Rocking Through the Years

 

 

The chair belonged to Marie.  Lovely Marie the baker.  The mother.  The loving wife…who left this life far too early…

The little rocking chair that has been so carefully kept once gave relief to her tired back and rest to her feet…

…rocked her babies…

…and probably comforted her young daughter, Anna, after her mother was gone…far too soon.

 

Not too long after her mother’s passing, Anna was sent a beautiful German china doll while her father was far away working in his native Switzerland…

{I don’t even know how old the rocking chair is…most likely 1840s-1850s.   Meant to fold-up for storage, my father, in repairing it once, had to set it in place—unfoldable---to keep it secure.} 

…both doll and chair now reside with my mother, Anna’s granddaughter.  Anna intended for the doll to go to me someday, and I will care for her as lovingly as my mother has.

A sudden, just-for-fun weekend at my parent’s house this last weekend—the idea of my sister, who joined me there…

Shortly before it was time to head back home, I took some pictures of doll and chair together—wonder if she ever was placed there by young Anna in the early years of doll and chair?

Whether Anna sat there in her mother’s place, doll clutched in her  little arms while she rocked and rocked and rocked…

I’ve taken many pictures of the doll before, but never with this detail--beautiful, daintily blushed hands…

…little softly pinked toes…

… golden hoop earrings and satin hair ribbons….

Little details of these much-loved family treasures…so grateful we have them to love and care for.

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: rocking chair,Marie Elizabeth Naegeli Brandley,Anna Meier Brandley Ostlund,German china doll

This & That

A little more journal musing today…

I love to fill my pages with paint & images before I write anything—just getting them prepared is so much fun in and of itself…

Then, I like to sit—with pens nearby—while watching movies with my family…and let the rest happen.

I love using vintage images of women on my pages.  Maybe in my mind they represent me, I don’t know.  If I don’t already have something in mind for one of my ladies—which I often already do—I’ll hold up a page and ask my daughters:

“What does this girl want to say?”

And they usually have just the perfect thing. 

This last page was absolutely inspired by my middle daughter…the travel bug is deeply imbedded in her.  Someday, my dear—we WILL be adventurers—I promise…

See you soon with something new.

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: art journal,creative process

{all images found on Pinterest}