June 24, 2011 in Current Art Blog, Sculpture by mariejon

88 Chevy Chase and Roundaboutdogs – Sculpture for Charity

ART AND CHEVY CHASE LOOKALIKE

We’ve just had Chevy Chase here to stay, all the way from California via Sweden, without a word of a lie – see for yourself down below is the picture to prove it.  Well ok then maybe just a little untrue, but you have to admit he is a dead ringer for him, my cousin’s boy Kalle.  As delightful as it has been to have Kalle and his friend Kristoffer staying with us, it is Kalle’s father, my cousin Bjorn that I would like to tell you about.

Roundaboutdogs sculpture for charity

PAINTING IN SWEDEN

This acrylic painting was bought by his mother when I had an exhibition in Sweden and it pretty much depicts where Bjorn actually lives today, although when I painted it, their little red cottage in the woods by the sea did not even exists.  Perhaps I inspired him to build one, who knows.  Anyway Bjorn is in the corporate world of IBM and has pretty much traveled the world with his job, currently working mostly out of the UK.  But he calls the little red cottage and Sweden his home and goes there as much as time will allow.

ROUND ABOUT DOGS SCULPTURE

You see that is where Rondellhund.com (Roundabout-dog) was born, in the shed at the back of the cottage.  It was in 2007 that Bjorn Andersson decided to combine his love of dogs and the tinkering in his shed by making some Roundabout dogs and giving the money raised to charity.  According to all that know him – Bjorn has a heart of gold and his vision is to keep Rondellhund at Philanthropic Street Art level and give a moment of enjoyment to all people traveling by car.  His dogs have traveled the world to places in the USA, Australia, UK & Germany to name just a few.

RONDELLHUND ARTIST

The first Rondellhund was actually made by Peter Nyberg and his intention was to “mock the state-employed artists, who get so much money to make sculptures that we can do just as well ourselves”  he said.  From what I understand, that was after there had been an official roundabout installation in Lindkoping by sculptor Stina Opitz, made in concrete.  This sculpture was vandalized and got some media coverage and shortly after anonymous people started placing little wooden dogs in roundabouts. (ref. Wikipedia)

PAINTING ON WOOD

The dogs Bjorn makes are of scrap pieces of wood and then painted in every way imaginable, with spots, stripes, checked, stars  & flowers.  He even made some for the Royal weddings between Sweden’s Crown princess Victoria and Daniel as well as the English Royals, Kate and William; with the crowns on their heads of course.   The idea is to sneak out in the middle of the night and place your dog sculpture in the middle of a roundabout or in some other public place to be enjoyed by as many people as possible.  Now lots of family groups come to the shed to help build & paint the dogs, and they are also available as flat packs (like Ikea) to send across the world.  The dog sculptures all have a tags on them, as quite often they go missing, and it is asked if they are “stolen” that some money is donated to charity and this seems to be the case too – nice honest thief’s lol.

So come onboard and make a dog yourself or sponsor someone else to make one.  So far the money raised has gone to a local dog rescue center, Starlight children’s foundation UK, Guide Dogs UK & many other charities.  You will find an easy instruction on how to make your own dog and see pictures from Rondellhund across the world on this link.  You can also join Rondellhund on Face book.

The quote for today comes from my cousin Bjorn who says on his website;

A few simple situation I wish for but I will never know ………..

When the family see a rondelhund in an roundabout they smile and stop to buy ice-cream.

When Steven see a rondellhund he smiles and call his mother to say how are you, I’ll stop by for coffee.

When Rosanne see a rondellhund she smiles and stops the car and hug her kids.

When Jane see a rondellhund she smiles and start thinking of new ideas for her class.

When Peter see a rondellhund he smiles and new music ideas start developing in his mind.

When ………..

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx        (c)

If you enjoyed this you may also like this art blog about my artist brother Matt Jonsson; 91 He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother

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.

Click here to view blog post where you can view and make comments

June 18, 2011 in Current Art Blog by mariejon

87 Art & It could be worse, they could be fleas

ACRYLIC PAINTING

This acrylic on canvas board painting is part of my “Cat & Dog” series.  The inspiration for these artworks is all the years living at the farm as well as being an animal lover from way back.  You have to admit that a swarm full of butterflies is a lot better than fleas, not so sure about the bees though.

Lucky it's not fleas!

CATS AND ART

When we moved recently we had to leave one of our cats behind Ozzie is his name a gorgeous gray and white cat, the trouble with him was he never learned the nack of being house trained.  Instead he would save up his “business” I’m sure for when he came inside and promptly go to our son’s room, back up against the wall and do “it”.  Very unsavory to find when you happened upon it later.  So consequently he became an outside cat, and I think he prefers it that way too.   We were very lucky that the people that bought the farm were happy to keep him on; he does you see, earn his keep, as he is a great mouser!

PAINTING CATS

Our daughter’s cat Milo moved with us and used a litter tray for the first month or so in the new house but now we have a cat door so he comes and goes as he pleases.  We think he is a lovely cat but I may have to rethink that now as I caught him having a major scrap with the neighbor’s cat.  I did feel a bit bad about it as since we have moved here we put the blame on the “bad cat” next door beating up our sweet, innocent darling.   However when I caught Milo red-handed, flying out from his hidden vantage point and attacking the neighbor’s cat,  I just may have to admit he is not the angel I thought.

But I still felt  a bit sorry for Milo (I think he came out second best) as he lay on our bed for the next few days nursing a cut on his head and a cheek which had swelled up to twice the normal size.

POEMS ABOUT CATS

Now I am again going to share with you a poem by my friend from Scotland,  Annamarie Causer, writer, columnist and author of many poetry books.  Here is a link to one of the websites CRAIGMILLAR that she writes for called (look under Memories for a Diary of a Countryside Lady).

This poem was written about her own cat which was 19 years old and very sick at this time when Annamarie took him to the vet, and she was sure the only outcome would be the poor cat’s demise.

ODE TO A PUT-UPON & BLIGHTED KITTY
Whey
Hey
And what do I have on today?
A trip to the PDSA.
Cat [carrier] box on the busy bus.
How he doth writhe …me? well I just cuss!
The death knell,
That ominous bell
Was pronounced.
Uh,
Huh, I stood my ground.
I tells them
Ahem,
I renounced
Their findings.
Several hours later
Now here’s me minding
My own business.
The phone trings
Would you plez brings
Your catty box.
This isn’t a cat ..he’s a ravenous fox
Eating up a storm.
It really can’t wait till morn.
Now he sits sprawling
Waiting
Anticipating?
Tongue lolling.
Toothless.
Not mauling,
Any more.
Ever debating.
What’s happened to my teef?
I’ve got a real beef
‘Bout my tongue…where does it go now?
Gee-whizz, wish I’d been born a bow
Wow♥

So the lesson from this is to remember it’s not over until it’s over and here is a quote I like by Francois-Marie Arouet Voltaire (philosopher & writer)

“Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx     (c)

If you enjoyed this art blog about cats you may like this very funny one about 2 dogs 28. ART & Sometimes its just about the little noises you hear

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.

Click here to view blog post where you can view and make comments

June 10, 2011 in Art & Children, Current Art Blog by mariejon

86 A million miles an hour and little miss chuck up in Art

PAINTING AND CHILDREN

Looking at this painting brings back so many memories from when the kids were little.  There is a four year age gap between our children Kai and Hillivi and were for the most part the best of friends growing up.  We lived on a farm until just recently and the nearest kids were 10 kilometers away so it was just as well that they enjoyed each other’s company.

Red Cordial

In this particular painting they are playing tea party which was a favorite game.  Another one was playing restaurant, they would have all their soft toys and dolls sitting around the tables and come in ever so official with notepad and pencil and inquire what everyone wanted to order for dinner (obviously the toys could talk, because they got busy writing it all down.)  My gallery in Japan had bought them this huge set of plastic food and a burger counter and they would spend hours making and serving the food.

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS & RED CORDIAL

I think though from the look of Kai bouncing on the bed he must have just come home from a friend’s birthday party!  You see we were rather careful on what we gave the kids to eat at home, healthy living and all that.  What we  found out the first time Kai as a little tacker came home from a party was that he was totally uncontrollable, he was literally bouncing of the walls, running from room to room like his pants was on fire and talking a million miles an hour.  With trial and error we found out that it was “red cordial” that affected him like that, so at least we knew that any time he went to a kids party he would come home all wild eyed and crazy.  (Weird too that any magazine or newspaper reports on the food colour issue during that time all said that food colors do not affect kids, where as the real life experience of a lot of parents are quite different.)

ART AND KIDS PARTIES

Little Miss Hillivi was not to be outdone however oh no, she would come home from every party and promptly chuck up!  The first time it happened I thought she had been food poisoned and rang the mother of her friend to warn her just in case it was affecting all the kids.  However as time went on we found out that every time Hillivi went to a kids party she would come home and throw up.  It took a little bit of investigating to find out that my sweet little baby girl would turn into the cookie monster when she arrived at any parties and stuff herself so full of snacks and lollies that her body could not cope with the overload, lol.

FOOD POISONING AND ART

Another time on the way home from a Saturday outing which had included a cafeteria lunch in a furniture store (no not Ikea!) both Kai and Hillivi complained that they are not feeling well, so we had to stop the car.  They of course hang out the back doors of the car and say goodbye to; what looked like a “very yummy trifle” an hour ago and this time as there had been no overeating it must have been bad food.

Try as I might – there was no chance of contacting the store on a weekend even though they were open both Saturday and Sunday.  The phone calls went straight to a recording and you couldn’t even leave a message – so I wonder how many other people got food poisoned that weekend, as there was a whole tray full of trifles there when we left the store.

Here are a couple of quotes that amused me on the “lovely” subject; the first by Johnny Depp;

“When the kids hit 1 year old, it’s like hanging out with a miniature drunk.  You have to hold onto them.  They bump into things.  They laugh and cry.  They urinate. They vomit”.

and the second one from the comedian and actor Jon Stewart:

“The night I turned twenty-two I drank a shot for every year.  I was so drunk. My friends drove me home and left me propped up on the couch holding a bucket.  I woke up with vomit all over me.  The bucket was clean as a whistle.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all!

Love Marie xxx    (c)

If you enjoyed this art blog and artwork you may want to read another here is a link about what comes out of the mouth of babes; 55. Art & The Rise and Fall of the Tooth

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.

Click here to view blog post where you can view and make comments

June 3, 2011 in Current Art Blog, Food & Art by mariejon

85 Art & Birthday Treat and long Pockets

THE ART OF BIRTHDAY FUN

Oh I already know that I am just the luckiest mum in the world with the two loveliest kids you could ever ask for, that said this particular story is about Baby girl (still call her that even though she is 20 now, you will find her in a lot of my paintings, mostly still as a child. )

Monkeys in Ubud

I just had another birthday and as I have said before they just keep on coming seem to lurch from one to another with breakneck speed.  This time I turned 39 and some months, lol and the good thing about that number is the indefinite aspect!  I can just keep on turning 39 and some months without a word of a lie, right?

There was a lot of phone calls back and forth between my husband and Baby girl (Hillivi) in the days leading up to the birthday and a lot of whispering until I was given my instructions.

THE ART OF GETTING SPOILED

I had to arrive at Hillivi’s unit at 11am sharp, and there she was standing outside with a lovely bunch of tulips and my heart skipped a beat.  After the birthday kisses she said;  “shove over I’m driving you today” and off we went to a lovely little café for Brunch, and to say that this particular place made the best Belgian hot chocolates in the whole world is not overstating it at all (the food was very yummy too).

Hillivi kept looking at her watch and then said ok now it’s time to go.  “Go where?” I said.  “Never you mind mummy, you will see,” and with that we hopped into the car for a bit again.  If you look closely at these artworks you will see a girl with blond hair either in pigtails or ponytail sticking straight up, well that is Hillivi, always my cute little girl!

The next place was the movies, and she had tickets for “Something borrowed” a chick flick which we both thoroughly enjoyed.  She generously offered both chocolates and popcorn to go with it, tempted as I was I restrained myself (well we had just had a big Brunch after all and I cannot be little miss piggy all the time, lol)

After the movies we set off again, this time for a spot of shopping in the city but there was more, as Hillivi still kept on checking her watch and then led me on a mysterious walk, looking for some place.

BEAUTY & ART

Lucky me, it was the London Beauty Spa and I had my choice of a massage or manicure/pedicure.  We chose to stick together and sit side by side for the manicures, sipping cuppa-chinos, the whole experience was such a lovely treat and Jackie, the girl who owned the place was from London and very cool and hip.

FOOD REVIEW, ZOOTS AND ART

See what a lucky mum I am!  The day was rounded up with a fab dinner joined by hubby, kids and their lovely partners (my heart skipped another beat when I saw Baby boy and his huge pressie), at a bohemian kind of place called Zootz  at Henley beach.  A place that I can thoroughly recommend, the food was delicious and the staff delightful and they catered very well for both vegetarian and gluten intolerant people too.

THE ART OF NOUVELLE CUISINE

I cannot say the same for the Wine Underground I’m afraid, which is where we went with friends the next night, the only redeeming factor was the lovely friends we were with.   It was a more posh affair, the kind where you need the binoculars to find the food on your plate and still need to go to McDonalds to take away the hunger pains!  My beef was (mmm…maybe that’s the wrong choice of words for a vegetarian) that I had told them when booking that one of us were gluten intolerant/vegetarian, and asked whether they could accommodate that.  To cut a long story short when we get there, their one option for a vego person was not gluten free and no, the chef could not make me anything else and what I got for dinner was a huge white plate – and in the middle of it was 2 figs cut in quarters one potato cut in bits, with gorgonzola sauce.  How come the mains do not come with salad or vegetables, but they have to be ordered separately, twelve bucks for wilted spinach the size of my fist, whats with that I ask you “wilted” lol, (where was the fresh!).   It did all taste nice but I had to send out a search party to find the food, and next time I should wear pants like the Scottish do with very very long pockets.  Sorry but I cannot quite reach my wallet!  I wonder how that would go down, lol.

So here is a quote I thought would fit in here;

“Nouvelle Cuisine, roughly translated means;   I can’t believe I paid ninety-six dollars and I’m still hungry.”  (Mike Kalin)

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all,

Love Marie xxx  (C)

If you enjoyed this art blog you may also like to see how the Swedish eat in this Painting blog; 63. Smorgasbord Art(continuation of the Swedish Xmas celebrations)

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.

Click here to view blog post where you can view and make comments