Remembrance Sunday

Since 1919 there has been some form of Remembrance for those who gave war service.  The type and scale of this act has changed and grown as time has passed and more life, limb and mind have been sacrificed in the name of Peace.  Today Sunday 8th November 2020 is the Sunday closest to the 11th and the day when religious services of Remembrance are held.

I was born in the 1950's when WW2 was still a clear memory for people directly affected by it, many of whom had also been affected by WW1.  For children of my generation the significance of Remembrance day was something we heard about and absorbed in the same way we learnt to give up our seat on the bus to someone older than us.  We knew that the red poppies, the symbol of Remembrance Day, were made by ex-service men who had been so injured by the war that they were unable to "work" and that the pennies we gave for our Poppy went to help them.

Years later I worked for a Charity Enham Trust, you can learn about it here.  The significance of the village and the care home(s) and the associated work places is that they were established for disabled ex-service men.   Men from both World Wars 1 & 2 came home to a place that did little to provide for them, places such as Enham Alamein were safe secure homes for them.  Our modern "hero" comes home to all sorts of help; a lot of it provided by the Royal British Legion (other countries have their own equivalent) still funded by the sale of the poppy.  

It is natural then that this is a meaningful act to me and something I try to honour.

This is a Clarity stamp used with Moon Glow ep for a softer gold.   Initially coloured with watercolour pencils it was not bold enough so I used Brushos for the main flower and parts of the leaves.

Challenges

CAS mix up - Watercolour off the edge.  I've been and seen all your work now and a good many of the entries and it has all been blowing me away.

Crazy 4 Challenges - #560 Give Thanks

Sweet Stamping - Use Red

Less is More - #432 Blue & Silver OR Red & Gold

Below is another more arty card I made earlier as a remembrance piece.   This time I used an Inkylicious stamp clearly the two stamp makers use a lot of the same source material.

For this card I drew on the original idea behind the Poppy.   Those WW1 fields literally drenched in blood, who cares what their nationality was they died there many bleeding out from their injuries.   the following years saw those fields filled with bright red flowers.  A vivid reminder of the horror they had grown over.

The sides of this card have been dusted with Green DI and red dots of acrylic paint.  The same red paint used for just the main flower head, the rest of the stamped imaged left as it was stamped.

As we each of us remember in our own personal way it seems fitting this year to also remember that WW1 was followed by a flu epidemic (pandemic) and I seem to recall hearing that more people died of the flu than had died in battle.

Stay Safe, Keep Well, Take the required precautions, & still HAVE FUN.