Ferris Wheels and Goldfish

When Sabine announced the Carnival theme,  I immediately thought of the local town fairs that pop up across the country in warm weather.  I turned to my journal and filled a page with different images and ideas: cotton candy, laughter, tickets for rides, roller coasters, sticky fingers.   It was clear that my biggest challenge was going to be settling on one idea.  At one point I did consider doing some sort of image collage to help represent the colorful and chaotic nature of these town fairs, but that didn't seem the right path for this piece. In the end, I pared down my ideas to create this: Ferris Wheels and Goldfish.

Ferris Wheels and Goldfish 

I think I got my first ferris wheel ride at a hometown carnival.  I do know that I got two of my pet goldfish by winning a carnival game.  A platform was covered with little water-filled fish bowls, but a few also had goldfish in them as well.  If you were lucky enough to throw your ping pong ball into a bowl with a fish, you got to take the little fish home.  And I did -- twice. 

I enjoyed thinking about the carnival theme and I hope to investigate it further on my own.