After it was decided that the theme would be all about animals, Charlotte focused on the colours of her sunset. She demonstrated a great understanding of warm colours, and was delighted with the way her shadowbox exterior colours turned out, especially the orange side. She also loved the way the grains of the wood showed through the red paint. Charlotte’s land operated under principles of her colourful imagination. “Only animals can live on it,” she explained, “And only 2 people can go there, the person who created it, and the person who helped.” “The angel makes magic stuff, stuff that’s not supposed to be there, like Piki (the Pikachu character), and the silly eyes in the water, and the feather on the snake. The hippo is flying because of the magic too.” Each of her animals have their own story and name, like Parrotie the red parrot, who got a sunburn because he was sun tanning. The vines are also a big part of her magical island, as they seem to come right down from the sky. “The bird puts vines in her mouth and throws then down into the sunset.” “The giraffe is climbing up the vine. If you want his ears not to be purple say “open your mouth and open Spokie” But he doesn’t want you to, and he will charge you if you do it.”
Lainey was very enthusiastic about the idea of making a shadowbox. The project for her began as an expression of her love for animals. She spent a long time on her exterior, carefully working on her hearts with the animals inside. The first things she drew inside was big rolling hills, a big old tree, and a monkey swinging from a vine. Lainey started to immerse herself in her world right away. “Maybe in some places the sky is paper, so they can control whatever colour they want it to be. I want to live there.” A soon as her background was complete, Lainey’s imagination took off. With access to several mediums for creating her animals, she used the whole variety. A clay leopard sits up high in the tree, “The leopard is holding a rose for his girlfriend!” And a parrot made from a mussel shell, flies high in the sky. “The parrot’s name is Bob, or Babe for a nickname, or you can call him Doo-doo. He eats anything pink. Like pink pom-poms!” And beneath the tree, “The lion and tiger are in love. The tiger’s name is Hamster, and the lion’s name is Dodo.” Lainey describes her exotic land with great detail. “Mountains cover the lake. The lake is on the other side of the mountains. If animals want to get there, all they have to do is sing. If they don’t sing, the mountains will blow them back. The first one there gets the longest drink, and the crocodile who lives there can’t eat it. If it’s a tie, they have to see who can drink the most water. If the crocodile leaves the lake, the wind will blow him so far away.” Of course, in the lands that Lainey creates, there are severe consequences for seemingly strange occurrences. “When something bites your bum from my land, you die!”