Hoping for a tidal wave

It is sad to think about all of the animals that are suffering or dying in the Gulf of Mexico, I truly believe Mother Earth is weeping. As she weeps, the oil is till seeping, every morning for the past 50 days the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is still polluting the ocean. An estimated estimated 25,000 to 30,000 barrels of oil a day is flowing into the Gulf ((Soutrce: unEARTHED EARTH JUSTICE). I remember as a young girl the Exxon Valdez spill in ’89 and how fragile the ecosystem was after the clean up. Sad to think this spill is even worse as this is a well not a tanker and the end of the leak is unknown. It is even possible that there is 100,00 barrels of oil per day; all numbers are estimated as this is considered intellectual property of British Petroleum. BP is working hard to come up with a solution to cap it, however all of their efforts have been unsuccessful.

Photograph: Lee Celano/Reuters (source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/07/bp-oil-spill-fines-government)

I have been very angry with politicians and the media coverage of this disaster they seem to only dramatize or center on the loss of revenues and even play the blame game. Obama plans to address the U.S. public later today. Listening to talk radio, 1330 am KNSS, the U.S. president Obama is claiming that AFTER everything is cleaned up that the environment will be better than it was before. Surprising considering all of the wildlife that has succumbed to this tragedy. Sea turtles are already endangered, where will this leave them? So very sad that animals don’t have a voice, but money does and it seems to be more important in this day in age. I found a way I can help as an artist through Illustration Friday ‘s weekly illustration challenge (website created by Penelope Dullaghan and Brianna Privett).

This week’s topic on Illustration Friday is “ripple,” this idea came from Kelly Light. Kelly Light, has provided that much needed voice for the animals in the gulf.

“It’s hard to make ripples in oil soaked water. But throw enough stones and you will!

It’s not about the politics or the corporation. It’s about the animals. It’s about not feeling helpless in the face of an overwhelming disaster. We’re illustrators. We don’t lose touch with that kid inside who marvels at the creatures who swim below and fly above the sea. We draw them. We are inspired by them. We need to help them.

The Ripple blog was started on the 45th day of the Deepwater Horizon Catastrophe. The oil spill in the Gulf is now over 50 days old with no sign of stopping. We may be too small as individuals to do some grand gesture- but together our small gestures can be grand.

This week’s Illustration Friday topic is “Ripple” and I ask you to consider creating your work this week as a small 2.5″ x 3.5″ sketchcard. The subject should pertain somehow to the Gulf – the oil spill – the oceans and the creatures that live in it and around it. The cards can be submitted to ripplesketches@verizon.net as a jpeg along with your links and a few sentences about you (ie: where you live, etc).

These will be made available for a small donation of $10.00 to either The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies (http://www.imms.org/) or The International Bird Rescue Research Center (http://www.ibrrc.org/). I have no affiliation with them. Every penny will go. When the cards sell, We ask for a donation confirmation and you will be asked to sign the back with a thank you. Then mail them to the address you are sent. If we all do small acts together- we can cause a ripple- and it can grow. We can DO SOMETHING. Thank you, thank you for checking this out and thinking about it.” ~ Kelly Light

Any questions or need clarification? Please send inquiries to Kelly at ripplesketches@verizon.net.

Oliver Wade

The Defender by Oliver Wade just one of the many cards that have already sold on the site. Currently there has been 308 images with over $2,000 dollars donated. Lets try together to make a tidal wave and help the animals in the gulf.

For more information check these Sites (only a few)

http://unearthed.earthjustice.org/category/tags/oil?gclid=CNH7jNKjoqICFR8bswodOVrXwA

http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/energy/dirty_energy_development/oil_and_gas/gulf_oil_spill/index.html

http://www.bp.com/bodycopyarticle.do?categoryId=1&contentId=7052055&nicam=USCSBaselineCrisisJune&nisrc=Google&nigrp=Non_Branded_General&niadv=General&nipkw=oil_spill_of_2010

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/06/07/2010-06-07_its_time_for_the_prez_to_give_em_hell.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/07/bp-oil-spill-fines-government