April 27, 2012 in Current Blog, Sculpture by mariejon

132 Age is just a state of mind

This artwork “Our Richest Treasures” made from handmade ceramic and mosaic is part of a public sculpture called the Federation Gateway Sculpture at the entrance to Balaklava a town in the Mid North, South Australia and celebrates the senior citizens which are among our richest treasures.   Here is some links to more about this Public Sculpture.

The 1901 wall depict 9 separate stories and the 2001 wall tells another 8 stories of both ordinary and famous people who have connections with our district.  Their tales are told in pictures and words with my hand-made ceramic tiles surrounded by mosaic and the words which has been etched on aluminium plaque.

As the Australian Government announced recently that they are going to pay employers a bonus for hiring and retaining older workers I thought this artwork of Mrs. Clare Bowers was topical for my blog this week. (More on Clare later).

The plan is to pay a $1000 bonus to employers that recruit workers aged 50 years or over for more than three months and the government are also extending programs that provide support  to employers who promote older workers and will put more funds toward career advice services and also education for mature workers.

I am one of these people that think that age is just a state of mind and the thought that there is that age discrimination in the workplace is just ridiculous.  A good mix of young and old and people from all different cultures and ways of life is the key.  You need young people who can look at a task or problem with fresh eyes and ideas and also the older person with life experience and some mileage under their belt to provide a balance in most work areas.

That said my first occupation as a Fashion Model was a very youth oriented profession, although I have looked on with amusement as there has been quite a movement there too into the older woman who still looks great. To me it does make a lot of sense to have the clothes that are aimed at the more mature bracket modelled by the women that are actually going to wear them.

From my observation it all started by Lauren Hutton being retained by Revlon during the 80’s and 90’s and then followed by the likes of Elle MacPherson, Christie Brinkley and Jerry Hall.  In the last couple of years the Couger trend has really caught on and the oldest model rumoured to be hitting the catwalk is Carmen Dell’Orefice who at 79 still looks fantastic (with a little help I presume).

Mia Freedman from Mama Mia said recently “ As far as I can tell, there are only two ages for female celebrities: Dame Judi Dench and 30. At Dame Judi’s end, it’s pretty lonely. Just her and Betty White. At the other end, it’s gridlock with everyone from Courtney Cox, 47, to Lindsay Lohan, 26, visually colliding at the age of 30.

This is weird. Especially when – like me – you fall into the twilight zone between 30 and Betty White.”

Mia does have a point and she is not suggesting that we stop dying our hair, fight wrinkles and go without makeup but she does go on to say that there is a time when you go from looking amazing for your age to looking a little weird and then seriously weird, lol.

These days the designers in New York and Paris are getting on the band wagon and hiring the older birds, much to the audiences delight who laughed,  clapped and chatted  throughout the shows which is not always the norm at these events.

What has made me cross in the last couple of months though is the flack that both Demi Moore and Madonna have been getting from some reporters.  In this day and age when so many of us are careful about what we eat and stay fit and healthy.  Why shouldn’t Madonna be up there on stage for the release of her new album, dancing as if her pants were on fire!  She is probably fitter now than ever, looks great and sounds great.  Maybe there is something in the saying; “ that you are only as old as the man you feel.”

Madonna had the last laugh though as her album has shot up the hits list and went straight to number one.  MDNA is Madonnas 12^th album to top the chart, beating Elvis Presley’s record which stands at 11.  So obviously she still resonates with both the young and the older demographic.  Demi Moores story on the other hand has been a little sad as we have watched her desperate attempt to keep up with her daughter and her young friends through a haze of alcohol and drugs after her very public breakup from her much younger man.

I would be the last person to cast a stone her way as I still love to party – if there is music playing I will still dance till the sun comes up and partake in a drink or two.

Chili Davis quote “Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional”, which brings me back to this Centenary of Federation Sculpture and Clare Bowers.

When Clare was eighty years old she was most interested to see the silos being built in her home town of Balaklava.  So on one of her shopping trips she asked one of the builders if it was possible to go to the top of the silo.  The arrangements were made and at 5pm on the allotted day the residents to the local old folks home where Clare lived, were ushered outside to a prime viewing spot on the footpath.  They were all very surprised to see Clare hoisted to the top of the silo in a safety cage.

Clare certainly had a zest for life and at the age of eighty-seven she again soared to great heights, this time as the eldest passenger of the Balaklava Gliding Club.

I think these quote fits well here the first one by Judith Regan;

“The key to successful aging is to pay as little attention to it as possible”

And the second from Henry David Thoreau who said;

“None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm”.

Till next time,

Love Marie xxxx   (c)

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March 2, 2012 in Current Blog, Sculpture by mariejon

124 The Pedal Wireless

Alf Traeger, “Wiring the shed to the farm house seemed a natural step to take for an inventive ten year old boy living on a farm opposite the Dalkey cemetery.  He never dreamt that these early tinkering would be so vital to a nation.  By 1927 Alf Traegar had invented the pedal wireless, enabling isolated outback Australians to communicate; making the flying Doctor a reality and educating thousands of youngsters through the School of the Air.”

The above paragraph is what is written on a plaque next to this ceramic and mosaic panel which is part of the Centenary of Federation Gateway Sculpture situated in Balaklava, South Australia.  If you would like to recap and see & read more about this sculpture use these links, “Stories behind the Wall”. & “Volunteers our backbone “

According to Alf Traeger’s stepdaughter Glenda Shepherd who still lives in Balaklava where Alf grew up, after moving there from Victoria.  He was very interested from an early age in anything mechanical and surprised the whole family by building a telephone line from his house to a shed on the property some fifty meters away, at that time 1907 he was only twelve.  He had used a pitchfork as a magnet for the telephone, the diaphragms were the tops of tobacco tins and to make the microphone carbon granules he used pieces of charcoal from the stove.   Alf went on to do a mechanical & electrical engineering course and set up a small electrical business making generators and radio transmitters.  In 1925 Alf met Padre John Flynn who travelled extensively in the outback of Australia and his dream was to be able to bring medical help where ever it was needed.  His vision was a communication system that would be able to bring “Flying Doctors” to the outback.  So Alf started working on this idea and after thee years of experimenting Alf was able to produce the “Pedal Wireless”.

I was actually very fortunate to have tried out this contraption myself many years ago.  You see very close friends of ours Bill & Lorna Wilson who at one stage were the largest landowners in the Southern Hemisphere had the “Pedal Wireless” both at Frome Downs Station and Werocata in Balaklava.  The original one was battery driven but that proved costly and unreliable so therefore the pedals from a bicycle was added.  So you could sit on this contraption and peddle with the legs and the hands could tap out the message by Morse code.  Alf set up a “mother station” in Cloncurry and then installed 6 smaller “baby sets” in cattle stations and at Birdsville Hospital.  The first message was from Augustus Downs station some 300 km away but the “pedal wireless” could send and receive messages at least 800 km away.

As the Morse code was a bit tedious Alf designed a keyboard in 1931 and later it was replaced by voice.  Now the isolated people of the outback were able to reach out for help and receive a diagnosis to their ailments and immediate instruction in first aid if that was needed.

From this initiative Alf was able to help John Flynn with the first Flying Doctor service called Aerial Medical Service which started in 1928 came into its own with the “pedal wireless” in 1929 and slowly found its feet.  Qantas supplied  them  with their first aircraft and in 1942 the service changed its name to the Flying Doctors Service, later on in 1955 added the Royal to the name; Royal Flying Doctors Service.

The “Pedal Wireless” also was instrumental in facilitating the long distance learning the kids of the outback enjoyed with School of the Air which started in 1951.  This meant that the school age children did not have to go away to boarding school but could be taught by teachers from far away.

So thank you very much Alfred Traeger, you did good!

So here is a quote I think fits well here by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg;

“Everyone is a genius at least once a year.  The real geniuses simply have their bright Ideas closer together”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxx   (c)

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February 10, 2012 in Current Blog, Sculpture by mariejon

121 Volunteers our Backbone

As promised here is a bit more about The Centenary of Federation Gateway sculpture, this time I want to tell you about the wonderful community spirit that helped to make this project possible.

You may want to recap to Stories of the Wall, to see main structure of this sculpture, although images of the sculptured fence are yet to come, in another blog.

This ceramic and mosaic artwork depict of some of the individuals, schools and service clubs they represent, on parade and without them this project would never have been possible at all.   Because there were so many individuals who selflessly spent hours and hours helping on this project I cannot mention each one individually but you all know who you are – and I Thank you so very much.

There literally were groups all over the district doing their bit towards the project, all the way from school children who interviewed the old folk in the age care facilities and homes.   Schools, child care,  kindies, church groups and others who got together to mosaic the farm animals on the fences (that lead out from the sculptured wall) to a regular bunch of arts and craft enthusiasts that regularly met at my studio to mosaic the background to my ceramic images.  We got a lot of work done all the while chatting and laughing and drinking cups of coffee together, a nice little interlude for me a normally solitary artist to have some company.

Not to mention the team of dedicated individuals that poured and fired the tiles that made up the “veranda’ area in front of the sculpture and also ran workshops where the towns people could paint their own stories on individual tiles.  Yes nearly everyone in the local district was involved in this project from the tiniest babies who had their hands and feet imprinted on the tiles to the CEO of the Wakefield Council Phil Barry who so enthusiastically supported it.

I must say that I was very saddened indeed to hear that Phil just recently lost his fight against a brain tumour, something that shocked the whole town.  Phil Barry truly was a wonderful and caring man not only to his own family and friends but to the whole town.  Rest in peace Phil, we will always remember you.

That community spirit is something that I miss now that I live in the “big smoke” again, everyone are always ready to lend a hand.  There were so many times I was surprised at the generosity of the country people, just imagine the surprise a bunch of us got when the lady living opposite the sculpture (who also worked as a full time primary school teacher, mind you) suddenly appeared with afternoon tea and freshly baked scones, lashings of cream and jam for all the workers.

Dale Gathercole the project co-ordinator whose book “Stories behind the wall” which was published to coincide with the opening of the sculpture said; “ In 2001, the International Year of the Volunteer, to each and every one of you who has selflessly served, a sincere Thank you.”

So here is another quote about volunteering by Elizabeth Andrew that I think fits in perfectly here;

“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.

Till next time,

Love Marie xxxx

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November 18, 2011 in Current Blog, Sculpture by mariejon

109 Stories behind the Wall

These images are from “The Centenary of Federation Gateway” sculpture which was commissioned by the Wakefield Regional Council and took some 18 months to complete.   It started as a seed planted by Dale Gathercole and grew into an amazing community project.

Prior to this I had been awarded a mentorship grant jointly by the Australia Council, Arts S.A. and the South Australian Arts Trust (Country Arts SA) in 1999 to pursue the idea of turning my colourful naive paintings into public sculptures.  My mentor was artist Andrew Stock and the idea was to explore the ideas surrounding the use of colourful mosaics and combining that with clay (ceramic) figures.

As the Centenary of Federation celebrations date was looming Dale, the Headmaster at Balaklava Primary School, thought it would be a great idea to mark that in some way in our community with a permanent landmark.    As a friend and a fan of my work, she had watched me transform my art from canvas to sculpture and approached me with the idea of doing a public sculpture.

This then led to letting my imagination soar and conceptualizing, developing and planning ideas whereby my husband Bryan’s knowledge as a former builder and draughtsman was invaluable.   Robert Veitch from the Wakefield Council was then approached and after presenting drafts, models and detailed budget requirements he whole heartedly endorsed the idea and got the council behind it.  The project was also helped along the way by Dale’s tenacity of chasing grants, and as a result we received several grants by the Centenary of Federation Committee & Country Arts SA & Veterans Affairs as well as many hundreds of “in kind hours” generously donated by the whole town.

The sculpture was officially opened on the 23^rd November 2001 by Neil Andrew MP, Member for Wakefield following a community celebration in Balaklava, South Australia.  The Centenary of Federation Gateway stands proudly as you enter into the township and is believed to be the largest Naive Sculpture in the Southern Hemisphere spanning 44 meters across.  The idea is that the whole sculpture looks like a Federation house, complete with roof and a veranda.  So in the centre are two six metre by three and a half metre walls, located at 22.2 degree angle to each other which are rendered to look like sandstone with red brick quoins on the corners and around the doors.

One wall represents 1901 and the other 2001.  In the 1901 doorway we see the back of a life-size woman, made from hand-made ceramic tiles and mosaic, strutting through the door in all her finery, long dress, hat and umbrella in hand.  Through the 2001 doorway, she emerges as the modern woman, complete with short skirt, sunglasses and a mobile phone.  This reflects the changes that our society has undergone during the last 100 years.

The 1901 wall depict 9 separate stories and the 2001 wall tells another 8 stories of both ordinary and famous people who have connections with our district.  Their tales are told in pictures and words with my hand-made ceramic tiles surrounded by mosaic and the words by Dale which has been etched on aluminium plaques.  These are rendered into the wall to allow the sandstone to surround each story.   Dale who was the Project co-ordinator also compiled the book “Stories behind the wall” which was also launched on the same day by John Meier MP, Member for Goyder. (Which I have used to jog my memory on the events too!)

There are of course many stories to tell you about the making of this project and I will do that as time goes on I promise!  Use this link if you want to see some of my other Public Sculptures.

Here is a quote I like that fits well here by Daniella Kessler,

“You can do anything if you put your mind to it… and you will succeed when you put your heart into it.”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxx  (c)

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October 28, 2011 in Current Blog, Sculpture by mariejon

106 Outsider Art Festival

Look out the Outsiders Festival which opens next week in Adelaide.  This is an annual event organized by Stefan Maguran, who calls himself an underemployed artist and Project Manager.

This Giclee print “Expose yourself to Art” is one of my pieces which is included in this show.  The original artwork was done in handmade ceramic and mosaic.

The festival takes place at several venues across Adelaide and the driving force behind it all is of course Stefan who has worked tirelessly on this project for months.  According to his website, the festival and The Outsiders Festival Museum is entirely sponsored by the Maguran family budget from his extremely patient, caring and understanding wife and her salary.

So on behalf of the 40 something artists involved we thank you!  The artists this year are from around the world with works from Spain, France, UK, USA, Taiwan, Turkey and of course Australia.

So what is Outsider Art I hear you say?  Well it is a little bit hard to define and it depends upon who you are talking with.  However the general conscientious is that the work is out of the mainstream so to speak.  The artists are usually self taught and follow no rules and paint for themselves and because they have to, want to and cannot stop.  Their work does not conform to the fashion of the day and the techniques can be unconventional.  Another word for Outsider art is Art Brut which means art in a “raw” state, uncooked so to speak.

I have seen it mentioned that there is a distinction between “art  brut” and Naive art, and that is that the Naive artist remain within the mainstream of painting proper, and they do this because they hope for public recognition.  However I cannot agree with that all, I have seen many artists work that straddle the two worlds and morph into one.

From an Naive artist perspective if anything is a point of difference between the two genres it would be that the Outsider art shows often a more troubled soul with work in the muted tones perhaps a bit more confronting and darker.  Whereas the Naive artist’s artworks in general depict a colourful and happy world.

Perhaps what makes this Outsider Festival a little bit different is that the work is very diverse and manages to straddle several other genera of art as well.  If you would like to see some of the works without travelling all the way to South Australia have a look at this fabulous new publication edited by Stefan Maguran called the Outsiders Festival 2011.

For the rest of you here, do come and see for yourself as I am sure there will be something for all of you to enjoy.  For the first time this year the festival includes Outsiders Short Film Festival, with films from Australia, UK and Taiwan as well as a performance by Hot Tutti (part of the Tutti Ensemble).

DATES;

1-30 November 2011

Official opening;

2^nd November 2011

1.00 – 6.00pm

The West Torrens Auditorium

1 Brooker Terrace Hilton

Also individual exhibitions at the following Galleries;

Black Diamond Gallery

66 Commercial Rd

Port Adelaide,

Jungle Phillips Gallery

558 Marion Rd

Plympton Park,

Langdons

215 Sturt Rd

Adelaide,

Stefan Maguran Gallery

316 Anzac Highway

Plympton.

So here is a saying that amused me greatly from the Simpson and reminds me that as an artist you do have to have thick skin, lol.

“Your husband’s work is what we call “outsider art.” It could be by a mental patient, a hillbilly or a chimpanzee.”

Love

marie

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May 21, 2011 in Current Blog, Sculpture by mariejon

83 Are you fond of Fondue

I had so much fun making this ceramic and mosaic piece, firstly because I am a little piggy when it comes to food and just love to both eat and look at pictures of food and also it was fun to make the people all have open mouths with bits of broccoli and stuff poking out.  At least in my artwork I don’t have to worry about my table manners!

The fondue was such a lovely craze back in the 70’s when there would be Fondue parties held all the time.  However the history of the practice stems back to 1699 when it was firstly printed as a recipe in a cookbook (melted cheese cooked with wine to dip bread into.) As far as I understand Switzerland has always made wonderful cheeses but during the cold hard winter months of yesteryear the cheeses would dry out a little bit and since food was scarce and roads covered in snow they had to rely on a little imagination and voila the fondue were invented.    As early as 1875 it was already the Swiss National dish and then became popular in the United States in the 60’s & 70’s.

Perhaps why this dish became so popular in the rest of the world was because the Swiss had invented a little game as you sit and take your turn dipping the bread into the pot.  According to Hamlyn Press the publishers of The Fondue Cookbook it goes something like this:  If a woman drops a her bread into the pot she has to kiss all the men at the table, if a man drops the bread into the fondue pot, he has to buy a bottle of wine, and if either of them drops the bread for the second time, he or she must host the next fondue party.  So perhaps this was the start of the swinging 60’s and the Swingers party – it all started with cheese and not sex!

The imagination boggles, lol but it sure makes stale bread taste great – although us Swedes (as opposed to the Swiss) have another way of doing that.

Our contribution to the stale bread is Fattiga Riddare (Poor Knights is the translation although the Google translation says it is French toast) however this dish has more in common with pancakes.  As the stale bread is left overnight soaking in milk (you can also add egg and flour if you want) and then they are stirred like a pancake mixture and fried.  Served with jam and cream or whatever you fancy.

Problem with writing about food is its making me hungry so if you just pardon me for a minute – I will be right back with you after a little spell to the kitchen……. Back again …bugger I will have to restart that diet tomorrow again!

Another of my favorite dishes when I was living and modeling in Switzerland was the Raclett, which is yummy melted cheese served with a couple of small boiled potatoes, gherkins and pickled onions, could also include some meat (but being a vegetarian I would opt out on that bit).  I don’t know if I remember it so fondly because of the food ingredients or because it was usually served with Glue wine (gluhwein is spiced and mulled wine served hot) In Sweden we call it Glogg and we add some vodka or brandy to the recipe too, oh trust the Swedes, lol.

So here is how to make Gluhwein/Glogg

Start with a bottle of red

6 cloves

Cinnamon stick (broken up)

Lemon rind/orange

Caster sugar to taste

Raisins, almonds

Assemble all in a saucepan. Heat it over a low flame and be careful not to let it boil, simmer for about 45 minutes then strain the bits out of it (or have fun picking cloves out of your teeth – well that’s not that bad as the raisins and almonds are delicious.)

Here is a quote by the wonderful artist Frida Kahlo

“I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling.”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxx    (C)

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April 8, 2011 in Current Blog, Sculpture by mariejon

77 Book stack water feature

This water feature is one I was commissioned to do for the Balaklava Library a few years ago.   I had of course lots of fun designing this sculpture and as I love both the water and books, so it was no stretch.   It is made from hebel and handmade ceramic and mosaic and took hours and hours to complete.

The mural, water feature and garden were created in memory of Des Ross in recognition of his service to the local area as well as Australia.  Des was both the President of the Local Government Association as well as the Australian Local Government Assoc., and a board room in Canberra is named “The Des Ross Room” in his honor.   I will tell you more about him another time when I talk about the mural which accompanied this sculpture.

My love for the water started early in Sweden when I as a little girl where I used attend “learn to swim” during the summer months and would spend all my available time in the water at Lake Malaren which is the third largest lake in Sweden.  When I think about it I was also rather fond of the yummy freshly baked bun all the children were supplied with (less so of the lukewarm milk that went with it, yuck!)

When my own children here in Australia went to primary school and I occasionally helped out with the schools swim lessons it was suggested that I may want to get paid as well.  So I went and did the AustSwim course and got my accreditation.  It was a fantastic way of spending some extra time with my kids and also getting out of the studio, mixing with people and getting paid at the same time.  The swim teachings  grew into 12 weeks of the year and as the hours were 9-3pm I could still get quite a few hours done in the studio when I got home.  Leading up to exhibitions etc I would even take the paintings to the pool and paint during my lunch time to keep up.

I really enjoyed the company of the other instructors and also found it very satisfying to see the children gain confidence in the water and eventually learn to swim.  My only beef was sometimes when the weather was freezing and we had to spend every lesson in the water, thank god for wet suits I say.  I think that perhaps that is why quite a lot of swimming instructors have a bit of shall we say- extra padding on their bones.  I would look at them with envy as they frolicked in the water whilst my lips were turning blue, lol.

So it was a combination of the cold and the following tale that made me apply for the Instructor in Charge job, where I would be spending more time doing the admin work than in the water.

We had a lot of special needs children at the school with various problems and one of them I will call ‘Neville’ who was 16 years old and a big guy with Down’s Syndrome whose party trick was to run out of the changing rooms starkers to the delight and amusement of the other kids who thought it was so funny to see us instructors trying to get him to go back and put his pants on.

Then it was the time when I was in the water and trying to teach him how to swim.  We were playing a shark game – I was chasing him and being the shark, we had lots of fun and were both squealing in delight.  However the tables turned when it was his turn to play shark and he took it absolutely seriously and I nearly drowned in the process.  Lucky for me another instructor noticed the “shark attack” and stopped him.   Lesson learned, Neville just did not realize his own strength, lol.

So here is a thought for all of us from Ramakrishna (mystic) which I like,

“Live like a mud-fish: its skin is bright and shiny even though it lives in the mud.”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxx          (c)

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March 11, 2011 in Current Blog, Sculpture, Things I've Learned by mariejon

73 Snack attack at hungry jacks

Isn’t it a drag that we can’t just eat whatever we want and not put on weight!

This ceramic and mosaic artwork  “Snax attack at Hungry Jack’s” was a delight to make.  I do love food, although for the most part I do eat healthy, I too dream about all the naughty foods that I enjoy, hamburgers with the lot (although in my case, without the meat, lol chips, milkshakes and yummy pizza.)  I had so much fun sculpting all the food out of the clay and then painting it all, I was constantly hungry the whole time!!   So when whilst in the kiln the breast exploded and fell off on this artwork I instead of feeling upset, thought it was just karma and decided it fitted very well with this subject matter.  That could happen if you eat too much,lol.

The  Snax attack artwork will be making it’s way to The 4th “Festival Mondial d’Art Naif” in Katowice, Poland along with some other paintings for the worldwide naive exhibition at the Szub Wilson Gallery during 17th June – 14th August 2011.

How nice would it be to wake up to a Buffet every day, you know the one that you get on holidays,  a whole room full of food, there is 6 different types of cereals, yogurts in every flavor, low fat, full fat and birch. Then you see a tropical color delight with all the different fruits of the world. Oh I know it all sounds pretty healthy so far – but wait a minute then we go to the fry ups, sausages of every country, and ham and then as you get in some of the Asian countries there is beef ham-what the?

Fried eggs, sunny side up, poached, scrambled, boiled or an omelet with whatever you wish thrown in. Never mind all the different breads, white, whole meal, mixed, kibbled, rye, sourdough, lavash, damper, bagels, pita & naan.

Then there is all the really Asian food – now I for one absolutely love my stir-fry’s and curries, sushi, laksa and all the rest.  However I must draw the line at eating fried fish and miso soup first thing in the morning and what about the porridge?  Nothing wrong with porridge I hear you say; that is good old fashioned food.

Well perhaps it is just me being a vegetarian that I cannot stomach the combination of breakfast porridge and chicken – that you get in Bali and Malaysia – what’s with that?  My stomach is a bit delicate in the morning, but show me all the delicacies and I am all yours if it is later in the day! I have always loved food and at times been totally obsessed with it.  Most probably it all stems from my modeling days and the fact that you seemed to be on a constant diet.  In a way though later on in life I am glad of that discipline as I have been reliable informed that most people increase their weight by 2 kilograms each year.

The funny thing is that just 2 kg is nothing that you would really notice over a 12 month period, but then the next year rolls around and suddenly there is another 2 and that makes 4, right?  Most people put these kilos on during the Christmas – New Year period or holiday time.  All of us have good intentions to lose the weight but somehow or another suddenly there is the holiday coming up again and here we go again.  So it’s no wonder then that so many people become obese over time- 2 innocent little kilos over say a 20 year period suddenly amounts to 40 kilos of fat!  Oh what a bugger!

Perhaps you need to surround yourself with a few more brazen thieves whilst you have your brekky, so that you can finish the meal of with a hearty run up stairs and all around the hotel lobby to try to catch him. Well that is what we did on a family holiday in Penang recently.

My husband is one of these people that “people watch” and that keeps him amused no end and he can always spot when something is not quite right. So there we were enjoying one of these wonderful Buffet breakfasts when hubby pointed out this fellow to me – he was sort of skulking around, but I put that down to that he was looking for his group or family.  Then there was the fact that in the very hot Malaysian morning he was wearing long pants and a light cream jacket, well again I said to Bryan some people feel the cold more than others.

So it goes without saying that I got a surprise when this fellow made a very swift move and dove like a swan onto the back of the chair of the couple a few tables up and made off with a handbag, quick as a flash and he was gone up the stairs into the lobby.  Of course hubby saw the whole thing and both he and I and the kids ran after him but to no avail – as far as we could understand he must have had an accomplice with a car waiting to scurry him away. The lady tourist in question wasn’t too bothered, the thief had made off with some change, a comb and a lipstick but what did irk her were the scripts for some heart medication, so I think he would have been rather a disappointed thief that day, looking at the loot he ran so fast for,lol.

So here is a quote I think fits in rather well here, in relation to that thief, lol, said by Ernest Hemingway (writer)

“Never confuse movement with action”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxx   (c)

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January 28, 2011 in Current Blog, Sculpture, Things I've Learned by mariejon

67. One Amazing Woman

This artwork “Community Spirit” made from handmade ceramic and mosaic is part of a public sculpture called the Federation Gateway Sculpture at the entrance to Balaklava a town in the Mid North, South Australia, which I will tell you about another time.  However this story is about the running lady in white on the left hand side holding the torch.

Christina Angus is her name and she never ceases to amaze me because there is nothing that she cannot do, Christina is one of these “can do” people, whatever you ask her to do, she will fix it, do it and sort it.  There is no mountain too high and no river too deep for her, no siree!  Well that’s not that unusual you may say; there are lots of amazing women out there doing lots of stuff.  Yes and I agree so there is; however this amazing woman is legally blind and has only got 6% sight in one eye and nothing, zilch, nada in the other.  If you think that’s going to stop her from getting on with it, you have another thing coming.

So let me tell you about her list of achievements which just continue to grow as we speak and a list too long to describe here.    Let’s start with the Olympic Torch Relay depicted in my artwork, here she was chosen as an outstanding Community member for the Sydney 2000 Olympic summer games, to run part of the leg when the torch made its way through the Clare region in SA, cheered on by hundreds of local supporters.

Then it was time to do the Kokoda track as part of a fundraiser for her employer the Guide Dogs SA&NT.  She was joined by Cosi from Triple M and 14 other Australians and the whole thing was made into a documentary for Chanel 9 by Troy Gray.  The Kokoda track is one of the most challenging treks in the world and spans 96km between the northern and southern coast of Papua New Guinea.  Many soldiers lost their lives there during the war fighting the Japanese and the unforgiving Kokoda trail has also claimed 8 Australian lives trekking in peace time.

In 2010 Christina set off for Italy and trekking through the Dolomites followed by Cinque Terre where she and her husband took the walking trail between the 5 villages on the on the rugged coast of the Italian Riviera called Sentiero Azzurro.  Not to mention she has also climbed both Uluru on 4 separate occasions as well as the Kings Canyon.

At Christmas time this year Christina could be found 75 meters up a Karri tree in Pemberton in Western Australia, climbing up on metal spikes fastened into the tree trunk with no safety net.  I have to point out she has to feel her way as she cannot even see her feet.

If that wasn’t enough, Christina as the “stoker” and Andy Griffiths as the “pilot” just finished the Tour Down Under section called The Mutual Community Challenge and rode the 135km from Norwood – Strathalbyn on a tandem bike reaching speeds of 60km an hour.  Move on over Lance Armstrong she is catching up!

So I shouldn’t have been surprised when she jumped up on the one meter high and 50cm wide marble bar at her 50th birthday party held at The Banque and did a crazy go- go girl routine should I?  The only problem being she threw the gauntlet and I, her best friend had to follow, right?  Much to the horror of the bar staff who saw an accident waiting to happen (well we are talking past midnight and let’s just say I at least, was a little bit happy) but all is well that ends well and you only live once!

Christina is the current Events & Partnership Manager for Guide Dogs SA&NT where she has worked in several capacities including as the Public Relations Manager for many years.  So if you would like to donate to this very worthy cause, or perhaps help and raise a puppy please go to the Guide Dogs website  or contact Christina direct by email;  christina.angus@guidedogs.org.au

I think the following quote fits rather nicely here said by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Till next time,

Love Marie xxx                          ©

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September 24, 2010 in Current Blog, Family & Friends, Sculpture by mariejon

46. Learner Drivers

This Artwork is called “Shop till you drop” but it should probably be named according to how we felt at the time lol but that would have to include some not so lady like words – you see if you look closely in the orange car on the left you will see us.

There is a Japanese exchange student in the back, next to her is Hillivi they are both happy and giggly and chatting away like girls do at the age of 13.  Then there is Bryan less pleased and me sitting next to Kai who is learning to drive….. need I say more, you get the picture?

I really should have painted me pulling my hair out and can you see the steam coming out from my ears?

Both  Bryan and I taught our 2 kids to drive, and for the most part they were really good students and careful drivers.  However there were always one or two days here and there when our patience was tested to the limit.

One night as we were leaving the city driving at 80 km on a straight road with not a car insight we saw the traffic lights up ahead and they were clearly red, however darling son for some unknown reason decided that RED meant go and just sailed straight through them.  Claiming that he never saw the red light at all, it actually worried us so much that we sent him to the Doctors to get checked to see if he was colour-blind!

Another time when it was our daughters turn to learn to drive and we had been out to dinner in the city and I again was sitting in the front seat supervising when we were pulled over by the Police.  This was a Random Breath test and Hillivi passed with flying colours of course, not so much fun when it was her mother’s turn.

In Australia you are allowed to have one or two drinks as long as you register under .05 and as I had only had one drink of wine with dinner I thought this would be a synch, however the police man looked at me sternly and insinuated that it was touch and go.

Lucky for me I was still under the required limit, but it did give me a fright.  Off we went again with baby girl at the helm for the one and a half hour drive home, and we had not gone too far before we were diverted by road works, very badly sign posted and confusing road works  which threw the “new driver” into a tizz.  However she managed well with the diversion and we were on our way again.

By this time out of the city limits and laughing and talking about our adventures when I suddenly screamed at Hillivi to stop, luckily her reflexes were good because just as we go into a bend doing 80km there were 200 sheep standing there in the middle of the road.

So suddenly again we have to spring into action, two of us walking and herding the sheep in the pitch black night and Bryan in the car but to no avail so we get help from the nearest farm house (where as we found out the sheep belonged there anyway) We did have some extremely hairy moments when a couple of big trucks came ploughing through not seeing either us or the sheep as this bend is very dangerous in an otherwise straight road.  All is well that ends well and all the sheep lived to tell the tale.

Here is a saying I like by Jean Kerr (writer)

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, it’s just possible you haven’t grasped the situation.”

Love Marie

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