December 30, 2011 in Current Blog by mariejon

115 New Years Eve

So here it comes again, New Years Eve 2011, seems only yesterday that we were ushering in 2000 never mind the 10 in between.  How does that happen?  Where did all that time go, you tell me because I haven’t got a clue!

This acrylic on board painting “Happy New Year, New York” (which sold in America) was such a lot of fun to do and it was painted in the time of innocents before 9/11 when the Twin Towers were still standing proud.  At the time I had not yet been to the USA so it was great fun to do the research on all the buildings and images of New York.  Then finally we did go to New York and here is a link to some of those adventures;  I MISS NEW YORK, sadly by the time we got there the Twin Towers were reduced to Ground Zero but we did see all the rest of the things I had painted.

You know it’s funny to think about the turn of the last century when we thought the whole world may stop and planes would fall out of the sky due to the Millennium Bug, remember that one?  The YK2 problem or YK2 bug, that whole problem stemmed from the programming of computers.  When the computer programmers were trying to save space in the computer files they abbreviated the year to just the two last digits as in 91,92,93, but as the turn of the century grew closer they realized that the clocks of the digital age would turn from 99 into 00 which may make the computers of the world fail.

Hence we may have all sorts of mayhem arising, from planes dropping out of the sky to hospital life support equipment failing, trains stopping, phone lines & mobile phones dropping out, electricity and water getting turned off and supermarkets and businesses in general not being able to serve their customers. The experts on TV and Radios around the Globe were discussing the various scenarios whilst us the public were in two camps on the issue – the “believers” and the “not”.

We lived on a farm at the time and fell into the middle ground on the subject and decided that we better stock up on some food and drinks just in case, lol.  So we had a few boxes in the shed with the necessities, should the worst happen.  Canned food, long life milk, potatoes and onions and candles and batteries, oh and plenty of alcohol, we figured we may as well be a little inebriated if we were going to live on the crap we had stored in the emergency boxes, lol.

My brother was totally fascinated by the subject and read every book there was and preached doom and gloom.  To his credit he really was on the right track because if the “IT” world had not gotten their act together in the mid nineties and started to seriously work on the problem we really would have been in dire straits.  There was one person though who had spotted the mistake as far back as 1958 whilst working on genealogical software.  His name was Bob Bemer and he had then tried for the next twenty years to make the programmers, IBM and the U.S. government aware of the problem.  But as usual the whistle blower was ignored and it took nearly 40 years before they took him seriously!

For most of us midnight 1999 past without too much trouble however there were a few glitches around the world and these statistics are from the Wikipedia site;

UK – incorrect Down’s syndrome test results were sent out and two abortions were carried out and four babies were born with Down’s syndrome even though the mothers had been told they were in the low-risk category.

Japan- had radiation-monitoring equipment at a nuclear power plant fail at midnight and at another nuclear site an alarm sounded at two minutes after midnight, both with no risk to the public they stated.  Also in Japan their largest mobile phone company found their phones were deleting new messages instead of old ones but that was also fixed within a short time.

Australia- had problems with their ticket validation system on the buses in two states.

US- had 150 slot machines stop working at some race tracks in Delaware and the U.S Naval Observatory with runs the master clock that keeps official time for the whole country showed the date on its website as Jan. 1, 19100.

France- had the same problem on the weather forecast website Metro France which showed Saturday’s weather and the date as 1/01/19100.

No doubt there were some other minor problems across the world but all in all we were pretty lucky really that for the most part all was good!

So that brings me to this year and the first New Years Eve in our newly renovated house, the weather forecast is for a hot 37 degrees and we are planning a pool party in our Bali hut with good friends and too much food and drinks no doubt.  The only thing I wish for is relative quite in the morning lol, and not like one New Years Day morning many years ago when we lived in an apartment.  Apart from the annoying dog next door that would bark loudly at his own shadow we had a water pipe burst under the road opposite where we lived and the “Government emergency water brigade” thought they would find the problem at 7am with a jackhammer going at full speed! Normally when you call and tell them about a water leak they take six weeks to come out, what the??

So here is a thought for the New Year by Edith Lovejoy Pierce,

“We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”

From me to you – I wish you the best New Years ever and hope it will bring love, joy, health, wealth and happiness to you all.

Till next time,

Love Marie xxxx  (c)

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December 23, 2011 in Current Blog by mariejon

114 Elders Fine Art Gallery.. never give up

This painting “Christmas for the Elders family” was commissioned by Jim Elders from the Elders Fine Art Gallery in Adelaide, South Australia, a man I much admire and without whom I would not be enjoying this wonderful career as an Artist.

I have told you how I started painting in How it all began, which is something that I did every minute of the day (in-between looking after a new baby & going back to modelling) early morning, late into the evening, when baby Kai had his naps, and all weekend when hubby took over the child minding.

Friends and family was highly amused at my newfound love of painting and would come over to see the latest artwork.   They would giggle and laugh and I am sure in a lot of instances pat me on the head, shake their heads and think that at least I am amusing myself but it won’t amount to anything much, LOL.

Not that I thought it would either I just knew that I could not stop and if I wasn’t painting I thought about painting, dreamt about it or talked about it, like a woman obsessed.  My dad, who is an artist himself but generally more in the abstract area or as a junk art sculptor, would encourage me and buy me paints and materials.  After a while he said:” you know honey I think you are on to something – there is a genre in the art world called Naive Art and although it does not look anything like yours it seems to be in the same vein.”  So dad got me a few books and I started to dream that maybe one day I could become a “real artist”.

It took about 2 years for this penny to drop and I thought I should see if I could get representation from a gallery.  Now obviously as my father was already an artist with gallery backing and I had quite a public profile from being the Australian Model of the Year it probably would have been much easier to take advantage of that but I wanted to make it on my own arts merit.

So armed with the Yellow Pages (Telephone Directory) I started calling galleries.  I started with the less known and worked my way up the list.  In the most polite of fashions I explained that I was a new artist and was wondering if at some stage I could either come in or send them an image of my work.  Without fail every single gallery I called said: “sorry we are not interested in seeing any new artists, or we are totally booked out”, and some of them were rather rude and abrupt.  At this stage there were only 2 Galleries left in South Australia (that I hadn’t called) and that was the two most famous ones 20 years ago;  BMG (Kim Bonython’s) and Elders Fine Art Gallery, and as luck would have it I called Elders first.

Jim Elder answered the phone himself and I couldn’t believe it when he said; “sure come on in!  I will warn you however that I very rarely take on any new artists but I always look”, and with that we made an appointment.

So on the allotted day I turn up, Jim is very busy getting a show up and hardly acknowledges me but points at where I should put my work along the walls on the floor.  I had 14 works with me so it took quite a while back and forth from the car and finally it’s all in and eventually Jim comes to take a look.

His face gave nothing away, he looked grumpy to me and sort of huffed and asked what the price on this and that one is?  I said that I had no idea at all what the prices were, so Jim said, well that one I think would be 300 dollars, and this one 500 and the one with the flowers 950.  By this stage my eyes were round as saucers as I listen to this obviously quite mad man, lol.  But who was I to argue and when he then said he would buy, this one and that one and the other outright, counting up 10 of the artworks and taking in the other 4 on commission basis I nearly fainted.  I left Elders Fine Art Gallery that day with a cheque for nearly 7 thousand dollars, which with a young family and a mortgage made me skip to the car!

The paintings sold the following weekend in their Christmas show and I now had a new career painting full time and the rest of it is history as they say!

So thank you Jim and Helen Elders, you provided the most wonderful start to my career and I am forever in your debt.  It goes without saying, that if the Elders had not changed the gallery to an Auction house: Elders Fine Art & Auctioneers, I would still happily be on their books.

So here is a quote by George Allen,  I think fits very well in here with light of what everyone thought initially about my art career, lol.

“People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success because they don’t know when to quit.  Most men succeed because they are determined to.”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxx  (c)

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December 16, 2011 in Current Blog by mariejon

113 Swedish Traditions, Another weird one

One thing I really miss about living in Australia is the Sankta Lucia tradition, and yes I know some of you are going – What’s that?  This acrylic painting should help to paint the picture for you.  (Although something awful must have happened to the girl on the very right of the picture, don’t know what that is on her face!)

Sankta Lucia is like a shining angel coming to the Swedish darkness all dressed in white and has a wreath of candles burning on her head.  It is celebrated on the 13^th of December which is the longest night of the year.  Even though the celebration takes the name of the Italian Saint Lucia from the 4^th Century, I’m led to believe that it is really named after the Swedish maiden that appeared on the shore of one of the big lakes and proceeded to give out food to the starving masses during one of the famines.  She is said to have worn a crown or wreath of lit candles – well it was dark wasn’t it and since battery operated torches was not invented yet, what else could a resourceful girl do?

When I lived in Sweden it was every girls dream to be crowned the new Lucia and the crown always went to the prettiest girl with the long blond hair.  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.  The rest of us could be Tarnor, and we would also be wearing white although our wreath was somewhat smaller and made out of silver tinsel (always the bridesmaid never the bride, lol) Not to be outdone the boys would also join us, 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!  A couple of boys would also be Santa’s little helpers dressed in red.

My Aunty (father’s sister) Gun Jonsson was actually crowned the Swedish Lucia in Stockholm many years ago Miss Lucia 1947 – part of her prize package was a life time supply of Palmolive soap!  Gun went on to become firstly a dancer in an international dance troupe called “The Cassel Girls “and later became a famous actress.  She was in several plays directed by Ingmar Bergman and Gun is also a much admired director and producer, something which she still does today.  (‘Bad Javlarna’,’ Hem till Byn’ and ‘Sova rav’ are just some of her Swedish movies and TV shows, you Swedes know what I am talking about.)

Of course we would all be singing Christmas carols but the song we started and finished with would be this one.

Natten går tunga fjät
rund gård och stuva;
kring jord, som sol förlät,
skuggorna ruva.
Då i vårt mörka hus,
stiger med tända ljus,
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

Natten går stor och stum
nu hörs dess vingar
i alla tysta rum
sus som av vingar.
Se, på vår tröskel står
vitklädd med ljus i hår
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

Mörkret ska flyta snart
ur jordens dalar
så hon ett underbart
ord till oss talar.
Dagen ska åter ny
stiga ur rosig sky
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

The night goes with heavy steps
around farm and cottage;
round the earth the sun has forsaken,
the shadows are brooding.
There in our darkened house,
stands with lighted candles
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia.

The night passes, large and mute
now one hears wings
in every silent room
whispers as if from wings.
See, on our threshold stands
white-clad with candles in her hair
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia.

The darkness shall soon depart
from the earth’s valleys
then she speaks
a wonderful word to us.
The day shall be born anew
Rising from the rosy sky.
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia.

(Translated: by Chris Troy and based on an article by Elizabeth Dacey-Fondelius)

When my own kids were little we would go to the Swedish Church in Adelaide and they would take part in the procession followed by coffee and cakes.  Traditional Lussekattor  (cats) which are baked buns made from saffron, so they were slightly orange colour and with raisins for their eyes, as well as lots of other Swedish bisquits mmmm…. makes me hungry just to think about it.

Then Father Christmas would turn up with presents for all the little kids (which their own parents would have bought and wrapped and put in the sack).

I will never forget when my son Kai was just a little baby and we were attending his very first Lucia celebration.  He had been enjoying seeing all the lights and singing and even did not mind being presented to Santa, however when Kai with a bit of help from me unwrapped his present, the poor little boy screamed blue murder and got the fright of his life.

His stupid mother “moi” had bought him a Jack-in-the-box and it scared him half to death.  To add injury to the insult I had paid good money for this toy bought at David Jones and he never ever played or even wanted to look at it again. LOL, not that I blame the poor boy!

Here is a quote by Franklin P. Jones which I think fits well in here;

“Children are unpredictable.  You never know what inconsistency they’re going to catch you in next.”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxx

Here are some links to stories about Swedish Easter or Swedish Christmas and Swedish Smorgasbord. Enjoy!

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December 9, 2011 in Current Blog by mariejon

112 Artlink Magazine

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.

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 centrefold!

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.

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.

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.

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,

Love Marie xxx      (c)

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December 2, 2011 in Current Blog by mariejon

111. Indie music, Art and Paintings with James Abberley I’ll be a Bird

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 was put together by my son Kai.

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.

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 theatre 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.

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 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.

Gotye, 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.

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,

Love Marie xxx    (c)

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