to document and cel- ebrate these visual and sensory experi- ences and to mark the passage of time. In a school setting, you need not involve advanced or sophis- ticated computer programs; much of my work on these photo-montages was accomplished with the basic Paint pro- gram in Microsoft Windows. Having your students doing the same with their photos could be part of any number of different types of assignments.
Print-paintings Away from the conservation area, The Mayday Project expanded in my life. It was easy to pick up flattened cans and bottles from the streets of towns and cities where I hap- pened to be. I realised that these materials could be inked and printed with an intaglio press that I had used with my Grade 11 Fine Art classes in years gone by. Back at ENSS, the new Art Club staff advisor, Clarke German, and the lead Visual Art teacher, Angela Young, allowed me to print images on a heavy cotton paper from a roll that had been donated about 15 years earlier. We had never known quite was to do with it, and here was a new opportunity. Gradually, I was able to print a considerable number of images, paint them, and mount them on pieces of old doors purchased at the Re-Store, a commercial enterprise — associated with Hab- itat for Humanity — which sells used and donated building materials.
The prints could
serve as stand-alone print-paintings. You and your students can undoubtedly conceive countless further applications. Any teacher, student, or environmental- ist wanting to adapt or improve this print-painting pro- cess has my blessing to do so! So, the instal-
lation of The May- day Project in the Loft Gallery of the Visual Art Centre
included the 1,154 objects rescued from the Bowmanville Valley. Many of them were shown in two bins acquired from Sears Canada when it went out of business. Some of the found objects really concerned me, including things like 12 paint spray cans, most of which were found in the stream. In the installation, they were blended into a cascade of favour- ite wood pieces which had been collected over the last three decades. Beyond that were pieces of the burned cedar limb that I removed from the valley. On one wall were displayed 19 of the print-paintings made from the flattened cans and bottles. After the exhibition concluded, I was able to take my
story to the Art Department of Bowmanville High School (BHS). An art teacher, Ms Andrea Anfossi, has been active in promoting a ban on single-use plastics in the school. I was pleased to visit her Grade 11 class, showing samples of my work, including the print-paintings. The students seemed quite receptive to my concerns and working methods, and I hope to make more such visits to schools soon.
Green Teacher 119
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