Yesterday our regular group painted at Kay's place in Gloucester.  It was a nice sunny day and we painted from 10am to 12:30.  Above I am including a photo of the scene I was painting and my painting of "Bright Balcony"  from the day's efforts.  It is my attempt to capture the light and shadows of the scene.  

This painting represents my new emphasis on acrylics which I think do offer some of the advantages of watercolors and may be healthier as well.  I am trying now the new "Open" acrylics from Golden that have a much slower drying time and flow better than the old acrylics.  I think they are closer to oils.  You need to use a special medium with the Open acrylics (called "Open" Medium).  They also can be blended with the old fashioned acrylics that have a quicker drying time and that seems to work pretty well.  

I found that the work was far from completed after 2 1/2 hours.  I did not feel that the contrasts of light and dark were extreme enough to capture the feeling of the day.  I really liked the way the balcony looked in the sunlight with bright flowers hanging over it and tried to make that my focal point area.   My photo was helpful back in the studio, reminding me of the light/shadow effects of the scene and I tried to exaggerate these for effect.  My completed painting is above.  I'm pretty happy with it now.  

Today we opened the month long show at the Marblehead Library (Abbot) at 235 Pleasant St. Marblehead.  The show features 15 artists from our class with Ron Straka at the Rockport Art Association.   Some nice work with many varied styles.  Guest turnout was a little low probably due to great weather and the early afternoon time for the show.  Bren Rangel did a great job for all of us  putting this show together and deserves much thanks.  We will be showing our works at the library until September 28th.  Here I am standing by one of my two paintings in the exhibit, an oil painting depicting a late evening sail around the Essex, Massachusetts marshes.

Attended the lecture Wed. night by Dr. David Vastola at the Rockport Art Assoc.  He is a Physician and a Professor of Medicine at Palm Beach Atlantic University.  He is responding to patterns of illness that suggest artists paints and associated mediums etc. have toxicity that deserve changes in behavior by us artists.  We need to understand that risk is present in oil painting and even in acrylics as well as watercolors and pastels.  These artist tools all carry risky "VOCs" or volatile organic compounds that enter the air we breath both as vapors and as solid particles.

Prolonged exposure can lead to serious side effects like, cell damage, personality changes, and numerous nasty sounding diseases.  

I understood the risks to be greater with oil paints because there are more volatile chemicals involved. Oil paint risk can be managed and it sounds like painting outside is alot less risky as the compounds disapate into the atmosphere fairly well.   

He recommended two broad approaches to lessening our risks . 1. There are ways to reduce the physical hazards by taking precautions and 2. there are ways to combat the effects of what weve already been exposed to by  nutritional aids,either in the form of natural remedies or supplements.  

First as oil painters we should not paint where we live....the volatile chemicals get in the air and can form particles that enter your digestive system.  Even finished paintings will contaminate the air for a long time after the work is finished.  Artists should use some kind of an exhaust system that blows away the air from the room where you paint.  He even recommended in some cases a carbon face mask in some confined areas.  Because particles will go airborne, dont sweep up the area where you paint, only vaccum it.  Keep containers closed while you paint. Use gloves and an apron to keep skin and clothing free (chemicals can be absorbed through the skin). Do not eat or drink in the painting area as particles in the air will get on the food. Wash brushes carefully with gloves and use baby oil.  Dont wash painting clothes with regular clothes.  The issues seem less toxic with Acrylic or watercolors, although he said both have formaldyhyde in them and the mediums with acrylics can be toxic.  I wonder if he would recommend gloves for acrylics.

I am not sure what he would recommend for us painting downstairs at the RAA.  He did say that painting in a group setting which is large and open, like upstairs at the Rockport Art Association, should not be a problem.

SOLUTIONS THROUGH NUTRIENTS:

Dr. Vastola gave several approaches to improving our diet that would help combat the negative effects of exposure to the volatile organics from painting.  He will be putting these formally in a book "Fountain of Youth" to come out next Spring.  I picked up a few of the nutritional approaches.  1. He recommends Omega 3 , through Fish Oil. Not sure how much, but I take 1000mgs a day.  Hope thats enough. 2. He wants us to take Reversatrol (sp?) ....This is the  ingredient in red wine that is said to be responsible for the "French Effect".....the French can eat lots of red meat and cheese and by consuming much red wine, manage to outlive us Americans.  3 glasses of red a day for men, 1 for women  3. Turmeric or curry is very good for protecting cells from damage.   4.  Vitamin C  is also a must.  Men should take 3000 mgs a day, women 2000.  Take 4000mgs a day and colds vanish.  5. Bilberry or blueberries are necessary for cleaning out the bad stuff too.    There were about 3 other helpful nutrients which I missed the actual names of  (Lipoc acid?, M Chondria?, Cysteine glut?.  Must buy the book for rest.   

I think after this lecture I'm a bit more concerned about the invisible vapors from oil paint and plan to step up my use of acrylics.  (Just order 10 tubes this afternoon).   I still love the effects you can get with oils and will likely continue to do oils in plein air painting.