For the Wildlife: Washing Our Faces in Oil

I work in a series of paintings, so many ideas spring to mind that I don’t want to put them all in one piece. It is just as easy, and provides more creative outlets for me to do several pieces as a series, rather than just one. I utilize recovered/recycled papers, often using salvaged pages from National Geographic magazine, treating it with a solvent that dissolves the ink, leaving some text exposed, mingled among ink colors dispersed in random patterns. Each 3x3 canvas is sealed with my unique faux encaustic media.

This Quadtych represents the creatures and birds of the sea hoping for rescue and salvation from the Gulf Coast oil disaster. Clockwise L-R are (1) a seabird circling the sun, escaping the oil, yearning for salvation;(2) is underwater view of a sea turtle with the sun shining above, with the turtle’s outline digitally “solarized” to create a glow;(3) is a crested seabird soaring above the water, its wingtips nearly touching those of its brothers and sisters; (4) is a zoom-out of many seabirds randomly flying around circular shapes, now representing the dangers of multiple oil wells threatening the ocean and its inhabitants.

In the process of finishing this piece, I was using the National Geographic pages in another series that I am simultaneously working on (I have to find something to do while waiting for paint to dry). I randomly chose one page out of hundreds that I have on hand, because it had a pattern I thought would work, but I didn’t need the other half of that page. The design didn’t look like anything I would use so when I turned it over to check the pattern on the reverse side, the following text stood out:

“There is only one joy for us,
And this is all we need,
To wash our faces in the new oil,
Of the drilling rig.”

This, I discovered, was a page from an article pertaining to Russian oil drilling, however, I knew the text could not have appeared in my hand by accident, and the words were meant to be part of this piece. So, maybe I should call this a “Five Tych” since the words of the fifth element are a necessary part of the whole. The title of the piece, had to be: “Washing our faces in the New Oil”

Each original piece of art will be sold on a Special Wednesday night event on July 21, from 5-7:30 p.m. All proceeds will benefit the National Wildlife Federation. Location: Project Space, 150 Liberty Street, Salem, Oregon. For information, visit www.saaprojectspace.org.