Family Treasures

In a nostalgic mood, I've been scanning old family photos for my older sister, and remembered I still have her baby shoes...and my little once-fuzzy bunny slippers, ratty though they are, now.

Her shoes are soft black leather, stitched and mended, and incredibly cute...you can tell from the shoe buttons that she's older than I am, and I'm no baby!

Recently, on our trip to California--and BEFORE the TSA changed the rules again this week!--I'd forgotten my dad's pocketknife was in my purse, and it was nearly confiscated.  Happily, I was able to get out of line, mail it to myself, and get back in line before our flight...but it took three weeks for the knife to come back home.

So in the meantime, J. offered me his grandfather Ruckman's knife--the tiny green one--and when I was nervous about losing it, bought me a new Swiss Army knife from L.L.Bean.  I am now pocketknife rich, and "Rule 9" is satisfied! 

I would have hated to lose dad's knife...

I love this way of paying respects to family treasures.  I don't own many, but I've sketched my grandfather's magnifying glass before, and Joseph's bronzed baby shoes.  I need to do my teething ring, too.  It makes us look more carefully at our lives and our history...

And in case you missed it, DO check out Alissa Duke's recent post on her family history project!

I recently sketched something that wasn't really a family treasure, but something it was difficult to get rid of, anyway.  But I'm on a Discardia kick, and simplifying my life...sketching it let me pass it on while still "having" it.

So what's meaningful to you?  What would you like to preserve in this way?

Family history project Alissa Duke

A few years ago I began a family history project to document some of the objects that some members of my family have, by drawing them from photographs or life. I was honoured  to have this project and drawings included in  Artists Journal Workshop .

I have not spent a lot of time on this project recently, as family history research takes time (and I work full time as a researcher during the day). Last weekend I spent time drawing an envelope that I have. This is an empty envelope addressed to my Great Uncle at an address that he lived at for a short time when first moving from England to Brisbane, Australia in 1928. Even though it is empty, the addressed envelope tells the small part of a larger story, following the addresses they lived in before buying their house in 1943.

I feel a connection to anything when I sit down or stand up to draw it for a short or long time , as I  study its detail and really look at it. So, drawing objects from my own family history has an extra layer of richness for
me.

I had been doing some family history research (both documentary and oral) and hope to document some of these articles with the stories surrounding them and the person that owned them.Click to see my  Family History project drawings The drawings are all scattered through my Moleskine sketchbooks, and usually left as stand alone drawings at the moment. I am not sure that I would have drawn the objects the same if they were in a special book for family history. One day... I shall scan and put these all together into a book. The research is a lifelong project.

I draw with watercolour pencils in a Moleskine Watercolour sketchbook everyday ! Some pages I call sketching and others I call drawings - this is one is a drawing. I love the way the watercolour pencils can create texture as well as fine details. I enjoy trying to achieve the right colour (although my scans do not show this)