Memories of Wartime

Old photographs have a way of sparking memories.  I am working on designing a piece for my "Fiberactions" group, and need some inspiration.  A few years ago, I visited my grandmother whose grasp of the past is still firm.  Her childhood photo album came home with me for a month so I could scan the pictures, write down her stories, and share the results with our family.

I found the pictures of wartime play (WWI) of her cousin Alice, as well as the photograph of her father and his brothers as one was deployed for War quite compelling.  There were other soldiers whose names we don't  know in the mix of pictures, as well as some in European uniforms.  Who were these men?  What ever happened to them?  Do their families remember?  Were they killed in action?  Were they mourned?  I wonder.

Soon after my visit, an uncle of my husband's passed away and we helped clean out his home.  He had saved every letter he sent home from WWII, as well as stamps, books, maps, photographs, prayer books, medals, and post cards.  My stash of wartime ephemera increased greatly as did my appreciation of the concerns of the soldier:  he missed his mother... his feet were cold and wet... he lost friends... and he was captured by the Germans at Normandy.  More compelling memories, more interesting stories...

What will the memories of today's soldiers be?  How will they be recorded?  Where are their letters?

These Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) were included in Patricia Bolton's 2007 book, 1000 Artist Trading Cards:  Innovative and Inspired Mixed Media ATCs.    I used the photographs from my Grandmother as well as the ephemera from my husband's uncle.  They were made with paper, velum, stamps, photos, glue, metal and thread.   Maybe I should make more.