Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Whither must I wander?





Home no more home to me,
Whither must I wander?

Robert Louis Stevenson

Many of us who grew up in the 1950s, 60s and 70s have memories of cheery Tyrolean-themed ornaments brightening up our homes. I lived at my grandparents' house and on the mantelpiece in their bedroom, there sat a little wooden log cabin that was supposed to predict the weather. When a tiny man holding an umbrella emerged from the left hand side doorway, rain was sure to follow. If the little dirndl-clad fraulein popped out of the other door, then it was going to be fine. Nan and Grandad also had a small collection of glass-fronted boxes, plaques and paper weights containing still-life arrangements of shells and dried flowers in front of views of Bournemouth, Broadway and Stratford upon Avon. I imagined them them as portals through the dull, tired wallpaper of our Black Country home into a world where every day was cheerful and sunny and so nobody needed a Tyrolean weather forecasting log-cabin.

The photograph of my grandmother and aunt was taken sometime between 1955 and 59. After leaving technical college, my aunt lived for a while in Austria before emigrating to America where she still lives.
What the three little girls who appear to have just escaped from their mountain iydll are about to get up to, I leave to your imaginations...


Credits: papers: Flitting Fall Faeries by Lorie Davison ; Happy Day by Studio Natali
wooden frame: Flitting Fall Faeries by Lorie Davison; glass in frame: empty broche element (modified) from Vintage Elements by Linda GB (www.scrapartist.com); card frame: Recollections kit by Christina Renee;
chain: Playing with Chains by Studio Natali

China figurines, dried flowers and postcard are my own work



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your art is TRULY an inspiration to all, thank you so much for sharing it with us!!

Christina Renee

Erin said...

I love your art. I love your blog. Wanna be my new best friend? hahahahaha. But in all seriousness, keep it up. It's candy for my eyes and my brain.