Art Journals, Avocados and Biogas: What Do They Have in Common?

April Sustainable Souls

Hastypearl

Welcome to April’s Sustainable Souls topic; Alternative Energy, Solar, Wind, Water and Biogas.

I felt I was familiar with the first four on the Sustainable Souls list for April, and thought that I needed to know more about the topic, Biogas or Biomass, so I went searching for its meaning. I found a great and balanced site on the topic called, conserve-energy-future.com. The gentleman who authors this site is named, Rinkesh. I found him to be very fair and informative.

I also discovered, that biomass, or biogas was actually MORE familiar to me than I’d first thought. Here’s why… You see, I have been gardening in South Central Texas for 41 years now. I remember the first time, that I pushed a shovel blade into the ground, and feared I had hit a pocket of gas somehow! What I discovered was that I was simply in contact with natures natural process of green things breaking down and making energy. THAT, I completely  understood. The concept of collecting/harnessing that produced energy, has been pushed forward as a possible energy source, meant to replace other fuel resources. It’s one of the most problematic approaches on that list. You can decide how you feel about it from more study and the following Pros and Cons according to Rinkesh.

Pros

1. Renewable 2.Dependency on fossil fuels is reduced 3.Carbon Neutral 4.Widely Available 5.Can be used in many forms 6.Helps reduce waste

Cons

 1. Not clean when burned 2. Leads to deforestation 3.In-efficient 4.Requires a lot of space 5.Expensive 6. Requires fossil fuel to be delivered 7. Uses land that could have been used to grow food.

Our world is changing. There are new ideas being considered and should be weighed and challenged. Good can be the enemy of the best as they say.

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Now, back to my original question including Art Journals, Avocados and Biogas! When I started reading about Biogas, I just thought GREEN! Plants, Plants, Plants…Green, Green, Green! I’m always collecting papers, wrappers, magazines. I stack them according to color, so it’s easy to gather what I need for a project. This time, I headed straight to my stack of… Green!

In my previously mentioned, recycled gesso’d car sales pamphlet, I went crazy with my collection of greens.

Some of these layered pieces were plastics, tissue, some of my Hastypearl handmade papers, magazine papers…everything! One of my favorite inclusions, was the bag that my avocados came in. Can you see the handle and the mesh bag?

I save almost everything…including these metal loops, that I snipped off of the back of some vintage buttons I used in another project. I love their orderly procession across the page.

When adding bulkier items to my art, I use my go-to Weldbond glue. NOTHING holds better for me.

I liked how a piece of packing tape was still attached to this green tissue paper. I left it on. It gave a new shiny texture to the collection.

After all of my layering, I pulled out my various crayons…some oil, some pastel and highlighted all of the shapes. I always give a last spray of fixative at the end, so things don’t get smudgy and smear.

I learned a lot about biogas. I learned that it happens naturally in my garden. Forcing it into production and use as a fuel source, might be a little harder. While science work things out, I’ll be aware of it in my garden.

I’m so happy that you joined me here, today. I’ll look forward to hearing from you in the comments section and I hope that you sign up on the right, to get a little notice when I post.

Best to you, as always…Laura aka hastypearl