Beautiful Jewelry made with Gulf Coast Oil!

STAINED

The abstract paintings of "STAINED" are created from tarballs collected from the beaches of Grand Isle, LA this past summer. The actual presence of oil in jewelry is meant to serve as an important reminder that the oil does not dissipate just because headlines disappear.

The tar in the “STAINED” collection is sealed under clear crystal quartz, a powerful stone revered throughout history and across cultures for its attributes of healing, harmony, balance, purification, and protection. Quartz is used in this collection with the hope that these attributes will enable and inspire us to focus more clearly on the objective of caring for our environment to create a healthier ecology for future generations. The tar and stones are encased in responsibly refined and recycled silver and/or gold. Recycled chains and repurposed leathers complete the design.

The “STAINED” collection’s creation is inspired by photographer Holt Webb of Vanishing America, who suggested using tar in a jewelry design to create awareness of the ongoing Gulf destruction. Go to www.vanishingamerica.net to see Holt's documentation of the spill, the coast, and the people affected by the disaster. 20% of "STAINED" sales will be donated to further the artistic advocacy efforts of Vanishing America, and to aid some of the Gulf's residents that Holt has befriended.

STAINED

STAINED: Supporting the Gulf thru Art

Jewelry Topaz Gallery is pleased to introduce a new collection of work by Atlanta artists Shondra Leigh and Rochelle Nation. The collection incorporates tar from Grand Isle, LA.

The artists were inspired by the recent tragedy in the Gulf, and wanted to “turn something ugly into something beautiful.”

This unique jewelry collection is derived out of the frustration and anger of the artist to the appalling corporate and government reaction to the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion on April 20, 2010. As oil began washing up on the beaches of the Gulf Islands National Seashore in June, the magnitude of this catastrophe was evident in the extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats along the Gulf, as well as the resulting blow to the fishing and tourism industry. This is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.

The abstract “tar paintings” of "Stained" are created from the oil of tarballs collected during the summer of 2010 from the beaches of Grand Isle, LA. The actual presence of oil in jewelry is meant to serve as an important reminder that the oil does not dissipate just because headlines disappear. "Stained" is created with the optimistic hope that all will be inspired by this reaction to the Gulf tragedy to act more responsibly for our environment through both conservation efforts and cleaner technologies.

We will also be presenting photos from the Gulf by Holt Webb, founder of The Vanishing America Project. Join us on the weekend of Friday and Saturday, October 29th and 30th to see the collection. Meet the artists and have refreshments on Friday, from 6 to 9pm.

20% of all sales will be donated to the advocacy efforts of Vanishing America and the Gulf clean-up. For more information on Vanishing America, go to www.vanishingamerica.net

NEW BOOK!

The new book is finally here!

The Vanishing America Project documents things in our country and our culture that may not be around for future generations to enjoy. And, when I heard about the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, I knew that there was a subject that fit my parameters perfectly, for it was clear that the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico would never be the same.

But my goal wasn't to be just another journalist documenting bad news. I wanted to create Art out of a terrible situation -- hence the name of the series Beautiful Images from a Disturbing Place. The images in this book are from that series. Beautiful images of disturbing places stir up a different kind of emotion than straightforward images of those same places. They force the mind to do a double-take and bypass the shock factor. And when the Art does that, the mind is free to process logically and emotionally together, making for a much clearer and effective response, allowing the viewer to stay long enough to absorb the message. And that's the point, isn't it?
The message.

This series of portraits shows some of the people involved with the spill – the fishermen, the cleanup workers, the wives, the business owners, the scientists, the volunteers... the people who call the Gulf of Mexico their home. More effective than mere words, their expressions show best how they feel about what is happening to them. Their faces show the sadness, anger, desperation, exhaustion and hope of regular human beings trying to cope with an uncertain future.

They are the People of the Spill.

Order your book here: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1579833
Two versions are available. A vertically formatted version and a horizontally formatted version.

BP Blues now on sale!

The song is out! Drew Landry's newest single BP BLUES, made famous at the Oil Spill Commission Hearings, is now on sale at iTunes. 75% of the proceeds go to the Gulf Coast Waterkeepers.

The single is only $1.29! I know you can ALL afford $1.29. Every one of you should buy this song. Not only does it support a good cause, but it's a GREAT song!

Get it on iTunes here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/bp-blues/id389899419?i=389899426&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Get it on Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/BP-Blues/dp/B0041BTZM8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1283270271&sr=8-1-catcorr

"Discharge of Oil Prohibited"

I really didn't want to get this deep into the problems here on the Gulf Coast. I wanted to document the troubles, the solutions, Americans pulling together and a vanishing coastline and then move on to my next destination.

But things have changed. I'm beginning to take it personally now.

In my many journeys out on boats, helicopters, ATVs, and on foot to see the damage done, the cleanup efforts and the areas yet to be hit by the oil spill; in my many conversations with residents whose lives have been affected by the oil spill; in my own personal direct observations of how clean a place can LOOK without really being clean I've come to the conclusion that we are in a serious mess indeed.

I've walked along beautiful beaches with fresh sand and soaring gulls only to stumble upon tidal pools bubbling with buried oil. I've gone swimming in the "safe" waters off the coast of Mississippi only to find that I'm swimming in dispersant and emulsified oil. And I've watched with utter disbelief while the media and the government that is supposed to protect us tells the nation that everything is okay.

Everything is not okay.

As I stated before, I didn't want to get this deep into the situation here, but I have no choice. The waterways, coastlines and wildlife all look normal, but they aren't. They aren't. And I can't sit idly by while we're told that they are. I'm not an activist... I'm an artist. But I've seen things here that make me sick. If this isn't Vanishing America, then I don't know what is.

In that vein, I've started a new series of images to parallel my portrait series, People of the Spill. This series is called Accountability. What you see in the hands of these people is a plaque that every boat over 26 feet is supposed to display. The statement is issued by the US Coast Guard and reads as follows:

DISCHARGE OF OIL PROHIBITED -- THE FEDERAL WATER POLLUTION CONTROL ACT PROHIBITS THE DISCHARGE OF OIL OR OILY WASTE INTO OR UPON THE NAVIGABLE WATERS OF THE UNITED STATES, OR THE WATERS OF THE CONTIGUOUS ZONE, OR WHICH MAY AFFECT NATURAL RESOURCES BELONGING TO, APPERTAINING TO, OR UNDER THE EXCLUSIVE MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY OF THE UNITED STATES, IF SUCH DISCHARGE CAUSES A FILM OR DISCOLORATION OF THE SURFACE OF THE WATER OR CAUSES A SLUDGE OR EMULSION BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THE WATER. VIOLATORS ARE SUBJECT TO SUBSTANTIAL CIVIL PENALTIES AND/OR CRIMINAL SANCTIONS INCLUDING FINES AND IMPRISONMENT.

The water, the marshes and the beaches are not clean yet. They may look clean, but they are not. And until someone is held accountable for the cleanup -- the ENTIRE cleanup -- our coastline and our wildlife will continue to disappear.

THE BP BLUES www.dirtycajuns.com

Great song! Honest, soulful and real. This guy is the real deal.

Drew is one of the people I've photographed for my "People of the Spill" series, and is one talented songwriter. (I didn't shoot this clip, so I apologize for the beginning being a little jacked-up).

The Oil Spill is over. Bullshit!

Many of you may have been seeing on the news that the worst of the oil spill is over and the beaches are clean, the water is clean, and everything will be back to normal soon. I understand the point of view from where many of the reports are coming. The journalists are only reporting what they see. But that's exactly the problem. You can't judge a book just by looking at the cover. The Ocean is a tremendously varied system. The winds, the waves, the currents, etc. all do different things in different places.

Here in Louisiana there are stretches of clean beach, but there are also stretches of nasty beach. There are sections of clean marsh, but there are also sections of oily marsh. It just depends on where you look. I was out on the beaches today and found oil that wasn't there yesterday. I also found oil a foot under the sand that was deposited by the latest high tide.

Low tide, high tide... the beach is always changing. So, yeah, of course there are clean places. The entire Gulf isn't a pool of oil. It just has oil IN IT. And that oil will wash up in some places, settle to the seafloor in other places and not show up at all in still other places. That's just the way it is. It depends on where you look.

But you can be sure that the oil is out there, it IS still washing up, and it WILL continue to do so for quite some time. It's naive to think that it won't. If you are brave enough to want to see the TRUTH, go to www.pcolagregg.com. He's tied in with everyone who is trying to tell the truth. Yeah, there are a few eco-nazis that go over the top, but it's easy to separate them from the real storytellers. Gregg is the real deal. Visit his website. You will be treated with a very clear picture of what's really happening. Don't turn your backs on this. It ain't over.

Gulf Oil Spill Images

"Beautiful Images of a Disturbing Place" -- A new slideshow of imagery from The Vanishing America Project illustrating the effects the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill has had on Southern Louisiana.

© www.vanishingamerica.net

Fine Art collector's edition images

Beautiful Images
of a Disturbing Place

Images from the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Disaster - Part 1

Fine Art collector's edition images from the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Disaster. Series of Six.

These images are a special edition and are available at:

http://vanishingamerica.smugmug.com/Art/OilSpillDisasterArt/13195203_4X8sM#957765471_xGekf

Remember, it's about the people, too.

Two nights ago I attended a town hall meeting about the Vessels of Opportunity program and then went to a candlelight vigil to honor the 11 men lost in the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion. After the vigil, local musician Drew Landry serenaded the crowd with his raw style of Dirty Cajun blues. Great songs, great voice, great sound. Look for Drew on upcoming Vanishing America video clips and at www.bandryland.com.

This second shot is a portrait of local fisherman Brian Zito who, despite his best efforts (and the efforts of the community around him), has somehow been left off the list of fishing vessels available for helping with the oil cleanup. Because of the oil spill, Brian can't fish for a living... and now he can't even help clean the places he calls home.

I've been looking for some good to come out of this -- maybe communities pulling together, millions of dollars being raised to help clean up the mess... but I'm afraid there is little good to be found. People are trying, they are pushing, they are calling out to their leaders for help, but help is slow in coming... if it comes at all.

Tiny pebbles

(Remember, you can click on any image to view it larger)

Elmers Island, Louisiana --

What follows is a series of three images... so you can feel the same sense of disbelief that I felt when I came upon this scene. It's so subtle that I was dumbfounded. I've been at the site of the oil spill, I've seen the slicks, but I was still dumbfounded. The first image is a wide shot of the beautiful beach, lush with sand, framed by a gentle surf and strewn with tiny shells and pebbles.

The second image is a closer view of those pebbles, so round and perfect. Just like any beach might have.

This third image is a closeup of the pebbles. But, wait. Those aren't pebbles. I picked one up. It broke apart in my hand like a warm m&m. Those little "pebbles" are tar balls. Yes, tar balls. Little semi-solid nuggets of oil washing up on our beaches by the millions. They wash up every single day. The workers are dutifully cleaning the beaches, yet these little pellets of petroleum keep sweeping ashore like some bizarre kind of D-Day invasion.

Is this the kind of sand we want squishing between our toes?

What you don't see

So, this is the beach. Grasses blowing in the breeze, blue skies dappled with a puff of cottony afternoon clouds. So beautiful and clean. A great place to take off your shoes and just stroll through the breaking waves softly washing up on shore.

...or is it?

THIS is what lies just beneath the surface right at the water's edge. Going more than a foot deep, we discovered sand soaked with oil so thoroughly that, at first glance, it could easily be mistaken for mud. But mud is the last thing it is. THIS is oil. This is ruin. This is here forever.

What have we done?

Kindra Arnesen Interview Part 6

The Final Chapter in the Must-see video interview series with Louisiana resident and activist Kindra Arnesen! Part 6 of 6.

For a list of helpful charities, visit:

http://www.charitywatch.org/hottopics/Gulf_Oil_Disaster.html

To help keep videos like this coming, please visit www.donatevanam.blogspot.com

For images and stories about the spill, cleanup efforts and the ecosystems that are vanishing, visit www.VanishingAmerica.net, www.facebook.com/VanishingAmerica, and www.YouTube.com/HoltWebb

Kindra Arnesen interview Part 5

Must-see video interview with Louisiana resident and activist Kindra Arnesen! Part 5 of 6.

For a list of helpful charities, visit:

http://www.charitywatch.org/hottopics/Gulf_Oil_Disaster.html

To help keep videos like this coming, please visit www.donatevanam.blogspot.com

For images and stories about the spill, cleanup efforts and the ecosystems that are vanishing, visit www.VanishingAmerica.net, www.facebook.com/VanishingAmerica, and www.YouTube.com/HoltWebb

Kindra Arnesen interview Part 4

Must-see video interview with Louisiana resident and activist Kindra Arnesen! Part 4 of 6.

For a list of helpful charities, visit:

http://www.charitywatch.org/hottopics/Gulf_Oil_Disaster.html

To help keep videos like this coming, please visit www.donatevanam.blogspot.com

For images and stories about the spill, cleanup efforts and the ecosystems that are vanishing, visit www.VanishingAmerica.net, www.facebook.com/VanishingAmerica, and www.YouTube.com/HoltWebb

Kindra Arnesen interview Part 2

Must-see video interview with Louisiana resident and activist Kindra Arnesen! Part 2 of 6.

For a list of helpful charities, visit:

http://www.charitywatch.org/hottopics/Gulf_Oil_Disaster.html

To help keep videos like this coming, please visit www.donatevanam.blogspot.com

For images and stories about the spill, cleanup efforts and the ecosystems that are vanishing, visit www.VanishingAmerica.net, www.facebook.com/VanishingAmerica, and www.YouTube.com/HoltWebb

Wildlife Rescue

(Click on any image to open them up in the slideshow viewer)

Yesterday I got my first glimpse into the wildlife recovery effort here in Louisiana -- set up at Fort Jackson just off Highway 23. This is just one of the many stations around the Gulf Coast that takes in rescued birds (Pelicans, terns, spoonbills, gulls, etc.), cleans the oil from their delicate feathers, provides a brief rehabilitation and then releases them into protected (and clean) wetlands.

They routinely give the media access to see the operation, and I was lucky enough to be included in the latest group. And on my way in, I met Jean-Michel Cousteau and his crew from Ocean Futures Society. Talk about timing!

The folks at this station were very friendly... and not just "PR-friendly." They were genuine people like you and me, from all over the country (Tennessee, Louisiana, Wisconsin...), here to help protect this fragile ecosystem we call The Gulf.

My timing was a little off, though, as most of the rescued and cleaned birds had recently been shipped out. But I did get a feel for the cleanup effort and got to meet some very interesting (and proud) pelicans waiting to go back home.

Unfortunately, for these birds, home doesn't exist anymore. But, Mother Nature has built quite a bit of resilience into her creatures and new wetlands are being created and set aside specifically for their recovery, so I'm certain these birds will thrive wherever they go.

For statistical details and more information about the rescue efforts, please visit http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doctype/2931/55963


If you would like to help The Vanishing America Project's efforts in the Gulf, please visit www.donatevanam.blogspot.com

What are we losing?

Venice, Louisiana

The sign says it’s the Southernmost Point in Louisiana, and that’s no joke. In fact, the only way to get farther south is by boat.

We may look at the emptiness out here with no fast food restaurants, no Walmart, no condos... and never give it a second thought, but the Mississippi River Delta is a true American paradise. The locals even call this area “God’s Country”... and rightfully so. There is such an abundance of life here in these marshes that the air swarms with waterfowl and the waters teem with crab, fish, alligators and (this time of the year) locusts.

As I take the Land Rover out for a drive, the birds are reluctant to get out of the way, lest I interrupt their dinner. As a matter of fact, I saw one bird desperately trying to haul away a crab half it’s own size before dropping it back in the water to meet its fate under my tire. They are so used to humans and vehicles around here that they literally won’t move unless they absolutely have to. And their behavior is understandable. After all, we’re trespassing on their feeding grounds. The natural rhythm of the tide through these marshes brings an onrush of water across the grasses and the roads providing a shallow smorgasbord of aquatic life easily visible to the multitude of wading birds.

Oil, oil everywhere...

But it looks as though this winged paradise is about to meet its fate. With the help of chemical dispersants, the oil gushing from the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico is rapidly making its way to these pristine shores. And, once it hits, no form of life will survive. Every link in the food chain will be affected, from the smallest form of algae to the largest alligator and everything in between. That’s how it works -- one thing eats another, then something bigger eats that, and on up it goes, multiplying its deadly effect the entire way.

Some progress is being made in the effort to contain the spill, but it’s not enough. The reasons are many, and I won’t get into them here, but suffice it to say that it looks like “God’s Country” doesn’t stand a chance. Many of the locals are leaving -- locals who fought their way back here to rebuild after losing everything to Hurricane Katrina -- because they know all too well the lasting damage that this oil spill will cause. There will be no recovering from it in our lifetimes.

I wanted to try to make my trip to the Gulf a positive one -- I was hoping to show how America is pulling together to fight this disaster and protect our shores from one of the largest man-made catastrophes in history. I wanted to show that. But I can't. It's unfortunate, but I haven't seen much progress being made to stem this black tide. Maybe in the upcoming weeks that will change. I hope with all my heart that it will. And I will show it to you when I find it. But, until then, know that just because these stories have fallen off the front pages of the news, it doesn't mean that this disaster is over.

No... far from it. Even if the leak is capped today, it will take many generations before the Gulf, and all the life within it will be able to recover. If it ever does.

So, take a good look at the most beautiful and varied coastline North America has to offer. Once the oil reaches these shores, you can kiss this bayou paradise goodbye.


If you would like to help bring these stories from the Gulf to the American public, please visit www.donatevanam.blogspot.com and make a donation today. Be part of the solution.

Deepwater Horizon Response

A contact at The Mother Nature Network sent me to what appears to be a great website for information about the spill in the Gulf: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com

The next link defines the treatment of the media by the Deepwater Horizon Unified Command. In a nutshell, it says that "the medial is our means of telling the story" and should be treated with courtesy and respect. Good to hear! I hope all the organizations involved with the spill will be just as respectful. :-)

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/posted/2931/MEDIA.582663.PDF

Here is a listing of beach status updates:

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doc/2931/542551/

And even more questions are answered here:

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doctype/2931/52435/

Now, I'm still learning about who is responsible for what and who has what authority where, so there may be different rules for different areas. But, this is a pretty good start!