I don't know where I was going with this one. I think the influence comes from the current state of our world: War, death and sadness in so many places. That is what we see on TV, what we read on-line, and what we hear on the radio.
It's not just ISIS and the whole middle-eastern 'thing', but what about the 40+ students kidnapped and murdered in Mexico, the Ebola epidemic in East Africa, global warming and our politicians in Congress in full denial mode. . . .
I guess the day I worked on this piece, I was just feeling all of it coming down at once.
All that aside, the finished piece is actually fun and whimsical. You can pick it up, take it out of it's cradle and play with it. The sound of the BB's rolling around is quite soothing.
They are beautiful to look at, aren't they?
Two identical wooden frames covered in vintage dictionary pages. The front frame contains a glass cover, the back frame is secured with a thin piece of wood.
The toy soldiers, an estate sale find, I was told are from the Vietnam era.
The red beads are actual plastic AMMO! (I found whole jar at a recent garage sale)
They are beautiful, aren't they?