December 3, 2010 in Current Blog, Modelling Stories by Marie

58. A Lifetime of Pix

We had a most interesting weekend recently.  I had been asked to open an exhibition for my dear friend Ted James who was celebrating 50 years of being behind the lens.  It was held at the Rustons Rose Garden and Convention Centre in Renmark, South Australia.

This Artwork Sold in America

I first met Ted as a 17 year old just after I had starting modelling and over the years he put me on the cover of a few magazines.  In the hectic days of fashion and glamour, Teds shoots were always very different.  They would take a whole day and involve some great locations, either down by a beach or in the middle of a wheat field just before harvest.  Ted would always pack a picnic with dried fruits and nuts, cheese and crackers and fruit juices and everything would happen at a leisurely pace resulting in some great photographs.  He also worked for the Australasian Post and Pix Magazine, Scope Magazine in South Africa as well as Pietro Press in Italy.   Ted maintains that his favourite work was photographing beautiful girls, and who can blame him, great work if you can get it eh, Ted?

By no means was Teds photography limited by beautiful girls however much of a dream job that may seem to some of you!  No, he also had many a distinguished clients, as he plied his trade from land scapes to river scenes, horses and cars, working for British Leyland, Volvo, Bank of Adelaide, and Faulding’s, just to name a few.  Of course he also did a lot of fashion work for most of the designers of the time, including Lidwien and those photographs were exhibited at the Rockefeller Centre in New York.

A couple of the jobs that stood out for Ted  was the “Golden Couple” from Holland,  who as Ted put it were “starkers” apart from the gold paint that covered them from head to toe, whom he photographed at Noarlunga Beach.  But it was as they were driving home that they really scared some other motorists, sitting there looking like “gold statues” in the car and then they suddenly moved and looked at the car next to them.  “You should have seen the looks on those poor peoples faces, said Ted!” Another highlight in his career was photographing Swan Lake and several other Ballets for Michael Edgely and his first wife.

The most successful shot however was from a Bird of a Different Feather- a pelican no less.  As it happened I had a very small part in that too- you see it was on the way home from dropping me off to Bryan after I had accompanied Ted on another job on the Murray Explorer, that Ted stopped off in Loxton at 6am in the morning and captured that photo which then was used all over the world for the State Government and other organizations, the famous, “Pelican on a Snag” which most of you would have seen one time or another over the years.

Another of Ted’s interests is Orchid growing and I feel very privileged to just have had a flower named after me, which was a great honour.

At 83 he shows no signs of slowing down and still goes out on the river and rows most mornings before he starts work.  When we first met, Ted told me that he was going to live to a 130, and I believed him then and I believe him still, so I was not surprised when he just told me in an email recently, after I had bugged him with all my questions about his past, he said, “I am exhausted, you have put a “middle aged” man under pressure!”

Half his luck, I certainly hope that I follow his lead and Ted I wish you great success with the rest of your  “middle age”.  Just keep on enjoying Life.

And I think this saying by Peter Ustinov (actor) fits perfectly here.

“The point of living, and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best if yet to come”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxx                                                        (c)

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October 23, 2010 in Current Blog, Modelling Stories by Marie

51. When Laughter is the best medicine mmm…. and maybe a little bit of snake

My long time friend Debonella (my nickname for her) had her birthday this week, and although she lives in another state and we see each other very rarely, I still treasure our friendship and the mad times we had together and she is every bit as beautiful now as she was in her modelling days.

Debonella is crazy mad about horses and always have been and has represented Australia in horse events overseas.  As she is a very private person I won’t tell you in what events but she is certainly up there with the Champions!

This painting depicts us just laying about and drinking champagne which if we had been asked what our hobbies were we may have included on the list- oh those were the days.  I must confess I neither remember the name of this painting nor where it sold, not from too much champagne drinking  though,LOL.

Anyway the time I was going to tell you about here, was when we were in the Philippines for 6 weeks on tour with a fashion parade.

We spent 4 or so weeks in Manila doing a daily lunch time show in one of the top hotels and then the next couple of weeks flying to the provinces around Philippines and doing the same.  It was lots of fun but also hard work as in-between doing the parades there were always publicity shots to be done and interviews and television appearances ,etc.

So at the time we were quite exhausted (not to mention all the partying we would be doing at night too, oh that glamorous life can be so tiring.)

Anyway Debonella spotted some locally produced tonic drink, advertising that you would be good as new and get that missing” spring” back in your step.

On closer inspection it was also noted that it did contain Snake!  As I am a vegetarian that put stop to the consumption for me however my mad friend was still keen to try some.  I should tell you now that us Australian girls are quite down to earth and always like having a laugh and maybe I and Debonella would always egg each other on even more, to amuse ourselves and particularly so when we got a bit tired.

So there we were in this 5 star hotel lobby just having been to the shop and bought the snake tonic drink, which Debonella finished in one swift skull when she thought she should show me how great it made her feel.

So to set the scene, the lobby is vast with a beautiful marble floor and décor to match, the people milling around are in Armani suits and other designer gear dripping with diamonds, when suddenly Debonella (looking stunning and statuesque as usual in full model makeup) starts to do giant leaps around the lobby like something out of Swan Lake with a few pirouettes thrown in.

Her friend, moi, looses the plot completely and I’m doubled over crying with laughter, whilst the whole lobby has come to a standstill and everyone are looking very surprised and slightly amused at us.

So nothing ventured nothing gained I figure, you have to live your life so that you have lots of fun memories to amuse you in your old age.  As my old age is still far away (well that’s what I tell myself anyway) I hope to make plenty more for the memory bank!

So here is a quote I like and which fits perfectly here, said by Horace (Poet).

“Mix a little foolishness with your prudence:  It’s good to be silly at the right moment.

Till next time,

Love Marie  xx

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October 17, 2010 in Current Blog, Modelling Stories by mariejon

50. Not a trout pout in sight

Wow had an awesome night and got to bed at 3.30 am a little worse for wear!

Last night was the Model Reunion for one of the modeling agents in town and even though I was a” ring in” (I modeled for the opposition at the time) I still had a great night.

One thing that we all commented on was that’ back in the day’ it was not a bitchy profession and most girls actually had each other’s backs covered and all got on really well. Which is why I felt quite comfortable being in the ’oppositions camp’ as it were!

This painting the’ Golden Years of Modeling’, was auctioned off on the night and I was delighted to see vigorous bidding for it, even nicer was the fact that it was bought by Sue; someone I used to model with and have not seen for maybe 20 years or so.

Sue was working at the time for a manufacturing agent called Saville Row where they designed men’s shirts and also handled a few other ranges of women’s clothes and they hired me to be the in house model/receptionist a job I shared with her.

At the time it was my first modeling job at 17 years old and I was in awe of Sue who was a couple of years older than me and very sophisticated and gorgeous. So I was really thrilled to see that it will be hanging on her wall and I hope it will bring back great memories and amuse her whenever she looks at it.

The night was full of models, photographers, agents, journalists and advertising people some still in the business and others long ago retired.

I did expect to see a lot of ‘trout pouts’ but am happy to report that most of the beautiful people were still beautiful in a natural way, there may have been a tuck here or there but nothing obvious.

We had all gotten older though and some had put on a few pounds but everyone that turned up, were still gorgeous and several could still give the new girls a run for their money if they hit the catwalk.

We giggled and laughed and reminisced, drank champagne and wines, ate canapés.  The night was handled superbly by Jane Reilly from Channel 10, and there was even a 35 minute DVD of photographs and old commercials which brought back memories.

There was loud cheering and whistling by some of the models children when they saw their mothers strut her stuff in a segment of the Rocky Horror Show, they were so proud, whilst their father tried to quiet them down.  All in all a very fun night!

We had good intentions to catch the last train home at 12pm but guess we missed that by a long shot, so taxi it was.

As it turned out it was a very nice ride home, our taxi driver was a turban wearing Indian sheik a; lovely chap and we chatted all the way home.

He was going home to get married in December to a girl arranged for him by his parents which is their custom.

We got on so well he actually invited us to the wedding and even offered us a place to stay.  The wedding is in the north of India in the Punjab area and takes place over several days.  The first day there will be 500 guests and the second day 800 are coming (so I guess 2 more will make little difference he thought.)

My son pointed out when I told him that no wonder there are so many coming if he invites every Tom, Dick and Harry that goes in his cab to the ceremony, lol

So perhaps this saying should be something for us all to consider by Pythagoras (philosopher)

“The oldest, shortest words-“yes” and “no”- are those which require the most thought.

Till next time,

Love Marie  xx

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August 10, 2010 in Current Blog, Modelling Stories by Marie

37. The Golden Years of Modelling

This painting “Happy New Year at Regine’s” was inspired by my mad modelling days, and crazy mad they were too, but sooo much fun.

As you can see from this painting (which sold in Japan) we models know how to kick our heels up and we did!

However I have to admit to overdoing it a couple of times too, so if you look closely at the painting you will see a crossed eyed girl behind the sports car which could have been me, but in this particular painting I am standing with my long-time friend Debonella  (her name was really Deb, I just always called her that,lol)  You can find us on the right hand side with our heads together, the blond and the brunette.

We would party till the milkman came around (and for you familiar with the milkman that would be in the very early hours of the morning) and I remember one particular night when we obviously had consumed more than our fair share and we were caught- throwing up in the rosebushes, together mind you-well that’s what friends are for!  Luckily most of the time we were lady like and behaved ourselves, that is what we preach to our daughters anyway (guess we will be caught out now!)

I have many tales of our terrible deeds coming up later on in other blogs, however what made me think about this now was that I just received an invitation to a very swanky “DO” that’s being organized in town by former model agent owner Sandy Clark, who after she sold her business went on to have another very successful career as an event organizer and later as a public relation journalist.

We have recently lost a dear friend and fellow model Adriana Xenides, who died much too young and made us all question our mortality.

Well Sandy decided to do something about that and we all take our hats off to her.  She has organized the most fantastic event at our new international hotel the Crowne Plaza here in Adelaide and are inviting all past models, clients, lecturers and past students and anyone connected to the industry for a wonderful cocktail party to reminisce  and celebrate” that we are still here!” (borrowed from Monty Python’ s “we are not dead yet!”)

The funds raised will go to “Teen Challenge for the homeless” and “Variety Children’s Charity”.  So if you think you fit into this category please click on this link Model Reunion fill out the form and send in your payment, and we will see you there!

If you do not fit into this particular category why not try to contact the people that were important in your own life, see how they are travelling, catch up for a drink or a meal, talk about old times.  Life is short, WAY TO SHORT- so let’s make the very best of it while we can.

Here is a quote I like from the Mammoth book of useless information-

“One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation”

Till next time,

Love Marie xx                                                         (c)

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May 6, 2010 in Current Blog, Modelling Stories by Marie

12. Salvador Dali and C’est La Vie

My son Kai has recently been to Spain a country that I love.

I spent a considerable bit of time there in my modelling days, enjoying lots of great work, great food, people, language and culture.  Most of my time was spent in Barcelona, where I actually did manage to go and see the wonderful work of Gaudi, images that stay on my mind.  He built houses like no one else I have ever seen.  (And as I have said before about my party days, I think I did rather well to fit that into my busy schedule.)

I spent fantastic days and nights on Ibiza, my most favourite Island in the world when I was young, and would go there whenever time permitted.  Here is a painting of  “Let it all hang out”

( which was purchased by Pro Hart.)

This is probably a cross between Ibiza and Maslin’s Beach here in Australia.  I can almost smell the scent of the sea and feel the pulse of the music from the amazing nightclubs (well we called them Discos then and I was the Dancing Queen.lol)

I remember doing a swimwear catalogue in Sitges, the town by the sea that Salvador Dali called home.  At the time I was only interested in that fact because my father is an artist and liked his work.

Now when I think back on that time and remember, I  was on Salvador Dali’s doorstep for the most part of a week, doing bikini shoots all day with hairdressers and makeup artists fussing over me and then wined and dined at night.   I think, boy I should have paid more attention, what a fabulous opportunity to see and find out more about one of the world’s most amazing artists.  Oh well, C’est La Vie, no regrets, it could do your head in to think about all the what’ Ifs’ in life.

Here is another saying I like from The Mammoth Book of Useless Information

‘Most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes’

Till next time.

Love Marie xxx                                                                             (c)

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