The Story Behind Planet Ice Cream
I'm Amy South, an artist and curator living in Newcastle. In 2024, I had an idea while eating a Coffee Martini ice cream. That idea became Planet Ice Cream.
The Story Behind Planet Ice Cream
For the Health of Planet Ice Cream
I'm Amy South, an artist and curator living in Newcastle. In 2024, I had an idea while eating a Coffee Martini ice cream. That idea became Planet Ice Cream. But really, Planet Ice Cream had been growing for much longer. Planet Ice Cream was born of necessity, and a desire to create something meaningful and beneficial, for myself and others.
Where did Planet Ice Cream come from?
Anyone who knows me knows I've always been very driven and passionate about art. But when I lost my mum to heroin addiction and mental health in 2015, things got really difficult. I was in my final year of university. I took a gap year and pushed through, but as anyone who has experienced grief, particularly tragic grief like suicide, knows, at some point it's going to hit. And, eventually, it did.
I worked through it as best I could and was getting better, and then in 2021, during the pandemic, I lost my dad to cancer. Through all of this, and even before, art and the creative process have been the things that have helped me survive and keep moving forward.
After my dad's cancer diagnosis in 2020, I started taking my creative practice more seriously as a form of support. I began approaching art, grief and health together with curiosity, asking:
“What might help? What happens if I try this?”
From asking questions like What does life after death look like? to help process my grief, to creating works like My Dad's Apple to support my dad's cancer care, I began to see the creative process as something that could help me navigate difficult experiences and create something positive from them.
I went on to complete an art therapy course, alongside a business course in 2025, to support the future development of Planet Ice Cream.
Slowly, this creative process has helped me move from years of utter suicidal hopelessness towards a place of imagination, possibility and joy.
Planet Ice Cream grew from that process, and I feel that through Planet Ice Cream, this creativity and joy can grow.
My Dad's Apple
During lockdown in 2020, my dad saved an ivy-strangled apple tree from dying. The following spring, it grew one apple, which he gifted to me. Shortly afterwards, he received a terminal cancer diagnosis.
In need of alternative treatment, I made a cast from the apple and produced a series of technicolour apple sculptures, which my dad and I titled ‘My Dad's Apple’.
Through these works, I raised £9,000 towards his cancer care, followed by a retrospective exhibition at Globe Gallery titled ‘The Apple Doesn't Fall Far’, which my dad was able to visit shortly before he died.
A dream come true for both of us.
For me, the Apple became a palpable symbol of hope, determination and regeneration in challenging and uncertain times.
I've now created a new series of ‘My Dad's Apple’ sculptures, available as rewards through this fundraiser. This new series is earthy, and some of them sparkle.
Some of the Apples available, various materials - Jesmonite, Resin, Pigment, Apple Tree.
What Does Life After Death Look Like?
In 2023, I asked the question: “What Does Life After Death Look Like?”
I curated the responses from 50 artists into an exhibition exploring grief, life and death.
Through art workshops, participatory performances and a touching, sometimes subtly disrupting and mind-bending host of artistic forms and perspectives, the exhibition became a space for conversations that we don't always get to have.
For me, it became an important milestone. It evolved the way I process grief and offered me the real possibility of building something positive.
It was another step towards Planet Ice Cream.
Where is Planet Ice Cream going?
I'd describe Planet Ice Cream as an art and research project exploring creativity, health and self-empowerment through art and collaboration.
It takes many different forms, including video, podcasts, exhibitions and workshops. More than anything, I see it as an environment that allows me to function and thrive, and encourages others to do the same.
In real terms, this has included:
Collaborating with artists, writers and musicians to create and share work
Developing Planet Ice Cream mini-courses and events with specialists across creative, therapeutic and spiritual fields
An experimental video podcast (@planet_icecream_podcast on Instagram)
The future vision includes:
An experimental podcast exploring creativity, health and self-empowerment
Collaborative creative processes and mini-courses
An online shop for artworks
Exhibitions and workshops
Potentially, in the future... an alternative art school!
I know that sounds like a lot! But it just really feels like the right thing to be doing.
I see Planet Ice Cream as the vehicle, the space, the opportunity - something that supports me in rebuilding my physical and mental health, gives me and my creativity purpose, and offers me the chance to build long-term financial independence.
So that one day, I won't need to rely on fundraising for my healthcare.
Why am I fundraising now?
Alongside all the fun and possibility of creative work, I've also been dealing with ongoing health challenges, including hormonal issues, skin conditions and the effects of long-term stress.
My health currently limits my ability to work consistently and sustainably. But I am already creating, making art and building Planet Ice Cream.
What I am trying to do now is find ways to support my health alongside my creative practice, so that I can continue building something meaningful without constantly pushing myself into exhaustion.
I am currently raising £3,000 to access functional nutrition support, including recommended testing and supplements.
I am hopeful that this support will help me better understand what my body needs, improve my health and gain lifelong health care skills that I can continue to use in the future. This is one small, practical step towards creating a healthier and more sustainable life.
The relationship between physical health, mental health and creativity is something I have become increasingly interested in through my own experiences, and it is at the heart of what Planet Ice Cream is exploring.
I like this quote from Gabor Maté:
“Everyone has an urge to create. Its expression may flow through many channels… The point is to honour the urge. To do so is healing for ourselves and for others; not to do so deadens our bodies and our spirits.”
- Gabor Maté, ‘When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress’
If you'd like to support me, you can visit the fundraiser here
The Exchange - Rewards Available
As part of the fundraiser, supporters have access to a selection of prints and original artworks by both me and my dad.
I believe each artwork contains its own unique gift for the person who receives it.
In my work, you'll find themes of hope, recovery, life and death. In my dad's work, abstraction and colour prevail.
For my dad, painting was a form of meditation, although he never used those words. He'd sit for hours, often through the night, looking at his painting in progress. He'd say that if I squint my eyes, I might start to see what he was seeing.
His works are still revealing themselves.
View the artwork rewards and select your reward here
Estimated delivery: December 2026.
I am currently creating the remaining My Dad's Apple sculptures, so some rewards will become available over the coming months. I may also add new artworks to the collection as the fundraiser progresses.
Fresco Tablets, Original artworks by my Dad, Tony Whitfield, 2008.
The Museum of Universes
As a thank you to all donors, an exclusive early viewing of ‘The Museum of Universes’ will be shared after the fundraiser ends.
Written by Patrick Snape, narrated by Matt Cummins, produced by Gavin Richards of Oakriver Studios and featuring an original soundtrack by Patrick Snape, ‘The Museum of Universes’ is a story born through grief and imagination - a place said to contain a wealth of universes.
A little more about Planet Ice Cream
Planet Ice Cream has already begun to support other people's creative lives, too.
“Amy’s Planet Ice Cream has offered me an opportunity to reignite my music career. Working on The Museum of Universes has allowed me to rediscover imagination and find relief from the stress and sadness of losing my friend through dementia.
Amy’s ability to listen and provide thoughtful encouragement has been a major part of that process. After grief and burnout, Planet Ice Cream is helping me find healing and a new creative direction. I wholeheartedly believe in Planet Ice Cream.”
- Patrick Snape
Matt Cummins has also described how Planet Ice Cream and the DIY/MFA gave him the space and encouragement to bring a creative idea into the world:
“Dusk shifts quickly into dark, and the Path comes to life into my body, like the music of the birdsong and the shifting tensions in my muscles as I walk. This is the purpose of this work: to allow changing light and sounds become embodied, to provide a space, a walking observation.
For ages this had just been an idea, a dream. Planet Ice Cream, via the DIY/MFA, provided another dreamer, allowing it to become embodied. This work is a Path that simply is, and the ground on which it sits is the Universe that is Planet Ice Cream, and the experiences - the ‘doings’ - demanded by the DIY/MFA.”
- Matt Cummins
I think this is a really lovely example of what I hope Planet Ice Cream can be: a space where creativity is something we can use to explore our physical, mental and creative health, and to bring ideas into the world.
The creative process has helped me, and I hope it can help others too. Planet Ice Cream was born of necessity, and of curiosity and creativity. With support, I believe it can continue growing into something meaningful - not only for myself, but for others too.
Thank you for taking the time to read about it.
Whether you support the fundraiser, share it with a friend, explore the artwork, or simply take an interest in Planet Ice Cream, thank you.
With love,
Amy South