International Blog Action Day 2009

Digitally Altered photo by Lisa Sarsfield 2009

This years theme for International Blog Action Day is Climate Change. These days there is hardly anyone over the age of 5 who hasn't heard of Climate Change. Climate Change isn't just something that 'could happen' if we fail to treat our earth better and to take a more balanced approach in our use of natural resources, it is something that is already happening. Climate Change is resulting in the loss of land, loss if ice of our glaciers and in extreme weather patterns. Drought, fire, floods...cost people their incomes, their homes, their heritage, their lives. There's a great cost to the other species on this planet also, even those we depend on for our own survival. There's no sense to this madness! It's a consequence of our own actions and those of the generations before us. All is not lost, not only can we make changes to our habits and lobby the 'powers that be' for better laws and more balance we can also help others who are already feeling the 'bite' of climate change. This CARE video helped me to see a side of climate change that I am fortunate enough to be away from. It made me realise that there is a very human face to the suffering and heartache. This is about more than fast melting ice, this is about the survival of our own kind. Please take a look at this CARE site for more information on there work and to see there thought provoking photo galleries.

International Blog Action Day

Today is October 15th in NZ...that makes it International Blog Action Day!

Collage and Paint: Small is Big
This is a mixed media collage, the final destination of the receipts from my wallet. (See below)
I have used recycled paper for the background as well as the images. I even used a recycled paper plate for the circle and a paper doily for the mustard shade dapple effect. The brown paper is from an envelope, the letters from an old word find, the images from a magazine. The only non paper components are the thread (tree roots) the ink and the paint and some of the paper was made from recycled paper in the first place!

I chose paper as my topic because it is just as easy to throw away as it is to recycle. Paper is one of the 'non obvious' criminals of the eco world and it is something that all of us use...it is also very easy to re-use or recycle. As an artists vehicle it is accessible, diverse, multi purpose and often free. What more could you want? Ok, so if your still thinking it's not really THAT bad to throw paper away- after all it will rot away won't it then keep reading!

Environmental benefits of recycling one tonne of paper:
17 trees are conserved
26,000 litres of water is conserved
2.5 barrels of oil are conserved
3.5 cubic metres of landfill space is conserved
4,100 kWh of electricity is saved
Making paper from recycled materials results in an estimated 74% less air pollution and 35% less water pollution

A small change in your habits will make a big difference.

Please check out the art work by Julz Coffey below and also my other blog http://photo-a-day-project.blogspot.com/ for photography relating to international blog action day! This collage is also featured as part of an online exhibition being hosted by Maraya Galleries please check it out along with the other entries put forward for International Blog Action Day. Thanks Maraya Galleries!

International Blog Action Day!

Collage: 1 cloth nappy. 1 saved planet.
This artwork is by my multi-talented friend and Artist Julz Coffey who created it for International Blog Action Day. Click on the pic to enlarge it and see it in greater detail.
It really makes you realise just how much waste can be generated by one small baby, or more correctly by the choices we make for them. Cloth nappies have come a long way over the years and they are a far better choice for the environment. That is a huge amount of resources for something we throw away. Our babies deserve to inherit a clean earth, we owe it to them to make the right choice for their future.
Nice use of recycled paper too :)

Receipts/Visual Diary

I won't make a habit of posting step by step photos of my art but this post and the one below are part of my post for International Blog Action Day- tomorrow!! I think that it is important to show them as they illustrate my point well.
The first photo shows what is quite obviously a pile of receipts. This photo is those same receipts glued onto a page in my visual diary. The paper receipts add extra weight and texture to my page which makes a really nice/interesting surface to paint on. What is written on the receipts is irrelevant in this case as they are purely a base surface for my painting (tomorrow's post!) but what is relevant is that these pieces of paper came from my wallet. I finally cleaned it out (46 pieces of paper in total! 25 used for my VD page) and instead of throwing away the paper I re-used it. The paper was mostly glossy which meant it didn't absorb so much of the paint and it also tolerated more water- useful for blending the acrylics. I did actually contemplate giving it a light sand to help it take to the paint slightly better but I am glad I didn't now! These bits of paper would have been SO easy to throw away with out a second thought but they were equally easy to re-use! More on that tomorrow :)
I also have a friends artwork to post on here tomorrow for an equally important environmental cause so watch this space!

International Blog Action Day

Well, you know it is the year 2007 when 'cyber activisim' is a well recognised and utilised tool! Greenpeace is just one of the well known organisations that employ it. An artists who's blog I subscribe to http://www.papierscolles.blogspot.com/ recently sent out an email about "International Blog Action Day" on October 15 2007. The idea is for all bloggers to create a piece of art that reflects your personal environmental concerns and post it on your blog on that day. Not only that artists have the opportunity to have their work included in an on line exhibition at Maraya Galleries http://www.marayagalleries.com/
Why not take part? You can feel good because you spent time creating and you can feel good because you did something to promote an environmental cause you're passionate about!
Simply posting a piece if art is not enough...don't forget to spread the word!!
Check back here October 15 to see my "blog action day' art work :) or better yet subscribe and have it sent to you for free!