My YouTube Video - Fuji Emulsion Lifts & Transfers

I have stared in a YouTube video. I guess it was time for that experience... I recently wrote an article on Fuji emulsion lifts and transfer, which will appear in the Workshop section of Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine's November/December issue. The editor, Jenn Mason, asked me if I would be willing to make a YouTube video of the process, to link to the article. I enlisted a friend, Jason MacQueen, who filmed it for me. The subject matter is pretty specific, but if you feel like watching it, please let me know what you think...

TV Spot on RTown TV Related to Capture the Fall Colours at the Whyte Museum

I was recently interviewed by RTown TV about being part of the Capture the Fall Colours show at the Whyte Museum. You can see the video here. There is a menu of videos below the main video screen. Just click on the one that says "Resort Report October". It is about a minute long and I appear for about 5 seconds. I never love to be on TV or radio but I also never pass up the opportunity. It is important as an artist to be able to talk about what you do when you are approached to do so...

An Amazing, Emotional Video...

This video featured Severn Suzuki, the daughter of world reknown Canadian environmentalist, David Suzuki, addressing the United Nations in 1992 (although the quality makes it seem like 1982...). It is a moving, heartfelt message, to our leaders, on caring for our earth for the generations to come. This young girl silenced the United Nations for 5 minutes. She brought people to tears. As a mother, I can only hope that I will teach my child to be this compassionate and passionate about our earth and its future. And to be an activist. My husband and I saw Mr. Suzuki in the Ottawa airport, where we were all waiting for a flight to the states. My husband tried to speak to him but he seems painfully shy, yet he has spent his life addressing the world on environmental issues. He is truly a great man, who as you will see here, has passed his love of our earth on to his children, as well as strangers all around the world.

Here is the video...

And here is a wonderful article on Granville, about Severn now.

Green Cutting Boards - Epicurean

I have been a bit preoccupied with cutting boards lately. The common ones are made from either wood, plastic, or glass. I have something against the sound of cutting on glass ones. The plastic ones make me feel as if I am eating plastic fragments in my food. And the wood ones are supposed to be difficult to clean...

My research quickly left me confused. I kept ending up at various health department sites that contradicted one another. One would say that plastic harbors microbes longer than wood. Another would say that you should use a bleach solution on both wood and plastic boards, when another would say that bleach has no affect on the wood boards due to their composition. Another would say that wood has its own disinfecting quality that kills microbes. And as I kept reading, all I really wanted to find was a site that told me what was the most healthy board and how could I care for it. ORGANICALLY. I don't want to clean anything with chlorine bleach that I then eat off of. Call me silly. Many people do. As a vegetarian, I don't use cutting boards for meat, but I do use them all the time for bread (wood) and veggies and fruit (plastic) and I just want to know what it best. I was shocked that not one site mentioned toxins in plastic, since that is such a big topic right now. Does anyone know much about this?

What I did find to share was this video on how to organically clean a wooden cutting board (super easy!).


And I found a blog, Bright Seeker, that mentions Epicurean, a company based in Duluth, Minnesota (I am originally from Minneapolis). The have a Recycled Series of cutting boards! Bright Seeker is a long time user of Epicurean boards, which were normally made of Eco Select paper, but now they are also available made from recycled cardboard composite! They meet NSF approval and are stain and heat resistant, kind to knives, and they can be washed in the dishwasher. They range in price from $12 - $35 US. I am so excited and can't wait to write up a post on my new cutting boards!!

UPDATE: I emailed Karie Duff, at Epicurean, and asked her to read over this post to make sure I had everything correct. She said that the Recycled Series of cutting boards in not NSF approved, but the all of their other products are made from wood fibers from sustainable forests, so they have the NSF approval. And she pointed aout again that the Recycled Series can be washed in the dishwasher. Thanks, Karie!

The Story of Stuff

"...Shortly after the World War 2, these guys were figuring out how to ramp up the [U.S.] economy. Retailing analyst Victor Lebow articulated the solution that has become the norm for the whole system. He said: “Our enormously productive economy . . . demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our
ego satisfaction, in consumption . . . we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.” *Victor Lebow, Journal of Retailing, quoted in Durning, How Muchis Enough? (1992) As heard on "The Story of Stuff"

Thanks to Pam for directing me to the link to this video. This 20 minute online video examines how thing are made, used, and disposed of by looking at extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. It discusses things like planned obsolescence, perceived obsolescence, advertising, dioxins and toxins in general... so much info presented in an easy to understand way, I think kids could learn a lot from this as well as adults. The website lists many resources and I look forward to checking it all out.