ONE COAL CAR

Burning Coal Train, 30" x 40", Acrylic on Canvas, 2015

And the painting goes on… I wondered, now that 2015 is here, whether I would continue referencing in my art the concern I have for the pollution and destruction caused by burning, mining and transporting of coal.  The subject matter can get depressing, especially when one realizes that almost all the US coal transported and exported to Asia goes to the greatest polluters:  China, Japan, India and South Korea.

Check out DP Coal Exports:  http://www.dpcoalexports.com/about-us/our-mission/

Nonetheless, I decided to keep  on truckin’ and continue to paint art work depicting the topic of man-made environmental destruction.

This is a photo I took of coal trains crossing lake Pend Oreille in Sandpoint, Idaho.  My painting, "One Coal Car" was inspired by this photograph.  The bridge, which goes across the pristine waters of this beautiful large lake supports, numerous times a day,  trains lugging as many as 126 open coal cars. Other hazardous cargo, such as crude from North Dakota, also travels along these tracks. To make matters worse, the building of an additional bridge in Sandpoint to transport even more coal and crude is now under consideration.

My hope is that the artwork I create will encourage others to use their voices to show concern about  environmental plundering and encourage the development of alternative energy sources.

Please look at my earlier blogs and also at my website.  Soon, there will be more artwork posted on the site.

Coal Cars on the Lake- Sandpoint, Idaho