A bit of nostalgia.

I came across this old photo of a childhood friend taken in front of my Mother's vegetable garden.  Roslyn died last year from cancer and because the borders were closed I was unable to see her before she passed.

I had forgotten what a pretty young girl she was, with deep red hair.  Her father always called me "Carolina".  I think she would have been about 12 or 13 when this photo was taken.  I remember all of those plants.  The peach tree, the tomatoes, peas, beans, strawberries, potatoes.  We never got big crops because my sister would eat most of the produce off the vines before we could get to them.

I have been doing some research regarding a brass slab from the 1400's and have found a wonderful book on line regarding these.  It is called  Monumental Brasses and Slabs   by Charles Boutell.  I am sure there is a ton of inspiration in the images in this book along with the great explanation regarding the meanings of the images.

Another  book that I think has the best images is from 1849 and is titled "The monumental Brasses of England"  by the same author, Rev. Charles Boutell, M.A.

Both books are freely available on-line.  My mother's first name was Joyce and it came as a surprise to find that this is an old name from the 1400's.  I still have to work out why the women are depicted with a small dog and the men with what looks like a little lion.  A good number of the plates have small animals in them, which is an interesting source for design.   I have lots of images of stained glass which compliment these.  Great resource for portraits.  I don't know what to start with faces or animals!

Comments

[Rachel]

I think the lion is for courage and the dog for fidelity, but I could be inventing things!

[Carolyn Foley]

I sounds right.