Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The Spirit of the Gulf

I read this post on Dan's blog about The Spirit of the Gulf challenge begun by Suzanne McDermott. Suzanne challenged "every artist who receives this invitation to make one drawing, painting, collage — or to use whatever medium you work in — to create a piece of beauty with love and gratitude to honor some scene or living being in the Gulf. This is a consciousness raising opportunity."  Dan is passing this challenge along to " All of you. You don't need to be connected to the Gulf in any way to feel the impact of this man-made disaster, or to love nature and feel the pain of this violation. I am cordially inviting every reader of this blog to participate, if you care to." And he is right. I have never been to New Orleans or the Gulf coast of Louisiana yet I still feel the pain of this disaster. As I sit here in our beautiful southern mountains my heart is breaking for the unspeakable tragedy that has struck the people, wildlife, waters and landscape of the Gulf region.

The Spirit of the Gulf challenge is to depict some living aspect of the Gulf of Mexico before the oil disaster. I went to Google street view and found this scene of marshland in Venice LA, an area shown on the news' reports as being affected by the oil spill. Even though I have never been to this area, the beauty of the marshy waterway is familiar to me in its similarity to my much loved South Carolina coastal marsh scenes. And of course, as Suzanne pointed out, it is all one sea. This disaster in the Gulf is not just one company's problem, or one state's problem, but a larger problem that belongs to everyone. It is our problem. The real challenge now is to be a part of the solution. And it isn't just about reducing or finding alternatives to the gas we put into our cars or the fuel to heat our homes, although these are very important issues. It is also the seemingly little things that can add up to a bigger problem.

In addition to the watercolor sketch above I am also working on a painting in oil of this very same scene. As soon as it is dry enough I will post it here as a part of my 100 painting challenge. I plan to offer it for sale as well, perhaps on Ebay this time, with the proceeds going to the National Wildlife Federation.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

This is wonderful, Ann - I'm so glad to see that you participated, too. I was thinking of listing the painting I did on Ebay and having the proceeds go to the NWF, as well...great minds think alike, I suppose!

Cathy Holtom said...

You've chosen a lovely view, I'm looking forward to this in oils, good idea to sell it for charity.

Autumn Leaves said...

A most gorgeous painting, Ann. You've inspired me (so did Dan, but you even moreso). I so love your watercolors. The colors are just always so magical to me.

E J Mordasky said...

I do hope this all goes well--your work is very inspiring and the artists will pull through in ths tribute if they can--being in transisition has been difficult for me to do a lot of things but I hope to contribute---many best wishes for you...

Anonymous said...

Beautiful painting, the colors are gorgeous!! Such a worthy cause.

Alex said...

It's very beautiful Ann =) I am still on the challenge, a little slow as I am working on other things at the same time. Hopefully I'll be able to post by tomorrow

Unknown said...

Beautiful! I'm participating too...as soon as I "get to it".

Dan Kent said...

I am so glad you did this - it is very beautiful and takes me away..

Unknown said...

It's a very beautiful response to the challenge.

Ann said...

Thanks all! I do now have the painting in oil finished - just need to let it dry :-)

K said...

A very poignant post, Ann. You did justice to this frightening time the Gulf is going through. It is such a trickle-down effect, isn't it, and does involve us all. Thanks for sharing.

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