that time should be
So rich yet fugitive a pageantry.

forsake it then and with us fly
Into the past where nothing now can die:
Where even the young and lovely, old and staid
Live on unchanged - of purest fantasy made.

Prologue - W. de la Mare

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Scrap Around The World September Challenge 2013

I am joining in this month at the Scrap Around The World Challenge site. The moodboard this month is dramatic, bold, and quite open to various interpretation!





Here is the moodboard for this month's challenge!


The moodboard seems to me to be all about feelings and emotions. I was inspired by the more somber aspects of the board - the image in the lower left with all of the thoughts radiating from the head, and the image of the face in the lower right, that look! I thought of my Grandmother, and her usually sad face.......


                                   
                                                              "Tesknota"  -  (Melancholy)

Here is my layout. My Grandmother, the photograph taken about 1935. The photo captures her sad face perfectly. She seldom smiled, and always had a handkerchief in her hand to wipe away the tears that seemed to fall on a regular basis. She exuded a certain melancholy - "tesknota" - a specific kind of Polish melancholy which for an outsider is hard to understand. It roughly translates as a nostalgic yearning or longing with tonalities of sadness, precipitated by a "forever parting", in which life figures as a river of pain and suffering.

My Grandmother was an immigrant from Poland, she was never really "happy" here in America. Here life was difficult and she never overcame the social, cultural and language barriers.

I hoped to create a layout which presents this sort of particular feeling of sadness. I wanted the page to be "moody", using the monochromatic palette with subdued "sad" purple/blue colors, along with black. I added some personal objects in the form of two medallions taken from old Polish rosary beads. One is of "Our Lady of Czestochowa", a special image beloved by Poles. A framed image hung on the wall in my Grandma's bedroom. I used two old keys that belonged to my Grandma, and also two vintage "jet" buttons. In keeping with the inspiration from the image of the head with radiating thoughts (on the moodboard), I used mists, inks and torn papers, but in a "downward" pattern, as down always seems to signify sadness. There are also tear drops falling on the lower part of the page, but they are difficult to see in this photograph.







11 comments:

  1. This is so beautiful and so sad...I loved your blog post as well as your page. Thanks so much for joining in at SATW. Please remember to add a link back to the challenge post on our blog :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your page is very expressive and I can see how you have captured the feeling of the mood board in a dramatic and melancholy way. Beautiful use of layers, textures, significant embellishments and monochromatic colour scheme highlights this mood. Thank you for playing along and sharing your story at Scrap Around The World.

    ReplyDelete
  3. A melancholic yet beautiful page. Love the colours you have used to incite the mood. Very touching.

    ReplyDelete
  4. How lovely to see you playing along with us at SATW Nat! As the other ladies have said already, you have perfectly captured the dramatic feel of the mood board. Beautiful scrapping as always my dear, just loooove everything you create. Thank you so much for sharing the story of your grandmother and your wonderful page with us!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello Natalie... I haven't seen you around for ages...:) I love love love this layout and I think you captured the essence of your grandmother perfectly. I love that all of the elements on this layout have special and specific meaning to you of your grandmother. I can totally relate to how hard it must have been for her. Thank you so much for sharing this with us all... <3

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely to see your beautiful work here Natalie. Your design is intricate with it's layers and textures, as well as elegant and perfectly balanced. Your Grandmother's story is touching and is possibly to that of many migrants. I love that you used some of her Rosary beads medals, jet beads and keys.....Superb :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. great vintage LO!! love the deep rich colors here!! so glad you joined us at SATW!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow! Gorgeous page! great job! Thank you for playing with us at SATW!

    ReplyDelete
  9. so much emotion is oozing from this layout ... you have created a magnificent piece of art to treasure xoxoox

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh wow Natalie, so happy you gave your comment, because now I have your blogadress and I can enjoy your beautiful pages. This one is so great again. I love your style, your colors, and you beautiful pictures.....but you know I am a fan :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Just a question, can't you make a followers badge? Than I see when you have a new post..

    ReplyDelete