Cripendy Contest First Place: Blind Date by Carol Farnsworth

I am a blind artist. I rely on my memory and sense of touch to knit, shrink and produce felted art pieces. I have made felted animals for many years, but recently I have used animal figures to display challenged individuals. My art is to start a conversation with a humorous tableau. The second goal is to have an art piece that is touchable by blind and sighted persons.

The photo is "Blind Date". The figures are two pink pigs on a date. There is a leader dog in harness at the feet of the girl. While a white cane is located at the feet of the boy. Both pigs are talking and seated at a table with drinks and a lit candle. This shows that blind people can participate in normal activities. This art won first place in the craft division of the In Sight Art Contest in 2019.

Other art pieces I have exhibited, pictured age-related dementia and deaf/hard of hearing animals. Both have been in the In Sight Art Contest.

My work of felted wool makes the art easily explored by touch. This allows the blind and visual to experience the art with a different sense.

~*~

Biography (in first person):  I was born with glaucoma but have become totally blind in the last four years. I have a teaching degree in regular and special education and a Master’s degree in Speech Pathology. I worked with mentally disabled adults (many were nonverbal). I learned to use many techniques to elicit communication.

Similarly, I will use many tools to deal with blindness. I will use braille, voice over, and Seri to assist me with writing.

Other interests include gardening, listening to audio books, and riding a tandem bike, which my husband John and I have been doing for 22 years.

Where Shadows Lie by Allegra Pescatore (Review)

A blond woman sits in a wooden wheelchair at the front of the image. Her hands are in her lap and she's wearing a yellow silk gown with embroidery. Behind her on a raised platform are four standing people. Two men are on the right side of the picture one in a long button coat, and another in green (both have dark hair). On the other side, a red-headed woman is beside a black man... both have long hair. The woman is wearing white and the man is in brown tones. Dragons are behind each duo.

Note: I received a copy in order to review the book.

Elenor (disabled since childhood) is next in line for the throne after her brother's failed assassination attempt on their father, but more than just the kingdom hangs in the balance. Dragon gods move their followers like pawns, war is coming, and the end of the world is just a few bad decisions away.

This book is a sweeping fantasy novel. There are gods, mock dragons, politics, and magic. The world is described beautifully and fleshed out with varied locations and diverse citizens. The magic system is complex and used to great effect.

I didn't like Elenor at first. Yes, she is brave from the beginning, but she is also shockingly sheltered and ignorant. Throughout the first half of the book, I kept wanting to shake her. Even when she sees injustice, she shuts her eyes and keeps on going. She grows emotionally as time goes on, and I grew to love her by the end of the book.

Chapters follow different people and their impact on the story, more like an ensemble cast (including a couple of rebels and a former captain of the guard) than mere supporting players. I could really see the connection between different characters shift as events occurred. The villain of the story wasn't quite as fleshed out as others, but there was still enough information to give him a clear motive. 

The plot is cohesive and spellbinding with plenty of action. Anytime I wondered why a certain character acted the way they did, something in the story made it make sense. A few twists I didn't see coming.

There is a fair amount of violence and descriptions of wounds. Slavery exists in part of the world, but it's more like indentured servatude with rules to keep people from abusing others. Sexual situations (with some description) and swearing occur. Rape is mentioned but none of the characters encounter it.

I felt the disability representation was handled well. Elenor can walk, but not far without pain and limping. She has mobility aids if she needs them but doesn't get to use them often because it shows weakness in the nobility. Her girlfriend is protective because they are lovers and not because she sees Elenor as incapable.

This is the best book I've read this year! I definitely recommend it. 

Using the Cricut Joy for Card Making (a Review) by Spazzy Crafter

On a wood table, a teal and white Cricut Joy sits. The front piece is laid flat so the machine is open. Metal bars are showing in the middle of it.

A Cricut Joy is a machine that cuts and draws on a variety of materials.

Accessories:

• Cricut Joy cardstock and inserts (you can use regular cardstock and
inserts, they just have to fit the size of your project)
• Cricut Joy pens
• Cricut Joy markers
• Cricut Joy card mat
• Exacto knife
• Cricut Joy weeding tool

Pros:

Cricut Design Space lets you either make your own design or use designs that are already included in the app. Professional card designers like Anna Griffin have elements on there. As a side note, you can pay for a monthly subscription through Design Space, but it is not necessary to use the Cricut Joy.

It has access from tablets or other mobile devices via Bluetooth.

It's faster to make cards (for me) with the Cricut Joy than assembling ones solely by hand.

The application tells you when the blade or an accessory (like a marker or pen) needs changing and how to do it step-by-step.

Cons:

The Cricut Joy mat is sticky, and it is sometimes hard to line up the cardstock on it.

The machine doesn't always cut though the cardstock (that's what the Exacto knife is for).

Even though the card mat is sticky, the cardstock may not stick completely so it can move while cutting (which can ruin the card). One way to fix this issue is to tape all four corners.

The Cricut Joy pens and markers can only be used with that particular machine.

~*~

Overall, the Cricut Joy works good for card making.

Matte white card with black, metallic elements. The word "congratulations" is in the middle in all caps. There is black-squiggle confetti and poppers around the word. The cards corners have black details.

P.S. The reason I didn't include the prices is because the prices differ depending on where you purchase the Cricut Joy.

Jennifer's note:  The lowest I've seen it go for is $130 USD without accessories. 

Man Made of Pills by Robert Allen

Once I was made of
blood and thought.
Now I am a man
made of pills.
8 soldiers
protect me;
tablets that make
the world simple.

Simple as a
maze or math.

Simple as pain
or a bruise.

Where do I stop and
pills start, what
is my true sensibility?
Only blood can tell.
I will wait for blood.

~*~

Biography:  Robert Allen lives and loves with his family in northern California, where he writes poetry, takes long walks, and looks at birds. 

Details at www.robertallenpoet.com

Flower Paintings by Su Zi

Artist's note:  They are all painted plain aire, which means outside, and from live plants. The elephant flower was painted when I lived in New Orleans. Some of the others here in Florida—all from my garden. At one point of another, they have been exhibited.

Occasionally, one will sell. There are a few left for sale still.

A reddish yellow gladiola bloom stem is in the forefront of the image. The bottom flower is darker and wilted, but the flower above is vibrant and open. Two smaller flowers are above. The stem is two-tone green with grass-like leaves. The background is sepia. Composition is oil paint on board.

An elephant ear. Broad, textured leaves take up most of the left side of the picture. Below the leaves brown background. The flower is white and yellow, dipping and shaped a bit like a pea pod.

Brown and white background. A sunflower stands tall and open with dark yellow petals. The center has an orange outer circle, yellow inner, and green dots. There is one leaf on each side of the stem. The bottom of the sunflower looks like it has green roots in the shape of another leaf. The picture itself is framed. (Oil paint.)

Three purple flowers with brownish orange centers hang down. Angled, dark leaves hang down from the stems. The background is light with purple, yellow, and white streaked through. They are labeled as "echinacea".

Jennifer's note:  Su Zi is a visually-impaired artist.

~*~

Biography:  Su Zi is a poet/writer and artist/printmaker and edits, designs and constructs the eco-feminist poetry chapbook series Red Mare. 

Publications include poetry, essays, stories and reviews that date back to pre-cyber publishing, including when Exquisite Corpse was a vertical print publication, and a few editions of New American Writing. More recent publications include Red Fez, Alien Buddha and Thrice. A resident of the Ocala National Forest, with a dedicated commitment to providing a safe feeding respite for wild birds, and for a haphazard gardening practice that serves as a life model for all aspects of her work.

Cripendy Contest Winners for 2021

We had some stellar entries in our contest this year... and it's only the inaugural competition! Thank you all so much for making this a success.

First place:  "Blind Date" by Carol Farnsworth (felt/plush art)

Second place:  "Tide" by Ann Chiappetta (poem)

Third place:  "Dinosaur" by F.I. Goldhaber (poem)

Next month, each winner will have a post on the blog in order to highlight their work (with artist's note unless otherwise specified). Prizes will be sent to the winners by the end of May.

Carrying my Father's Silence by Nnadi Samuel

how warm you chew your tongue
into disremembering the taste of a dialect.
grief, the calm to soften your teeth,
& sponge a weak phrase to its neat wall of pink.

this is how you kill a mother's worth:
sludged wrists crushed to calories,
lost from ceaseless count of meals by how much 

her darkness shortchanges you.

your lips ramming into each other.

you braid your head into a migraine,
& let the style eat you.

silence, like a mohawk,
stands at ease.
getting my attention is one tough chore,
you could break your lips,

& still not get the dry sound to pulse me.

all my fun sides staked to claims:
that I feigned my father's accent,
& sighs are how he made words look like sin.

I am sifting into this new world,
skipping my meals,
becoming what I eat when I starve things of my lips.

I now lust for days when noise grooms my stature,
tongue amplified with the thirst for a crazy accent— 

this dialect that should know me.

~*~

Biography:  Nnadi Samuel holds a B.A in English & Literature from the University of Benin. He is a phonics tutor suffering from long depression & speech disorder. Winner of the Canadian Open Drawer Contest 2020 & Pushcart nominee. He is the author of Dumb Mandate (forthcoming). He reads for U-Right Magazine. He tweets @Samuelsamba10.