“Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere else.”

“Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home, I’m tired.”

After all that I am tired too, just got enough strength to say happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie xxx       (c)

If you enjoyed this art blog you may also like this one 158. Fifty Shades of Grey in 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.

On this detail below from the painting “I love San Francisco”, you can see Golden Gate bridge and here is a link to the whole artwork and the art blog called 6. San Francisco where this tale begins,followed by 7. More tales from San Francisco and if after you read this and still want more here is the last installment in this paintings blog 17. The Jail Bird in Alcatraz (the last bit of the San Francisco tales).

FOOD IN MY PAINTINGS AND IN MY STOMACH

So after all that stuffing of our faces, we had to get some exercise in,  so of we trotted up and down nearly every street of this fair city, and zig zagged down  the crookest road in the world, all the while with one eye behind us (well…the Muni Stabber..remember!)

I had to see firsthand all the places that I had previously painted and found Pier 39 and after a little walk-about there,  decided to bicycle across the Golden Gate Bridge, found ourselves a very Happy Chappie who enthusiastically sold us on the idea of using his company, a bike each and helmets (yuck hat hair).So we were ready to go with a water bottle, map in hand, when the Happy Chappie  told us the entire bike ride from the pier across the bridge to Sausalito and then the ferry back would be no more than one and a half hours max.

THE ART OF THE CON

Yea Right!  We were skeptical before we set off, but hey nothing ventured nothing gained right? So off we go, and boy I am glad we did, fantastic experience, peddled our butts off and had so much fun, but even without more than a couple of photo stops it took 3 hours to reach Sausalito.  What he had also neglected to tell us was that the ‘you beaut’ ferry only went a few times a day and the next one was not due for another hour and a half, and by the time we got on it, it was pitch black.

The saga didn’t end there either for this little ferry did not go back to Pier 39, oh no this one went to the SF Harbour proper, with a 20 minute bike ride in the dark.  So 6 hours later we finally got back to the still very enthusiastic hire fellow, as luck would have it, ran a 24 hours a day bike return, although funnily enough we had to pay by the hour!  Well what could you say apart from, Thank you, we had a lovely day! Lol  There certainly are many more paintings & paintings blogs inspirations here!

Here is another quote I like from J.P. Donleavy(writer);

“When you don’t have any money, the problem is food.  When you have money, it’s sex.  When you have both, it’s health.  If everything is simply jake, then you’re frightened of death”

How True!

Till next time, happy painting and sculpting everyone,

Love Marie

(To be continued)                                              (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.

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