How to make a dead Albatross Bowl -The Sketch Book Project 2012

In 2009 I discovered Chris Jordan’s Photographs of the dead albatross chicks on Midway atoll.

I was so struck by the images of the dead Albatross that I had to make something in response. Something that would raise awareness about the terrible plastic pollution problem as well as salve my own conscience.

I made a dead albatross bowl.

Two weeks after the bowl was completed Chris Jordan was scheduled to speak at the university of Hobart and I went along to hear him talk about Plastic Pollution.

At the end of Chris Jordan’s talk I went up to him and gave him an image of the dead albatross bowl along with a cover letter explaining how his photographs had impacted my own Artistic practice.

There were a few people talking with him about Plastic Pollution and I struck up a conversation with a young woman with a Canadian accent. In the car park later on this young woman and her friend were leaving and on impulse I jumped out of the car and gave them an image of my dead albatross bowl as well.

That impulse resulted in a new friendship with that young woman who just happened to be a very well respected Scientist Dr Jennifer Lavers.

Jenn gives me plastic that has been inside our seabirds here in Australia and the simple fact of being able to hold a piece of plastic in my hands that has contributed towards the death of a bird inspires me to keep on making, even when the end product might not be pleasing.

This brings me back to a side project I am working on, The Sketch Book Project 2012. Small sketch books were sent out to artists all over the world and we each got to choose a theme for our book. I chose “Fill me with Stories” and I thought I would tell the story of how I work, with the main story in the book dealing with Plastic Pollution as well as showing “How to make a dead Albatross Bowl”

I really dislike blank pages as I don’t think there is anything quite as scary as a crisp white piece of paper. So my first job was to quickly colour in all the pages using poster paint, as it was all I had to hand.

I also painted some pages with slip, using Tasmanian Clay that I had dug out of the ground myself.

Once I got into the swing of things with the poster paint I started to have fun, as I thought about Australia and bushfires and our deadly impact on the planet.

All I have to do now is add in some photos, showing how to make a dead albatross bowl as well as some some text. Spray on some sealant and post it off to America by the Jan 31st deadline and tadaa I am done.