Annabelle and the Autumn Ducks Ponder by the Pond
Here is another Autumn Illustration I finished recently. I recently added my current Autumn Illustrations to my etsy shop.
Annabelle lives a very chaotic life. She is the oldest of thirteen children, and because her status as eldest child, grown up responsibilities are too often thrust upon her. She is almost an adult, and when she turns eighteen she plans to run away from home. She is either going to join a traveling circus as an acrobat or run away to Paris to become an artist. Until her eighteenth birthday, she can only find peace in one spot, the duck pond. The pond is the most peaceful and lovely place in the world in Annabelle's eyes. She loves to be near the strange ducks that live by the pond. The ducks are large and friendly. Sometimes they quack, but their quacks sound like music, like the pitter-patter of a drum, or the clatter of wooden wind chimes. Annabelle thinks the ducks are probably the most magical creatures in the world.
But, as Annabelle soon discovered, there is something magical about the pond besides the ducks. The pond is a portal that shows Annabelle views of different parts of the world. If she wonders what a girl her age might be doing in China at this very moment, she looks into the pond and thinks about China. Soon she will see a Chinese girl walking to school, a stack of books tucked under her arm. Annabelle has also seen an old man in Russia walking with his grown sons and their two dogs through the snow. Even though the men's noses were rosy with cold, Annabelle could see that they laughed and smiled as they walked. Annabelle has seen a girl in Canada at her first musical recital. She has seen old women in Peru telling happy stories to each other. She has seen tourists in Germany dancing at a festival. Sometimes Annabelle wonders about the implications of her voyeurism, but she believes in the kindness of the pond. The pond will not show her parts of strangers lives that will violate their privacy. Instead the pond shows her happy moments at fairs, people at fruit markets, people laughing as they wonder through the streets. All things that Annabelle hopes to see and experience herself one day in person.
Annabelle lives a very chaotic life. She is the oldest of thirteen children, and because her status as eldest child, grown up responsibilities are too often thrust upon her. She is almost an adult, and when she turns eighteen she plans to run away from home. She is either going to join a traveling circus as an acrobat or run away to Paris to become an artist. Until her eighteenth birthday, she can only find peace in one spot, the duck pond. The pond is the most peaceful and lovely place in the world in Annabelle's eyes. She loves to be near the strange ducks that live by the pond. The ducks are large and friendly. Sometimes they quack, but their quacks sound like music, like the pitter-patter of a drum, or the clatter of wooden wind chimes. Annabelle thinks the ducks are probably the most magical creatures in the world.
But, as Annabelle soon discovered, there is something magical about the pond besides the ducks. The pond is a portal that shows Annabelle views of different parts of the world. If she wonders what a girl her age might be doing in China at this very moment, she looks into the pond and thinks about China. Soon she will see a Chinese girl walking to school, a stack of books tucked under her arm. Annabelle has also seen an old man in Russia walking with his grown sons and their two dogs through the snow. Even though the men's noses were rosy with cold, Annabelle could see that they laughed and smiled as they walked. Annabelle has seen a girl in Canada at her first musical recital. She has seen old women in Peru telling happy stories to each other. She has seen tourists in Germany dancing at a festival. Sometimes Annabelle wonders about the implications of her voyeurism, but she believes in the kindness of the pond. The pond will not show her parts of strangers lives that will violate their privacy. Instead the pond shows her happy moments at fairs, people at fruit markets, people laughing as they wonder through the streets. All things that Annabelle hopes to see and experience herself one day in person.