The Extinction Triptych

The Extinction Triptych. ( c 60″ W x 36″ H)

I have completed an unabashedly propagandistic triptych. (Thanks to Cindy Porter for donating the lovely gothic panels when she cleaned out her shed!) My intention is to show this work in various public places, and sell postcards and greeting cards, and maybe eventually posters, to cover the cost of schlepping them places. Then donate whatever is left over to worthy environmental organizations. I haven’t named any organizations here, because as usual I’m long on production, short on follow-up. And since I haven’t generated a red cent off of this project yet, there’s no point in getting anyone excited about donations, right? But if anyone out there has an idea about where they could hang in my effort to make people aware of the sixth great extinction we’re currently going through, get in touch.

​Here’s the text that accompanies the images on the cards:

The Extinction Triptych: “To be continued…”
part 1: Hydrodamalis gigas – The Steller’s sea cow. Discovered by European explorers
in 1741, they were extinct just 27 years later. Apparently, they were delicious. Or at least filling.
part 2: Ectopistes migratorius – The passenger pigeon. Extinct now for 101 years. Once their numbers were so great their migrations blotted out the sun. The last passenger pigeon, “Martha,” died on September 1, 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo.
part 3: Danaus plexippus – The monarch butterfly. Not extinct yet. But headed that way fast. The painting is not finished – on purpose. Hopefully it won’t have to be.