Sunday, March 13, 2011

real things in my books

For anyone who wonders what the coat/key rack in Sadima's hidden room above the warehouse looks like: This is it. It hung on the wall of my grandfather's flour mill  for as long as he lived.  I think he brought it with him from Tennesee, but I can't be sure. I was fascinated with it when I was little. I remember pulling a chair up so I could get closer to the dragons. If you click the picture, you can too.






The lantern on the right is an old miner's lantern I used when I lived in a tipi until I could afford a Coleman. It became Sadima's lantern. The copper kitchen tools are from a garage sale years ago. The scarf was bought in Dubai  when I was there to do school visits. The bag came from a discount store in Chelsea, NYC. All of these things belong to Sadima now.  The Hame-harness breast plate side-piece with the brass knobs came out of an abandoned and rotting/literally/ tilting barn I stumbled across hiking in Steamboat Springs CO. It isn't in the book yet but yesterday I remembered that I once picked it up to walk through a dark house to investigate an odd noise, thinking, I am ARMED....

5 comments:

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

What great artifacts to have and to use in your books. I especially liked the coat/key rack with the dragons. And how interesting that you lived in a Tipi and visited a school in Dubai. You have a lot of rich experiences to draw from!

kathleen duey said...

Writing has enlarged my world and I am grateful.

RaShelle Workman said...

That dragon hook is amazing. Love it. =D

Onge said...

That is awesome!! I love your books and it makes it even better to be able to visualize exactly what you are describing/mentioning.

kathleen duey said...

RaShelle...It has always enchanted me. I wish I knew its story. I might have to make one up!

Onge,
I will put up more "real stuff" when I can come up for air. I have always loved learning something about the "backstage/backstory" of any work of art. I was bemused to find out that George Rickey, kinetic sculptor: http://bit.ly/eVZohZ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSOwv37XRt8

http://www.publicartindianapolis.org/project_detail.aspx?id=44&active=1


...had a father who worked for Singer Sewing Machines and grew up with boxes of tiny gears and weighted fly-wheels to play with. The exhibition I saw included his bigger outdoor works. But for me, the small, intricate ones that moved when I walked past them...were the best.