I Speak for the Trees

I Speak for the Trees

I am profoundly saddened by what is happening in the state of Oregon. Is there no place left on earth that isn't tainted by destructive environmental policies?

Huge swaths of clear cuts are what is left of our beautiful and diverse old growth coastal forests.  Destructive logging on private timber lands is just the beginning. What follows is the aerial herbicide spraying of the new "managed" forest that devastates wildlife and other competeing vegetation and pollutes the drinking water and air in nearby communities. Sadly, this is all legal, courtesy of the Oregon Forest Practices Act.  Efforts to reform this act stalled in the Oregon legislature this year due to powerful lobbying from the timber industry. 

As a member of the Rockaway Beach Citizens for Watershed Protection, a local grassroots association of citizens working to ensure clean, safe air and drinking water, I had the privilege of planning a town hall event that included a panel of experts speaking on these issues and the screening of a new film Behind the Emerald Curtain. Filmed in Oregon coastal communities, it highlights current forestry practices that put at risk our air and water quality and offers a look at practices that are fish and drinking water friendly. In October, this film will be posted online, but here is the official trailer:

Behind the Emerald Curtain

For last night's screening of the film, I donated a jewelry set as a raffle item.

Thinking of the plight of our coastal forests, "I Speak for the Trees" kept circling through my head as I was embossing and painting this recycled tin. It's the first time I thought of painting only the raised portions of the embossed pattern, while leaving the background unpainted. 

Usually I use the exact opposite process by painting the whole surface and then sanding the raised areas to remove the paint there (as in the earring charms and the focal on the cuff). Interesting inspiration.

I also figured out a way to make the leather cuff adjustable to a variety of sizes. (I hate setting snaps, so this was a great way to avoid having to struggle with them.)

I  am happy that the gal who won this set was featured in the movie. She lives in a cabin on the hillside,  got sprayed by herbicide, and ended up very sick and in the hospital. In the trailer, right after they show the containers of chemical (atrazine), she's the gal with the long braid who talks about the spray coming into the health clinic. She was just delighted with her win!