Oil, Catching the Light painting by Everglades artist JoAnn Sanborn

Catching the Light

acrylic on canvas, 40x30

There's a first ray of hope that the gushing oil spill has been stopped after 87 days of flowing freely. Now begins the serious and difficult fight to save the Gulf of Mexico. Who will take the lead?

Cleaning up the Gulf, and restoring both the jobs and the habitat should now become the priority and focus of action. It will take teamwork, money, and leaderships to restore the loss of the marsh habitat in the upper Gulf, and remove the carpet of oil covering the Gulf bottom.

Someone needs to assess the effects of the oil and chemical dispersant on the vast number of species who's survivial depends on clean water and the the long-term effects on the human population who ring the Gulf, and generate a plan for their recovery.

Further south, the unique Everglades landscape I paint daily is so far unaffected. Our marshes are clear of oil and our beaches still lovely. I've spent long hours in the uninhabited places of South Florida, and come to love the sound of the wetlands and the singing of the insects and the birds as they go about their daily business in a world we can only imagine. I don't want to lose them.