Networking, as we all know, is pretty important these days. I was happy to be able to meet with the organizers of several events that happen locally, Earth Day and Pagan Pride being two of them. They gave me some fantastic ideas on how to promote the Hazel Park Art Fair that I organize and produce, and a few new ways to get the word out about it. We met at a local coffee shop and discussed how we could help eachother have our events grow and support our community. I feel pretty good right now!
Here's the link to the events that are going to help me with mine, they're worth checking out, since they support our First Amendment rights~
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Saturday, January 16, 2016
Flint Water Run
The tragedy unfolding in Flint, MI is man made. Babies, children, and adults have been poisoned with lead in their drinking water. 100,000 residents of Flint do not have a water source. The President called in the National Guard, but with only 30 guardsmen delivering to only 500 homes per day, it would take 200 days to reach every person. That's unacceptable.
So, I did what I could do: I posted on Facebook asking for help. Three people responded, very generously, with donations of water and money. One of the donors was the Congregation of Every 1 with 14 cases of water plus 14 two gallon jugs of water. I took the donated cash and bought enough water to donate a total of almost 200 gallons of water today. A good friend, B.p. LeGault, and I drove their donations to Flint today. Here are the pictures of that trip to the North End Soup Kitchen, a water distribution center for Flint residents to come and take bottled water however they can. Some walk, some ride the bus, some get rides, and the fortunate ones with cars drive.
I hope I can make another water run very soon, they will need more than they have now, it's an ongoing need and the government is failing them. It's up to us to help now.
So, I did what I could do: I posted on Facebook asking for help. Three people responded, very generously, with donations of water and money. One of the donors was the Congregation of Every 1 with 14 cases of water plus 14 two gallon jugs of water. I took the donated cash and bought enough water to donate a total of almost 200 gallons of water today. A good friend, B.p. LeGault, and I drove their donations to Flint today. Here are the pictures of that trip to the North End Soup Kitchen, a water distribution center for Flint residents to come and take bottled water however they can. Some walk, some ride the bus, some get rides, and the fortunate ones with cars drive.
I hope I can make another water run very soon, they will need more than they have now, it's an ongoing need and the government is failing them. It's up to us to help now.
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Lead and other toxic hazards
With the water crisis in Flint, MI, unfolding due to the lead contamination, I find myself hoping that the residents of that city are as aware of the dangers of getting lead on their skin from contact with their contaminated water as I am being a full time professional artist; I come into contact with a lot of potentially dangerous chemicals, like lead, and VOCs (volatile organic compounds, or poisonous fumes in the air) when I work, so I know how much of a health risk having lead on our skin is.
Since I use some very toxic chemicals for my everyday work, I have to constantly remind myself how important it is for me to practice good safety measures, like keeping paint off my skin, especially when it contains lead. I know many of you are thinking, "but they took lead out of paint years ago!". Yes, and no. Lead was removed from latex paint sold for residential applications, like painting your living room walls, but it can still be found in a lot of art supplies, like ceramic glazes, and even some types of artist's paints. I have been gifted old cans of paint with lead in them still, which I love using on murals since the paint is so incredibly wonderful in the way it goes on with a lot less work, and I purchased a tube of Lead White oil paint not that long ago for it's opaque (can't see through it) qualities. Even when there is no lead in paints, like titanium white, there are still a lot of other chemicals in those paints that are poisonous if ingested, and we do absorb things through our skin, which is the largest organ "on" our body. Many pigments, like cadmium, are poisonous, just like lead is poisonous.
Then there are the "liquid" carriers of the solid pigments (pigments are what give paint its color), so the paint flows. In most tubes of oil paint the carrier is linseed oil, which isn't toxic, unlike oil paint's well known companion, turpentine. While I tend to shy away from using turpentine as a thinner or cleaner, I still find it essential when I want to make a glaze for my oil paintings (so I get that wonderful depth of color that only oil paint can give). The lettering enamel many pinstripers (myself included) prefer to use is thinned with some pretty toxic chemicals like benzene and xylene, well known dangers to our health! Painting indoors isn't a great way to have adequate ventilation for those smelly thinners that are poisonous when inhaled, so I have to make sure to put a fan in the window, or open the door even in winter to get fresh air to avoid nerve damage from the thinners like turpentine, or the ones I use when I pinstripe. I've even been known to wear a certified respirator (as dust masks don't filter out the thinners with their tiny molecules that are VOC's, dust masks only filter out the big pieces of dust, the VOCs still get through and cause serious long term damage, which is why a lot of older painters shake, or die from lung cancer).
Again, it's important to keep it out of my lungs off my hands, because our skin readily absorbs these things. If I know clean up is going to be messy (and a lot of times it is), I wear special gloves as a barrier between the poison and my skin.
Remember, safety precautions are pretty easy to implement, and they really pay off in the long run! Our health is priceless, make sure you take care of yours.
Be warm and well.
Since I use some very toxic chemicals for my everyday work, I have to constantly remind myself how important it is for me to practice good safety measures, like keeping paint off my skin, especially when it contains lead. I know many of you are thinking, "but they took lead out of paint years ago!". Yes, and no. Lead was removed from latex paint sold for residential applications, like painting your living room walls, but it can still be found in a lot of art supplies, like ceramic glazes, and even some types of artist's paints. I have been gifted old cans of paint with lead in them still, which I love using on murals since the paint is so incredibly wonderful in the way it goes on with a lot less work, and I purchased a tube of Lead White oil paint not that long ago for it's opaque (can't see through it) qualities. Even when there is no lead in paints, like titanium white, there are still a lot of other chemicals in those paints that are poisonous if ingested, and we do absorb things through our skin, which is the largest organ "on" our body. Many pigments, like cadmium, are poisonous, just like lead is poisonous.
Then there are the "liquid" carriers of the solid pigments (pigments are what give paint its color), so the paint flows. In most tubes of oil paint the carrier is linseed oil, which isn't toxic, unlike oil paint's well known companion, turpentine. While I tend to shy away from using turpentine as a thinner or cleaner, I still find it essential when I want to make a glaze for my oil paintings (so I get that wonderful depth of color that only oil paint can give). The lettering enamel many pinstripers (myself included) prefer to use is thinned with some pretty toxic chemicals like benzene and xylene, well known dangers to our health! Painting indoors isn't a great way to have adequate ventilation for those smelly thinners that are poisonous when inhaled, so I have to make sure to put a fan in the window, or open the door even in winter to get fresh air to avoid nerve damage from the thinners like turpentine, or the ones I use when I pinstripe. I've even been known to wear a certified respirator (as dust masks don't filter out the thinners with their tiny molecules that are VOC's, dust masks only filter out the big pieces of dust, the VOCs still get through and cause serious long term damage, which is why a lot of older painters shake, or die from lung cancer).
Again, it's important to keep it out of my lungs off my hands, because our skin readily absorbs these things. If I know clean up is going to be messy (and a lot of times it is), I wear special gloves as a barrier between the poison and my skin.
Remember, safety precautions are pretty easy to implement, and they really pay off in the long run! Our health is priceless, make sure you take care of yours.
Be warm and well.
Friday, January 8, 2016
Happy New Year!
Well, it certainly has been a little while, hasn't it? That's been great news, though, as I've been so very busy working I haven't had time to write about it! It's been a wonderful run for me, and I finally have a break to take time to blog a bit.
I'm so thrilled to have had job after job for over a year without interruption. Right now, I"m enjoying some rest!
The Henry Ford museum had me work on every single carousel animal last year, and I'm going back this year in their off season to do more touch up work on them. I also did a Brewster horse drawn carriage for the museum, as well as pinstriping on some carriage wheels, and I did a LOT of lettering on a diorama on the wall in the Roundhouse there! Whew!
I pinstriped plenty of cars and motorcycles over the summer, did a couple neon signs, and generally enjoyed myself immensely!
In the middle of all that, I planned the 4th Annual Hazel Park Art Fair, which was a big success. I'm so proud of that event and all the people who participated in it and made it happen. We were able to donate another $1,000 to a college tuition fund for local graduates, as well as $800 to our Parks & Recreation department to help upkeep our neighborhood parks!
It was an amazing year. I'm looking forward to seeing how this one is going. It's starting off with me working on an original oil painting for this year's Dirty Show.
I haven't painted yet today, but I"m sure I will before it's over!
Remember, you can check my website for updates on where I'll be next!
Be warm and well, see you soon!
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