July 4th - Day 75 of the disaster in the Gulf

Day 75: The Battle for Freedom From Oil

Today's sketch carries the flag for Independence Day. The flag flies backwards to pay tribute to our soldiers who's flag on their uniform is backwards as well. The backward flag represents bravery as soldiers go out to war with the flag flying behind them as it would be if they were holding the flag.

As I sketched, I thought about how much the oil spill is like a war for sea life and sea birds who have no way of defending themselves through oil filled water and boom collected oil burns. I thought about how scared the animals must be and how brave they are to continue to search for peace in a safe and healthy environment.

My kids tell me my current sketchbook is creepy. Yes, I tell them the oil spill is horrible, deadly and irresponsible and although we can't see it locally it right now in Miami, we will and it will change our lives forever. I want them to remember how fragile life is; how we need to support ways to use energy without oil; and how important it is to protect our environment.

More pages from my sketchbook...

My sketchbook and the oil in the Gulf has been giving nightmares. I dream about suffocating cries from turtles and dolphins. I reach out to help them, but my muscles and skin are all gone. There doesn't seem to be an end. Every day it just gets worse.

Day 72: BP ignites the boomed oil slicks without checking for sea life. Turtles die, ships are turned away that are searching to help find and capture turtles in harms way. With today's sketch, I stopped using the cutout date from the newspaper as in previous sketches because I no longer trust what the media says about the oil spill.

Day 71: Hurricane Alex hits the shoreline of Mexico missing the devastated oil spill area. However, the category 2 hurricane lead to two deaths and left hundreds injured and homeless.

Day 70: Scientists make a plan to collect 70,000 sea turtle eggs and make a home for them at Kenedy Space Center. Once hatched, the turtles will be released on the east coast of Florida.