Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Frogs of Central America


I was looking up the Golden Frog because I read an article about how they wave to communicate.  Their beautiful pure gold color has given them legendary powers for good luck and made them sought after for poachers.  Needless to say, they're quite rare.

After searching the web for a little bit, I found out that they are most likely extinct in the wild.  So sad.  I thought I'd post 1) the video of the frog waving--brought to you by the amazing Sir David Attenborough, and 2) the video of the incredible, dedicated, and brilliant scientists trying to save the frogs of Central America.  

I typically think of frogs as twitchy and manic and am in awe after the video shows Golden Frogs so poised in their movements and interactions.  They really are beautiful.

But sadly, the Chytrid Fungus has spread throughout Central America and is threatening to spread further into North America, killing out mass amounts of amphibians.  It's thought to have affected 30% of amphibians world-wide.  Efforts to pass laws making the sale of frogs illegal has been halted by cultural groups that eat frogs as part of their historic diet.  Yet, in an article by the New York Times, out of 493 frogs from San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, 62% were infected with Chytrid.  Some of these frogs are eaten (an average of 2,280 metric tons of frog legs are brought into this country every year), some are kept as pets, but either way, the fungus has been spreading for the past 15 years and is not slowing any time soon.


Here's the video on scientists helping to save frogs in Central America. 

I need to write a blog about balancing cultural sensitivity with environmental protection…it's an obnoxiously reoccurring theme in so many topics I read about.

I'll get on that…

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Something More Light-hearted


This is, perhaps, an ode to video pop-culture.
Whatever, we're all guilty of it.

I paint animals, sooooo inevitably when googling  ___(insert animal here)____  the little youtube tab pops up with ridiculous results that I have to sift through to find anything with substance.  I generally don't watch them until I begin procrastinating.  So….give it like ten minutes.

Here are some for your internet enjoyment!  Maybe I'll order them based on their Mind-Numbing Qualities….Least to Most.


#1!  The amazing Mimic Octopus….discovered in the 1990's.  Crazy and interesting.  The Internet at it's finest! 

Awesome.  Now for something a little less documentary-like and more feel-good.  Cue the Adorable Clueless Neglected Ducks!!  Awww, they're confused and freeeeee (sort of)

#3.  "Haaaahaaaaa" and "Oh that's interesting…" all at the same time

#4.  The worst, most hilarious, youtubey, amazing, video.  How do you know it's mind-numbing?  It involves a cat, theme music, and it is maaaayyyybe 45 seconds long.  This is what I watch when I've had a bad day. 


Ok, that's enough of that.
I feel horribly unproductive.  I'm going to go clean my room.

Art Show!!!


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I'm showing all of my work at the LaunchPad in Brooklyn!!  I'm still working on the details, but hopefully there will be music, food, drinks, and maybe a speaker or two.  More info to come soon!!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

New painting! "Waiting for Salmon"

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"Waiting for Salmon" 36in x 26in Oil on Canvass
 

Every year in Alaska, starting around spring, salmon begin their journey up stream to spawn.

 They bring nutrients from the ocean  through the web of streams etched into Alaska's coast, and into the mainland.  There, they are the source of fat and protein for countless predators like bears, wolves, otters, seals, and eagles.  Then, their bodies decompose, leaving minerals to soak the soil and seep through the watershed dispersing nutrients and sustaining the Alaska wilderness.   In essence, Alaska is a salmon-based ecosystem.

And even though their presence is known, the weight of their influence can still slip by unnoticed or under appreciated.  But, this year, the danger of a salmon-less Alaska sat bold and ugly right in our faces.

The La NiƱa weather system of 2010-2011 cooled the ocean and caused this years salmon run to be months later than usual.  Bears paced along the shoreline day after day and slowly began losing muscle mass.  Eagles sat in trees, searching for movement downstream.  Some predators went to find food elsewhere, like clams and crabs that are way less fatty and less abundant, but most waited.  Alaska sat tense and still, waiting for salmon.

After a couple months, the salmon finally came.  Predators scarfed them down, salmon decomposed, minerals dispersed, and local people fished and ate.  Whew, close one.


Here's Richard Nelson talking about salmon…he really, really loves salmon. 



Of course, currently, Pebble Partnership is proposing to build North America's largest mine (possibly 150 square miles) right near a major salmon breeding ground.  They expect to find 80 billion pounds of copper, plus 100 million pounds of gold, adding up to roughly $800 billion dollars in minerals.

Yes, the mine would be massive, but the multiple tailing dams built to hold the leftover toxic mining waste is of almost greater concern.  Since there is no method of disposing of the waste, it would sit forever, needing constant surveillance to prevent any leak which would destroy the water system.  Tailing dams fail at a rate of about 2 per year, and the threat of a spill is heightened in an earthquake zone like Bristol Bay.

Pebble says they're producing the best science for the project.  That the toxic waste will be forever contained and that there is zero risk to the watershed and surrounding environment.  But local fisherman and tribes have called on the EPA to investigate and potentially stop Pebble, which has led to a division within Alaska, politically and socially.

The New York Times does a great outline of the debate and the tension arising in Alaska:



I didn't want to create an in-your-face political statement painting.  I wanted to show the beauty of an ecosystem that thrives on salmon and the subsequent dense weight that sits on it when this one animal isn't there.  It's dependency on a single yearly mass  migration is what makes this region so delicate and unique.  I was completely captured by this story and the surrounding debate and I hope that my painting does it justice. 
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