Rigged

Here's some images of the last piece I worked on called "Rigged". It took me a couple days to finish, but I had a clear idea of where & what I wanted to put down, including the materials: oil pastel, spray paint, & mat board. Take from it what you will-there is definitly more than one way to interpret this image. For me, it's representing my reaction to the oil spill in the Gulf. I knew when it started, what progress was being made, how much was spilling-lots of details but I hadn't seen any images of what was going on. About a week ago I went through an entire slide show on MSNBC (click here to see the slideshow for all 3 months) & was shocked, disgusted, & deeply saddened by the environmental impact this man made catastrophe has caused. Generations upon generations will be effected by this spill-complete devastation on so many levels. I felt foolish when I realized how unengaged & obvlivious I'd been to what was truly going on in the Gulf. Besides the obvious, filling our vehicles w/ gas, almost every product we come in contact with during the day has been made from a form of petroleum. It's shocking when you realize how dependent America is on fossil fuels. (Click here for a list of common articles made from petroleum-& this is just the start!) So is America the fool in this image??

It's easy to say things like-well I'm going to make a change for the better & start being more conscious about what I buy! But it's very very hard to put it into practice. I know I've become more aware of the issue of our dependency on fossil fuels, but I haven't really made any changes to my life style. I've tried to stop driving everywhere & start walking/riding my bike when possible, but I know I could do more. One easy thing that I've done & that we can all do is donate to the cause. Every little bit helps & hopefully my dollars can go towards efforts to restore people's lives in the Gluf & get this well capped off. Click here to visit the Greater New Orleans Foundation to donate to the cause. 100% of their donations go directly to the organizations working tirelessly in the effected areas.