Anzac Day Pt 2

This is my Anzac Day ATC (Artist Trading Card) for this year. For more about Anzac Day, see yesterday's post. I've used an acetate overlay to convey depth and meaning to my cards. I keep coming back to this WW1 theme because of my grandfather's involvement. This stamp was an amazing find because it tapped deep into my interest, and as I have a couple of the typical cards soldiers sent home with "My Dear Mother" sentiments. As a mother it makes me think about love, loss, men and war a lot.

Two years ago my Anzac Day post was a tribute to my grandfather, who was at Gallipoli, and the Western Front in France.

I made the card below, featuring a photo of my grandfather, who survived unscathed, unlike many of his colleagues, who were either damaged and fractured, or slaughtered (the images behind him). Featured are copies of woven postcards he sent his mother (the card reads "My Dear Mother") and a photo of a poppy I took in the Somme area of France in 2003.


Later, I made this one, My Dear Mother, which is a tribute to the relationships expressed in the letters sent home, between sons and their families, especially their mothers:

Over the past several years I spent many hours researching the activities of my grandfather during that war, starting with several letters which he sent from Egypt and France, but mainly using the magnificent collections of the Australian War Memorial and Australian Archives. Last year I got his story up on the web. He was an artillery driver, meaning he was in charge of teams of horses dragging the artillery to the artillery lines. You can read about his story, and the significant battles in the Somme and Flanders, as well as Gallipoli at this site - Percy Smith, Anzac.

Here's a picture of my grandfather an grandmother on their wedding day. My existence is thanks to the fact that, along with a mere 7 000 others, my grandad survived both Gallipoli and France to be able to come home to be the gentle, peace-loving, war-hating man he was.