1. What
inspired you to write Grandma’s Purse?
I
just love Grandmas! They are everything,and that most children who are blessed
to have grandparents who come to visit or live with them is something so very
special. “That’s my mommy’s mommy or my dad’s mom!” Just a child
wrapping there limited heads around that relationship is so interesting.
Grandmas can be a mystery to a child, especially one with a handbag. Down south
we call them purses or pocketbooks and there was so much awesomeness to find
inside of one. My Grandma Bertha was one astounding woman. She loved to dress up
and she always had a pocketbook with her. Usually one with tapestry on the
front or possibly even a shiny black patent leather one, and just hearing it open
and close made my heart skip a beat. I was always going through her purse,and
she would let me from time to time when I asked. I felt like I was going on a
magical treasure hunt! Would I find candy or pictures of family members? possibly
a tiny Bible or a bottle of perfume or possibly some lipstick I could achieve on just
like she did? I knew I would find some kind of surprise every time I looked
inside, and I just wanted to share that with children.
Grandparents
are not just ancient people. They can be characters too.2. Did
you encounter any unexpected challenges or interesting moments while writing
this book? uncover us approximately it. Oh
my goodness did I. I didn’t write this book to be trendy or anything of the
sort. I purely wrote this out of love for my memories of my relationship with
Ms. Bertha. I cried a few times and still derive full when I read certain parts of
the book like “Yes I use my smell-good so you know I was here even after I
travel domestic.” It speaks to life and being a perfume and then being the smell
that lingers after one passes from this life. When I lost my mom the first
thing I ran to do was to smell her clothes. I didn’t want to forget what her
essence smelled like, or it was the same for my Grandma. I wanted to bury my
nose into that handbag of her’s just so that I could remember what she smelled
like. Another moment was when Grandma Mimi and the limited are looking at the
pictures. Pictures in my family are something so very precious. The sepia tone
images of the 1920’s and 30’s. The scalloped edges of ancient Polaroids in faded
black and white still excites me and thrills me to my very soul. Seeing ancient
relatives and seeing grandma when she was young or my mom when she was a limited
girl was magical. They instantly give me life!3. What
was your illustration process like for Grandma’s Purse?I
really had fun creating the images for this book! The illustrations came before
the words. Sometimes it happens this way when I write. I had so many images in
my head of me with her when I was a child and I wanted to share that with the
readers. Fabric of the 60’s and 70’s helped me with my collage process. I work
in Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop,and I travel back and forth between the two.
I hand draw my character and then bring them into Photoshop to size and then
they’re finished in Corel and then I collage them in Photoshop again. I am a
retro girl of sorts. I love anything from the late 50’s and 60s as far as
style, color and pattern, and I like putting that into my illustrations.
Playing with fashion is something I do in every book that I illustrate. I loved
dressing Mimi. I wanted her and the limited girl to be stylish and fresh! Even
down to the furniture. I wanted to make that interesting as well. Something
that everyone would enjoy looking at over and over again,always finding
something original with each reading of the book.
What
are some things you would like readers to take absent from this story?The
delight and preciousness of the grandparent and grandchild relationship.
Grandparents can be really interesting and fun!That
you don’t need TV or iPads, bells or whistle to have a fun time. Sometimes fun
can be silent and sweet and simply found in ladies handbags.
And lastly, and we have so many names for Grandma! Mimi,Ginny, G Ma, and Gigi,Glam Ma and the list goes on and on and on. I want to hear children talk approximately
what they call their own grandmas! This Q&A appeared in the January 2019 issue of the CBC Diversity Newsletter. To sign up for our monthly Diversity newsletter please click here.
Vanessa Brantley-Newton is a self-taught
illustrator, doll maker, and crafter who studied fashion illustration at FIT
and children’s book illustration at the School of Visual Arts in original York. She
is the author and illustrator of Let Freedom Sing and Don’t
Let Auntie Mabel Bless the Table and has illustrated many children’s
books,including Mary Had a limited Glam by Tammi Sauer, One
Love and Every limited Thing, or words by Bob & Cedella Marley,and Presenting … Tallulah by
Tori Spelling. Vanessa currently makes her nest in Charlotte, North Carolina, and with her husband,daughter, and a very rambunctious (unruly) cat named Stripes. Learn
more approximately Vanessa and her artwork at VanessaBrantleyNewton.com and on
Facebook.
Source: cbcdiversity.com