Granddad remembered and a purple necklace...

I come from a family in which creativity has always been around, especially from my dad's side. My grandmother sewed her own clothes. She would go window shopping, buy some yards of fabric and sew it herself. There wouldn't be a day passed by without her being complimented on her outfit... Her husband, my granddad, made clocks, painted, sculpted, metal-smithed and made jewelry for my grandmother. He died when I was eleven, and I really regret I didn't had more time with him. I would have loved to learn to solder from him... when I was doing the silver-ring-workshop I almost constantly thought about him, wondering if he would be proud that I am interested in the same things he did.

My dad is really great at painting, drawing and airbrushing. I remember being 10 years old and going to the artfair in our town. Every year my dad rented a booth and just airbrushed away. He sold quite some artwork and there were always lots of people looking at him working. I really loved going to those artfairs, it made me really proud about my dad-the-artist. (Getting my face painted at the artfair was a great plus too).
It has been 15 years since my dad made his last piece of art (airbrushed that is). I have been nagging about it for two years; "Dad, you should really get more creative again. Computers are fun, but it's so much nicer to get your hands dirty," and when I look at his hands: "well, dirty from spraypaint or pencils I mean, not from the refills of your printers." I am so so so glad to hear that he has started again! I haven't seen anything yet (I never show my jewelry to anyone until it's finished as well...) but I know it will be fabulous! He doesn't want to draw anymore, which is a shame I think, but maybe that will kick in once he himself is a granddad.

This is a drawing of me, when I was 3 years old. My dad made it and it hang in my grandmother's bedroom. When she passed away I 'inherited' it.

I got an old photoalbum with pictures of myself, and it's amazing how much art from my grandpa was in our house: On this first picture you can see the sculpture in the back, the frame of something on the wall and the top of a little copper chocolatebin. This is me, painting with my granddad. Looking at this picture I remembered this post from Soulemama. My grandpa always wore a vest... (very often knitted by grandma)

Off course, when you are painting with your grandpa, your grandma cannot stay behind...

And here I am, eating my grandma's soup. The little statue at the back, the tin cat, the copper chocolat bin and the red ashtray (allowed in the eighties) were all made by my granddad...

Allthough my grandparents are long gone, I still miss them very much and looking at these pictures won't happen with dry eyes. But it's okay.

I started using one of my grandpa's creations to photograph my jewelry. I have had this copper dish a while. Í used it on my bedstand, to put my jewelry and little tidbits in. For the pictures I polished it a bit, to get the sheen out. Not to much, because I like the dull sheen of the old copper too.

The necklace is my latest creation. It's for sale in my Artfire Shop.

Did you notice purple is my favorite color?