A little taste of reality…
“I want you to see what I see… I see epic skies, majestic waterfalls and vibrant forests. I see quiet islands, changing tides and the vast ocean full of life… But I also I see washed up plastic bags and styrofoam bobbing alongside the birds. I see cigarette butts following me on my hikes and bottle caps making their way down the storm drains… I want you to see this spectacular beauty, and its reality.” -Emilyn Golden
My ocean plastic painting…
Every week I take my toddler, Mason, down to the beach to dig holes, build castles and do a big clean up. He gets a shovel and a dump truck to put the trash he collects in and it seems all fun and games. I look forward to teaching him why it’s there - and more importantly, why it should not be there, and what we can do about it. This is why I am incorporating it into my art - to have this conversation. I keep the soft plastics to clean and use in my art. The plastic is in the foreground of my paintings, hidden in plain sight - just as it is in nature.
PLASTIC POLLUTION FACTS & STATS
Plastic pollution can now be found on every beach in the world, from busy tourist beaches to uninhabited, tropical islands.
Scientists have recently discovered microplastics embedded deep in the Arctic ice.
In 1950, the world’s population of 2.5 billion produced 1.5 million tons of plastic; in 2016, a global population of more than 7 billion people produced over 320 million tonnes of plastic. This is set to double by 2034.
Every day approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans.
Plastics consistently make up 60 to 90% of all marine debris studied.
Recent studies have revealed marine plastic pollution in 100% of marine turtles, 59% of whales, 36% of seals and 40% of seabird species examined.
100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds are killed by marine plastic pollution annually.
Get involved with Ocean Conservation! Here are two organizations I volunteer with…
Get involved with local beach cleanups
SURFRIDER VANCOUVER
@surfridervan
Local kids education for ocean conservation
SEASMART SCHOOL
@seasmartschool