With the world getting hotter and the need to prevent climate change from being irreversible becoming ever more desperate; a few years ago I started making a conscious effort to make changes in my day to day life and to do what I could to reduce my own impact. I am a firm believer that it is better to do something, however small, rather than do nothing and pass the blame. We all have a responsibility in this fight and showing you care will influence others and (hopefully) start a chain reaction.

But, alas, I am not here to go into detail about my views on climate change. I just want to do my part in preventing things from passing the point of no return.

I noticed about a year ago that even though I had made a significant difference in my daily life, when it came to art I hadn’t considered the impact all of the supplies, their packaging and the consequential waste. At this point in my life I was in the last year of my bachelor’s degree in Animation and even though my final film was influenced by my thoughts on climate change, I didn’t have the time to think too deeply into how sustainable my art actually was.

Fast forward twelve months and I have graduated from my degree with a sense of cluelessness in what to do next. This is when I decided to go back to the beginning; I want to be able to create and work on the art that I love whilst being able to support a cause that means so much to me.

I am also hoping that this journey will help me to discover who I am as an artist; what I prefer to create and what mediums I prefer to use. Attempting to be fully sustainable will significantly reduce the amount of material I can use which I am hoping will focus my art and help me find myself as an artist

Over the past few weeks, I have been thinking about what aspects I want to tackle first.

Here are some areas I want to cover:

• Using what you already have
• Making my own materials from scratch for example:
  • Pigments
  • Paints (oil, acrylic, watercolour)
  • Ink
  • Paper
  • Charcoal

These are only a small number of things I could do but it is a solid start.

Documenting this journey on my blog will not only help me to keep going but I am hoping it will inspire people to start their own journey.

Whether you are a fellow artist or just curious about small ways you can help, I hope you have fun following me on this journey and that it inspires you to think about how you could be more sustainable in your life.

 

Written by Lara Burley

Edited by Elizabeth Burley