ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER

Warsaw's Old Town: watercolor collage

A few months ago I wrote about "personal shrines and where they can lead". In that post, I talked about my maternal grandmother and what must have been for a very young, single woman a harrowing journey from pre-WWI Poland to Minneapolis. Where that all led was a trip to Poland and some new art work.

What a remarkable country, what a remarkable trip! I went with some vague questions about my ancestry and the post-WWII Slavic northeast Minneapolis culture in which I grew.  I came back with some answers...all of which went a long way to heighten my pride in my Polish heritage.

I'll not bore you with a narrative of my trip. But I would like to share some new work which is the direct result of that trip. The piece above is a water color adaptation of a photo I took in Warsaw's Old Town. It's one of a number of paintings in a similar style that I'll be showing at November's Art Attack at the Northrup King Building in Minneapolis (more about this in a later post).

By the way, if you're thinking about a visit to Poland, I highly recommend StayPoland. Excellent service, excellent tour (small groups!). Best part (from an American dollar point of view) is that Poland is quite affordable. (We paid more for our flight than we paid for the tour.) Warm, friendly people, amazing history. Go!