Updated: Jul 8, 2021
On 21 March I published my last blog about achieving my first reduction of two-colour lino printing. On 23rd March, our Prime Minister put the UK into lock down. Contrasting statements that highlight this surreal ‘wartime’ corona virus era. These are crucial times for us to understand, support our Front-line medical workers to the military, from our sheltered ‘black-out’ at-home environments. We constantly look to our parents, grandparents for education, guidance and to understand how they persevered through their lives to a positive future. Now is the time for your children to Face-time or Skype their parents and grandparents and record their conversations. They can listen to and question them. They can draw and write about early youth and experiences from old photographs their grandparents hold up to the Face-time screen. This is a way they can sustain a genuine 'live' connection with their families and in time, learn and develop their own positive future. They can create their own family history album that will be a keepsake - moments of social history recorded forever.
I keep remembering my father’s three philosophies which he drummed into me while growing up - “Your Number One in Life is your Health and well-being because when you are ill, you cannot look after your family and loved ones”, “Life is People” and “Travel is the Best Education in Life”. I’ve written articles on these titles over the last eight years.
Mieczysław Zipser 1912 - 2001. His eulogy, written by his godson Krys Cietak, is on my LinkedIn profile should you wish to read it, detailing how he lived through his youth and battling wartime experiences in Poland to a new, healthy and positive life in England. https://www.linkedin.com/in/marysia-zipser-b4b89668/ See/read eulogy under Features.
In North America tracing your family roots is the number one hobby; in the UK it is number two, after Homes & Gardens. It was my own family ancestry on my father’s side that prompted my initial Zipser search way back in the early 1990s, after receiving a sort of ancestry.com letter from the USA. Knowing about my father’s visit in early 1960s to Zipserburg / Spis Castle / Spisskyhrad in Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) and to his home in Lwow Poland (now Ukraine), with my eldest brother John, then 18 years old, made me determined to unravel more about my ancestry.
It has taken all those years up to my first and only visit to Lwow, now Lviv, Ukraine in 2013 with John and his wife Christine, courtesy of Slav Tsarynnyk of Lviv EcoTour https://lvivecotour.com/. It took me a year to research and prepare this historic trip with Slav, and it will take me more years into the future to complete our ancestral history from Ukraine through to Saxony, Germany, where the Zips originated in the 1300s. After the Black Death, peaking in Europe 1347-1351, the Zips colonised what we know now as Central Europe. Search and read about the Zips and the Zips/Spis region of Slovakia via the Internet.
Earlier I had set up and operated European Ancestry Trails & Events (EATE) 2004 - 2008 with Chris Slade, now retired tourism ambassador & businessman (of the Nottingham Experience), and Jan Curd-Pelling (of Heritage Placements 1980s with Norman Hudson MBE, & later Teamworks) who sadly passed away March 2012. She said to me, "Marysia, always think global!" EATE is global tourism.
During 24-26 June, 2005, I helped organise with Sir Richard FitzHerbert Bt and Lord Stafford, the FITZHERBERT 880 Celebrations and Family Gatheringof 150 FitzH/herberts from around the world at their Derbyshire and Staffordshire family homes. This event was featured in Country Life magazine July 28, 2005. See part of the feature below and reference from Sir Richard FitzHerbert here detailing more about the event. The letter is also on my LinkedIn profile page.
European Ancestry Trails & Events has been dormant since 2008, so maybe it will rise again and have a new birth in future years. Maybe ancestry.com will become a future ACT & EATE investor and sponsor, who knows! Please check out your Libraries Inspire websites to get you started with your family heritage search which will take you back to 1840 when UK's first modern census was produced. From then on, census records were produced every ten years. In fact there are census records going back to 1801. https://www.inspireculture.org.uk/heritage/ . There are many family history search sites, the main one being https://www.ancestry.com/. Start investigating, you and your family members will be hooked! Please tell me how you get on and ask me any questions you like, or leave any Comments below.
While I continue to write my series of books “The Adventures of Tag and Miss Zippy”, blog and craft, as well as monthly podcasting with Art Culture Tourism / ACT (next one 28th April), I wish you all a creative and enlightened ‘Grand Tour’ search with your families during lock down. #Staysafe #stayhome #stayhappy Marysia Zipser Beeston, Nottingham, UK marysia@artculturetourism.co.uk Find me on Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn
Updated: Jul 8, 2021
I wrote in my last blog that I attended this 1-1 experience on Monday with Fiona Holmes who is a professional linocut artist and printer, at The Art Room in Long Eaton, Derbyshire.
www.minifis-oddities.myshopify.com @minifisoddities - Facebook,
@minifis_oddities - Instagram email: minifi@gmail.com
What a treat it was for me for 2.5 hours, and here you can see the fruits of my labour!
Being a very experienced workshop leader, Fiona first explained what reduction printing is all about and the design and print process that I would be following, considering the paper and ink colours that I’d like to use.
For one colour linocut beginners like me, these were her basic guidelines:
The lightest colour is first done on white block.
Cut away what you want to stay white.
Ink plate again with next lightest colour.
Print it. I produced 10 prints.
Make sure you define the dark lines around the items.
Print again with black ink.
Few second video (below) that Fiona took of me carefully peeling away my print.
I’m sure, for one colour linocut printers out there, you will have questions to ask me or Fiona directly to take you to this reduction printing stage in your design process. For your information, Fiona will be doing online videos. Her contact details are here again for you below. Her style is unique and I love her nature and wildlife prints! Thank you so much Fiona for your masterly class in reduction printing, I SO enjoyed it!
In addition, I thought I’d show you my latest print produced with different inks of my January design of Wollaton Hall & Deer Park. I’ll be experimenting more with inks and papers over the following weeks/months and producing new designs for both one colour and two colours.
Think and act creatively. Get your crafting skills to the fore and stock up with your cutting and printing items. There are so many brilliant YouTube tutorials out there and do please get in touch with Fiona to ask questions if you decide to embark on this craft and need more guidelines before purchasing any beginners’ lino cut printing sets or materials. Above all, have FUN, like I did! Marysia Zipser
Updated: Jul 8, 2021
During these anxious times, the need to write or blog, podcast and make art & craft as calming therapy at home is even more compelling, so I’m continuing to do so and hope you are or will too.
Anyone local who NEEDS help or those who wish to OFFER their help during COVID-19, please contact our Beeston & Chilwell community Facebook siteBeeston Chilwell Area Mutual Aid Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/262907364704981/
Friday 6th March
My 68th birthday! I had a wonderful lunchtime celebration with six friends at Trattoria L’Oliva, High Road, Beeston enjoying Italian cicchetti (tapas) authentic dishes prepared individually by Marco di Blasi, with yummy desserts afterwards. Cibo delizioso e servizio eccellente! Mille grazie Marco!
Thank you everyone for coming and those who sent me birthday wishes via social media, and thank you for all your presents and cards. So much appreciated and for keeping me young at heart!
Saturday 7th March Nottingham Health & Well Being Show at Jubilee Conference Centre 7-8 March. I attended this 10.00-12.00 and was well impressed - the exhibitors, the location, meeting and talking with Liz & Ian of http://www.lizianevents.com/ . Liz personally took me around the two exhibition spaces where she kindly introduced me to individual exhibitors. Spaces and workshop/lecture rooms were being utilised extremely well. By the time I left, the spaces were buzzing. In the future ACT looks forward to collaborating with Liz and Ian on creative health & well-being projects. In the meantime please look up these exhibitors and see how they can help you by studying their websites, emailing them for assistance and listening to their podcasts. https://lizianevents.org/nottingham-well-being-show/ “Health and well being is your No. 1 in life, as when you are ill you cannot look after your family and loved ones” my father kept repeating to me as I was growing up.
Tuesday 10th March 10.30-12.00 D2N2 Growth Hub 1-1 meeting with Richard Crowden at Broxtowe Borough Council offices in Beeston. This was a very welcome update with Richard advising me about ACT’s next growth steps, especially investment & funding and hence recruitment. Our services have developed excellently over the last six years with all proof on our website and archives. I will complete our What we Do / Consulting section soon. https://www.d2n2growthhub.co.uk/ Our local Beeston Rylands internet goes down causing inconvenience to hundreds of homeowners and businesses. As a result I went into Beeston coffee shops like Green Hood coffee house and Beeston Library to access the internet and carry out valued communications.
Wednesday 11th March
08.30-10.00 Attended NIPIM at Surface Gallery by Creative Quarter Sneinton. This was an excellent presentation and networking opportunity organised by CQ about Nottingham’s latest developments. I met colleagues Ben Rawson (BRIC Consultancy), Tamily Cookson & Stephen Barker (CQ) with Ben introducing me to Sara Blair-Manning (CEO Nottingham Castle Trust), Robert Dixon (Interim Chief Exec Marketing NG & Econ. Development Nottingham City Council) and John Morgan of Leonard Design (Architects). We discussed Beeston, what ACT is doing and how we can mutually project collaborate. Leonard Design are the architects for our current Beeston Station Road residential/cinema/retail & restaurants development currently under construction.
Visited Beeston Library for further communications access and everyday following including Sat 14th.
Thursday 12th March PM announces ‘delay’ method for COVID-19. Friday 13th March ACT Group catchup calls with Inna Schutts and Dawn Lindson. Saturday 14th March 10.15 - 12.00 Attended Nottingham Print Fair Contemporary and then to my InterNations group lunch - please read my previous blog about this 15.3.20.
Sunday 15th March 11.00-12.00 Exhibition by Mat Collishaw at Djanogly Gallery, Lakeside Arts University Park (proposed run until 7 June 2020, now cancelled). This was awesome and I’ll be posting my blog & photos about it this week. Thank goodness, the Internet is now up and running again. 6 days without; apparently a BT cable was accidentally cut through and engineers finally renewed connection.
Monday 16th March 11.00-13.30 Had a wonderful 1-1 tuition on Reduction linocut printing at Long Eaton Art Room by the lovely Fiona Holmes known as www.minifis-oddities.myshopify.com I will be writing my blog about this during the week with photos of my 2-colour linocut prints and creative development process. http://www.longeatonartroom.co.uk/ Stay safe and stay strong in mind. Think and act creatively at home. Anyone who NEEDS help or those who wish to OFFER their help during Covid-19, please contact our Beeston & Chilwell community Facebook site Beeston Chilwell Area Mutual Aid Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/262907364704981/ Marysia Zipser marysia@artculturetourism.co.uk