MSDS

It is funny how one thought leads to another.  This is probably my job rubbing off on me, but I have to know how to access the MSDS for the cleaning chemicals we use.  MSDS stands for material safety data sheet.  They tell you possible health concerns about the chemical, and what protective precautions should be taken.

Well I was thinking about how I have never come across MSDS for artist supplies.  I guess in my mind suppliers should have them listed and available for print out on their web sites.  I was looking around in Health Hazards for Artists and it said while manufacturers are required to have a MSDS they are not required to give them to people buying their products.  I am hoping this has changed; my edition of Health Hazards is from 1985.  Perusing Dick Blick's catalog I did see an attempt at a warning system.  I guess I am confused though as to how flake white in one brand of paint has a warning mark, but not in a different brand.  I guess my primary concern is for the person looking to pick up a hobby and assumes it is safe to use without any safety precautions.  I have also heard of art majors eating art supplies before.

Better Science Education for Artists

I will be the first to admit that I did poorly at high school chemistry.  These days though when I think back on my college art classes I find myself wishing that there had been a chemistry class geared towards artists.

After all we handle chemicals as artists.  As a printmaker I have worked with ferric chloride, nitric acid, and dutch mordant (seven parts water to one part hydrochloric acid with a little potassium chlorate)  We were taught some basic saftey stuff, but a little deeper understanding I think would be a good thing.  That being said I think I got more information than what the painters did.  In the one painting class I did take there was no mention of saftey issues with the oil paints we were using.  Even though the cadmium colors are listed as hazardous inorganic pigments.  In fact the painters where I went to graduate school were being pushed to use flake white (i.e. lead white).  They were easily able to bypass this by just having a tube of flake white sitting out.  The professor could not tell that they were actually using the much safer titanium white.  That professor could stand to read A History of Color.  Then maybe she would know that lead white is not only unsafe it is also unstable as a color.  Over time lead white can turn to black, so personally I don't see the point of using it at all.  Unfortunately I have heard of oil painters who have to switch to acrylic because their frequent use of oil paint leads to toxic build up and overload in their system.  Maybe if people had a better understanding of what they are working with and proper saftey precautions this would not be happening.

Edmonia Lewis

In honor of April being women's history month I would like to introduce you all to Edmonia Lewis (1844-1907).  She was part African American and part Native American, but more importantly she was a sculptress.  She lost her parents at an early age, and was brought up by her Native American aunts.  She was allowed to run wild, and when she was eventually sent to a girls' school she was deemed to be to wild for them to handle.





She then went on to Oberlin College.  At any rate she studied art while there, but she did not have an easy go of it.  The college had accepted her, but the community at large had not.  From there she went to Boston to pursue further education in sculpting.  While in Boston she sculpted a bust of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw.  It was the success of this piece that allowed her to move to Rome to continue studies. 



While in Rome Hiram Powers allowed her to work in his studio space.  She focused primarily on African American and Native American subject matter at this point in her life; representing them in neoclassical style.  She was very successful in Rome, and her work fetched high prices.



Perhaps her most famous work was the Death of Cleopatra.