Frida Kahlo

Hi everybody!

Had a busy day again here, with a long walk, and nice bike ride through the fields and woods and then along the Rhine, did the laundry - 54 steps down to the basement for each load, and then 54 steps back up again! - and created a lot of chaos in my crafty kitchen!

The new theme at Art Journal Journey for August is Frida Kahlo, which I had the honour to choose this time. 

Frida Kahlo de Rivera, was born Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón  on July 6, 1907 and died on  July 13, 1954. She was a painter who is best known for her very moving self-portraits,  which graphically depict her pain, suffering and joy.

Her life began and ended in Mexico City, in her home known as the Blue House. Her work has been celebrated in Mexico as emblematic of national tradition and by feminists for its uncompromising depiction of the female experience and form.
Mexican and Amerindian cultural tradition are important in her work, which has been sometimes characterized as naive or folk art. Her work has also been described as surrealist, although Frida said of herself, 'I do not paint dreams or nightmares, I paint my own reality'. In spite of her illness, her terrible injuries, and her often rather volatile marriage to Diego Rivera, she never gave up painting or lost her fighting spirit.

For my piece today I have superimposed her painting of 'The broken column' over a postcard of Mexican 'Dia de Los muertos' folk-art. I  then added colours with oil-pastels and gel-pens. I used a white highlighter to doodle flowers and the  outline, and added one of her quotes. I chose this painting to start with as it epitomises for me how she saw herself, and how her suffering shaped her art, against a background of the Mexico she loved. 

One of my fave and much read books is her 'Painted Diary', (Gemaltes Tagebuch), which I would warmly recommend to all who have not read it. I have prepared several journal pages for this theme, and will be showing them in the coming days and weeks. I hope lots of you will join in, too!

I am linking to AJJ, Frida Kahlo and Paint Party Friday and  Simons Monday Challenge J is for J(ournaling)

And here are a few impressions of today's outing.

Just one berry hanging on the tree:

Found another herd of cows today - the one with the big horns had its beady eyes on me all the time:

There was a tiny and very narrow, rusty bridge over the stream:

I rode through the grounds of Schloss Kalkum, and the ducks all came waddling to meet me, but I had to disappoint them, as I had already eaten my roll! The little ones are so sweet and fluffy

And this is either the chapel ghost or my reflection:

Have a great day, take care, and thanks a lot for coming by!