Sunday, November 1, 2009

The Old Folks


"Magda and the Crow"
Ellen Sereda

This is a drawing I did recently. Magda is someone my grandmother must have known. I've been archiving my family's old photos from Estonia, cleaning then up and saving them to disk. Some of you may remember this one:)


I'm really drawn to these faces. Most are related to me in some way, but the knowledge of who many of them are has died with the last generation.

Take a look at this at this one of my grandfather and company.

Zooming into the window we see somber old women. Spooky! Especially the face between the couple, a woman who bares an uncanny resemblance to Hitler.

I'll be back in Estonia sometime in the not too distant future. My siblings and I will be taking my fathers ashes to his home village to their final resting place. He'll be close to this guy, his uncle, Anton Jürgenstein, a prominent Estonian journalist active in the beginning of the 20th Century.

When I was a teenager, during the cold war years, a young communist Russian soldier stole the statue in an act of protest. Later, he apologized and returned it. And fortunately, with that kind of wimpy commitment, it's no surprise the system crumbled.

5 comments:

dinahmow said...

In the background, behind "Magda" do I see sketches of Tallinn? Looks like the orthodox cathedral.

I have old photos now beyond identifying, but I rather like their mystery.

p said...

wow those are incredible, especially the uncle...
i like your new drawing...there is that harshness in it as in these photos. great to see a blog post ;)

andrea said...

Lovely. I love the combination of old photos, recent art, creative analysis and a little family *and* world history to tie it together. You're jumping in with both feet and may just find yourself producing one amazing post after another. I totally forgot about November's post-a-day thing and it's already too late for me (phew). That's OK -- I'm working on my website instead and it's taking all my mental energy.

PS What about your other blog? I expect a post-a-day there TOO! :)

Ellen said...

Dinah - it is suggestive of Tallinn, just doodled from memory images. I love the old city, one of the world's hidden treasures, looking forward to wandering through it again.

Paula - thanks, get used to me again, I'll be here everyday (for better or worse) Old photos are fascinating aren't they?

Andrea - Ha! you mean me other 2 blogs. Thanks for reminding me, I gotta finish my website too! sigh, (what was I thinking).

Melody said...

Incredible photots...