May 24, 2013 in Artists & Gallery Art Blogs, Current Art Blog by mariejon

182 GIVING PAINTINGS AS GIFTS

NAIVE ART BOOK

So as some of you may already know that read my artblog last week 180 ART AND THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS that I was just given a wonderful Danish Naive artbook called “Naivister i Danmark” written by Ole Lindboe and also incredibly 3 original paintings.  These amazing gifts were sent by the Danish art gallery owner Knud Grothe who runs the fabulously successful art gallery called GALERIE KNUD GROTHE in Charlottenlund, Copenhagen, Denmark.

ART GALLERY IN DENMARK

Charlottenlund is one of the most affluent suburbs in Copenhagen and got it’s name from Princess Charlotte Amalie, she is the daughter of King Frederick lV and the sister of King Christian Vl who rebuilt the Gyldenlund Palace in 1733 and named it Charlottenlund Palace after her.

This suburb Charlottenlund is also the home to Danish celebrities and corporate executives and lots of other wealthy individuals and families, the suburb has lots of gorgeous ocean views and most of the mansions and estates are around the Strandvejen (Beach Road).

Artist impression of Nyhavn, Denmark

NAIVE ARTISTS

Anyway the paintings I was so generously given are on stretched canvas and one on canvas board by 3 naif artists; Isis de Sequeira, Jan Thomas and Inge Selmer, all very different but equally wonderful.

ARTIST ISIS DE SEQUEIRA

Isis originally heralds from Brazil but these days live in Denmark and this particular work is a very detailed miniature beach scene with a lovely green ocean with people enjoying the sun and surf called Danish Bacon (which I imagine is tongue in cheek for smoking or cooking your body in the sun).  It is reminiscent of the days I have spent by the Australian beach and no doubt has been influenced by the travelling that Isis has done as well.

Danish Bacon!

ARTIST JAN THOMAS

Jan’s distinctive artwork is called Nyhavn which is the 17^th-century waterfront canal and entertainment district in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Nyhavn was actually constructed by King Christian V and dug by Swedish war prisoners from the Danish-Swedish War in 1658-1660.  In those days it was notorious for beer, sailors and prostitution but these days is brightly lined by coloured 17^th and early 18^th century townhouses and bars, cafes and restaurants.  Jan has captured the ambiance of this district with a family out for a Sunday stroll, a fish monger, tattoo parlor, a prostitute waiting for business, musicians and much more.

Artist Inge Selmers bride cycling to the church on time!

ARTIST INGE SELMER

The third painting I received was by Inge Semler who says that when she paints she disappears into her own little world and it is never too late to get oneself a happy childhood.  This gorgeous work sees a bride in all her finery furiously pedaling her bike through the green countryside to get to the church on time with her veil blowing behind her in the wind.  The title is “The Groom awaits” which suits the painting down to a T.

THE ART OF GIVING

Again thank you very much Knud for your generous gifts which is giving me so much pleasure every day.

Here is a quote I think fits well here by Terri Guillemets;

“Good fortune shies away from gloom.  Keep your spirits up.  Good things will come to you and you will come to good things”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxx

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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May 17, 2013 in Artists & Gallery Art Blogs, Current Art Blog by mariejon

180 ART AND THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

ART GALLERY KNUD GROTHE

Some days you are just so glad to be alive and overwhelmed by the random kindness act of strangers that you are totally lost for words.  I had one of those days yesterday and it revolves around a Danish man Knud Grothe who owns and runs one of the finest galleries in Denmark.

I have shared with you in another artblog that I have recently had an art exhibition in Copenhagen, Denmark and you may be forgiven to think that it was  GALERIE KNUD GROTHE I was exhibiting with, but no it was another gallery and if you fancy you can read about that here;   177 ART EXHIBITIONS IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK & SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Naive artists in Denmark

NAIVE ARTISTS IN DENMARK

Gallery Knud Grothe was established in the 1970’s and is still going strong exhibiting a rich mixture of contemporary art from around the world as well as Denmark of course.  Knud says his favourite genre of art is naive paintings and he has a yearly exhibition at Easter showcasing the naive artists in his gallery.

NAIVE ART BOOK

Anyway I or I should say my art came to the attention of Knud who sent me a lovely email which was very complimentary of my art.  He also then sent me this fantastic book about naive artists in Denmark called “Naivister i Danmark” which was so incredibly generous.  This is a big heavy coffee table book, 164 pages of glossy wonderful Danish artists by Ole Lindboe.  Comprising of some 35 Danish naive artists and also has an introduction of naive art featuring several more from yesteryears.  Obviously I am such a fan of naive art which I also collect myself so therefore I have seen and read most of the books on the subject and I must say this book is one of the best I have ever seen.  Danish naive art has totally blown me away, normally I would pick out 3 -4 artists in a collection as my favourites but this is an impossibility here as they, everyone of these artists have something so inspiring and fresh to offer, it is a delight to the senses.

THREE ORIGINAL PAINTINGS

Now if the story ended here that would be quite something all by itself – but I am afraid there is more…  Yesterday there was a knock on the door and a courier with another parcel from Denmark.   This time this most incredible generous man Knud Grothe had sent me 3 original paintings for my art collection.  I must say I was utterly SPEECHLESS when I unwrapped the parcel, can you imagine, it is not Christmas and not my birthday and this most warmhearted of men sent me a gift, just because!

In next week’s art blog I will share these wonderful paintings with you.  The 3 artists are Jan Thomas, Inge Selmer and Isis de Sequeira and all 3 artworks are a joy to behold.

PAINTINGS IN THE STUDIO

So what does one say when you receive an amazing gift like this, just because – well I had no words for a very long time.  Instead I took the 3 paintings into my studio and have them sitting next to me as I work.  I am not ready to part with them even temporarily by hanging them up on the wall.  No I just want them by my side so I can “drink” in their colours and joy and pleasure they are giving me every second of the day.  Both from the visual aesthetics of the 3 wonderful artworks that the artists have painted but also to think that such a kind, generous and very thoughtful act of kindness is even possible in this day and age.

Back cover of Naive Art Book

HAPPY ARTIST

Thank you so very much Knud you must have a very beautiful heart and I am indeed a very very lucky girl to be so blessed and have you as a friend from far away and I do hope to meet you in real life soon.

I am really really Grateful, Happy, Overjoyed, Elated, Delighted, Ecstatic, Jubilant, and Thankful and feel extremely spoiled.

So I think this quote by G.K. Chesterton fits well here and conveys a little of how I feel right now;

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’sPAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE andSCULPTURES for sale orWALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

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May 10, 2013 in Current Art Blog, Other Artists by mariejon

180 BODY ART AND EMMA HACK

ART, MODELS AND BEAUTY

Body art is something I have always been fascinated with, I guess it comes from my background as a model and later opening a beauty salon where we also did all sorts of makeup and body art.

Let your face be your canvas!

PAINTED FACE

This image was painted by my father artist and sculptor Ted Jonsson on my face and used as the logo for the beauty salon, which I ran together with my mother whilst modelling before switching careers altogether as an artist.

PHOTO SESSION

This particular photo session was in the evening and on the drive home I nearly scared some motorists half to death.  I had forgotten that I still had the makeup on as we made our way home in the car, my husband was driving when we stopped for a red light.  We sat there for a little while and then I turned and looked at the car that pulled up next to us and the couple in the other car got such a fright upon seeing my double face they ran the red light and took off like a bat out of hell!   LOL!  I can be a scary girl sometimes (well our SA Government thinks so too as you can see in this story 179 ART AND CHAINED TO THE RAIL WAY TRACK).

Body Art on Demi Moore, one of my favorites!

Anyway body art comes in many forms like body piercings and tattoos.  I am quite fond of tattoos, particularly on men, there is just something a bit “bad boy” about it that appeals to me.    I have not got any myself unless you count permanent eyeliner into the equation, although getting that done certainly hurt just like a normal tattoo.  I may one day get the kids initials done but have as yet not found a motive I like or for that matter a place where I want to have it, big decision as it is FOREVER!

My friend Debonella

BODY AS YOUR CANVAS

Another form of Body art is using the body as your canvas as these photos of my best friend Debonella shows as the court jester.  These days the practice has taken a step forward and leading the way in my opinion is South Australian artist Emma Hack using models as canvas.

Emma Hack's mosaic model!

EMMA HACK

She has been exhibiting extensively throughout Australia since 1990 and recently made inroads overseas as well particularly in London, New York and Singapore and her works evoke a rich array of visual narrative and magical realism as these images  below show.

ARTWORKS BY EMMA HACK

Bird of Prey

My particular favourite series of Emmas is her BIRDS OF PREY collection that had Emma working with real Australian wild life such as an Owl, Wedge-tailed Eagle and Peregrine Falcon and exploring the notion of camouflage and drawing inspiration from another era.  Inspiration also came from the iconic Florence Broadhurst range of wallpaper designs and that series culminated in a wonderful coffee table book.

AUSTRALIAN ARTIST GOTYE

Another collaboration that I loved was with the Indie band Gotye for the single “Somebody That I Used to Know” where Emma provided the make up for the film clip.  Gotye or “Wally” went on to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making him the fifth Australian-based artist to do so and he also went on the receive 3 Grammy awards in 2013.  Incidentally he is also a favorite with James Abberley a wonderful artist in his own right which you can listen to and read about here 111. Indie music, Art and Paintings with James Abberley I’ll be a Bird.

QUOTES ABOUT ARTISTS

Here is a quote I think fits pretty well here by Leopold Stokowski , although we have to add the word body to the canvas part too;

“A painter paints pictures on canvas.   But musicians paint their pictures on silence”.

Two faced - the Gemini in me!

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and making music too you all.

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’sPAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale orWALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

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May 4, 2013 in Current Art Blog, Sculpture, Things I've Learned by mariejon

179 ART AND CHAINED TO THE RAIL WAY TRACK

PAINTING IN THE STUDIO

Oh boy what strange 6 weeks I have just had!!  Life happens to you whilst you are busy doing other things as John Lennon said.  Normally I sit in my art studio with an amazing view, the house perched up high like an eagles nest, high above a train track and overlooking a valley, beach and sea as far as the eye can see going all the way to the horizon.

Really wonderfully inspiring for an artist and probably why a lot of my paintings lately have been aquatic scenes.  Well our wonderful world was interrupted a couple of months ago with the Transport Departments electrification of the railway line.  Not something we had anticipated would bother us too much, we had seen the artist’s impressions and they looked just fine.  A couple of poles 50 meters apart and a few wires – not much to whinge about and you cannot stand against progress.

Minister Tom Koutsantonis & Minister Chloe Fox on the train to nowhere!

So the drilling started and then surprise, surprise they struck rock (we live on a mountain DOH! Why they didn’t anticipate that is beyond me.)   The drilling went on and on for weeks, day after day, 3 days drilling in every one of the 9 holes outside us, 7am – 5pm seven days a week.

PAINTING HAPPY PAINTINGS

Well to cut a long story short, painting happy paintings is impossible with over 83 decibels of incessant drilling 15 meters from your doorstep.  As is just living life and apart from tearing our hair out to add to the drama now my husband and I were fighting too.  So hubby got that fed up and cross he went out and told the workers off and that is when we found out what was actually happening on our street.

The South Australian Labor Government has a greater imagination than me!

5 MONKEYS WITH A COMPASS COULD HAVE DONE A BETTER JOB.

Our street one of the most scenic streets in Adelaide had been selected for special treatment, not poles 50 meters apart for us.  No the “so called experienced” (cough, cough) engineers from Halcrow designed this by Google map from Queensland with no visual consideration as to where these structures would be best placed from an environmental and aesthetics stance.  Instead the Tensioner Hubs (overlaps) has been placed more like a game of “Pin the Tail on the Donkey” with an astounding haphazard lack of forethought.

STATE OF THE ART

Minister Chloe said "The poles themselves would be visible from their homes, but only if you really tried to see them!

I would like to point out though that it is not the POLES that we object too, we are well aware that we would have poles all the way along the railway line for the wire to sit on with this old and antiquated system.   The South Australian Government who is clearly misinformed call this a “State of the Art” design (LOL) perhaps they should have done a little bit of Googeling themselves.  It is not too hard to find out that the Noarlunga/Seaford Rail Electrification was actually first designed in Hungary before World War ll and trialed back in the 40’s before it came into widespread use in the 1950.  So the statement ”State of the Art” is terribly misleading as there are multiple much better designs available across the world this Century.

THE ART OF THE OVERLAP

No, what we are strongly objecting to is that the Transport Department in their wisdom has picked our street to erect the Tensioner Hub (overlaps); which will consist of Portals, Junctions, Gantries, Tensioners, Double Poles with cross Members, all set very closely together some 20 meters apart and others with 1 – 2 meters apart.  Made from huge steel beams,  7.5 meters tall and 350mm wide with lots of electrifications gadgets hanging from them.

NOT ROCKET SCIENCE IS IT?

These so called “Tensioner Hubs” (or overlaps) will then be erected all the way down the line to Adelaide at a distance of approximately 1.6 km.  So there are a lot more people all along the coast line who will be unfortunate enough to get one of these monstrosities outside their houses.  Our objective is to get these unsightly structures placed in a less obtrusive position wherever there is an alternative place suitable, as there is here some 100 meters away from the presently planned position.  We have enlisted several independent engineers who verify that the structure can be moved without any safety concerns or other issues.

STATE OF THE ART SUPPORT

We have had strong support from Nick Xenaphon (Independent) Vickie Chapman & David Speirs (Liberal) and Amanda Rishworth (Federal Labor)as well as the Messenger Newspaper, Radio 891’s Matt & David and 2 episodes by Paul Makin from Today Tonight.  The recent Today Tonight showed the Labor Government’s Ministers and Transport Department’s cronies as they really are; inflexible, uncaring, misleading and arrogant.

And so the infrastructure started going up 10 minutes after the TV crew left and officials left, as the workers and trucks must have been sitting waiting in the wings.  So the “Big Cheeses” who after 6 weeks of us begging  finally came to our street, were only here to give us lip service in the most insincere way.

Ministers railroad the residents in Hallett Cove

It did amuse me to see they had employed a few security guards to keep watch, one stationed outside our house and the other by the vehicle entrance.  Funny how frightening my threat must have been to the powers that be, to chain myself to the railway track.  We put up a sterling fight and Power to the People I say!

ART AND POLITICS

Here are a few of quotes I think fits perfectly here;

“When leaders act contrary to conscience, we must act contrary to leaders.”

(Veterans Fast for Life)

“It is dangerous to be right in matters on which the established authorities are wrong.”

(Voltaire)

“As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever.”

(Clarence Darrow)

Till next time, when I should be back on track (pardon the pun) and telling you some happier stories, Happy Painting and Sculpting to you all.

Love Marie xxx

Footnote:  I would really like to thank all of you involved in fighting this cause, you all did a fantastic job and everyone played their part and never wavered.  All spent hours researching railways, electrification systems, best practice, environment, the law and the like.  Countless meetings, protests and media calls and never mind all the hours of writing emails, letters and making phone calls. For a small group who really didn’t know each other before all this we did a fab job.  Thank you Bryan for getting us started and Richard for being the good cop against my bad cop (although I did like your analogy of me being the bull at the gate and you the limp squid too, lol:) Thank you Ursula, David, Susan, Denice, Keith, Jenny, Steven, Dot, Paul, Dawn, Nicky, Sam, Kai, Tonia, Jan, Graham, Nadine,Paul  and everyone else that helped.  You are all stars and at least we did get a slightly less offensive monstosity erected, well done!   Big Hug, Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’sPAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale orWALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

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April 27, 2013 in Current Art Blog, Travel by mariejon

178 WISEGUY, ART & ANIMATIONS

TRAVEL AND ART BLOG

In this weeks travel and art blog I thought I would share with you an article written by Andrew Fenton for the SA Weekend Magazine which comes out with The Advertiser every Saturday.  His column is called “Wiseguy” and that suits him to a T, as he always has a wiseguys slant to his answers, with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek I would imagine when he gives the general public his advice.
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ANIMATIONS

This animation of my painting of my trip to Japan to attend my first art exhibition there has been animated by my friend Susan Flashman, if you fancy reading about that adventure here is a link; 57. Art & Signing the Contract and 64. Art & Flying to Japan (continuation of Signing the Contract)

ADELAIDE ADVERTISER

I do always enjoy reading this supplement to our Saturday paper as it is most of the time full of Art and Culture in all its different forms.  Anyway this week’s column starts with the question from P.D at Murray Bridge asking;

I have a fair bit of trepidation about taking my first 27-hour flight.   Do you have any advice?

Wiseguys answer is as follows; “Yes I do, thanks for asking.  To prepare myself for international flights I like to undergo a few dry-run simulated training exercises in the months and years leading up to the journey.

Essentially, I lock myself in a tiny cupboard with my obese friend Nigel and stare at a low resolution portable DVD player from 2001 while watching old episodes of Friends for hours.  Then I neck a bunch of sleeping pills and just as I’m nodding off I get my wife to shout out irrelevant facts about my height above sea level through a megaphone, and randomly open the door every 20 minutes to shine a harsh fluorescent light in my eyes or to thrust a crying baby/ready meal through the door.

This exposure therapy somehow helps alleviate the night terrors I’ve experienced ever since I was assigned a seat in the passive smoking section of a Garuda flight in 1999 which saw me completely wired, awake and sweating for about 36 hours from absorbing the equivalent of 400 cartons of nicotine through second-hand smoke.  But anyway there’s no need to be nervous about your flight.”

THE ART OF FLYING

As I have spent a lot of time over the years on airplanes firstly as an international model flying around on assignments and then later as an international artist exhibiting around the world and not forgetting a love of travel in my spare time too, I can really relate to all of that.

Flying to Art exhibitions in Japan

All so true,   however at the same time I really do like flying.  I find it is the one time that I can truly relax.  It is difficult to do too much more than; read, watch movies, TV shows and listen to the radio, eat, drink and sleep.  So I usually totally unwind, well in-between getting poked and prodded by the people behind, squished by the person in fronts reclining chair and climbed over by the owner of a small bladder that is.  Oh the joys of flying!

Here is a quote by Gil Stern that I think fits perfectly here;

“Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society.  The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting to you all, oh and flying of course.

Love Marie xxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’sPAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale orWALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

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April 19, 2013 in Art Exhibitions, Current Art Blog by mariejon

177 ART EXHIBITIONS IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK & SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

NAIVE ART FESTIVAL IN POLAND

I am frantically painting away in my studio trying to meet the deadline for the Naive Festival in Poland.  Normally I can pretty much concentrate on my work but lately life, the universe and everything has gotten in the way.  Oh and I will write a blog and tell you all about that too, not happy Jan!  But today’s art blog is about 2  art exhibitions that I have opening this week in 2 different cities, well countries in the world.

We are Siamese if you Please!

ART EXHIBITION IN DENMARK

The first is in Denmark at a gallery called Galleri Naif and run by Mia Cara who is a Bulgarian naive artist herself,  this exhibition is in Islands Brygge in Copenhagen and runs until the 5^th of May and is called “Spring exhibition”.   Mia also runs a website if you would like to take a look at her own artwork.

ARTISHOP.DK

This exhibition was booked through my lovely friend Eliane Kristensen who I first “met” online through either Facebook or LinkedIn (I cannot remember which).  She started following my artblogs and making comments and we found that we had lots in common.  Eliane is a very interesting person, bubbly and vivacious full of “get up and go”.  She runs her own website called artishop.dk as well, which has art and jewellery and Eliane also writes articles for different publications as well as the internet.  Here is a link to her on Pinterest.

ART MEETING IN PARIS

Last year whilst my husband and I were travelling in Europe Eliane arranged a lovely dinner at a fabulous Parisian restaurant in Butte aux Cailles which is a most interesting part of Paris.  We were joined by my lovely friend Jacques Dubois who is the man responsible for organizing the Art Naif Festival in Katowice, Poland each year.  Elaine and I now refer to Jak as Mr Tornado (LOL with Love and Affection of course) as that is just what he is.  Jak is so full of enthusiasm and fun that he can hardly sit still and is the most stimulating of conversationalists.  Whilst Jak had not felt totally comfortable whilst writing English he had absolutely no trouble in making himself understood whilst talking and if there was a word here or there that we didn’t get, Jak would simply get up and do a  Marcel Marceau  impersonation.  I was therefore not surprised to find out that Jak in an earlier life had been a celebrated actor but these days he is a very astute business man with a great love of art.

So it goes without saying that we had the most wonderful night and dinner was followed by a stroll through this interesting part of Paris till we found a little cafe to have another drink and some coffees before finally saying goodbye.

EUROPEAN ART REPRESENTATIVES

It was really wonderful to meet my European art representatives and now firm friends in real life, just goes to show how the internet connects people and makes things happen.

ART EXHIBITION IN SYDNEY

So now to somewhere closer to home, well we are still talking 1300 kilometers from home in Sydney.  My other exhibition that opened this week was in Sydney at the Callan Park Gallery at Sydney University.  This one is called Naive art of Australia and features several other naive artists as well.

The exhibition has been curated by Nerida Olson who is passionate about art and is the Public Relations and Marketing Manager at Sydney College of the Arts, Division of Architecture and Creative Arts.

CALLAN PARK GALLERY

Two Siamese cats!

I was asked to exhibit at their Sydney gallery last year as well but at that time due to time constraint it wasn’t possible.  This show runs until the 2^nd of May, so I hope a lot of you Sydneysiders make your way there and have a look.

In this gloom and doom word, let us Naive artists put a smile on your face and get lost in our little rays of sunshine.

Here is a quote by Howard Ikemoto that I think fits well here which reminds us that we are all artistic – every one of us.

EVERYONE ARE ARTISTIC

“When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work.  I told her I worked at the college – that my job was to teach people how to draw.  She stared at me, incredulous, and said, “You mean they forget?”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxxx

Why not come and have a look at Marie Jonsson-Harrison’sPAINTINGS FOR SALE, GICLEE PRINTS FOR SALE and SCULPTURES for sale orWALLBASED SCULPTURES.  Enjoy an original artwork on your walls or perhaps one on your bed ARTnBED.

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April 13, 2013 in Art Magazines, Current Art Blog by mariejon

ART COLLECTOR MAGAZINE

ART MAGAZINE

Last week a new edition of ART COLLECTOR magazine went on sale, they have 4 issues each year and are a real quality art magazine with the issues having close to 300 pages each full of interesting articles and images of great art.

The new issue going on sale is themed “Undiscovered” NO. 64 (April – June) so the emphasis on this issue will be the emerging artist, but with more established artist thrown in as well.

I was very thrilled to be asked to participate in the issue and flattered that my art appealed to them and that the Deputy Editor called me personally to arrange all the details.  Here are the 4 mock ups they prepared for my art, I won’t tell you which one they used, you will just have to go and buy the magazine to see that.

Acrylic on canvas board painting Teatallers

AUSTRALIAN ART COLLECTOR

The magazine used to be called Australian Art Collector but as it is now sold both in New Zealand as well as New York and LA with more places to come so they have just changed the magazine name to “Art Collector”.

The quarterly Art magazine has several annual features such as this one “Undiscovered” the last issue was called “50 Things Collectors Need to Know”  which covered topics such as Cool hunter predictions, Artists collectors love, On the world stage, Debutantes, Curator’s radar, New directions, Remarkable collectors & philanthropists, Agenda setters.   Plus – How not to compromise on artists’ work and did art world purists get what they wished for with the GFC? (Here is an article that I have written on the topic of GFC is you fancy a look 170. The ART MARKET and the GFC )

Acrylic on canvas board paintings of surfing, olympics and ARTnBED bedding

ART UNDER $5000

Another regular issue they put out is; “Art Under $5,000” which is a feature of smart buys for the art collector starting out.

They have a team of journalists, art writers and profile key figures in the art world, such as curators philanthropists, dealers and collectors to draw on for inspiration and facts.  There is also a section where they profile leading artists from Australia, New Zealand and beyond.  The art featured seems to be from all genera’s, the only stipulation is that it is good art.

San Francisco Dreaming and the Olympics and Teatallers paintings

ABORIGINAL ART

Do yourselves a favor and get a copy today as it is full of informative articles on collecting Australian Aboriginal Art and contemporary art. It prides itself on being the most informative and up to-date coverage of the Australian art market.

I leave you today with a quote by Robert Brault, which I think fits both artists and collectors;

“The artist gazes upon a reality and creates his own impression.  The viewer gazes upon the impression and creates his own reality.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting and maybe also art collecting to you all!

Acrylic on canvas board painting Surfin 'n' SA

Love Marie xxx

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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April 5, 2013 in Current Art Blog, Enjoying Old age & Art, Health & Art by mariejon

175 THE ART OF HORMONES

THE ART OF HAPPINESS AND HORMONES

I have PMT and a Hand Gun, any questions?

My girlfriend had that quote on her fridge for many years and it always amused me greatly.  Hormones have a lot to answer for don’t they, too much or too little and we all fall apart.  Remember the teenage years with the angst of emotions due to the raging hormones, when we didn’t know where we fit in and who we were and even what we were doing half the time.  Couple that with the stress of school, homework, nagging parents and peer pressure and there is no wonder that teenagers in general do some crazy stuff.

Rowing and Sculling in ceramic and mosaic sculpture

CERAMIC AND MOSAIC SCULPTURE

This ceramic and mosaic sculpture features the Scotch College students in Adelaide rowing, sculling a sport which  has people of every age enjoying life to their full capacity.  This is not a sport just for teenagers and I do have two good friends who still compete on a national and international level in the Masters Games at 65 and 85 respectively.   So OK, as you get older you may require a top up of those hormones but hey that’s no big deal!

GRUMPY OLD MEN AND ART

At the other end of the scale from teenagers, there is the Grumpy Old man syndrome and that seems to me to be a direct correlation to the lack of testosterone or thyroid problems which also has to do with hormones.  I figure the grumpiness comes from feeling tired, unhappy and depressed with a flagging sex drive – who can blame them really, that’s enough to make anyone feel low.  Often there may also be an underlying medical problem such as high blood pressure, diabetes and blocked arteries.

Living life to the fullest in Art

THE ART OF SEX HORMONES

Testosterone is vital in puberty responsible for the voice being deepened, helps to build the muscles and keeps the bones strong and also boosts the size of the penis.  After the age of 30 there is a gradual decline in the testosterone; however that should not normally lead to a lack of interest in sex.  So before you go and reach for the Viagra have a health check and sort out the other medical issues first and then check the testosterone levels and if need be get a boost.

THE ART OF HUMOUR

What I think is vital in tackling any health issue is a good sense of humour and that is what I try to do with my art.  Sometimes tackling the bigger issues through painting and sculpting to give you all something to think and laugh about.  Why not also with a joke; so here is one for you; Did you hear about the man who swallowed his Viagra too slowly?  He got a stiff neck!

So you would think women would be used to having to both deal with and talk about hormones having all suffered from PMT – Pre menstrual syndrome for a large part of their lives.

THE ART OF NOT MENTIONING THE WORD MENOPAUSE

It therefore perplexes me that women are finding it so hard to deal with and discuss Menopause.  Mention that word at a dinner party and find the women shut up, and the men looking around too scared to speak.   It is something glossed over and just not talked about unless it is during a heart to heart with a very close girlfriend.

Is it because for some, it signals that the child bearing years are over – well you can understand the sadness when menopause strikes a 30 something woman, or is it that it makes them feel old?  However for most women the “change of life” comes along in the 40-50 age group, with forty being the new 20’s and fifty the new 30’s that’s just not old anymore.  So just like hormones played havoc with your body in the teenage years so the pesky little devils try to again.

Now luckily we live in an era where we do not have to put up with that – I mean who would voluntarily  put up with the Oestrogen deficiency symptoms such as; hot flushes, light headedness, headaches, irritability, depression, unloved feelings, anxiety, mood changes, sleeplessness, unusual tiredness, backache joint pains, muscle pains, new facial hair, dry skin, crawling feelings under the skin, fewer sexual feelings, dry vagina, uncomfortable intercourse and urinary frequency, loss of memory, muddled thinking and heart palpitations.

It is bad enough to have to suffer through one or two of these symptoms never mind having the smorgasbord effect, lol.

THE ART OF GETTING YOUR LIFE BACK

So women of the world unite, don’t suffer in silence.  Go and speak to a Doctor who specializes in menopause a normal GP will not do (unless you are lucky enough to find a GP with very sympathetic ear and all the specialized skills required).

There is help out there in form of HRT and it is not the bad guy that the press have been making it out to be either.  Best medical information has HRT as very safe for the otherwise healthy woman.  However what is important is to get the dosage right and that takes some consultation over a few months and the added benefits apart from the oestrogen deficiency symptoms disappearing is the long term reduction in diabetes, bowel cancer and osteoporosis.

THE ART OF BEING HEALTHY AND SEXY

GET YOU LIFE BACK, feel as vital and energetic, positive and sexy as ever.  Menopause once treated is no big deal at all.  What’s made it a big deal is the way we have handled it for so long, swept it under the carpet and talked about it in hushed tones.

So here is a quote for the boys by Rita Rudner that I think fits very well here;

Australian Galahs know how to have fun in Art

“Male menopause is a lot more fun than female menopause.  With female menopause you gain weight and get hot flushes.  Male menopause – you get to date young girls and drive motorcycles.”

Although the ladies may prefer this one instead by an unknown author;

“My husband, being unhappy with my mood swings, bought me a mood ring the other day so he would be able to monitor my moods.  We’ve discovered that when I am in a good mood it turns green and when I am in a bad mood it leaves a big red mark on his forehead!  Next time he will buy me a diamond..duh!”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxx

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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March 15, 2013 in Art & Religion, Current Art Blog by mariejon

174. St. PATRICK’S DAY & ART

COMMISSIONED PAINTING

Several years ago I was commissioned to paint a St Patrick’s Day painting celebrating all things Irish by my US Art Gallery. That was something that up until then had not occurred to me and one of the reasons I generally enjoy doing commissions so much is because there is always a new topic that you may not have thought of yourself and not only does it inspire you as an artist to paint it but it also makes you grow as a person by having to research whatever the subject is.

Celebrating St Patricks day in a painting!

ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

The brief for the painting was to include the St Patrick’s Day Parade, the Blarney Castle, kissing the Blarney stone, an Irish Pub, four leaf clovers, St Patrick’s the Saint, Leprechauns, a rainbow and a pot of Gold. So the above acrylic on board painting was the result.

THE ART OF CELEBRATING

Here in Australia St Patrick’s day is taken pretty seriously as well, it is not an official holiday as it is in Ireland but there certainly is much celebration, Guinness, Irish Whisky followed by drunkenness, lol – any excuse will do for the Aussies! Well I guess there are quite a few with Irish decent here, being as Australia was started as a penal colony and many Irish along with the English came over as convicts during the 19th century. Added to this are a large number of Irish people who also emigrated to Australia later on, so there was much artistic inspiration to be had.  I am not sure if in all this celebrating the fact that it is really a religious celebration is a little lost on most of us?

SAINT PATRICK ON A PAINTING

As you can see on my painting Saint Patrick is on the top right.  St Patricks day was made an official feast day in the early 17th century in celebration of Patrick who was born into a wealthy Romano-British family in AD 385 and died on the 17th March AD 461.

Patrick’s grandfather was a priest and his father a deacon and he studied to become a priest, although that was after his ordeal of being kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave. He apparently then had a dream where he was told by god to flee from his captors and that is what he then did in real life and returned to Britain. Later on after he had finished his studies he went back to Ireland as a bishop and is thought of as the principal champion of Irish Christianity.

BLUE AND GREEN COLOURS

Originally the colour associated with St Patrick was blue but that had changed as early as the 17th century, so these days all the Irish revellers dress in green colour and you see them all spilling out onto the street from all the pubs, particularly the dedicated Irish pubs which are very popular anyway in Australia.

THE ART OF COUNTING MONEY

Let’s not forget the Leprechauns either, not that I have ever seen one in real life but I have been reliably informed that they do exists and can be found at the end of every rainbow, next to the pot of gold counting their money stored away from making shoes! You really should try to catch one as they have magical powers and will grant humans three wishes in exchange for their release. They are easy to spot too as they are no taller than a small child, clad in a green coat (sometimes red) wearing a beard and a hat.

Or perhaps we better just stick to the old plan of working for a living eh?

So I leave you today with an Irish Blessing for all of you;

“May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light. May good luck pursue you each morning and night.”

Till next time happy painting, sculpting and celebrating.

Love Marie xxx

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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March 8, 2013 in Current Art Blog, Travel in Europe by mariejon

173. PAINTINGS AND MEMORIES

ART AND TRAVEL BLOGS

Today’s tale begins at the end of another art and travel blog in our European trip and finds us just having finished lunch in 167. THE ART OF LETTING GO. Cousin Benny and his sister Berit her partner Anders were now taking us around Sundbyberg and Solna seeing the houses and schools where my parents lived and grew up.  If you want to recap even more of our European adventures here are some links; 156. ART & FREQUENT FLYER POINTS and 157. Art & Never judge a book by it’s cover and 155 The Art of Packing Light and 164. ART, TOILETS AND TRAVEL and 166. Rondellhund, Roundabout dogs Sculptures

ACRYLIC PAINTING

This acrylic on canvas board painting is of course influenced by growing up in Sweden although I think I may have used some artistic licence as the slopes were not that full of people skiing!

Skiing on the Swedish ski-slopes in a painting

ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS

We were now on our way to where Benny lives in Vaxholm by car although it’s often reached by boat.  By boat it is a very atmospheric trip through Stockholm’s archipelago which comprises of some 30,000 islands would you believe.  Vaxholm itself is made up of about 70 small islands so a boat is required for the most part if you want to explore further.  Benny lived on the main island of Vaxholm not too far from Vaxholm Hotel where we stopped for a drink taking in the wonderful view over the archipelago.  The old town was originally a fishing community which sold most of their catch to the big city.  Many of the old wooden houses were built on stilts, hanging out over the water.   Everywhere you look is gorgeous houses wooden houses with beautiful roofs.   There is also a fortress built there in 1549 by King Gustav Vasa, originally to defend the capital of Stockholm from invasion and later used as a prison which is now Sweden’s biggest military museum.

SWEDISH ARTISTS, AUTHORS AND POETS

Many Swedish artists, authors and poets were influenced by the archipelago of Stockholm among them August Strindberg, Astrid Lindgren and ABBA to name a few.  Pippi Longstocking’s plays are often shown in Vaxholm during the summer months and some of the scenes in the movie were actually shot there.  (For those among you with children I can thoroughly recommend Pippi Longstocking and any books or movies based on Astrid Lindgren’s books, “Emil i Lonneberga”, “Karlson pa taket” and “Vi pa Saltkrakan” just to name a few.)

skiing up a storm on a painting

THE ARTY DOLLS HOUSE

Anyway I digress – here we are with my cousins Benny and Berit and after a lovely stroll  we go home to Benny.  He lives in what is known as the Dolls House which is the most gorgeous yellow and white little wooden house, beautifully decorated in white and blue inspired by the sea and boats.  The bedroom is decked out  like a captain’s cabin on a ship and everywhere you look there are influences from the sea.  An added bonus on our visit are hundreds of newly picked Kantareller (a yellow Swedish mushroom that grows in the forest) which were lying drying on the table and floor.

THE ARTISTIC COOK

The memories of this day are really a highlight of the entire trip, maybe it was because I finally came to terms with the death of my grandparents 167. THE ART OF LETTING GO and what could have been such a sad and sombre day actually was filled with delight both at seeing their final resting place and then our little party in the Dolls House. “ Moi” who is useless in the kitchen and has not a clue how to cook actually got the job of cutting up the mushrooms, luckily this activity was fuelled by red wine, lol.  Who would have thought but I actually had so much fun helping my much more experience cousins in the kitchen whilst hubby and Anders discussed the world, universe and everything!  (Berit has great experience in hospitality and these days has her own catering company) The meal of Stewed Kantareller in a Béchamel sauce on toasted long bread with asparagus was one of the yummiest I ever had!  Casually and relaxed we sat on the floor around the coffee table eating,  drinking good wine and really, I never wanted the night to end.

An artistic dinner

Here is a quote that fits perfectly by Pierce Harris;

“Memory is a child walking along a seashore.  You never can tell what small pebble it will pick up and store away among its treasured things.”

Till next time happy painting and sculpting, and making memories to you all!

Love Marie xxxx

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