Artist were invited by the Harrison Center to " to dig into the rich world of myths, fairy tales, and fables through vibrant art, light, and imagination! We're looking for stories from various cultures and the exciting tales that each of them brings. If chosen, your creation will become part of a magical, story-filled stroll through our community!"
With my love of all thing’s ocean, seas and water, my winter window display would be woven together with Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid (with its themes of longing, sacrifice, and transformation) and Aristotle’s early natural history observations about dolphins once having “hands” before returning fully to the sea.
Chat GPT said that I was dealing with two resonant symbolic threads:
- The Little Mermaid’s sacrifice and transformation — she gives up her voice and identity in exchange for something she yearns for, only to discover the cost of transformation.
- The dolphin’s return to the sea — Aristotle’s account frames dolphins as beings that once had hands but surrendered them to adapt back to the ocean, suggesting a conscious loss for survival or belonging.
Pretty heavy concepts for a “Family Friendly event, my sister, Becky, an elementary school teacher, recommended that I make it work for the children that will be walking by looking at the windows. So during her Fall Break, she helped me to make it fun, joyful and celebrate change, mystery and wonder beneath the waves.
This is the story she put together with her knowledge of 1st through through 5th graders and Chat GPT.
“THE DOLPHIN’S SECRET”
Long ago, there lived a wise man named Aristotle who loved to study animals. He spent hours watching creatures of the sea — fish that shimmered, turtles that glided, and dolphins that leapt like silver arrows through the waves.
Aristotle noticed something special about dolphins. They weren’t like fish at all — they had to come up to breathe air, they cared for their young, and they seemed to think. He saw how they used their fins to twist, turn, and even play games.
“This is strange,” Aristotle thought. “They almost act like people!”
He began to imagine that maybe, long ago, dolphins had hands — real hands — and that they used them to help, play, and explore. But as time passed and they lived more in the sea, their hands changed into fins so they could swim faster.
Even though scientists today know dolphins never truly had human hands, Aristotle’s idea showed how curious he was. He believed that every creature had a story — a story of change, mystery, and wonder beneath the waves.
Meanwhile, I sketched ideas of a mermaid with leg and foot bones visible through her transparent fishtail and a dolphin with a thumb and bones resembling a hand through his transparent flipper.
Allowing the light to pass through the images, I painted them on plastic sheeting with ink and acrylic paint. I set up blue light behind the images adding to the water effects. They were hanging ornaments in my sketch, on a sea-themed tree. My sister, Catharine, gave me a beautiful tree for my birthday/Christmas and it would be on view for everyone to see this Christmas. I am happy with the results, especially since I was able to use shells in my collection and my sisters had a part in helping me to make this year’s Winter Window display.