Sunday, September 28, 2008

When Genealogy Meets Art


It dawned on me earlier this week that instead of spending money on copies of old photos to use in my various art projects, I could use the old photos I already have! I printed out a small selection of the many photos I now have on my computer, and gave it a try.


Here we have my great-grandfather (well, one of them). He brought his wife and three sons from Poland to California in 1920.


And finally, this is one of my great-grandmothers, whose name was Ray (presumably short for Rachel). I am still missing many of the details of her life, but I can tell you that she left her adopted country, the U.S., to move to what was then Palestine in 1929. She lived in Tel Aviv until her death in 1958.

The background for the first item was made with my trusty Adirondack color wash sprays (Raisin and Stream) and Glitz Spritz. The backgrounds for the ATC and the second card are actually from the same sheet of paper; I took Trish Bee's challenge and used the scrap paper that covers my stamping table to make a Worksheet Wonder background.

It's no surprise that these pieces mean more to me than most of my recent efforts. I will probably still buy collage images from time to time, but I really enjoyed getting my ancestors involved in one of my hobbies. Aside from the sentiment involved, I can print out as many copies as I like, and can adjust the size of the photo to suit my project. Pretty cool, huh?

4 comments:

Jill L said...

love your cards!

Joansie said...

From someone who also enjoys genealogy, how inspiring! Send a greeting card to someone who shares the same relative and have the history....a definite keepsake!

LizzieK8 said...

With everything taken into consideration, this is probably some of your best work I've seen. What a great idea! I love the witch!

Sandy said...

Wow! You can see that these have so much meaning to you. You were very creative with your supplies. The focus on the relatives inspired you to have fun. They would be proud of you for remembering their stories in your art.