Reflection

My mother has a habit of leaving an empty milk carton sitting under the faucet in all the sinks in our house. Every drip, every splash will land into the carton that is positioned quite perfectly in our sink. When the carton is full, she’ll twist the cap on with all her strength, making sure that not a single drop of water from the carton will overflow. One day as I was watering plants with her, she told me, “We’re lucky that we have such privilege to have clean water for not only us, but also the plants and flowers we grow. If we waste a drop of water, it’s a casual drop to us because we can afford millions of water droplets. To others, it’s a priceless drop that we’ve wasted.” If she had said that to me when I was younger, I would have rolled my eyes and grumbled something back sarcastically. However, as I watched her carefully water every flower, every plant with such meticulous care, I realized how privileged we are, inspiring me to create this piece. As I delved deeper into each prompt, resurfacing news articles and stories of those who are unfortunately less privileged than me, I wanted to paint their fears, their sadness, their frustration一 their stories. Taking my mother’s words and flowers as inspiration, I painted a girl using her teardrop to water her plant. Every detail in this painting refers back to poverty and their lack of basic rights, from the rusty tin can and the dirty clothes to the dry, cracked land. This piece evoked an emotion of guilt for not being as thoughtful and careful before, frustration at how unfair the world is, but most of all, sadness for those who are in the same position as the girl I’ve painted. I want the people who view this piece to know the significance of such scarcity. We waste so much water every day, and many of us are so unaware of how many people would kill for the drops of water we’ve wasted. This girl has no other source of water to care for this plant, resorting to using her own tears. “The Last Blossom” refers to how water is a basic need for every living thing, but they’ll have their final blossom from this scarcity. Through this process of painting this piece, I’ve learnt so much about the effects of selfishness, causing global warming and affecting those who are less privileged. I’ve learnt about how precarious this situation is for Earth and for everyone. I’ve learnt that every drop of water means something, especially to those who don’t have a single drop when they most need it.