Recently there’s been two new additions to our family. Julia and a year later Nova who just turned 1 and Julia just turned 2. With the advent of covid it put me in to self imposed isolation and reflection. I worry what these newest members face in a world full of pollution. We all try and do our best to be eco friendly but the fast fashion industry is all about the sell and not the sustainability of our budgets and of planet. Fast Fashion generates 10% of air pollution with 10,000 garment being sent to the landfill every 5 minutes. @% of the garment workers earn a living wage. 80% of the garment workers are women. Washing synthetic fabric sends millions of plastic particles into the ocean.
This is not a Black and White issue of us ignoring our eco part in saving the planet. It’s undoing marketing and developing areas for sustainable fashion.
Week 14 of isolation. I actually started distancing in mid February but due to an art installation I didn’t go into full throttle lockdown until the 2nd week in March.
After cleaning kitchen staples, navigating the on-line world of ordering food, masks and supplies I took on all those bothersome chores of around the house. It was a good time to be more mindful of using up left overs and applying some new moves in the kitchen cuisine arena. After burning my hand on the Le Creuset during a Sour Dough bake off that my enthusiasm waned. Luckily bread started showing up again in the store. It’s curious why the American food supply system failed us. Once I went local organic things began to improve.
Spring wasn’t cancelled due to Covid-19 so an intensive weed pulling exercise began in the lovely but large garden I have. It looked so wonderful up until all the spring rain brought back to life the weeds I’d so carefully dismissed.
I feel blessed I have a large yard so walking the dog and gardening still gets me exercise. It’s been helpful to not do the Covid 19 20 pound gain so many have done.
So now between cooking and cleaning I can finally get down to art. Whew, it took long enough. I’ve been doing botanical watercolors for a bit now and I started by organizing my paint, pencils and general supplies to make my next endeavor. My own garden is my inspiration so I want to document Spring in the Pacific Northwest. I will entitle the sketchbook Spring has not been cancelled.
Bellevue Arts Museum show Making our Mark Art by Pratt Teaching Artists, A Legacy at 40 is a commemorative exhibition. Show was November 10 to April 8, 2018. Forget Me Not is my piece selected for this exhibit. I have been teaching pate de verre at Pratt from 2001 to date.
Ahowcasing amazing female artists who inspire me. I first ran into her work on a trip to the UK. Lucie Rie fled Nazi Vienna in 1938 for London. Read this amazing article on Lucie Rei at craft and culture’s blog. Not only a pioneer in ceramics but a courageous woman who fled Vienna as it could be toxic for a young woman in the arts. She was direct and would not be silenced, self-confident but did not grandstand. Her sense of objects of beauty surrounding your world was a design conscious standard in her work. She was born March 16 1902.