Some Really Really Impressive DIY Art (not made by me)

One of my favorite pieces of art in our house was made by Sam’s grandmother:

As you might guess, it was a wedding gift for us, and it’s hard to believe she did this by hand! She’s created many beautiful pieces like this over the years, and today I wanted to share a bit more about this style of art, which is known as “fraktur” (frakˈto͝or/).

Fraktur is a folk art and specific lettering style created by the Pennsylvania Dutch (the lettering originated in Germany), which uses ink and watercolors to create elaborate scenes. What I particularly love is how the art form brings color and beauty to documents that typically feel very utilitarian but actually have significant sentimental value, like marriage and birth certificates. Our City Hall-issued marriage certificate is something I would never frame and put on our wall because it’s pretty darn unattractive, but our fraktur marriage certificate is not only beautiful but it’s a constant reminder of the love and care Sam’s grandmother put into it as well as his heritage.

For Sam’s dad’s wedding a few years ago, his grandmother made lovely invitations:

The tulip is a very common theme in fraktur, as are birds (so the Pennsylvania Dutch are the original hipster decorators, apparently).

I had a lot of fun looking through fraktur art online and picking out some I especially like:

But lucky me, Sam’s grandmother’s work is my favorite by far. Thank you Roma for allowing us to enjoy your amazing talents every day!