Sunday, November 5, 2017

Guy Fawkes Day (and Bonfire Night)


I'm once again joining Chris from PearShapedCrafting who is this month's host at Art Journal Journey.  Chris wants us to give her 101 Ways to Stay Warm.  I stole borrowed this idea from Chris, who even suggested Bonfire Night as a way to stay warm.

I give you my interpretation of Guy Fawkes Day and Bonfire Night.

Tonight the British celebrate Bonfire Night.  It's definitely a British "thing."  It all dealt with gunpowder, treason, and a plot to overthrow the British government.

When Queen Elizabeth I died, King James I (a Protestant) ascended the thrown.  Many Catholics hoped their persecution would finally end, and they would be granted the freedom to practice their religion.

However, when this didn't happen, a group of conspirators plotted to assassinate the King and his ministers by blowing up Westminster Palace during the state opening of Parliament.

Guy Fawkes rented a house close to the Houses of Parliament, then managed to smuggle 36 barrels of gunpowder into a cellar of the House of Lords, which appeared to be enough to completely destroy the building.

In case you can't read this it reads:
Don't you Remember,
The Fifth of November,
'Twas Gunpowder Treason Day,
I let off my gun,
And made'em all run.
And Stole all their Bonfire away.

According to many reports, the scheme began to unravel when an anonymous letter was sent to William Parker, the 4th Baron Monteagle, warning him to avoid the House of Lords.   The letter was made public and this led to a search of Westminster Palace in the early hours of November 5.

Explosive expert Fawkes, who had been left in the cellars to set off the fuse, was caught when a group of guards discovered him at the last moment.  Fawkes was arrested, sent to the Tower of London, and tortured until he gave up the names of his fellow plotters.

Ironically, although not the Gunpowder Plot's leader, Guy Fawkes is one of Britain’s most infamous villains, whose effigy has been burned, and whose demise has been publicly celebrated for more than four centuries during Bonfire Night.

In case you can't read it:
The fifth of November, since I can remember,
Was Guy Faux, Poke him in the eye,
Shove him up the chimney-pot, and there let him die.
A stick and a stake, for King George's sake,
If you don't give me one, I'll take two,
The better for me, and the worse for you,
Ricket-a-racket your hedges shall go.

So we'll light a bonfire tonight, kill good old Guy Fawkes again, and light fireworks around our bonfire.  I assure you, we'll stay warm.

For this spread I began by laying down purple and red acrylic craft paint.  I printed two images I found on the internet and copied two songs that are sung on this night.  All words and images were computer generated.  I colored two strips of yellow paper with three wood staining pens, then cut them to form the wood for the bonfire.  I created the flame using pigment ink.

This is Day 5 and I am joining AEDM and Art Journal Journey.  Today I created a spread in my Challenges altered book.

Thank you beyond words for your visit, too.






27 thoughtful remarks:

Valerie-Jael said...

Lovely spread, although I never enjoyed Guy Fawkes day as a kid in England, perhaps because I never liked fireworks....It's one celebration I haven't missed since leaving England. Have a nice Sunday, hugs, Valerie

Frannyaitch said...

These days it is more Firework night than Bonfire night unfortunately. Not good for our animal friends.

pearshapedcrafting said...

This is a fabulous page Elizabeth! I love how you made your fire! You have provided so many facts! The songs are less heard these days and you didn't include my favourite - wait till later! My Dad used to have the wood and garden rubbish stacked up but wouldn't build the bonfire in the same place as we had hedgehogs in our garden so it was always a 5th of November task! We would go out for the bonfire and be allowed to toast marshmallows in the embers then it would be back indoors to watch through the window as my Dad let off our few fireworks. I would rather watch fireworks on the TV or through the window these days too! Thank you for a fabulous AJJ entry! Hugs,Chrisx

froebelsternchen said...

What a fabulous spread - you achieved a super background with just two colors - looks very artsy! I am not familiar with this event - I don't know much about Bonfire Night- but a fleeting memory about GUY FAUX from my English lessons at school comes to mind .
Good to refresh my knowledge about this facts.
So for you as you are partly British - Happy Bonfire Night!
A fantastic entry for the Keep Warm collection Elizabeth! Thanks you and also thank you for your lovely comment to my latest entry!
Hope all is well with you after the fall!
Happy Sunday for you and the boys!
I am going to prepaire for lunch now - nothing on my agenda for today - hopefully I can do some art.

oxo Susi

CJ Kennedy said...

A very spirited page. I love the bonfire stack and the song/poem. I only learned remember, remember, the 5th of November. And then the day was remembered as my grandmother's birthday.

Julia said...

What a great double page spread. You have summed up the history of the gunpowder plot and the 5th of November bonfire celebrations. I like the verses, I've not read these particular rhymes. The most famous one said around these parts is;
Remember, Remember,
The 5th of November.
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason,
Why gunpowder treason,
Should ever be forgot.
As children we used to make a "Guy" out of old sheets, stuff him with straw and draw a face on him. Then we would go around the houses collecting money, "Penny for the Guy". On bonfire night he would be put on top of that bonfire and burnt. Gruesome really, children don't do that any more!

craftytrog said...

A fabulous spread Elizabeth. The BBC recently put on a drama all about the plot led by Robert Catesby called Gunpowder, very gruesome with lots of torture, but interesting to find out more about the reasons why it happened.
It was very noisy around here last night with firework parties! Those poor animals!
Enjoy your bonfire night!
Alison xx

My name is Erika. said...

Cool page for this British holiday. I remember learning about this in high school. It was mentioned in a couple of books I've read too. So it is cool to see that is a real celebrated holiday. I knew it was celebrated but it was more like realizing it was celebrated and then actually experiencing it yourself. Does this make sense? (This is what happens when you write with a nice old sinus headache). I do love how you made the flames of the fire. And the old black and white drawings are cool. I like the details they have and how you picked ones with period dress. Perfect for the beginning of November too. One thing I love about blogging is you get to find out about customs and life in so many other places. Happy rest of your weekend. Sorry if they comment is a little discombobulated. Hugs-Erika

garrisonjames said...

That 2-page spread looks great! i really like the way this is assembled, very much. Guy Fawkes is just a bonus...

RO said...

This is some great artwork, Elizabeth, and admit to being even more intrigued by the history you've shared. I don't know what in the world I was doing during this part of history in school. I agree that any bonfire is guaranteed to keep you warm. I went to one once in January, and darn near needed to don a swimsuit! Hugs...and Happy Sunday! RO

Divers and Sundry said...

For us Guy Fawkes night isn't so much a British thing as a fond reminder of reading Paddington Bear books aloud to the kids when they were young. We may build a fire in the chiminea later :)

carol l mckenna said...

Beautiful and creative journal for the season ~ lovely work ~ thanks, ^_^


light and love ~
A ShutterBug Explores,

Just out of hospital ~ adverse reaction to flu and pneumonia shot ~ send healing energy please ~

sheila 77 said...

Great firewood and fire, I absolutely love your arty firewood. I love lighting the fire every night with sticks.
Now that was an interesting History lesson this time. Are you actually saying that Bonfire Night and the whole Guy Fawkes thing is just a British "celebration"? As I type, explosions are going on all around, I fear for the little birds who must be frightened (unless they are yawning and saying "Bl...y Fireworks again, how are we supposed to get our sleep?").
Anyway although I hate the bangs, I did enjoy your story and the gory poetry too.

Eileen The Artful Crafter said...

Very interesting, Elizabeth. I didn't know the details of Guy Falkes Day. How clever of you to use it for Chris' keep warm theme.

Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment on my DIY Art Stamps article. You happened by while I was editing it. [I don't know why you were able to view it! You just never know with computers; they have minds of their own ;-) ]

I removed reference to the photo-polymer stamp making kit that you expressed interest in because it's quite expensive and gets mixed reviews. If you'd like to check it out, it's the Imagepac Stampmaker Kit.

Hasta mañana for T! Hugs, Eileen

Nelly and Norah said...

This is an awesome page for someone who never heard of Guy Fawkes because she lives in Belgium :-) I find it hilarious that you chose this guy for Staying Warm :-D Nice to read some of the history and the traditional song! Art and history class in one post ;-)

Norah is very intrigued by your art journaling, we have done something similar for a while but we called it Morning Pages. Before my son was born, we used to sit together every morning to write and draw and collage away, we wrote our intentions for the day and illustrated them. Those were beautiful times... Now with a 1 year old crawling around in the morning, things are a liiiiittle different but no less fun ;-)

carol l mckenna said...

Thanks so much for your well wishes ~ much appreciated and needed ~ xox


light and love,
A Shutter Bug Explores
aka (A Creative Harbor)

ps. Send healing energy ~ just out of hospital with adverse reaction to flu and pneumonia shot ~

Meggymay said...

Its a fabulous spread Elizabeth, wonderful pictures and historical details of the event. This is one event in the UK that my family are not keen on.
When my boys were young they opted for a cinema treat instead of fireworks.
Wise choice as I'm not happy with them either and our animals over the years were so upset with the noise. They could hear them from miles away.
Stay warm and don't get to close to the fire.
Yvonne xx

TammyVitale said...

kinda grusome but fascinating. Are all 100 ways going to fit in your book? I'm finding that sticking to one journal is creating a really nice cumulative energy effect - I've never done that before but am very much liking it this time. Is that the way you do your challenges? all in one place?

Anonymous said...

Great imagery. Cute bonfire. Another wonderful history lesson. xox

Helen said...

I don't know either of the songs you've used, maybe they sang them in years long ago! I used to love Bonfire Night as a child, with some fireworks and a bonfire in the garden at home carefully tended by my Dad.

Let's Art Journal said...

Wonderful pages! Those images are fabulous and I love all the history you included in this page too 😁. I've had a busy weekend so just catching up on blogs today and it seems I will be in esteemed company this T Day with you and Chris creating Bonfire Night pages, you'll have to wait though until later today to see mine though ...lol 😉. Hope you had a lovely weekend and wishing you a happy new week! J 😊

Rosie said...

These are wonderful journal pages, dear Elisabeth

Birgit said...

Great page for this day-purple for royalty and red for burning. I liked reading more about this man also since I never heard of him until the last 10 years

NatureFootstep said...

Bonfire night? Don´t think I have ever heard of that. Interesting.

Jeanie said...

I love this for so many reasons, Elizabeth. The art, of course. And you shared wonderful history on Guy Fawkes day. I've seen a lot of posts about this over the past week or so -- interesting in that last year I don't remember any. I really appreciate your history and your own art is a wonderful illustration for the story itself.

Sean Parker said...

Showing some really amazing times of history, liked them.
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Unknown said...

It should be appeared to be enough to completely destroy the building.
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