Friday, April 30, 2010

Ghosts and Graves

My maternal grandmother, Lillie Congdon (little one in the center) with some of her family. (Check out that lighthouse painted in the background!!! I must draw that...)
Lillie was born in 1896. That's her grandmother on her right, her mother in the upper left, and her sister Edna in the front. Edna died at age 17. My Mom is named after her...

Lillie ready to take a dip in front of her old beach house at Point Judith, RI. I could use a swimsuit like that...

Some of my cousin Jon's family grave photos...







My great-grandfathers ~ Lillie's father-in-law (left) and father (right), with her first born, my Aunt Carolyn.

My charcoal is waiting impatiently for me to grab it and get going on more portraits of these marvelous old faces...

My cousin Jon is going to be showing his grave photos along with my portraits. We are thinking of cool ways to do this...

Here are some of my ideas:
What if they were B&W prints?
And/or printed on drawing paper, so they look soft and charcoaly?
What if they were printed and then cut out and collaged on lightweight boards, to look like actual stones?
Or...
(Now I'm getting wacky, but what the heck...)
What if they had frames made of live grassy loam?
Or what if we placed the photos in a plot of grassy loam??
With the geraniums and the little flags...
Or maybe some more pertinent objects, objects from their lives...
Just doing some out in left field thinking...
Join in if you like!!
...and Jon's band might come up and play at the opening!
Jon said maybe they can play some Grateful Dead tunes!
Hee hee!!!!!

7 comments:

TERI REES WANG said...

Hmm...I just recently looked up some old ancestors as well, my their grave site photos!

Yes, you can do that.

Google > images > name = graves

Who new?

martha miller said...

I didn't know! Wow! Are you finding some interesting old photos, Teri? Famiily history fascinates me...

angelina said...

i love portrait faces: captured forever in a single still moment for us to look at and pass on and wonder. nice post.

Susan Beauchemin said...

I love the pictures of gramma!! I've never seen them!! And the picture of the Kumango! I would LOVE to be able to walk through that house and peer at every little and big thing in there--what it smelled like and how the sun came in through the windows--to take it all in!!

martha miller said...

Thanks, Angelina!

martha miller said...

Me, too, Sue! I do remember Mom telling about an old Victrola - of the type that you put a cylinder in to play the music?? Whe we are in RI we ought to bring Aunt C to visit Mom and ask them what they remember of the place!

Dean Grey said...

Ideas, ideas, ideas!

I'm curious to see what you come up with, Martha!

-Dean