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During these strange Corona times I started a journal. I'm a huge fan of lists, meaning: books I read, films I saw, music I like etc. But I also wrote down snippets from old diaries and old letters, even a part of a family tree. But most of all I drew a massive amount of decorative patterns and borders. They're all my own design. I can assure you, it is an addiction! You start with some lines, dots or round shapes in a regular pattern and you keep adding until you have the desired outcome. I use different sizes of fineliners and one extra color which is my favorite, yellow. I highly recommend to anyone making a journal like this. Don't hesitate to ask for more information if you have any questions! I still have a lot of pages to fill and I don't care at all :)
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I spend hours and hours in my studio. It’s a place of concentration and inspiration and hard work and late nights. Because my studio is in my home, the work just never seems to end! But I couldn't imagine another way of life. I'm working on a new drawing in my big sketchbook. I was inspired by many things. First of all by old Swiss 'scherenschnitte' that I found, browsing in my mother's old folk art books. But also by ancient Arabic and Ottoman botanical manuscripts. And finally by a black and white embroidery I made many many years ago when I was an embroidery teacher.
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I'm working on a book, inspired by the journals of my maternal grandfather. The biggest part of his diaries is about World War I, but there are also stories and anekdotes of when he was a child, getting into mischief with his friends. He grew up in a very small village in West-Flanders where his father was a forester for a castle's lord. At the age of 16, he emigrated to the USA with his parents, brother and little sister. It's been a revelation to read these two diaries and to find out how his life was. I've already made a page about his life during WWI and I hope that other pages will follow!
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Wishing a truly wonderful Christmas to all my blog friends. Let there be light, love, warmth and friendship!
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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!
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I've been very fortunate to host a workshop in Torino, Italy. A city that I didn't visit yet and I was pleasantly surprised by its beauty and its old history! Since I came back, I started a new concertina book about all the fantastic things I saw. Below, you can see a small map of the city center where I taught and where I stayed in a splendid palazzo. And how much I enjoyed drawing this map as precise as possible! I'm pretty sure that I'm going to draw other maps in the future.
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I love collections! I mean, I like to draw them. My father collected stamps although he was not a real philatelist. He could as well have collected posters, old soap boxes or match boxes but stamps took up less space. He only collected aesthetically pleasing stamps in terms of illustration, used font and color. Thinking of this collection, I started drawing my own. The aim is to make a new print for my Etsy shop. I finally used two of my new Microns that I bougt in America last year. I wanted to limit myself to two colors, orange and purple, colors that I usually don't use. In the end, I added a little gray watercolor to finish it. What do you think?
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A while ago I posted a picture of my family tree on my mother's side. This one is on my father's side. On the left there is the handwriting of my great grandfather. He had to write a dictation in order to be admitted to become a customs officer. He passed the test! Below there is his picture and at the right some military papers. The oldest ancestor I found so far was born in 1652. I'll keep searching!
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When you've just finished working on a big commission and your mind is empty, you draw the daily stuff around you. For me these are the tools on my desk. I don't need sophisticated materials, just my fineliners and sketchbook.
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I'm halfway through this sketchbook page and below you can see a slide show most of the drawings. I'm learning Spanish and this is a good way for me to remember words. I still have to fill the other side of the page. My intention is to use all these small drawings in a new piece and to make a print of it.
