Crude… This may be the legacy we leave behind us as a species if we continue living the energy consuming lifestyles we do. Crude is the malignant cancer of the Earth, oozing from beneath the Earth like puss from an infected wound. Crude, like cancer, grows and spreads while destroying everything it comes in contact with… environments, societies, wildlife, and economies.

This is a fractal artwork that was inspired by two recent events.

First, was the news that Exxon managed, through lengthy legal finagling, to have there fines for the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska reduced from the 8 billion dollars awarded by the original jury trial to only 347 million dollars… mere chump change for the world’s largest corporation that has continually had the highest profits in recorded business history. Once again, the taxpayers will end up paying for the difference between that amount and the actual amount to try and restore the devastation created by the spill.

Second, was the fervor of the speakers at the Republican National Convention about opening up both the Alaska Wildlife Preserve on the North Slope, and the coastal waters that surround North America, to drilling for oil. We have seen the actual damages that occur from both of these scenarios, through a long list of previous incidents over the past fifty years, but they are memories to be swept under the rug in the ongoing quest for riches by all those with a financial interest in the oil industry.

We have been clearly given all the warning signs of our impending demise by nature herself, yet we continue to live in denial about the changes we must all take together to save both ourselves and our planet. All of the world’s oldest aboriginal cultures on every continent worldwide have lived for many millenniums with the knowledge that we must live in harmony with the Earth. Yet, we fail to learn from that wisdom and knowledge that has been responsible for these cultures having survived for as long as they have.

Time has come to remove this cancer called crude, or we shall perish from the tumor it creates within all of nature. Time has come to adhere to the wisdom and experience of our aboriginal forefathers in living in harmony with our environment.

All my personal proceeds from any sales on this artwork are being donated to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) , for all the work they have done, and continue to do, for the wildlife victims of these oil spill disasters. IFAW is currently one of the largest animal welfare and conservation charities in the world.

Peace & Love,

Art 4 Earth