Cozumel: a never ending fascination

In another week I’m going back to Cozumel. Again. I just can’t get enough of that wonderful island in the Caribbean.

This time I won’t be scuba diving, but working on a project that I plan to exhibit at the April Open House at the Stutz.

For 2 weeks in December I photographed the ocean surrounding Cozumel, with the intention of capturing source material for new paintings. I am still utterly captivated by the blue, green and turquoise water.

On one trip to the unpopulated north end of the island I was mesmerized by the unending variety of color to be seen in the ocean. Some of the photos that I captured that morning stand by themselves as exquisite abstract works of art.

But something else happened that day. On a pristine, completely uninhabited, undeveloped beach that could only be reached by boat we found piles of plastic flotsam tossed up onto the beach by the ocean.

The ocean had flung our trash back in our faces. This trash will never break down into anything less than the minascule plastic polymers that are already poisoning our food chain. Appalled by this awakening, I knew that I had to do something about it.

Doing more research, I discovered that the problem is much worse than fouled beaches and turtles tangled in cast off plastic bags. There is a huge area in the Pacific ocean, larger than the state of Texas, where the plastic congregates. For more information, please read: Plastic is Drastic: World's Largest 'Landfill' is in the Middle of the Ocean.

So, I’m going back to Cozumel to work. Not because the problem in Cozumel is any worse than anywhere else, but simply because I have friends there who want to help. We’re going to be cleaning beaches and finding ways to tell this story through art, writing and photography.

I’ll keep you posted.