Guess who watched a bit too much Idol Gives Back last week? And yes, we donated, so I could watch guilt free--at least in that respect.
This page started out as something completely different. However, it took me several days to complete as I kept getting distracted by my paper mache tea set project. By the time I got back to it, things morphed.
Last week I took Ebby to Panera Bread for lunch. We took our dessert to go and I decided I wanted to use the bag in my art journal. I had thoughts of using the logo but just couldn't work it out. So I moved on. I went through my old scrapbooking templates, looking for something to use as a pattern to jump start a collage. For whatever reason, I decided on the ice cream cone. I cut the scoop of ice cream out of scrapbook paper. Then I cut the cone out of the Panera paper bag. I painted the background and left it to dry. For 5 days. Finally yesterday I told myself I had to finish. I wanted the scoop of ice cream to stand out from the background so I went looking for a page from one of the (only) two thrift store books I currently have in the studio. And the map of Africa is the page I randomly picked out. When I saw the map I thought of the stories from Idol Gives Back--the malaria nets, the 15 year old boy whose parents and grandparents had all died and he was left to care for his 3 younger brothers, the living conditions. So when I put the ice cream cone on top of the map of Africa, it made me think of how much we take for granted (in America, at least at my house). If we want an ice cream cone we can just hop in the car, drive 2 miles to Bruster's and partake. I'm thinking that in too many parts of Africa that's just not the case--thus the dripping/melting ice cream tears.
I didn't and don't mean for my art journal page to be making a political statement, it's just me--seeing the world and interpreting it.
{materials: acrylic paint, scrapbook paper, Panera Bread paper bag, page from an old almanac, Hero Arts alphabet stamps, charcoal pencil}
