The Story of Stuff

"Bella and the caterpillar" Photographed by Erik (the husband)

Even though my latest posts have focused on homemaking and family life, sometimes even sounding self-indulgent, a lot of contemplation has taken place in my home in regards to the bigger picture, and how our presence in the world today will impact what we leave behind.

This is no news, the debate is going on everywhere and I just hope to be able to somehow continue with the conviction that a family can take steps to become closer and more loving, without becoming self-centered.

I truly believe we can inspire a sense of community responsibility in our children if we are cognizant of our own duty. To us, this means reading more, talking more, cooking, crafting, listening to music, asking questions and becoming involved in community... Caring for one another at home makes it easier to care for the world outside, its people, animals and resources. It means not having the tv on (maybe once or twice on the weekends for movies), it means NOT going to stores when we are bored, and doing whatever we can to be outside in nature.

The reality is that this way of living simply, taking the focus AWAY from consumption, makes a lot of impact- we have seen a huge difference in the way our family thinks and acts because of it.

We are conditioned by society to become Slaves of Consumption, and it becomes easy to push aside concepts like conservation, reusage, and community building.

I would go as far as saying that a holistic approach to life can lessen the individualistic tendencies that poison us. With that said, I am posting a link to the "Story of Stuff" video (the international web site so you can have subtitles in many other languages.) Please watch, it is soooo worth it!

http://www.storyofstuff.com/international/

Thanks for reading!

Beijos

allypye

Arte Natural

"Canoe" 2008

One of my favorite indoor places in the world is Barnes and Noble. No I am not getting paid to talk them up or anything, but man, do I have fun there! This week's trip led me to bring a pile of 15 books and magazines to my table at the coffee shop area, but of course I only got to 2 of them... I will share one with you this time:

In an effort to live a greener life our family has made several adjustments; you know, the stuff you hear about everywhere like recycling your trash, turning off lights, unplugging appliances, not flushing when you pee (this one is not yet under full compliance, yuk!!) organic gardening, safe cleaning supplies, green shopping bags, etc;

http://www.epa.gov/ to get started, also, links for kids of all ages to learn about environment awareness:)

(we have not yet changed all of our light bulbs to energy efficient ones, or put together a compost bin, but we'll get to that...) There is SO MUCH more we can do, eventually, but unless someone wants to donate to the "fund for greening my entire house" we are gonna have to take baby steps... And that's cool, all good!

However, I am not sure that my role as an artist and this environmental consciousness had made a true connection yet. Sure, living a frugal lifestyle almost forces you to reuse and recycle, I rarely ever have to buy art supplies, and just kind'a deal with what I have around the basement. But to make a statement towards environmental awareness through art? Now that's some good stuff... So, this book I came across is called "Green Guide for Artists- Nontoxic Recipes, green art ideas & Resources for the Eco-Conscious Artist" by author Karen Mitchel.

http://www.amazon.com/Green-Guide-Artists-Resources-Eco-Conscious/dp/1592535186

So fun! Full of ideas, and ways to create responsibly, beautifully made and wonderfully informative. For experienced painters, it provides them an opportunity to learn about substituting toxic materials such as adhesives, canvas and paint for better, greener alternatives. For me, (NOT an experienced painter), it just sort of revived the idea of using found objects, sharing supplies, and continuing to pursue a mixed media avenue in my own work.

This beautiful quote by William Blake is in one of the first pages...

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy, is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity...and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself."

Locally, here are some places to check out:

http://www.artsandscraps.org/ (Detroit)

http://www.scrapbox.org/ (Ann Arbor)

Possible trips with the kiddos

http://bostonchildrensmuseum.org/exhibits/recycle.html at the Boston Children's Museum

http://www.wonderscope.org/rmc.php at the Children's Museum of Kansas