It's not easy being Green

It's not easy being Green.

Or Loggerhead,  Hawksbill,  or Leatherback.

All types of sea turtles found in or near our Gulf Coast.

Not easy because of so many things going wrong in our world today. 

We are slowly killing our planet with our over abundant, disposable, single use society.

Primarily of concern to me is plastics and the continued damage we are doing by using them on a daily basis. Don't get me wrong, I use them too.

I just try to think ahead about what their next use is going to be.

I do a lot of recycled art with children during summer art camps. I believe in showing them how to look at garbage in a different way, either artistically or by recycling. I am in some small way contributing to the reduction of my and others footprints 

we leave on this big blue marble we call home.  

One good example, we as humans use 500 million straws every day!

Not all of them make it to the landfill either, some of them wind up in our waterways, thereby making it eventually to our oceans. Once in the ocean, they break down into smaller and smaller particles, until they become food for microorganisms. Trouble is, even at that small of a scale it is a problem because it is entering our food chain. The fish eat plankton which consumes plastic eventually making it up to us at the top.

Every species of Sea Turtle has been found to have plastic in it's digestive system.

8 million tons of plastic go into our oceans every year.

This is like a garbage truck of plastic being dumped into the water every minute.

Plastics are set to increase tenfold by 2020. 

By the year 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish!

What's a human to do?

Reduce, Recycle, Reuse, and Reimagine.

Reduce the amount you use~reusable grocery bags are easy!

Recycle~ Sometimes it is a pain to do, but once you get the mindset....

Reuse~I am consistently looking at something wondering how to reuse it!

Reimagine~ Children are really good at this, making sculptures out of trash...

I am continually blown away by children's imaginations, and I adore bringing their creations to life!

Refuse that plastic, styrofoam take out container, that straw....

Small steps.......

Today found Chris and I problem solving. Remember the panels we made this past summer?

We am very concerned about the amount of room they take up in the back of the truck. Show equipment takes up the entire bed of the truck when we travel. We put the artwork in the second seat, floorboard to almost ceiling. Some artwork will be riding in the Gypsy wagon, until we set up then it will go in the truck.  Anyway the panels lovely as they are, take up a lot of room. 

So, I've been thinking of a solution.

I still have my Flourish mesh sides and wanted to put a cover on them to give them the lovely gray color of the panels. I purchased cotton twin flat sheets, washing them before trying to sew them for my purpose. They turned into a wrinkled mess. I don't have time to iron them before every show, so they were probably going to have to be put aside. Anyway I purchased velcro to attach the sheets to the panels to the tune of $40....Sigh... Art shows are not cheap to be in by any means!

While riding home, I mentioned to my better half how much I missed Daphne Salvage because they would have had a polyester fabric that would wrinkle a lot less. He casually said what about that Pound fabrics. Off we went, to hwy 59 to find Fabrics by the pound. Fortunately, I talked with a guy that came out of the back and mentioned what I was looking for in a fabric that would stretch slightly. He said just a minute and went into the back. He brought out two samples, one more gray, the other blue. He said I think it is 60 inches and we sell it by the roll. When he brought it out, I was already in love with the color.

 I measured with my hands and it was not 60 inches but 72! 

SIX beautiful feet wide! (The mesh is 5 1/2 feet.)

I was concerned that the roll might not contain enough yardage though, so we measured it. I needed about 27 yards. The bolt contained 36!

I happily paid and fairly skipped out the door.

I grabbed my smallest panel and laid it on the floor in our living room. I cut, pinned and sewed until I had a large pocket that had openings for all the straps and velcro. It fit and I was pleased with the results. I requested Chris's help and we laid out and cut the 10 foot panels making pockets the same way. I have all 4 of my panels covered, the color is perfect, 

and I am happy. I may set up the frame this weekend and check it out. 

I know this will certainly be easier than the panels, we'll have more room in the truck, so now we can bring two tents as we planned. (there may be other "stuff" as well!)

A busy productive day indeed!

It's not easy being Green, Acrylic on Shadowbox canvas, 12 x 24

Day 13 of the 100 days~100 paintings Spring 2019