Wednesday 15 November 2017

Understanding

'My mother's shoes' monotype print 8 x10"



As we were cleaning out my mom's apartment after her death, we found letters under her pillow. 
What a surprise!
Love letters between my parents.
Letters written between my mom's mom and my mom, 
after she came back to Hungary from a Russian work camp in 1945.
The love letters we burned and put into my mom's and dad's grave together with her ashes. 
The other letters I kept. 
I was touched deeply, I felt I was holding something very precious.
Holding thoughts of my mom, having heard the stories of heart-ship all my life,
 how my mom worked her way from Hungary to meet her mom in Germany, 
where my grandmother had been deported to.
The longing from both to meet again.
My mom could never understand, how I could have moved so far away from her, 
where it had been such a struggle for her to reconnect with her mother. 
How I could not want to be that girl, she wanted to be so desperately when she was crawling into the coal mine seams somewhere in Russia. 
Wearing girlish clothes, wanting nothing more than being with and like my family.
How she must have struggled all through her life in trying to understand me. 
I know I struggled to understand her.
However, holding these letter in my hand made me understand a little better.
So, I created this piece remembering my mom and her longing for being a girl, 
being a teenager with beautiful clothes,
 not cooking soup out of potato peeling and wondering if she ever will see her mom again.
Using the red shoes as a symbol for her lost youth, 
for dreams that became nightmares, for a connection we never had. 
This monotype print is printed on one of the letters written between my mom and her mom  describing the joy my mom found when her mom sent her a dress. She was released from the work camp, however, she was working on farms in Austria in order to afford the boarder crossing 
to Germany to reunite with her mother.
I am very pleased that after being selected by a jury for the Nonesuch Art of Paper, the image of 'My mom's shoes' appears on the cover of the catalog and is traveling after this summers showing in Parrsboro to Montreal.
Below is the event page if someone is in Montreal  from Dec. 1 - Dec. 16,
 the show is amazing, go and see it! 
 https://www.facebook.com/events/291694191234672/



Monday 13 November 2017

Memories of Summer

Memories of Summer
 
Does he love dogs? 11x11" acrylic by Archan Knotz
The shore is starting to get colder. Two nights ago we had our first "hard" frost. The only thing left in the garden is kale. 
We have been watching the salt boats sitting, waiting for the high tide to enter Pugwash harbour. 
The evening sky displays amazing purples, reds and greys. WOW! What a gift to live by the shore.
As I walk along the shore through a little wooded area dead trees, like old bones rub against each other and are creating a cold day symphony. 
 
Loved my neoprene suit this summer
Sunset at the shore
Mary doing yoga
 
   

Friday 10 November 2017

Monotype Print on an Envelop from 1945   



Today 79 Years ago

Friends from Germany are posting their concerns on social media about the connection between our global situation and the night 79 years ago today, 
known as the Kristallnacht. 
CBC is interviewing Max Wallace - In the Name of Humanity. All themed around the Kristallnacht.
 I was going to write, that this night was the beginning of .... but it was not the beginning, the beginning was long before the Kristallnacht.

The monotype print displayed above, 
was produced in memory of my mom who was a  WWII survivor.
I am feeling emotional about all this but 
am I going to stand up and speak out?



First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Martin Niemoeller




 
 

Wednesday 1 November 2017

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: Handmade Leather Journal 16 cm x 12 cm x 3 cm by A...

STREETS RIDGE ARCHAN KNOTZ: Handmade Leather Journal 16 cm x 12 cm x 3 cm by A...: Handmade Leather Journal 16 cm x 12 cm x 3 cm by Archan Knotz My first handmade Leather bound Journal Mental Health and journaling ...
Handmade Leather Journal 16 cm x 12 cm x 3 cm by Archan Knotz
My first handmade Leather bound Journal

Mental Health and journaling are going together, for me. So, I decided to make my own. Some of the material used was in it's previous life a blouse, or just a piece of paper but stitched and decorated with intention it becomes something very personal. 

In the last couple of days I was struggling to connect with myself, lots on my mind. My journaling became a list of what I did, or how amazing the weather has been in Nova Scotia, it doesn't matter, anything goes. I will settle in and connect with a deeper inside again. To quote a friend, "it keeps my hand moving" (n.s.)

I draw, press or glue things in my journal, anything that speaks to me and supports my connection to more meaningful things in my life. 

What makes journaling worthwhile for me is, that it is about me, my thoughts about a book, music, visit, person, adventure, situation.....my thoughts are important to me. 
Writing in my journal, slows the world down, gives me a different perspective, helps me understand.
Some people call journaling a - Brain dump-, I like it, that is how it feel a lot of the time. 

Creating space in the brain, letting go of old thoughts and creating space for new once. 

I create in one of my journals new stories for my life, new possibilities and in the other I write about my inner voices that keep me back from this new journey.
   
Amazing work! Congratulation to all of you who are doing this challenging work of self-care!

Paper cover Journals by Archan Knotz
  

Archan Knotz creates : February

Archan Knotz creates : February :  Every year it happens, February arrives and I have this strong urge ...