Tomorrow is Earth Day, a day that I first celebrated as a Girl Scout by watching the film of
How The Lorax Was Lifted (the old school filmstrip version, not the hi-def CGI version in theaters now) and cleaning up the side of a road with the rest of my troop. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thinks of Earth Day as a day where you go out and do something to help the environment. But for those of us who are artists, we can start in our studios.
I became interested in having a sustainable studio practice as a complement to Post-Consumerism. And one day I found this wonderful book,
Green Guide for Artists: Nontoxic Recipes, Green Art Ideas, & Resources for the Eco-Conscious Artist. From recipes for milk paint to plant based pigments, there are great ideas for using natural and ingredients to produce great art. Because some of the ingredients are items you can pick up at your local grocery store (as opposed to the often pricey art supply stores so many of us frequent), you may find a green approach more economical as well.
Pictured in the photo with the book are two of the buckets I use to wash my brushes in. As many of you know, my painting medium of choice is nontoxic acrylic paint. I wanted to take my environmentally friendly approach one step further. Instead of pouring paint-contaminated water down the drain, I wash my brushes in buckets and when the water in them evaporates, paint skins are left behind. I have been saving the skins for use in some pieces I am currently working on. When they are complete I will post them on here.
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