"I love animals and I love to paint. I combine the two and the money I make from commissions I donate to animal welfare causes. I am also a vegan and only use synthetic brushes and canvases primed with acrylic instead of rabbit skin glue. I paint with water mixable oils allowing my brushes to be cleaned with soap and water instead of environmentally hazardous solvents. My entry this year portrays what happened to the animals on April 20, 2010 when the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded. The hole left in the sea-floor gushed 210 million gallons of oil for 87 days before it was capped. It is the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history! In 2014, marine life continues to die in record numbers. On a beautiful spring day I smelled the black smoke and learned of dolphins, sea turtles and pelicans covered in stinking brown oil washing up on our beaches.

Thank you art4apes for giving me a place to express myself with so many others who also care."