Our family is the lucky owner of two of my grandfather's journals. He wrote these diaries aged 70. He's telling about his childhood in a small village in Flanders. He describes himself as a little rascal who, from time to time, got into mischief with his friends. He writes about his elementary school years and his time in high school. Then about his decision to become a teacher, but how these studies were interrupted by the whole family going to America to find prosperity. How they came back, probably because they missed their homeland. How the First World War began just after they came back and he had to become a soldier, more specifically a stretcher-bearer, in and near the trenches of Flander's fields. How he continued his studies in the trenches in very poor conditions by candlelight and among the rats. After the war, he met his future wife. He became head teacher, married and got 4 children. My mother was the third in a row. These two journals are a real treasure and they inspire me to maybe make a illustrated book with some of the texts. I started in my sketchbook with some ideas and I'll see what will come out! 

I dug up these New Year's  cards from over the past twenty years or so. They're all made by my siblings, my daughter and me. The beginning of a new year is a perfect moment for showing them once more! 

Een jaar geleden ging ik op zoek naar de verborgen stukjes van mijn stamboom. Ik heb altijd een liefde gehad voor geschiedenis. Het is fascinerend om de verhalen van mijn voorouders te leren kennen en de dingen die ze hebben meegemaakt. Ik ben de gelukkige bezitter van dozen vol oude foto's, bidprentjes, overlijdensberichten, doodsbrieven, dagboeken en testamenten. Ik ontdekte veel interessante feiten. Sommige voorouders kwamen uit Frankrijk of zijn naar Nederland verhuisd, sommigen waren criminelen en sommigen waren ridders. De meesten waren eenvoudige mensen uit de arbeidersklasse maar ik vond ook enkele burgemeesters terug. Vorige maand ben ik bezig geweest met het maken van een concertinaboekje met mijn voorouders in vrouwelijke lijn. Ik heb uiteindelijk negen generaties op papier gezeten en ik hoop in de komende weken en maanden nog meer generaties te vinden!

​Some year ago, I set out to discover the hidden pieces of my family tree. I have always had a love for history. Learning the stories of my ancestors and the events they lived through is fascinating. I have boxes full of old photos, prayer cards, obituaries, diaries, wills ... I found out a lot of interesting facts. Some ascendants came from France or moved to The Netherlands, some were criminals and some were knights. Most of them were working class people but I also found some mayors. Last month I've been busy making a concertina book, focusing on my maternal ancestry. I ended up with nine generations of my mother’s side of the family. I hope to find more information in the following weeks and months! 

Zie ook / see more: www.kristoffelboudens.be

I come from a family where all five children (3 brothers and 2 sisters) have found their way in the world of lettering. I would like to occasionally post pictures of work of them. The first in row I want to talk about is my brother Jeroen. He is the most versatile of us five and works in metal and stone and on paper and glass. Here are some examples of his work in those various disciplines.
Take a closer look at www.jeroenboudens.be

Jef Boudens (1926 - 1990)

Mijn vader is geboren in Brugge (België) als jongste van twee broers. Na de middelbare school, werd hij student in het Hoger Instituut Sint-Lukas in Gent, waar hij drie jaar architectuur studeerde, maar dan opgaf. Hij worstelde met wiskunde, zoals we allemaal doen in onze familie :). Hij veranderd naar Grafisch Ontwerp met specialisatie Kalligrafie. Na zijn studies werd hij freelance grafisch kunstenaar en leraar van de kalligrafie en fotografie aan de Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in Roeselare. Later werd hij een leraar Kalligrafie en Letterontwerp aan het Hoger Sint-Lukas Instituut. Hij werd één van de pioniers van de kalligrafie in Vlaanderen. Hij exposeerde niet vaak zijn werk, maar levert regelmatig bijdragen aan diverse buitenlandse edities en tijdschriften. Hij publiceert drie boeken: Schrift Boekje (geen datum), Schrift- en Letterboek (1960) en Schrift Kunst & Letterdesign (1980). Elk geeft een beknopte geschiedenis en notities over materialen, methodes en toepassing van belettering. De laatste twee geven ook veel voorbeelden van stijlen, variërend van uncialen tot moderne commerciële lettertypes. "Het ding dat je voor het eerst opvalt is de ongelooflijke scherpte van alles wat hij doet, hetzij kalligrafie het zij illustraties, en zijn verfijnd gevoel voor design. Men kan zijn werk niet veralgemenen want het is heel breed,  maar hij gebruikt vaak variaties op Gothic en Uncial-vormen en natuurlijk, Humanistisch Cursief, alle gebruikt op een aparte, eigentijdse manier .... Er is een totale harmonie tussen letters en illustratie. De twee samen vormen één geheel. Illustraties hebben vaak het eenvoudige karakter van houtsneden", aldus Mary White, Engelse kalligrafe,  in de nieuwsbrief van The Society of Scribes and Illuminators uit 1982.

My father was born in Brugge (Belgium) as youngest of two brothers.  After secondary school, he became a student in the Higher St. Lukas Institute in Ghent where he studied architecture for three years, but then quit. He struggled with math, as we all do in our family :). He then changed to Graphic Design with specialisation Penmanship and Letter Art.  After his studies, he became a freelance Graphic Artist and a teacher of calligraphy and photography at the Academy of Arts in Roeselare. Later, he was a teacher of Calligraphy and Letter Design at the Higher St. Lukas Institute. He became one of the pioneers of calligraphy in Flanders. He has not often exhibited his work, but he contributed regularly to several foreign editions and periodicals. He published three books: Schriftboekje (no date), Schrift- en Letterboek (1960) and Schriftkunst & Letterdesign (1980). Each gives a concise history and notes about materials, methods and purposes of lettering. The latter two give examples of styles ranging from Uncials to modern commercial typefaces. "The thing that first strikes you is the incredible crispness of everything he does, whether lettering or illustration, and his superb and invigorating sense of design. One cannot generalise about his work because it is so broad in content, but he often uses variations on Gothic and Uncial forms and, of course, Humanistic Cursive, all used in an individual modern way....There is complete harmony between the letters and any decoration he incorporates. The two together make one whole. The decoration, if simple, often has a wood-cut character." thus Mary White (English calligrapher) in The Newsletter of The Society of Scribes and Illuminators from 1982.