Recycling the Acoma Way (art and armies from trash)

Today had some unexpected joys to it. I ran into my Mum in town and was able to say airily “I’m going to meet my daughter at the Long Gallery” which made me feel like such a grown up! The daughter in question is Jem, my four year old, who was on an excursion.

I knew they had been making trash faces at school and that we were going to see the Art from Trash Exhibition, but what I didn’t quite get was that the kids’ work was actually being exhibited in the Long Gallery alongside the professional work. My four year old’s collage is in a real art gallery!

Jemima has been saying she wants to be an artist when she grows up for a very long time… I guess this is a good step.

Which segues nicely into Part 3 of my Daughter of the Empire Reread over at Tor.com – because this is the chapter where Mara of the Acoma looks a way to let the “honourless” Grey Warriors pledge to her service.

Talk about recycling – she finds a previously untapped resource (in this case, people forced to become criminals because of a social convention that servants of a family lose all honour when their master dies) and figures out a way to give them a sense of purpose again, while saving herself too.

All this and more – join the reread today!