Art

Inspired by the Polish Village of Zalipie

November 2, 2018 by polishhousewife 6 Comments

Inspired by the decoratively painted homes, the painted dog houses, the painted everything in the village of Zalipie, about 40 miles northeast of Krakow, I’ve done some ornamental painting on the cement block wall that fences off our back garden from those of our neighbors. Something I’ve been thinking of doing for years.

a small building in Zalipie, Poland decorated with floral paintings with a little snow on the wooden shingle roof

The Village of Zalipie

Surely, you’ve seen photos of Zalipie. They make the rounds on Facebook and Pinterest periodically. The comments and posts that accompany the photos give the impression that this is a tiny little village, where every single house is heavily decorated.

I pictured something akin to the Ethnological Park of Wielkapolska, with a lot of whitewash and folk art added – a place where one could amble between one quaint painted cottage and the next. While I only know Zalipie from online photos, my best and most accurate description of the lovely flower covered village comes from my travel blogging friend Jonny Blair, the author of the website Northern Irishman in Poland.

In his post on Zalipie, Jonny tells us that the village has a Bed and Breakfast, a pub, and a fire station all appropriately decked out in the flower motif. The village was a little more sprawling that he had anticipated, making it difficult to find everything on foot.

Headlines I’ve read about the village give the impression that every structure is covered in painted flowers, charming as it may be, that is an exaggeration. Reports vary, but 20 – 30 buildings in the village are painted with flowers, many are not. It’s a little off the beaten path, and well worth the effort, I’m sure. I just wouldn’t want to you be disappointed if you make the trip.

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History of Zalipie’s Painted Homes

The tradition of painting flowers began well over 100 years ago when soot covered surfaces were painted white and then decorated more colorfully. Interestingly enough, their paint was made from a powdered dye and milk which I guess isn’t all that far-fetched considering tempera paint used was mixed with egg yolk in medieval times, and for all I know, it still is.

a tree in the Polish village of Zalipie decorated with a painted floral motif

©Jonny Blair, used with permission

The most popular decoration for the houses was flowers, and the tradition has grown and become more popular, putting the village on the map of many travelers. Think of the commitment to keep this up! Over 100 years of floral painting means a lot of touch up, something they continued even during World War II.

One of the most famous painters was Felicja Curylo, her home was heavily decorated with flowers and is the one most often featured in photos of the village. It’s now become a museum, but has recently been closed for renovation.

Bringing a bit of Zalipie to our home

For decades I’ve toyed with the idea of paining something on our fence other than the HOA prescribed earth-tone house paint, on the inside of the wall, of course. It was the painted village of Zalipie and the encouragement of my friend and colleague that finally put my paint brushes in motion.

Why is it that there are so many fun projects in my head, and so few of them are actually started, and even fewer are actually finished? I’m definitely better at starting projects than finishing them, somthing to which my husband and daughters will attest.

I was sharing the usual photos of Zalipie with my friend, who happens to be an artist, over lunch one day. She is a big fan of bold uses of color and encouraged me to decoratively paint much more of the wall than I have. Who knows? Perhaps there will be more.

Recently, she was riding along with me, when I made a trip home at lunch one day. She lives closer to the university, in a more historical, more colorful part of town. As we pulled into our driveway, she said, “you know this doesn’t even look like Tucson to me. It could be anywhere in southern California.” That is so true. The homes are stucco and very beige. They could fit in anywhere in the southwest.

Ours has just gotten a little more unique. At the encouragement of our daughter, also an artist, I used stencils rather than attempting to do something freehand on cement block (a difficult surface on which to paint!). While a floral damask pattern might have been more truly Zalipie, I found some great stencils inspired by Talavera pottery, in keeping with the Mediterranean feel of our stucco walls and red clay tile roof.

I’ve seen outdoor acrylic paints, but considering the intense Arizona sun, I bought sample sizes of exterior house paint. Hopefully, I won’t need to touch up as frequently as the ladies in Zalipie.

I’d love to hear about what you do to personalize your home.

Pozdrawiam,

Lois

Quilling a paper art that dates back centuries

November 24, 2017 by polishhousewife 2 Comments

If you’re looking for something different to do with family or friends over the holidays, you might want to give quilling a try. Quilling is a centuries old practice of creating designs from rolled strips of paper. Originally done by French and Italian nuns in the 16th and 17th century, then taken up by genteel ladies. It can be as simple or elaborate as you want to make it. It consists of thin strips of paper that are coiled, shaped and glued. You can cut your own paper strips or buy bags of thin strips of pre-cut colorful paper at some craft stores or on Amazon. I’ve used a toothpick to coil my paper, but more serious quillers might use a special slotted tool. The great things about quilling is that it doesn’t take a great deal of concentration, at least at my level of expertise it doesn’t. You putter along coiling paper and holding it in place with little dabs of glue; it’s a peaceful setting in which to chat and reminisce or get to know new friends.

I introduced friends to quilling on a girls night last year. It made all of us more aware and begin to notice quilling when we came across it in other places. Did you see this cool stamp? That’s quilling.

My first quilling experience was in Poland. Sometimes, you just feel pulled to certain things. That’s the way I felt when I saw an open invitation on facebook to come and learn the art of quilling that night. Our leader was a young Turkish woman who was in Poznan as part of a volunteer exchange program. Her focus was on creating art by recycling, so the paper we used was recycled. One of the young Polish women in the group was our quilling expert and brought completed samples to show us, including a blown egg that her grandmother had covered in little colorful paisley patterns.

I must admit, the designs my co-crafters and I created were much simpler than the ones you’ll find on google, but who knows how elaborate my future projects will be, now that I’m experienced. I collected those colorful, glossy paper advertisements that Polish businesses are so fond of passing out of the streets, as in Las Vegas, but in PL they’re for more reputable establishments. These Polish ads will form the basis of my next project. I’ll keep you posted.

Want to give quilling a try? You’ll find all kind of inspiration online, including some basic quilling shapes on YouTube.

Pozdrowiam,

Lois

PS — the original version of this post went live on Tłusty Czwartek or Fat Thursday, the day that marks the beginning of the end of the Carnival season, all over Poland people will feel compelled to eat pączki (PONCH-kee), a very bready, scantily filled jelly doughnut. Yes, I realize my American taste in pastry is showing in my choice of words. 😉 While you can find a variety of fillings, the most traditional is a rose petal jam. Now that I’ve made my own pączki, I like them much more. Homemade is always better! 😉

Wycinanki Cut Paper (Polish Folk Art)

May 12, 2017 by polishhousewife 5 Comments

This spring, I decided to join my friend, Sue, and almost 200 other artsy-craftsy people across the globe in a #DIYPostCardSwap. It was one of two organized annually by craft blogger iHanna. The premise is that you pay a small administrative fee and prepare, send and receive 10 homemade postcards. I toyed with a few ideas for the post cards I was creating before settling on a collage adaption of Wycinanki Cut Paper (Polish Folk Art).

At first the famous Polish paper craft, with its roots in Jewish culture, seemed too intricate and complicated, but closer examination helped me break in down into parts. The patterns, often flowers or birds, are symmetrical and arranged in repeating patterns. I cut shapes out of magazine pages, folding the paper in half to get symmetrical pieces and put together my own not always repeating patterns. A quick coat of Mod Podge to protect the cut-outs I’d glued to the post cards, and they were ready to mail.

Becoming more familiar with Wycinanki has given me ideas for other ways to use this colorful art form. I’m picturing surfaces in our garden that might benefit from the Wycinanki style treatment. Perhaps painting part of the block wall with repetitive flower patters as they do in Zalipie or to refinish bits of yard art that have seen better days.

In this post card swap, participants receive before the appointed date, a list of ten individuals to whom their postcards are to be sent. My own list included folks in Norway, Taiwan, Scotland, and various states around the USA. I’ve received 9 of 10 cards so far in a variety of media and styles, and they’ve come from Austria, England, Canada, and many states, including a card from Tucson from my friend, Sue! They are currently on the door to my office. I’ve decorated it as if it’s my dorm room. It’s been a fun experiment, and it’s been a nice treat to look forward to checking the mail for a change!

Pozdrawiam!

Lois

Sweet Charity Dessert Challenge

November 18, 2016 by polishhousewife 4 Comments

We joined hundreds of people for the Sweet Charity Dessert Challenge to sample some of the finest desserts and cocktails in Tucson. The Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance (SAACA) hosted Baja Arizona’s largest dessert competition to raise funds to support SAACA’s arts therapy programs at the our local VA hospital.

Here you see some spicy flavors of cotton candy.

The fourth annual event featured sweet treats and drinks from twenty-five restaurants, bakers, and mixologists. The servings were much larger than expected considereding how many they were serving and how many we were sampling.

If you’ve never attended, let me tell you that you’ll find a party atmosphere, complete with DJ, music videos, and laser lights in the ceiling. You’ll get to chat across the table with business owners and chefs. They will be happy to tell you about their creations, and answer you questions. You’ll receive a ballot sheet as you arrive and be asked, after making the rounds, to vote for your favorite in multiple categories.

One of my favorites of the evening was a cocktail prepared by the team from the Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain. They served a butternut squash Old Fashioned. The squash was roasted with spices and steeped in a combination of spirits. It reminded me of a Polish tincture, steeping seasonal produce in alcohol! A very familiar process.

The folks from Dove Mountain brought some of the most memorable treats including a frozen Pumpkin Pop and a chocolate panna cotta.

The overall winner for the evening was Rigo’s Restaurant with a chocolate offering.

In my opinion it was an evening full of winners. Attendees got to connect with local business, a win on both sides. Everyone at the Sweet Charity Dessert Challenge got to support SAACA’s no cost arts and writing programming to veterans in poly-trauma, blind rehab and the memory care units, and that is something we can all call a win!

Many thanks to SAACA for providing two press passes for this event.

Poznan inaczej – Poznan Way Photo Exhibit

August 7, 2014 by polishhousewife 2 Comments

Poznan inaczej – wystawa fotographii – Brama Poznania ICHOT or Poznan Way – a photography exhibition at the city’s newest museum, Interactive History Center Cathedral Island, features the work of three local artists, one of them American, Erik Wisoe!

The exhibit opened last month and will run through September 21, so there is still time to see it. The photo exhibit is free of charge and can be viewed anytime during the museum’s hours. The works focus on the city of Poznan and Cathedral Island specifically.

I enjoyed the work of all three photographers. I felt like quite the local, being about to recognize the place or timing of many of the photos. One of Łukasz’s photos from Euro 2012 made me laugh out loud remembering that time. It will seem like I’m playing favorites with my fellow American as I tell you about them. The truth is, it’s just easier for me to gather information that’s in English. 😉

The three photographers are:

Łukasz Gdak — a local photographer, who also works for Glos Wielkopolski, a regional news source, who has had the opportunity to photograph many well known public figures.
Erik Witsoe — a native of Seattle, Washington, Erik Witsoe owns a local coffee shop (Seattle, it figures, right?), since moving to Poland, Erik has applied his formal training as a visual artist to DSLR photography, and I know from the shares I see on facebook, that people all over Poznan are enjoying his street photography. As my friend, Barbara said to me when we stopped by the coffee shop, “this is the street where I grew up,” as she bought one of Erik’s picture postcards. He has a way of taking everyday scenes in Poznan and making them special. I toured the exhibit with a mutual friend and she said, “I’d never thought of photography as art until I saw Erik’s work, but I have a new appreciation for it now.”
Karol Wysmyk — a photographer whose subjects have been music & film, expos, corporate branding, and travel.

In addition to the beautiful, make you stop and linger, photography, the venue itself is worth checking out. The area of the museum that houses the photo exhibit is old brickwork. The roof of the building is covered in dirt and growing plants. This is being done with so many new buildings, particularly in Germany. I asked one of the staff about it, and he said it’s has been that way all along as a defensive mechanism, long before anyone thought about being green.

The brick maker’s mark

The brick building is connected to the main, modern section of the museum by a glass bridge. I’ve only visited the lobby of the main section, but I loved this photo mosaic made with shots taken here at the museum to present this historic scene.

Reims, France

July 15, 2014 by polishhousewife Leave a Comment

Reims, the largest city in the Champagne region of France is famous for their Notre-Dame (Our Lady) cathedral. Kings of France were crowned here. Joan of Arc was instrumental in the coronation of a King Charles VII here in 1429, two years before the she died at the young age of 19. Earlier this year, religious artist, Greg Tricker had an exhibit of 33 pieces of related to Joan of Arc. This stained was still on display when we visited.

I passed through Reims on a train trip through France back in the 1970s. I remember only two things from that trip. The smiling angel outside the cathedral. The fact that in my hotel, the toilet was down the hall and the shower downstairs. We had nicer accommodations this trip in an extended stay hotel with kitchenette AND bathroom.

I learned on this trip that the angels’ smile isn’t the only thing unusual in the photo above. These three angels have have their wings open and that is as rare as her smile. The grand cathedral was damaged in WW I and restoration work continues to this day.

We did some champagne shopping near the cathedral. Caves des Sacres has wines from large and small champagne houses. We bought a variety of labels and price points, including a Bollinger, just because it’s what James Bond drinks. The nice thing about this shop is that if you buy at least six bottles, they offer free delivery to your hotel. That was quite a selling point for us. If we’d had to lug it around and schlep it back on the bus, one bottle would have been out limit. They are very knowledgeable about the wines, unfortunately, we are not particularly knowledgeable shoppers. The expert did confirm one thing I have suspected. In the wine business when they call a wine “fruity,” what that really means is sour.

The area is also known for Biscuit rose de Reims. The French and lighter version of a biscotti, this twice baked cookie is meant for dipping in champagne. It’s sturdy enough not to crumble in your drink. We bought some at Maison Fossier, who have been making this treat since 1756. For those of you who are cookie buffs, like I am, the biscuit definitely had that twice baked feel of biscotti, but the texture was very fine and delicate, closer to a macaron or meringue than an Italian biscotti.

Our hotel was on the outskirts of the city, so we rode the bus into the city center. You buy your tickets from the bus drivers, who were all very friendly and helpful — one even getting out the bus at our last stop to offer explanations on the schedule and shake our hands while wishing us au revoir. One hour will run you 1.60 euro; looking back, we should have gotten the all day ticket. It’s fun to do things that give us a feel for what it’s like to live in a city, so I’m glad we had a reason to take the bus. It seemed like we were the only non-locals.

It was a quick but fun visit. Buckle up, next stop Normandy and Omaha Beach. 🙂

Ground Cover, Phoenix, AZ

February 15, 2014 by polishhousewife 2 Comments

Yarn Bombing, or covering things with knitting or crochet has been around for a couple of decades, but Ground Cover is a novel twist on this public art medium. Rather than linger for years, this fiber-art installation lasted less than 48 hours and then was put into service. The City of Phoenix commissioned Arizona artist, Ann Morton for this project, which was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Ann, with a background in graphic design, created and graphed a lush desert floral scene, similar to something I might use for my counted cross-stitch projects. Except that in Ground Cover, each square was 10 inches x 10 inches not just one x stitch.

The squares, which were knitted, crocheted, and quilted according to the color chart and graph, were put together in rectangles – four squares by seven squares. That’s what each volunteer “blanketeer” or group of volunteers committed to do – a 40 x 70 inch blanket. The individual blankets were assembled on a vacant lot in downtown Phoenix in December. With a lot of planning and care, the assembled blankets created Ann’s original design. My daughter and I operate a home bakery, and I just happened to be selling our biscotti at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market the day the project was completed and got to see it before it was disassembled. From ground level, it was difficult to see just what the picture was, but the graph was on display, and once I knew what I was looking at, I could make out the design.

I got to speak with one of the participants, a yarn shop owner from the White Mountains (a four hour drive from Phoenix). Her customers had heard about the project and they started asking if the shop was going to participate. As a group, she and her customers, some out of state, completed one of the rectangles.

It was a happy surprise to find one of my daughter’s friends among the group of volunteers – an accomplished knitter and probably one of the younger participants, you can read her account of the project and see some great work-in-process photos on her blog: Anti-Quotidian. There’s also a facebook page for Ground Cover Public Art Project. Their photos will give you a better idea about the scale of the project and the variety of techniques used.

The best part of this project in my mind is that after it was assembled, oohed and aahed over, and photographed, the blankets were distributed to nearby homeless people and to several agencies working with the homeless.

This was only my second time to personally encounter a fiber-art project such as this. This first was here in Poznan when our Stary Marych statue sported a customized afghan. When I told my sister-in-law about Ground Cover, she said it reminded her of the Knit the Bridge project that lined the Andy Warhol bridge in Pittsburgh.

How about you, have this style of public art made it to your area?

Zamek Tour

April 18, 2013 by polishhousewife Leave a Comment

The Poznan International Ladies Club organized a tour of the former Imperial Castle with an English speaking guide. I hadn’t seen much of the interior, so this seemed like a great opportunity. If you want to do this, book the guide in advance. The cost is 120zl.

I’m a sucker for a gilded mosaic ceiling

Our guide was fantastic. He told us the history of the building and the many ways it has been used over the years during our 1.5 hour tour. The castle (or palace) originally built for the German Kaiser is now a cultural center and the larger rooms are used for events and exhibitions, so the rooms are empty, not furnished as they would have been in the past.

The imperial interior was destroyed by the Nazis as they prepared it to be an official residence for Adolph Hitler. Much of the interior has been kept as the Third Reich left it. Parts of the structure that the Nazis did not have time to refurbish have recently been transformed into modern, state of the art theaters with an airy cafe covered by a glass ceiling. This transformation has been a joint venture between Poland and the EU.

Great views from the windows

Poznan’s history captured in brass

Love the view from the back balcony

Many of the rooms are now offices, some housing foreign consulates

The old and the new

Cold Weather

January 19, 2013 by polishhousewife 7 Comments

It’s been surprisingly cold in Tucson for the last week. Their temperatures have been close to what we have in Poznan. The big difference is that they’re not ready for it. Double pane windows are not the norm, and since you can usually get through the winter with just a heavy sweater, people aren’t used to bundling up. With temps around 20F, we’re still getting out for walks.

We walked from our place to Zamek recently and cut through the Chopin park that we observed from the tram a hundred times. It’s was created by the Jesuit College in the 1700s. It was originally a botanical garden, useful in biology lectures. The garden later became part of a residence, and in 1938 it was opened to the public as a park.

One of the first things we noticed on entering the park were all the rules – many “don’ts”

They forgot to list “no graffiti”

Fortunately, the marble bust of Chopin survived the war, albeit in another loaction

Arriving at Zamek via something other than our usual path, Ed pointed out this monument to the Polish cryptanalysts who were the first to break the Enigma code

* * * * * * * * *

This walk was to the lake for coffee, to what we will always refer to as Caroline’s and my coffee shop, with a stop at the mall for groceries on the way home. Our coffee shop, at the west end of Lake Malta, could also be described as a biker bar. It’s home to the Mother Chapter of Moto Magneto, a Polish motorcycle club, complete with a Confederate flag in the window.

The Latest Exhibit at Stary Browar

December 5, 2012 by polishhousewife 2 Comments

I was at Stary Browar this week, and I found the fashion exhibit I saw last time has been replaced by a collection of “nativity stars.” The decorated stars all have a nativity scene in the center and are atop poles which suggests to me that they were made to be carried as part of a procession.
I didn’t take the time to type the information into the translator app on my phone, but they are from various parts of the country and from various years, many from 1983, a memorable year for me.

I was at the mall to meet a new friend for coffee. She is also an expat blogger. They will be in Poznan for four years while her husband is in medical school. I’ve met some really nice people though my blogs.