Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Inspired by Reading Book Club with Andrew Thorton: October Reveal

With the ghoulish title of My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me,  what's not to love?  This little gem is an anthology of re-told fairy tales edited by Kate Bernheimer, and a perfectly delicious macabre read for the Halloween season chosen by Andrew Thornton, our fearless leader of Inspired by Reading Book Club.


This book brought back memories of my childhood and  my introduction to fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen.  My father would take me to our local library every week to fill my voracious need to read.  One especially cold California winter I happened to choose an old musty leather-bound book of fairy tales by Christensen published in the late 19th century. What  really caught my eye were the grotesque illustrations of demons dancing around an evil mirror in The Snow Queen, quite a shocking sight for an eight year old Catholic school girl who mused "Am I really allowed to read this?"  "Yes, you may." replied  Dad.  What sort of dreadful things would I read and dream of if I read these seemingly forbidden stories?  I thought I had gotten away with a Mortal Sin!














 
 Hence, my fascination with The Snow Queen, so I saved that story for last in the anthology and wasn't disappointed. The tale was modernized to discuss homelessness, the vagabond lifestyle of brooding creative types, and drug abuse. In the re-told story I could envision how the splinters of the evil demon-created mirror could cause drug abuse and homelessness, as every beautiful thing in the world worth seeing and feeling becomes distorted and ugly.

 I decided to create a necklace that represents the mirror before it became contaminated by evil in my hand made pendant that depicts beautiful flowers.  The wire wrapped crystal represents the shards of broken mirror and the chaos of distorted vision that ensues.

 


The eerie glow of the labradorite stones represent the demons attempt to reach heaven in their hope to pervert the angels visage. The moss aquamarines represent the demons fall back to Earth, their evil plan eventually destroyed through love and human kindness.



Be sure to read all the participants blogs to see their creations, and Happy Halloween dreams!

Andrew Thornton 
Sharon Palac
Mary K McGraw
Jeanne Steck
Sarajo Wentling
Mary Harding
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Sue Kennedy
Sally Russick
Erin Prais-Hintz
Diana P.

11 comments:

  1. I love the pendant you made...just beautiful! Labradorite is one of my favorite gemstones so of course I'm smitten with your use of it here. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Enjoyed reading your story about the Snow Queen and the Evil Mirror. Funny how things stick with us. Great pendant you made and the symbolism of the other elements.

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  3. I am working my way through the book and I look forward to finding this story! I grew up on fairy tales as well. I have a copy of a book that I think was my father's that has illustrations from the 30s in it. I loved that book! I like your bronze piece. Very pretty! And those blue stones are mesmerizing. Happy to be in the hop with you! Enjoy the day. Erin

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  4. Beautiful necklace! And pssssst, don't forget to add me to the blog hop list!

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  5. What a lovely piece! It truly is magical and I think captures the feel of the book perfectly. The stones look opulent and the pendant looks like a shard from a sacred relic! Nicely done!

    And thank you so much for participating! It's good to see you making jewelry again!

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  6. Love your story of how you experienced the Snow Queen as a child and now your wonderfully symbolic necklace to capture this modern retelling. Esp like your etched pendant!!

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  7. Loved your descriptions! ah ha...another wacky catholic school gurl!
    rock on Sharon yer awesome

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  9. I am extremely impressed along with your writing abilities, Thanks for this great share.

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  10. The brooch reveals the genuine flavor of the book! It is full of unexpected twists and event! It was nice to read the post! Thanks!

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