9.26.2017

zero waste

process images of creating one painting on top of another

There's always a stainless steel straw in my purse - as well as a spoon-fork-knife-combination-thing.  That is to say lately these tools are always on hand.  2017 was my year to discover zero waste and I've been slowly working on minimizing my contribution to landfills.  At this writing I have two items on a Buy Nothing Facebook group.  These groups are specific to neighborhoods and allow people in your community to offer up items they no longer need.  No money is exchanged and all transactions are done in a friendly-folksy manner.  Everyone wins - except maybe the waste management companies.

Tomorrow, I'll post the finished painting from the process you see above.  But I thought you all might enjoy seeing some of the steps I take when creating a painting.  This is the first time I've painted over another painting and I thought it would be difficult to mentally block the first painting out.  But it turned out not to bother me at all.  Once I get in the zone, I'm focused entirely on the still life set-up I see before me.  All that matters is depicting it as faithfully and honestly as I can and all else melts away.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

!?!? I junk pick my neighborhood and drop the good stuff off at goodwill after the metal colectors are through, not the land fills! Thrift shops rule!

Unknown said...

Make that collectors

Mary Klein said...

Ah - another zero-waster! It's good to know I'm not alone :)

At first I felt a bit odd asking the barista to use my stainless steel cup instead of theirs. But it turns out, they've all been very gracious and have often thanked me. Sometimes I even get a little discount.

Thanks for the inspiring comment, David - and for all you're doing for zero-waste.

Unknown said...

Proud to say I can't remember the last time I bought clothes at a regular retail store, but have donated bags to thrift shops always.

Unknown said...

'Odd', the road less traveled is best.

Mary Klein said...

You should be proud - that's great!

Lately, I've been working on how to ship these paintings when I start selling them online (hopefully early next year.) Artwork requires careful handling but I think I'm narrowing things down to a zero-plastic approach - and hopefully a fully compostable/recyclable one too. It'll take some effort - like cutting thin plywood for folders. And I've been saving up my Wall Street Journals. People who get my crossword attempts crumpled inside their package will be amused :)

Unknown said...

Hm, paper tubes? Dar Williams has interesting YouTube video rendition of 20× song, Hm too!

Mary Klein said...

Alas - casein needs a rigid support and can't be rolled up into a tube lest it will crack. That's why I'm thinking of the plywood or Masonite folders. The watercolor boards that I'm using are about 1/8" thick so I need something that will prevent them both from bending and getting punctured. So, at this date, I'm thinking of wrapping the paintings in glassine paper, attaching them inside a plywood/Masonite folder then packing that into a larger box with crushed newspaper all around. It sounds like a lot - but these are one-of-a-kind-irreplaceable items and I'd like to do my best to take care of my collectors.

Dar's great, isn't she? "When I Was a Boy" and "Ocean" have been happy ear-worms for me today :)

Unknown said...

Sunday silence, Dar time, message is over my head, but if a common and unattractive person were to offer an Americano would one be acceptable in this lifetime sometime? Just a thought.
...the purple went unnoticed in the one picture, now o see purples a lot!

Mary Klein said...

There are some websites where people weigh-in on what her lyrics may mean. I haven't tried that but some day I might.

Hopefully, next year I'll get some shows and will have public openings to be at. Maybe you could get to one? That would be great! You could meet my husband, Bob, - and of course, Amercianos would be a nice drink to chat over :) I'll post details on the blog if/when that should happen.

Unknown said...

...and Cheryl makes four.