Susan Barrett Price's Blog, page 5

WIP: SMUGGLERS’ ROAD, which is now THE SUDDEN SILENCE

Is it SUDDEN SILENCE or THE SUDDEN SILENCE? This kind of stuff keeps me awake at night. I wanted to avoid the “THE” but I checked my favorites and they are THE GREAT GATSBY and THE SHELTERING SKY. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE.

My friend Sue W. did me the enormous favor of a read-through. She gave me thumbs up for plot and characters and now I’m ready to do final revisions with her notes in hand. But first I wanted to be able to capture the feel of this novel with cover art and a back blurb. The “what’s this book about” question always trips me up. I need to perfect my 30-second elevator pitch. But meanwhile the back blurb is getting me there. [Continue here>>>]

 

Dyeing with Weeds

3 new entries:

Dandelions

Dandelions, Continued

Bundles and Weeds

Natural Dye Experiment: Dandelions

The dandelions are in bloom! I’d love to try dandelion greens on my salad or take a shot at making dandelion wine, but I don’t trust the safety of suburban lawns and roadsides. So we’ll make some dye.  [continued here>>>]

Today’s Amulet: Kazakh Ring

Some days I look around and something jumps out and adopts me for a week or so. “Me, me, me! Tell me my story.” Today it is this big ring that I bought in 1992 in Peshawar, Pakistan. The dome is so thick that when I would wear it to work, people were sure that’s where I kept my cyanide pill. But really, if it contains anything, it is likely a small prayer or blessing. [Continued here>>>]

Dollmaking: A “Handkerchief” Doll

Thinking about dolls again. Not refined art dolls. Simple “spirit” dolls. In so many cultures, dolls play an important roll. They aren’t what you mindlessly give little girls a hundred of. Probably through Pinterest I stumbled upon the “handerchief” or “church” doll. Legend has it that during pioneer days, a fidgety child in church was often entertained by a parent’s handkerchief knotted into a doll. [Continued here>>>]

Natural Dye Experiment: Red Cabbage

Spring is officially here but it’s nowhere near warm enough to start our backporch dyeing projects. So… I set out to use some leftover red cabbage for a little kitchen-based color. I used the recipes in Sasha Duerr’s Handbook of Natural Plant Dyes. As happens with these things, it became a multi-day project. But my innovation (since we weren’t using toxic chemicals) was to employ our slow-cooker. [Continued here>>>]

China: Romancing the Turquoise

If you’re a collector, you know that the process can be like young love: there is a symbolic meeting of the eyes and… you gotta have it. Sometimes this reunion with the unmet friend is facilitated by a matchmaker–a savvy dealer who knows both his merchandise and his clientele, a trader who tells a great story.

In the case of these beads, our matchmaker was a gaunt stranger who showed up for a number of years at the local Coin & Stamp Show. His booth was always near the front door and we rarely got past him without emptying our bank accounts for a story. He’d “just come from China,” he would tell us, where he traveled deep into the countryside to find some unique treasures. Their stories were told on tiny tags, with just the right words to seduce us. [For more, continue here>>>]

Africa: Minkisi, Power Objects of the Kongo People

Our living room is a hodge-podge of “knick-knacks” from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. We treat the crowd of objects as if we were hosting a cocktail party. Every so often, we move our “guests” around to liven up the conversation. Then we lose track of who’s who. When human visitors come, sometimes they are oblivious to the quiet chatter; sometimes, they join the conversation. Sometimes, they react to the strangeness of an old relic… the uncanny sensation of holding, say, a gorilla skull that has been melded to a basket–that rattles when you shake it. That uncanny* sensation makes people laugh and crack jokes.  [Continued here>>>]

Stray Things: Art Deco Stamp Moistener

Over the course of dark winter, things creep out of their hiding places, like fairies, to keep us company. My spring ritual is to shoo them all back to their places, to commune with their knick-knack brethren and to not be in my way.

This one is a special little keepsake that used to sit on my grandmother Kitty Mom’s desk… [Continued here>>>]

Work In Progress: Red Project

Having a wicked cold does nothing for my creativity–no focus, no energy. But the hands are still restless. So I decided to quilt the central square of my red project (even though the outer parts are unfinished–crazy). One of my online gurus uploaded a video of herself doing “kantha” stitching. It’s a simple free-form running stitch, where you allow the stitching to give the “cloth sandwich” a slightly rippled surface. It’s practiced to great effect by Hindu women in Bangladesh who convert rags into quilts and embroider them with rich symbolism. Continued here>>>