Two Young Musicians for a Future in Balance

A beautiful, strong voice far beyond her years, Takiya Blaney speaks for a revolution to improve our relationship with Mother Earth. Ta'Kaiya is from the First Nation tribe of Tla A'min in British Colombia, Canada. She has been active over the past four years as an activist, speaker, and musician. She has won a number of awards for her leadership and inspiring message as an environmental advocate and for honoring her culture and upholding the traditions of the First Nation peoples. 

Here is an example of her message as well as one of her songs at the end. 

This video has better sound for her voice, which is magically haunting.

To learn more about Ta'Kaiya Blaney

This young man has also been active for a number of years spreading a similar message. Xiuhtezcatl Martinez ask us all, especially the young people of his generation, to revolutionize our way of life to create a better future. He visions a future where humans are good stewards of the planet where we have clean healthy thriving ecosystems. He ask for climate action from individuals as well as decision makers like the United Nations General Assembly on Climate Change.

Here he is in 2015, at age 15 speaking at the 

Xiuhtezcatl is also a talented musician and along with his little brother, Itzcuauhtl, perform their original hip hop music for a better future and relationship with the Earth. 

Another of their songs, at Bioneers.

And here he is, as a younger boy, speaking about how climate change is already affecting his home in Colorado. 

The pine beetles have wreaked havoc on western North America. Climate change has been a significant part of encouraging this destruction. This is a little more about that, from my project We are all in this together.

Mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae) are native to western North America, covering a swath of land from Mexico to British Columbia. With a black exoskeleton, pine beetles only measure about half a centimeter long. Pine beetle’s first three life stages, egg, larva and pupa occur under the bark of a pine tree. During the last life stage, as an adult, they can be seen flying around in the air.

When a female pine beetle burrows into a new tree to lay her eggs, she exposes the tree to blue stain fungus. This fungus inhibits the tree’s natural defense mechanism against more beetles, as well as its ability to transport water and nutrients within the tree. When a tree is infected, pine beetle larva and blue stain fungus spread throughout the tree, eventually inhibiting the tree’s ability to take up water. Eventually the pine tree will die of thirst. From the time the fungus is introduced, it may only take a few weeks for a tree to be incapable of taking up water.

A native to North America, pine beetles are not new to their ecosystems and when conditions are right they infest a new tree, killing it, but continuing its own life cycle. With climate change large areas of pine beetle’s native habitat are warming, experiencing milder winters and hotter summers. This shift in weather affects both pine trees and pine beetles. Unusually warm seasons can stress a tree and make it less robust at fighting off parasites. On the other hand, warmer weather is beneficial for pine beetles, allowing them to reproduce with a higher success rate and giving them more time and opportunity to inhabit more trees. Pine beetles have in fact doubled their reproductive rate. They used to go through one life cycle in a year and can now complete two full cycles each year. In recent years the absence of cold snaps has allowed beetle populations to explode, causing an epidemic in forests dominated by or wholly made up of pine trees.

This explosion of pine beetle populations has resulted in allowing the beetles to expand into more northern territory.  As the beetles moved north, they caused a mass dying off of forests throughout 19 US states, British Columbia and Alberta. Destruction to the forests is on the order of 10 times worse than previously recorded. Around 80 million acres of pines have been decimated and left dead. These tracks of dead trees have repercussions on all other species in the area, including humans. Stands of dead trees cater to raging forest fires. Dead trees are also not as good at holding soil to prevent erosion, slowing water flow and absorbing snow melt into the earth. These forests, which are usually a carbon sink when their trees are healthy, may easily, become a carbon source by releasing stored CO₂ and furthering global warming.

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Thank you Ta'Kaiya and Xiuhtezcatl,

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Pangolin Clothing Company

Justin Allen is a friend of mine who lives in Western Massachusetts. He has started a clothing company that raises awareness about endangered species as well as helps contribute to their conservation.  Justin and his co-founder, Craig Velozo, are building their company and starting to work with other artists as well, to design more work and help protect some of our most endangered animals. 

Some Pangolin models getting their wild on!

Currently they have a small collection of designs, which are consciously made and sourced. They buy their shirts from American Apparel, ensuring the socially-just production of their products. Each of the shirts cost a mere $25 and they donate at the minimum of 50% of their profits to conservation of the animals they highlight. 

A happy Pangolin T-shirt owner

In their own words: "Founded in July 2014 by Justin Allen and Craig Velozo, Pangolin launched with a few simple goals in mind: Create unique clothing that stands on its own, provide support and protection to endangered animals, and raise awareness about what’s being done to help."

Red panda design from Pangolin

Check it out and support them here: http://www.pangolinclothingcompany.com

A Blessing

A  really is a joy to spend hours with a good novel, but I often find my-self reading non-fiction. I love non-fiction and especially something related to science, the environment or art....of course! (I am quite predictable I suppose.) 

One of my favorite authors of all time is Edward Abbey, an author that writes in both genres eloquently, boldly and amusingly. He speaks truths without apology, describes human natures poignantly, and is able to describe the grand beauty of nature with his words. An advocate for the environment and freedom, he describes the power and importance of nature with the raw grit and honesty that most people shy away from.

At the moment I am reading The Fool's Progress, which is a semi-autobiographical novel by Abbey. This is the first time I have read Abbey in a few years, and it is good to be back with him. Reading his words again inspired me to share a few lines from this environmental artist, in his own right. 

The following is a quote which illustrates Abbey's perspective on life beautifully. A blessing to you all from Abbey (and me):

May your trails be crooked, 

winding, lonesome, dangerous, 

leading to the most amazing view. 

May your mountains 

rise into and above 

the clouds.

May your rivers flow without end, 

meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, 

past temples and castles and poets' towers 

into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl, 

through miasmal and mysterious swamps 

and down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and pinnacles 

and grottos of endless stone, 

and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm 

where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, 

where deer walk across the white sand beaches, 

where storms come and go as lightning clangs upon the high crags, 

where something strange 

and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you — beyond that next turning of the canyon walls.

-Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey

Tricia Zimic

In delicate palettes and dynamic compositions, Tricia Zimic juxtaposes native wildlife with cityscapes to address how human society affects the natural environment. Zimic works in as a re-forester and make some of her art based on things she sees and experiences in the field. She works in porcelain sculpture as well as in oil paint. She researches the conservation status of her subject matter and then explores interesting ways of portraying them and their story. She shows a bobcat in the city, a salamander next to its beer can home, the battle between native and invasive species, and haunting images of toxic landscapes where our very survival is questioned. 

"To me, these pieces are as fragile as the true animals and remain a record of what we have with us today but may lose tomorrow." -Tricia Zimic

The Garden of Earthly Delights: As it is
A triptych: As it was, As it is, and As it will be

Zimic with The Garden of Earthly Delights
In the description of this piece:
"Years ago Chief Seattle said to his tribesmen ‘What is man without beasts? If all beasts were gone, men would die from loneliness of spirit.  For whatever happens to beasts soon happens to man.'"

UprisingAddressing the contentious debate over the presence of wolves in and around human development. Here the wolves are taking back their territory that we have taken from them.

Zimic working on a sculpture.

Flight or Fight
Depicting a fight between native species of New Jersey and alien invasives from Europe.

Eve Ensler's TED Talk

Eve Ensler is a playwright, activist, and writer. Probably her most famous work is the Vagina Monologues. She is an advocate for raising awareness about and putting an end to violence against women and started the international V-Day, that has raised millions of dollars to educate about and stop violence towards women. She has done a number of other notable things, which I will not attempt to portray here, but I encourage you to learn more if you are curious about this strong and inspirational woman.

This is her powerful and passionate TED Talk about the similarities between our bodies, our selves, and the world around us. Young girls are raped in war as we rape our mother earth for equally meaningless and petty reasons.  

A Couple Noteworthy Kickstarters

Over the past few months I have spent just a little time (okay, a little more than a little...) on Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/) and I wanted to share two particularly interesting projects that I found there. As of today, they are both fully funded with time to spare!

The first project is called Eli Skipp weaves representations of her brother's RNA. Eli Skipp, the artist, is representing the RNA of her brother and the cane toad (Bufo marinus) with frame-loom weaving. She represents each base in the RNA (adenine, guanine, cytocine, and thymine) with different colors (red, yellow, blue, and green) in the weaving.

The comparison between her brother, a life-long lover of toads, and Bufo marinus she describes as being for private reasons, but that it is really speaking to the two halves of sides of her brother, and that they are both in fact him. This is interesting to me with respects of our connections to nature, whether you think of spirit animals, affinity with a certain type of animal, or the evolutionary memory of being one with nature. I digress.

Philosophy aside, I really appreciate this project for another reason as well. Skipp has found a really interesting way of representing scientific data through art. The RNA data simply dictates the colors in a weave. What does this do to the meaning of the weaving? Does it help people relate better to science, or does it make them more curious about it? Upon seeing the brother's RNA aside the toad's RNA will the similarities or differences be more obvious? Will it make it tangibly obvious what is the difference, or lack there of, between being a human and being a toad? I am curious to see this project completed. As a work in progress I think it has significant potential.

Skipp has other interesting projects and art as well. To find out more check out her blog and website:
http://eliskipp.com/blog/
http://skipp.us/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skipp/eli-skipp-weaves-representations-of-her-brothers-r?ref=home_spotlight

The second project that I would like to share with you is called The Bicycle Diaries: My 21,000-mile Ride for the Climate. David Kroodsma has a masters degree in interdisciplinary environmental science and now works as a data journalist and a climate consultant/researcher. More to the point, Kroodsma went on a 21,000 miles journey, on a bike!

I have had dreams of doing things like this, walking to the Amazon or Alaska or Africa, but the closest I have come is various car trips collectively of about 15,000 miles (not the same). But what really sets Kroodsma's trip apart from my various adventures, and most other people's, is his mission. His strong concern about climate change fueled Kroodsma to center his trip on the idea of researching and teaching about climate change in the places he visited. He sought out interesting people and gave talks along the way, he researched how climate change affects the places we traveled through, and along the way, he gained a new perspective on how climate change is a global issue.

So, upon pedaling from San Francisco to Tierra del Fuego, what did he do? He wrote a book of course! I am jealous of his journey and inspired by his technique. What better way to connect with people, share knowledge, do the dirty work, connect with our southern neighbors who are far too often annexed by our politics, have fun, and bring back and then share his gained knowledge.

Kudos for fun and inspiring!

P.S.
His next trip is going to be across Asia!

http://rideforclimate.com/blog/
http://kroodsma.com/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2080478170/the-bicycle-diaries-my-21000-mile-ride-for-the-cli?ref=live

No fear.

"The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, 

but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore."

  -Vincent Van Gogh

Follow your Bliss.

Sarah Hatton and Bees

Over the past weekend A very dear friend of mine came to visit me. We had a wonderful time together staying up late and having a three hour breakfast at the kitchen table. At one point I was telling her about my We are all in this together project. Her eyes got wide and she sat up straight in her chair patiently waiting for me to finish my sentence. “Can you paint a honey bee?!” she asked me with apparent excitement.

“…ummm well, maybe, is it related?” I answered. Despite anyone’s passion, I want to stick to my theme of climate change.

“Yes!” she replied. She went on to tell me a great and very local reason why the honey bee would be perfect for my project. My friend is a new and avid bee-keeper and loves to talk to anyone about them who will listen. Her passion is not held by her alone.

Bees are integral and essential to plant pollination around the world. Along with other animals such as butterflies, moths, other insects, bats, and birds, bees have co-evolved with flowering plants. In many cases the plants rely on the these creatures for pollination and reproduction. The symbiotic relationship is a beautiful one, but it is also extremely fragile, prone to upsets at even the smallest of changes.  

Over the past decade or so, the accounts of colony collapse disorder have increased in North America and Europe sparking environmental, social and economic concern. The phenomenon itself, which is a when the worker bees of a colony suddenly disappear, is not new, but its increased frequency is a cause for concern. There are a few possible causes of colony collapse disorder including pathogens, fungus, mites, and malnutrition. Many experts, including the European Food Safety Authority, are attributing the recent increase in colony collapse on the use of modern pesticides. 

This issue is complex and still being studied to be fully understood. One person who picked up on this multidimensional and international issue is Sarah Hatton. A visual artist who predominantly works in paint, branched out to create her body of work called "Bees". 

Here is the statement of "Bees" from Hatton herself:

The link between neonicotinoid pesticides and the worldwide decline of bee populations is a crisis that cannot be ignored.

I have arranged thousands of dead honeybees in mathematical patterns symbolically linked to monoculture crops, such as the Fibonacci spiral found in the seed head of the sunflower.

The viewer experiences the vertigo of this lifeless swarm, a dizzying optical illusion that echoes the bees’ loss of ability to navigate due to the toxins locked within the very source of their sustenance.

Sarah Hatton in front of her Bee work

Hatton's Bee piece

Hatton's Bee piece

Hatton's Bee piece

Bees from Hatton's piece

We are all in this together: My next project

This is my Kickstarter for my next project. 

Check it out, pass it along, and support in any way you can! 

I only have 30 days to raise my goal so I can make this a reality, please help!

The Artist

As an artist, create from the heart, do what you love, address what you are passionate about, spread your passion to others, create a world for others to be a part of. Be honest, raw, and constantly evolving. Love what you do.

"Every good painter paints what he is."

-Jackson Pollock

Mazatl

Hello and welcome back!
On this gloriously sunny summer morning I would like to introduce, or revisit you to Mazatl. A Mexican resident, Mazatl is a print maker, illustrator and painter. How work is beautiful and charged with social, political and environmental justice themes. His work is unapologetic and unrelenting, with the goal of justice and a better future.

This is probably my favorite piece of his. Strong colors, strong composition, and strong message. Short, sweet, and to the point. Not afraid of getting right to the point and in your face. This is a possible scene from the not-too-distant future. Sad but true.

Justicia Climatica (Climate Justice)
Four color Silkscreen print
27" x 16"

But I also really like this series about extinction. For those of you who might not know, current day extinction rates, globally, are 10-100 and possibly as much as 1000 times the background extinction rate. To put this even more bluntly, Earth has experienced five mass extinctions, the last of which killed off the dinosaurs. Today's extinction rates could be an indicator that we are in the midst of the sixth great extinction.

Extincion 1
One color Relief Block Print
14" x 25"

Extincion 3
One color Relief Block Print
14" x 25"

The following is an interesting piece. Both social and environmental, it addresses the United Nations Programme for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD, http://www.un-redd.org/) . The program has been extremely controversial since the beginning. The basic idea is as follows: Forests have a huge Carbon storing and sequestering potential. When forests are cut down and destroyed, the stored Carbon is released into the atmosphere and contributes global warming through the intensification of the greenhouse effect. Many developing countries around the world use their forests as important revenue sources. The REDD program pays partner countries to maintain and protect their forests rather than cut them down. The idea is that if these countries can be compensated for maintaining their forest instead of cutting them down, it will minimize the global warming effects from destroying them

There are many good arguments both for and against the program, and personally I am still on the fence. It is extremely hard to make sure that the program is executed responsibly and correctly, but if it were it could have a lot of positive potential. There are a few aspects in particular that make the program particularly difficult to implement without unintended consequences. Here are just a few:

-Defining an appropriate deforestation baseline. How do you measure if deforestation is increading in a country if the amount deforested changes every year. Do you put your base line at last years rates? 10 years ago? 

-There is also the problem of the payments. Who benefits from the payments? Are the funneled through the central government, which could be a problem in politically corrupt countries? Do the payments trickle down to the locals, who most need the revenue from the forests? 

-Then there is the problem of actually monetarily valuing the forests. Paying for Carbon sequestration is new and there are still many kinks to iron out. The general idea is to pay for tons of Carbon sequestering potential/area measurement. But this leaves out many other values of the forest such as the ecosystem services it provides, climate change mitigation potential (i.e. Maintaining forests means maintaining more stable rain systems which are needed for crop production. Do you value future lives lost from drought and starvation in developing countries? etc)

-If that weren't challenging enough, there is the morality of putting a price on nature. There are some environmentalists and others who deeply believe that the environment is priceless and that it is simply an act of commodification to try to put a price on it. While others believe that since the forests are already receiving a price (lumber and other products) that we must work within the system of trade and commerce to even begin addressing the issue of deforestation and reducing Carbon emissions. 

The commodification of nature is the central, and obvious, issue addressed in NO REDD.  I agree that no amount of money can truly describe the value of forests, and that they are priceless. They are the lungs of the earth, supplying ecosystem services like clean water and clean air, they provide weather and water system regulation, they include habitats and ecosystems teaming with extremely valuable biodiversity, and they have a spiritual value for many that I will not try to describe here. While pricing forests are incredibly complex and possibly impossible, I believe there is value in trying. We are working in a broken system. Forests are being destroyed and their products sold on the market. If standing on the moral ground of how wrong it is to destroy the forests fails, as it appears is the case, is it truly a crime to try for a better system? Dropping REDD seems to me throwing away an attempt for good for lack of the perfect. The program is not perfect, and there are unintended consequences, but I believe that it is a step in the right direction. It is hard to play a game when the players are on different fields and speak different languages.  

Collaboration with Melanie Cervantes
NO REDD
22" x 34"

Here is one last piece by Mazatl. It is more social than environmental, as if these things could be separated. I love the call for collaboration, unification, and standing up for justice. Although not dead, the 99% movement receives much less press these days in the US than it did in the beginning. Despite the lack of press, there are still many throughout the world fighting for justice and a more fair system. 

One characteristic of Mazatl's work that I value most highly is his breadth. Almost across the bored social, political and environmental issues are inextricably linked. Far too often do I see and hear people and programs that try to address these issue separately, trying to fix the symptom rather than the root cause. 

Roger Peet

"I'm an artist and a printmaker. My work tends to focus on the contemporary crisis of biodiversity and what can and can't be done about it. I'm a member of the Justseed Artists' Cooperative (justseed.org), a group of North American artists producing socially and environmentally engaged artwork."

                  -- Roger Peet

Roger Peet has found an active artist who is involved with organizations like the Center for Biological Diversity and the Justseed Artists Cooperative and other projects. More than many other artists that I know, Peet's work is active and purposeful. Making direct commentary on the global biodiversity crisis and other environmental issues. 

This is an image he was commissioned to complete for the Center of Biological Diversity, a very cool commission!

Roger Peet

"I was recently commissioned by the Center for Biological Diversity (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/) to design a banner for their new Portland office. They gave me a list of endangered animals that they’ve worked to have listed federally as endangered, and I made them into this image. From left to right: Green Sturgeon, Fender’s Blue Butterfly, Marbled Murrelet, Orca, Wolf, Siskiyou Mountain Salamander, Spotted Owl, Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly, Streaked Horned Lark, Caribou, and Fisher."

These next two were also commissioned by the Center for Biological Diversity. These were designed for their Endangered Species Condoms. 

Roger Peet
The leatherback is the largest of all sea turtles, growing up to seven feet long. They are the last of an ancient line of turtles. Their numbers are declining rapidly wherever they occur, mostly as a result of human activity: they frequently mistake plastic bags for their favorite food, sea jellies, and die when their digestive systems clog with plastic. As a consequence of their decline (and that of other jelly predators) the oceans are filling with enormous jelly blooms.

Roger Peet
Polar Bear

This piece is dear to my heart, because it is about an issue that I have also worked on. It explores the critical connection between social and environmental issues. The ridiculous and unsuccessful war on drugs has been ruining lives from Colombia to the United States for decades. The ongoing violence and illicit cultivation and trade of the drugs is destroying habitat not only in Mexico, but also throughout Central American and the northern South America. Coca cultivation in Colombia is causing deforestation of the rainforest. The illegality of the cultivation of this traditional crop, forces its growers to go deeper and deeper into the forest, cutting down more and more trees and destroying habitat. The severity of this problem let to the Shared Responsibility initiative supported by the Colombian government.

Central America also suffers from habitat loss from the illegal drug trade. The drug cartels, seeking secrecy and security find refuge in the forests and do what they please to make successfully smuggle their product. Acres of forest are cut to make impromptu airstrips for transporting their drugs. 

Not only do I appreciate this piece for its content, it is a elegant and powerful image. Thank you Roger.   

Roger Peet

And then this one, which made me smile. I have been seeing a lot of buzz recently about the possibility of adding insects to our daily diet. Hmmm....

Roger Peet

Botanicals

The other day, I went to the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, Massachusetts to see the New England Society of Botanical Artists exhibit. It was mostly what you might expect from a show with that title, but there were a number of very beautiful pieces from artists throughout New England. Here are just a few examples of my favorites:

Kate MscGillvary: Georgetown, Maine
Tremetes versicolor (Turkey Tail Mushroom), 2013
Watercolor on paper

Kay Kopper: Pembroke, Massachusetts
Vitis riparia (River Greap), 2012
Watercolor on paper

Lori Waremith: Dover, Massachusetts
Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern Red Columbine, Wild Columbine), 2013
Watercolor on paper

I love lichen and wish I knew more about it. The detail in this one is fabulous.

Jeanne Kunze: Billerica, Massachusetts
Physcia stellaris, Flavoparmelia baltimorensis, Lecanora strobilina, Usnea strigosa, Ramalina americana, Parmelia sulcata x10 (Six Lichens on Pear Twig - Star Rosetta Lichen, Rock Greenshield Lichen, Mealy Rim Lichen, Bushy Bear Lichen, Sinewed Ramalina Lichen, Hammered Shield Lichen), 2008
Watercolor on Yupo

This one was my favorite in the show.

Bobbi Angell: Marlboro, Vermont
Iris versicolor (Blue Flag), 2012
Copper etching (ink on paper)

Maria Bablyak: Woburn, Massachusetts
Celastrus sp (Bittersweet), 2012
Watercolor on paper

I appreciate the background and context in this piece. A nice variation in a show that was mainly single organisms on a white background. Not to say there is not a strong beauty in that simplicity, but as far as curating a show, the variation added to the experience.  

Susan Bull Riley: Montpelier, Vermont
Vaccinium vitis-idaea (& Junco) (Lingonberry), 2013
Watercolor on paper

This is done by my friend and colleague, Joan Pierce. She works for the Massachusetts Department of Fish & Game based out of the Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts office. This is where she hung my Climate Change is a Wood Frog Issue painting that she bought last month. 

Joan Pierce: Quincy Massachusetts
Pinus strobes (Eastern White Pine), 2012
Graphite, oil-based pencil on board

Mineo Mizuno

Yes, another flora/art combo!

This time I want to share the work of Mineo Mizuno. A native to Japan, Mizuno now lives and works in the United States spending most of his time, and showing his work, in New York and California. Mizuno works mostly in ceramics and metal sometimes for the gallery and sometimes for exterior installations. The simplicity and beauty of his work echoes the meditative quietude of a Zen garden. His most recent work, Coexistance, which evolved out of previous work such as his Waterdrop sculptures, are created out of clay and living moss. Their shape is simple, but their peaceful beauty and ever changing nature that comes from living organisms makes for a dynamic piece. This harmonious version of "coexistence" offers hope for other symbiotic relationships.

Waterdrop
©Mineo Mizuno

©Mineo Mizuno

©Mineo Mizuno

Installation of Coexistence sculptures
©Mineo Mizuno

Mineo Mizuno

Maria Coryell-Martin

Coryell-Martin has a unique way of working that allows her to travel, paint, and educate (really, what could be better?!). Self-described as an expeditionary artist, Coryell-Martin works both in the studio and in the field. She collaborates with scientists and focuses her art on environmental issues and the natural landscape.

Since 2005, Coryell-Martin’s work has focused on the arctic region, a place suffering acutely from climate change. Her watercolors are as frigid as the ice burgs they represent, while her migrating terns invoke the freedom that only soaring high above the land and ocean from the north pole to the south can.

In many ways, Coryell-Martin works like a naturalist. She travels to a study site, she observes her subject, she records what she experiences through multimedia recordings and field sketches, and then she reports and presents her findings to a larger audience through exhibitions of her work and educational workshops.

More specifically than a naturalist ilk, Coryell-Martin’s work is about science. Her work is about scientific research, representing the people who do science and the tools used in research. The scientific process comes to life through her art, there for the viewer, and/or the reader of her blog to learn about, and experience. This artistic focus on the act of doing science sets her apart in an important way from other “nature” artists who also paint beautiful landscapes and wildlife. Coryell-Martin is advocating for the climate. She is an activist raising awareness about environmental issues and the scientists that are studying them to work towards a better understanding of threats and solutions for a healthy future.

Maria Coryell-Martin working in the field. I can't imagine a better office!

Her field kit. 

Following the Light: Dusk

24" x 24" 

watercolor & gouache