The Blizzard

Artist StatementArtist

Artist Statement

The Blizzard is about a young woman named Ashley who works at a Daycare center in the mountains of Colorado. A blizzard appears one morning and Ashley is forced to make decisions that will ultimately effect the lives of all involved. I came up with the character of Ashley and this story based on The Shining. I wanted to incorporate some Shining inspiration, but more light hearted and heart-wrenching rather than scary. I wanted to have side characters who were not much in the light of the story but had needs none-the-less. In the story, Ashley wants to provide well for herself and the children involved, and she does this by occasionally putting the kids before herself. Ashley ultimately need to stay alive. The difference is what it takes for her to reach her wants and needs. Accomplishing her “wants” of keeping everyone calm and at peace is much harder in this given situation rather than just staying alive. It it clear in this story how decisions points address Ashley’s wants and needs because the decisions are usually based on the well being of the children. Towards the end, the decisions become more about surviving rather than little trivial decisions, this demonstrates how her needs become more and more clear. I came up with these story beats that made these decisions make sense because I wanted the reader to feel guilt and responsibility for Ashley (themselves) and the children at the daycare center. The most difficult part of coming up with the story was having to come up with alternate endings. I had one ending stuck in my head and I struggled figuring out other ways to end the story, and for those to make sense. I aligned the reader’s interests with the character’s motivations by basic morality and humanity. Ashley’s goal is to stay alive and keep young children alive and well. Most people, unless they are sociopaths, would be interested in keeping themselves and young children alive!