"The Calm Blue Whispers" by Valerie G

 

Valerie Gutierrez (b. 2006)

The Calm Blue Whispers, 2024

Cardboard Diorama

 

 

My artwork was inspired by one of my favorite books, Under The Whispering Door, written by TJ Klune. The entire storyline revolves around the subjects of life and death, including the different feelings that come with it. The message of the book had a great impact on me, which is why I picked it. The message was that life is messy and you can’t control everything, all you can do is accept it and hold on to what you can control while you can. My artwork depicts the door in the tea shop, where the book mostly takes place, which leads to the afterlife.

I painted the door with soft blue colors to symbolize the peace and acceptance after crossing the door. In the book the door is supposed to feel magnetic as it calls to spirits to move on to the afterlife and finally become at peace, so I thought that blue is the best color to represent this.

I used paint and an old gift bag since I couldn’t find any cardboard, then I used pastel colors to add shadows and nice blends of the blues.