PAINTRESS GRETCHEN: October 2010

Saturday, October 30, 2010

The Art Envoys/Season 2

We are firing up another season of The Art Envoys!

Jade, Lily, and Randy will be kicking off our season premiere with some spectacular never-before-attempted art antics to amaze and dazzle the eyes!

Start making some popcorn, because this season will be live-streamed directly onto your computer!

All your Art Envoy questions will be answered.

Questions like....

Will Jade ever wear a bright colored pantsuit?

Will Lily comes to terms with her inner Yoko Ono?

Will Toulouse fly the coup?

What do Lily and Randy talk about when they think no-one is listening?

SPOILER ALERT!

We'll be treating you to another series of that wildly popular internet game we call Dream Creatures!

You know, the one where you describe the creatures who live in your dreams to us on Facebook, and we'll bring them to you in living color within 20 minutes!

Here's Jade's "Foot-eating monster" painted by Lily.

Eek!

And yes, between all the razzle-dazzle, there will be times of quiet contempation and thoughtful painting

(snooze).

But enough of that already....

Put on your polyester Pantsuit and get ready for

The Art Envoys/ Season 2!

BANG!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Grave Injustice at Memory Gardens

Skulls, femurs, jaws and ribs.

Artificial hips and knees, valves and pins, dental retainers.

This is what we saw in the big open pits overflowing with human bones in our local cemetery, "Memory Gardens".

This has been one memory I just can't shake.

Who were these people and what are their stories?

I don't suppose we will ever know.

One thing is certain, they deserved better than this.

These people donated their bodies to medical research, and ended up in the slimy hands of

Paul Parker: mortician, and creator of this atrocity.

Parker claims he was contracted to cremate and dispose of the bodies of medical donors.

On the most basic level, Parker didn't do his job.

First of all, cremation means pulverizing to dust, which he clearly did not do.

Second of all, I seriously doubt backing a dump truck into open pits not 50 feet from gravesites would be considered proper disposal.

But guess what... he just might get away with this!

Mr. Parker's wife, who wonders why we are making such a big deal over these pits, calls this abomination a "Scatter Garden".

A "Scatter Garden" is a walled-in garden where people scatter the ashes of their loved ones.

Benches, fountains, and flowers are all a part of a quiet, contemplative scenery.

"Memory Gardens" on the other hand, is an ill-kempt, overgrown and pathetic excuse for a cemetery, even without the huge pits of human bones.

Last week, we returned to "Memory Gardens" to see what Parker has been up to.

He's bull-dozed dirt over the pits, but left bones everywhere.

There's bones sticking out of the dirt, bones in the trees, bones scattered in every direction.

We searched furthur, and found additional older, open pits.

These pits never made the news.

I don't believe that it is legal to throw even household garbage away in this manner.

I sent a letter of concern to the "Arizona Funeral Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers" and was relieved to find they are as horrified as we are.

Thankfully, they are begining a criminal investigation against Parker.

On behalf of all these people who donated their bodies to science only to end up disresespected in this manner, we need to speak out in any way we we can.

We cannot let the Parkers get away with this!

Photos by Jennifer Cilch and Gretchen Baer