Saturday, 1 June 2013

Art Journal Journey - Home


 Hi  you all. The theme over at Art Journal Journey this month is 'Home'. I was asked to be the guest designer this month, so thanks for asking! And now to some explanations to my journal page.
I have lived in several different countries, and have been in Germany for many years, but my home was, is and always will be London.
I grew up in post war London. The buildings were all blackened from bombs, smoke and fire. There were gaps everywhere where houses had been destroyed, sometimes whole streets. These bomb sites were our playgrounds. I was born near the Tower of London and the Docks, and lived in the heart of Jack-the-Ripper land - and loved it. It was one big adventure from start to finish. Places to hide, ruins of bombed-out houses where we played 'house', little alleyways and cobbled streets, loud and lively markets in Cable Street, Petticoat Lane and Spitalfields, dark Churches - especially Christchurch Spitalfields which we all convinced was haunted, and a beach at the Tower of London, which has now been closed for many years. Much of the area underwent demolition, but a lot of the old streets and houses are still there, much cleaner and better decorated than I remember them. Docklands has become a paradise for the rich who live in the lofts made in the old warehouses. But the Tower is still there, and Tower Bridge, which is now white and clean as new again. And when I visit London, I always take a day to walk around my old haunts.  It's a good feeling to be there, even though so much has changed.

The predominance of grey in my picture symbolizes the dirt, dust and smoke of London after the war, and the broken lines the destruction. But in between there is blue and yellow, for the blue skies and sunshine, and for the positive feelings I associate with my home town.
The row of pictures at the bottom show Fournier Street and Christchurch, Tower Bridge, the Tower, Warehouses, Harads Place and Fournier Street again.
And my head is full of London, as you can see.








This was exactly the right theme for me, thanks! Have a good day, take care, and thanks for looking.

'Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner, that I love London town'

27 comments:

  1. WOW! Loving the background on your journal pages and the message too! The heart pops! Perfection!

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  2. Very interesting piece, love how you have done the greys and blacks with the pops of colours. I know some of the places you have written about, too! Great pages! Hugs, Sarah

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  3. Just a wonderful tribute to your 'home'. I enjoyed the read.

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  4. First I want to say that I think the masculine card in the previous post is very clever! Hope someone really enjoys it.

    Second, I think you did an excellent job of explaining and showing where your heart is. Done beautifully!

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  5. What emotion you've captured in this- and the close up of the roses - WOW!

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  6. Das ist große klasse,besonders das herz hat es mir angetan,eine wunderbare stimmungsvolle seite.

    GLG Jeannette

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  7. Valerie,

    deine Beschreibung des Nachkriegslondon liest sich sehr berührend und man kann deine Liebe zu dieser Stadt aus jedem Satz herauslesen.
    Ich kenne London von zwei Besuchen und auch ich habe Gefallen an dieser Stadt gefunden, wenn es auch nicht vergleichbar ist mit dem, was du kennst und liebst.

    Ich finde, du hast das von dir Beschriebene sehr treffend wiedergegeben, es ist eine runde Sache! Vielen Dank für diese Einblicke in dein Leben!

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  8. Wonderful post Valerie and the piece reflects how you feel about London and your love of your birthplace.

    I was born in Sheffield and that had similar experiences in the war. That too has been reborn thankfully.

    Love Chrissie xx

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  9. Well I guess you can take the girl out of London but you can't take London out of the girl! What a lovely post Valerie. Have a beautiful Sunday. Xx

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  10. Wow, love your journal page and the story it tells. It's a page with feeling, a piece of you, beautiful!

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  11. congratulations Valerie, your spread is wonderful, x

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  12. What a wonderful walk down memory lane for you. It's a fabulous piece of work - I love it.
    xxx Hazel.

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  13. Eine wunderbare Seite und eine liebevolle und beeindruckende Erklärung dazu! Ich danke Dir für dieses hammerschöne Beispiel Valerie - ich hoffe ich darf ab und an mal wieder bei Dir anklopfen diesbezüglich!

    sei lieb gegrüßt und für Deine Mühe bedankt!

    Susi

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  14. I love this one, London just has something special about it! hugs, Barb

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  15. Was für großartige London-Seiten Du da gestaltet hast, liebe Valerie! Man sieht, dass Du diese Stadt sehr liebst (genau wie ich - ich fliege im August das 5. Mal hin....:-))

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  16. Awesome piece, I can really see that your heart belongs to London! So much feeling and emotion in this piece really wonderful! ~Diane

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  17. Fantastic urban landscapes - what brilliant, dynamic pages!
    Alison x

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  18. Great work Valerie.... I love the street scenes at the bottom and the blue and yellow popping out from the grey.... although I don't live in London any more ... I will always be a Londoner at heart. There is no place like it!

    Karen x

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  19. I love the symbolism behind your colors and how you've included the alleyways and buildings on this page. So meaningful!

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  20. Fascinating work, Valerie, and such a very different style. It was really interesting to read the background to it, I love the many layers both artistically and factually.

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  21. Oh Valerie - I don't know where to start. I thought I was old enough to be your Mother but maybe not. We could have played in the streets together. I would have loved it and I think that there are a lot of places in London that are haunted. Your memories sound wonderful coming after a rough period in the World's history. Thank you for sharing them. Your description was so vivid, it was like a movie in my mind. I had to laugh over the "look left" - when I have visited London I would look right - then left then right again and one more time to the left - then I was so dizzy I could not cross the street!!!
    Wonderful journal pages and such great memories about your very historic home!!
    Sandy

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  22. This is an amazing piece Valerie, you can feel your love of London coming through the page, and those blues and greys are perfect xx

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  23. Fantastic artwork and when you explain it, it came to life. Beautiful artwork, Shirley

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  24. Eine super Arbeit, besonders das Herz ist ein Hingucker!

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