Save Them All
posted: August 11, 2010
 |
The sea is very clear and the bottom becomes fantastic with hurrying, fighting, feeding, breeding animals. Crabs rush from frond to frond of the waving algae. Starfish squat over mussels and limpets, attach their million little suckers and then slowly lift with incredible power until the prey is broken from the rock. And then the starfish stomach comes out and envelops its food. Orange and speckled and fluted nudibranchs slide gracefully over the rocks, their skirts waving like the dresses of Spanish dancers. And black eels poke their heads out of crevices and wait for prey. . . . A wave breaks over the barrier, and churns the glassy water for a moment and mixes bubbles into the pool, and then it clears and is tranquil and lovely and murderous again.
Cannery Row, John Steinbeck
I fell in love with sea creatures through my families many childhood camping trips along the west coast beaches and the sea of cortez. It was the tide pools that did it for me, micro worlds of strange and fantastic sea creatures. My brothers and I would sit, watch and explore until the next tide came in. That was then and this is now.
Cannery Row, John Steinbeck
I fell in love with sea creatures through my families many childhood camping trips along the west coast beaches and the sea of cortez. It was the tide pools that did it for me, micro worlds of strange and fantastic sea creatures. My brothers and I would sit, watch and explore until the next tide came in. That was then and this is now.
 |
When the BP oil spill disaster hit it was so upsetting and then I heard on the radio that endangered sea turtles were being burned alive in oil slicks in an effort by BP to minimize the uncontrollable surface oil. This event was just too much so I created 2 personal pieces in response.
 |
A week or so after I posted my work to Drawger I was contacted by the Sea Turtle Restoration Project and they invited me to be a featured artist at an upcoming art show and auction titled, Save Them All. This invitation was a honor and I created these new Monotypes for the show. If you are in San Francisco Saturday August 14th please come by for music, food and art. I will have a space selling original work. Funds raised will help the Sea Turtle Restoration Project (STRP) restore endangered habitat destroyed by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This event is sponsored by Deutsch Design Works.
 |
BP is currently spending millions on their PR effort with one task changing the name of the spill from, "The BP Oil Spill" to, "The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill"
 |
The Gulf of Mexico supports an estimated 1,000 functioning oil rigs and an uncounted thousands of abandoned rigs.
 |
 |
Save Them All
Sea Turtle Restoration Project
August 14, 12-6 pm
Deutsch Design Works
10 Arkansas St. San Francisco
Victor Juhasz August 11, 2010
These are all beautiful and powerful at the same time, Richard. Good luck.
But haven't you heard? It's all better now. The oil? It all just disappeared.
Zina August 12, 2010
Beautiful work for what looks like a worthy cause.
Scott Bakal August 12, 2010
All awesome...the seahorse and the turtle with the swirl in the lower right are incredible. Very nice.
Christoph Hitz August 12, 2010
Superb job on the Sea Turtle prints.
I'm with Victor it all disappeared in a giant puff, all we have now is unemployed oil rig workers!
Drew Friedman August 12, 2010
Beautiful images.
Joel Armstrong August 12, 2010
Love the care you put into each one. Nice collection!
Susan Powell August 12, 2010
Your work is beautiful on so many levels. Your images and naratives are an undeniably heart-opening and touching way to bring awareness to the truths of BP's selfish actions and harm to Earth's most basic life forms. See you in SF.
Brian Stauffer August 12, 2010
Wonderful series, Richard.
Ellen Weinstein August 12, 2010
Beautiful series for a great cause.
Richard Downs August 12, 2010
Thank you everybody, for the support for my images and the STRP. If you have kids or a kid at heart the marinemammalcenter.org ‘Whale Bus’ will be parked in front from 12-2pm. This is a traveling marine mammal museum with real specimens such as bones, pelts, and baleen. Also added are 20 artists from the cartoonistgroup.com who have lampooned the Gulf oil spill including cartoons by five Pulitzer Prize winning artists.
Nishan Akgulian August 12, 2010
Beautiful work, Richard.
Adam McCauley August 12, 2010
Beautiful work as always, Dick. I'm bummed we won't be able to come by - Saturday is our annual block-long garage sale, so we'll be here all day hocking our goods. We may be able to finish up in time to get there before it's over, we'll see. Best of luck with it my friend.
Steve Brodner August 12, 2010
Very strong, meaningful pieces Richard. Good luck with the project.
Richard Downs August 13, 2010
Thank you Nishan, Steve and all, I really appreciate the comments. Adam, I was hoping to see you guys. I'll come over and bug you afterward.thx.
Greg Clarke August 13, 2010
Richard--I've come to the conclusion that you could render a roll of toilet paper in your monotype style and it would be sublime.
Richard Downs August 14, 2010
Hi Greg, that is good and way appreciated. thx.
If the "Art Gods" are listening, please take me to a place where I don't have to do my own framing on a Friday night!
