Stories Untold - Some Stories and Collage - by Finnabair

Hi again, best wishes for the New Year!
I'm back here on the blog with my latest project - and inspiration for our Art Daily Cafe. The topic for January is "Stories Untold" - and as you can see in this post - the imagination is the limit!

Are there any special memories from your life which are still waiting to be documented? Are there any stories in your family which you will remember forever? Or maybe you've discovered a mysterious letter in a book you've just bought on the flea market, a bunch of photos of people you don't know - yet? Well, I did!

This is the story which happened to me - and I think it is so cool, I have to tell you all about it!
When I was teaching classes in Glasgow, I had a chance to do some shopping - and of course, the best place for me to go is the charity shop or antique store! I found one, a really beautiful antique bookstore near the place I was teaching. It was filled tot he brim with books of all kinds... there was this magical atmosphere: tons of books, the smell of the old paper, 2 older gentlemen and a cat.
I spent a long while looking through the shelves and finally I found a real gem: an old photo album, all filled with family photos!
My feelings were very mixed: I was excited with my finding, I was looking at the images in the book, trying to guess who the people were, putting little pieces of their lives together and at the same time I was heartbroken somebody has left this photo album behind. Was it forgotten by accident? Were these people aware a big part of their family history was lost, somewhere in space and time?
I think it is not a surprise for you I've decided to buy the book and take it home - I wanted this family to be "safe" with someone, to give these photos to be seen and touched again. From now on, I claimed them as my "adopted relatives from Glasgow" and kept all of the photos in my box with special treasures... I believe they had to be a really fun bunch of guys!
But this is not the end of the story yet...

Adopted Relatives from Glasgow - some of them!

When I was taking the photos out from the album to scan them and keep them safe on my hard drive, I found one more treasure: under the first layer of photos, there was a whole new bunch of images hidden! Looks like the very same people were on a boat cruise and photos taken during that trip were tucked under the photos taken on the seashore and on the fields... what a surprise!

From now on, I keep collecting photos of people - vintage photographs are always on the top of my list when visiting the antique stores. I love looking through them and finding new "relatives" I'd like to adopt - I'm aware I can't save all of them, but I'm doing my best to pick the ones I feel some kind of connection with. One of them is "the lady in the hat" - I'm sure she could be my great aunt, I love her sense of style!

From the first glance I was drawn to this photo I found somewhere on the flea market and I knew I have to take it home. Secretly I gave her a name - Martha - and I was always thinking she was a city girl, working in a department store or pharmacy, wearing long, heavy black or brown dresses and loving the opera.

I'm sure she was fluent in French and she loved books - and she was secretly hoping one day she will travel to France and meet the love of her life. Apparently, she was not happy with her marriage, but she had a loving heart and she was longing for a great romance in her life...
I can continue the story  - but you can see what is happening to me when the "adoption" process is started. I keep making up stories for my "new relatives" trying to read their personalities from their faces and imagine the life they had. Maybe it is a kind of compensation for all the family stories we lost because of the II World War? There isn't a single photo in my family which would be taken before the war - and I secretly envy my husband who has some really old ones in his family album!

If you will look at the collage I've created for Martha maybe you can feel all the positive emotions I wanted to express - I treated her as I would treat anyone from my own family - with love and respect, trying to frame her beautifully and show as much of her personality as possible.
When working with real, old photographs I carefully pick my materials - I prefer to use some real vintage objects I have in my stash than embellishments from the craft store - I will try to include at least one object like this in my project! This time I've added an old key, some electrical parts (somehow they go nicely with the Victorian Era, don't you think?) and pieces of handmade lace.

There are some new and coming items used in this project too - but I can't name them yet! We all have to wait for Prima to start their Winter sneak peeks to tell you a bit more about it all!

I hope you feel inspired and you will join us at Art Daily Cafe and share your Story - we are waiting for you on the blog, Instagram and FB Group!

Here are some art mediums and products I've used in my collage - 

all linked to Mixed Media Place Store!

Have a wonderfully creative week!