A Special Thanks to The Jewelers for the Gulf

Dear Aetist,

Thank you for donating a lovely piece of your work to the Jewelers for the Gulf auction.  We at Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans are touched by your gesture and by your goodwill towards the families of the Gulf Coast.

All gifts made through the Jewelers for the Gulf auction are designated for our Gulf Oil Spill Disaster fund.  Catholic Charities and our affiliated ministry, Second Harvest Food Bank, is helping those made vulnerable by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  Since May 1, over 34,000 individuals have received emergency assistance through Catholic Charities. By the numbers, through October 11, 2010:

• 34,695 people (13,620 families) have received emergency assistance from Catholic Charities;
• $821,800 in food vouchers have been distributed to affected families, $80,840 in emergency food boxes from Second Harvest Food Bank have been distributed at the relief centers, in addition to regular distributions through the SHFB partner pantries in the area;
• 393 cans of baby formula and 1,051 packages of diapers have been distributed;
• 10,723 people have received individual counseling with Catholic Charities crisis counselors;
• $299,693 in direct assistance and baby supplies has been distributed to families;

We are honored to serve the greater New Orleans community, and equally honored that you have chosen to invest in the work of Catholic Charities and the ongoing recovery of our region through your auction.  For updates, please visit our website at www.ccano.org.  We are grateful for your support of this urgent response to an increasingly critical human need.

Thanks again,  Helen Smith

Helen Read Smith

Director of Development

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans

1000 Howard Avenue, suite 1000

New Orleans, LA 70113

hsmith@ccano.org–note new e-mail address!

p (504) 592-5688

f (504) 581-2255

www.ccano.org

Jewelers for the Gulf

NEWS ***Jewelers for the Gulf Charity Auction!***

I have put together a fund raiser for the families in Louisiana who have been directly affected by the Oil Spill. We organized a Charity Auction on eBay Giving Works, and went live on Sept. 1, and auctioned through Oct 16, 2010. With the help of these wonderful artist we raised close to $5000. and will be able to feed some of these families in need!

Many, many thanks for their support and the support of the publications following us and to the great bidders who came to the auction!

Here is a list of the wonderful artists and their bios:

• Brenda Radford is a Canadian jewelry designer and goldsmith who creates custom gold, silver, enamel and gemstone jewelry.
• Carolyn Bensinger is a Boston studio jeweler, working in sterling and high karat gold pieces for all occasions.
• Christina Kober, originally from Germany, grew up around the jewelry industry – her father owing a jewelry supply store – and began making delicate jewels in 2000.
• Craig Vandeman is a professional Metalsmith and jewelry designer living in the Dallas area. He has participated in multiple collegiate shows, national juried shows and is currently working on a portfolio for admission to Graduate School.
• Debbie Parent is the founder of Apparently Art in Miami, Florida. She is currently focused on creating fine jewelry made with enamels and set with precious stones, silver and high karat gold.
• Guy Harvey Jewelry by Nautora. Guy Harvey’s famous artworks are now rendered in precious metal to create a singular blend of art and lifestyle jewelry.  Pieces include hard fired enamel in spectacular color and original relic styles.
• Ileana Rojas-Bennett is a Costa Rican jewelry designer who takes her inspiration from the colors and textures of the rainforest. Her fashionable gemstone statement pieces have been chosen by celebrities, and have been showcased on the fashion runways of New York, Miami and soon Boston.
• Jean Marie DeSpiegler is Executive Director of the Florida Society of Goldsmiths and a hobbyist jeweler who pulls her inspiration from childhood memories of growing up on the Gulf Coast.
• Jenny Baughman is the daughter of two artists, who spent a lifetime surrounded by art in all forms and recently discovered her true passion of working with metals.
• Jerry Scavezze is a fine gold jewelry artist from Colorado who specializes in Anticlastic Raising.
• Joyce Howell is a studio artist and jewelry teacher who has been making silver jewelry for more than 10 years.  She sells her work in art shows around the country and to local buyers in nearby boutiques.
• Julia Woodman is the first American to have been certified Master Silversmith in Finland. She specializes in constructing many small cut and formed pieces of metal to create 3- dimensional shapes, a process she calls three-dimensional tessellation.
• Karen Ildved runs ILDVED – a medieval loving, nature inspired, one-person jewelry studio. She works mostly with sterling, copper, and natural materials (moss, wood, stone).
• Karen L. Cohen and Susan Jo Rochlin are sisters who have been creating since they were very young. Ms. Cohen is an enamelist, metalsmith, beader, author and teacher, specializing in Cloisonne enameling and bead embroidery. Ms. Rochlin is a beader specializing in bead embroidery and using pearls in all of her work. They work separately and together and have sold in various juried shows and galleries.
• Kathleen Wilcox is an award-winning artist and enamellist, whose work can be seen nationally in galleries, museums, and art festivals.
• Kristin Anderson is an award-winning artist and metalsmith, who has spent most of her life learning about and teaching art. She now focuses on designing custom pieces for clients, teaching, and making beautiful works in silver, gold, enamel, and stones.
• Kristina Weick is a jewelry artist from New Orleans, now living in Florida. She is currently acting President Emertis Florida Society of Goldsmiths-Greater Pensacola Chapter.
• Marge Stewart has been making jewelry, with an emphasis on Cloisonné, for more than 20 years. She incorporates her love of intense color, the luminosity of glass and the technique of painting in each one-of-a-kind peice.
• Mary McBride was born and raised in southwest Louisiana, An MFA recipient, she specializes in techniques that incorporate textiles, silver, and unconventional mixed materials, producing an eclectic variety of collectibles.
• Mary Timmer has been designing and hand fabricating jewelry since 1998.
• Her work has been showcased in many fine craft galleries and juried art shows. Her pieces are unique, incorporating a mix of fine metals, pearls and stones.
• Patricia Tschetter is an award-winning jeweler and metalsmith, whose work has been shown nationally and is carried by galleries and boutiques across the country.
• Patsy Croft is an award-winning Cloisonne jewelry artist whose work can be seen in art jewelry galleries throughout the country. She focuses on works using brightly colored enamels, high-karat metals and precious stones. Patsy is the primary organizer of “Jewelers for the Gulf” Charity
• Ray Parsis is an Enamel Jewelry Artist who specializes in the ancient technique of “plique-a-jour.”
• Shannon Cobb-Tappan designs and creates jewelry for the modern woman that is refined and wearable. Using both found and precious metals, she strives to create elegant forms which offer a balance between organic textures and modern line quality.
• Tom McCarthy has been making jewelry for more than twenty-five years.  An MFA recipient, his work is in numerous private and public collections, including the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in Charlotte, NC.
• Valerie Harmon-Curtis has been learning about and making jewelry since childhood. She recently retired and loves that she can now make jewelry anytime she likes.
• Diana Casabar as a kid, Diana watched her father create pendants and rings for their family in his spare time. Diana specializes in chasing and repousse, the ancient art form of sculpting metal with hammers, tools, and flame. she has created works for private collections from California to Maine, and her work is currently in art251 at The Arthouse of Keller, TX.
• Joe Cliff studied metalsmithing and jewelry at the Memphis College of Art and received an MFA from Southern Illinois University. He has worked as an independent artist-metalsmith; designed and manufactured jewelry in a commercial setting; and has taught jewelry making, lapidary and bronze casting. His recent explorations in jewelry and metalsmithing include combining steel with precious metals and the re-discovery of enameling. Joe’s “day job” for the last 20 years has been biomedical engineering.
• Claude Roy from Quebec, Canada, autodidact artist, and I enjoy working with different materials and given them a form. It’s fascinating how a simple piece of metal, stone or wood can be transformed.
• Rose Padgett always had an interest in the creative process, which started as a child working along side her father. A graduate from the UWF with a B.A. and a career with the Federal Government, now has given her time to create jewels, primarily using sterling silver, copper and brass, embellished with cabochons, beads, found objects. Rose serves as the FSG-Greater Pensacola Chapter’s Secretary.
• Barbara Allen Frost began working in enamels, she quickly recognized that this was a medium she had a special affinity for, combining her love of the color spectrum with both actual and visual surface textures and abstract designs. Attending numerous enameling conferences has given her a great appreciation for the enameling traditions as well as meeting some of the world’s best enamelists.
• Alice Scott started making jewelry when she was six years old. She attended Rhode Island School of Design for Jewelry and Metalsmithing. Today, she continues to make work that celebrates traditions and borrows symbols from a variety of spiritual and cultural practices in order to create her own world of sacred objects.
• Barbara Bowling specializes in vitreous enameling and metal etching, inspired by the small canvas that jewelry-sized work presents. All of her pieces are one-of-a-kind, presenting unique opportunities for personal adornment. Barbara’s 15 years as a professor of horticulture are reflected in the plant forms and the natural textures and flowing lines of her designs. Her intellectual and emotional inspiration is first and foremost plant life.
• Rio Grande for more than 65 years, Rio Grande has provided innovative and exclusive findings, gemstones, display and packaging items, and the latest tools, equipment and supplies to the jewelry industry.
• Gina McDonald jewelry artist and designer who grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida.  She is very versatile and works with many materials sterling silver wire, polymer clay, glass and gemstones to name a few.
• Jan Van Diver My academic degree is in the more traditional two dimensional fine arts, painting and serigraphy; my true and addictive passion was ignited when I discovered this new world of enamel, metal and stones. Though I’m largely self taught, I’ve had the great fortune to study with leading metalsmiths, jewelry designer/makers and enamelists through graduate courses. Each of my pieces is a labor of love,  totally hand made and unique, and one of a kind.
• Linda Crawford My creations are one-of-a-kind as well as limited edition cloisonné enameled jewelry using a variety of precious gems, unique fossils, stones, found objects, fine silver, sterling silver and gold all with a special message for the owner.
• Kathleen Gatliffe’s education is in engineering and fine arts.  She turned to metal and glass as a way of incorporating her technical interests with her creative work. She currently lives in Colorado.
• Chriss Zaida is the owner of  Toto Zaida a fine ladies clothing in Fort Bragg CA. Whom heard about the Auction and made a jewel donation. If in the area visit her at 142 E Laurel St
Fort Bragg, CA 95437.
• Delia, FireFusion Studio explores limitless artistic expression through the design and creation of abstract vitreous enamel pendants. She is continually energized by the possibilities of applying her modern, open sensibility to an ancient art form.
• Jan Bennett I designed my SEA OF TEARS especially for the Oil Spill Recovery Efforts. In order to raise awareness and funds for the families and contribute to the clean up process. Awareness is so vitally important as most folks don’t realize the long term effects that have impacted lifes on the Gulf Coast.
• Patty Kuzbida  likes to use some form of recycling in my work. She has  been making jewelry for 10 years along with mosaics.  I am fortunate enough to have 2 pieces in the upcoming American Visionary Art Museum show, “What Makes Us Smile”, opening October 9th   www.avam.org
• Kent Snyder a self taught hand engraver & metalsmith. Favorite metals are silver, copper& red brass. Kent also makes 18th century American longrifles.
• Heidi Kummli is the coauthor of The Art of Bead Embroidery (along with Sherry Serafini), which has been one of our top-selling beading books for Kalmbach Books since it was published in 2007. Her beadwork is an expression of herself, and her feelings for our Mother Earth and the creatures upon her. Through researching Native American beadwork techniques and trial and error, her work has continually evolved.
• Anna Draeger is an associate editor at Bead&Button magazine, a CREATE YOUR STYLE with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS Ambassador, and the author of Ask Anna, an online Q&A column about beading, and Crystal Brilliance: Making Designer Jewelry with Crystal Beads.
• Sherri Rehill-Wesler is the artisan /owner of “IndigoEarth” ,a unique company infusing creative energy and the celebration of life into each of its products. Our unique jewelry combines sterling silver, imported glass beads & crystals, plated findings and accent pieces creating “one of a kind” treasures! IndigoEarth’s products are designed to be a beautiful part of your everyday life. So Enjoy Life and Love the Earth!
• Tricia Tribble jewelry is displayed at the Nevada Art Museum’s gift shop. The Egyptian coil was developed 3,500 years ago by a goldsmith for his Pharaoh.  Tricia  compliments the style by adding gems. She been surrounded by from singing, dancing to quilting and now jewelry for the last 10 years, and studied in Italy, Florentine art and have been listed in Who’s Who of Women and in the West.
• Brenda Ido chief designer Child of God Creations. Heavenly Designs is a unique experience in one of a kind jewelry, we believe in integrity, and morality. ” Do unto others as you would have them do to you” is our company logo. We are a married couple that enjoys making jewelry and work daily to expand our horizons, so that we may deliver the newest fashions.
• Cynthia Wuller is inspired by mythology, folklore, and learning new techniques.  Her work has been featured in numerous books including her own, Inspired Wire.
• Celine Barberio of Selena Claira Jewels, born in Chibougamau, Québec, and currently resides in Ontario.  “I love to do Chain Maille, Beading, Resin, Wire Work and all kinds of Arts and Crafts.  I started making Wire Wrapped Jewelry last years when I took a class with Robert J. Burton here in Toronto.  I credit my knowledge of Wire Work to Dale “Cougar” Armstrong, Patricia Capotosto, Linda Chandler, Christine Ritchey, Liz Jones, Denise Peck and most recently Matthew Nix.”  selenaclairajewels@rogers.com
• Karen Leonardo has been a lampwork beadmaker and jewelry designer since 1996. She has written 2 books; Creating Lampwork Beads for Jewelry and Art Bead Jewelry “Seasons in Glass”. She invented glass tool lines called The Leonardo Petal Pullers which pull petals from glass rods to be used in sculpted glass flowers and the  Leonardo Featherbone and Fishbone tools and the Leonardo Imprinters. Karen is the current Regional Director for the Mid Atlantic States for the ISGB. Her accomplishments include, Pennsylvania Artist of the Year and The International Who’s Who of Business Women and Entrepreneurs
• Kate Dooley from Southwest Missouri, USA. A jewelry artist for 20 years, in many different mediums to produce one of a kind original jewelry. I specialize in seed beaded embroidery bracelets and pendants, and embellishing blank wooden bangles,may they remind you of the powerful movement of people invested in the recovery of the Gulf from this disaster.
• Lisa Lehmann “Art is my passion. It is who I am. I create, because I cannot help myself.” Lisa is a Grand Rapids, MI based jewelry artist. She counts it a privilege to have been gifted with a creative spirit. Lisa seeks beauty in all things and appreciates the endless potential of blending color, shape and texture. Her work is soft & fluid. She enjoys the intricate, delicate, subtle forms which impart a refined femininity.
• Aimee Carpenter graduate from Savannah College of Art and Design. makes her own designs with Swarovski Crystals. She has a book coming out in March 2011 with Kalmbach Publishing titled Endless Sparkle. You can read more by going to www.kalmbach.com/books and click on the link for the jewelry and craft authors.
• Patricia Geiser lives in St. Louis, Missouri and creating beautiful things has been a life-long passion.  Beginning at the age of ten, drawing on any flat surface, led to painting when Patricia reached her teens.  Today, she creates jewelry, paintings and pottery. Her heritage leads her back to New Orleans, the birthplace of her mother, Doris Deckbar.  Both her mother, Doris and her father, Harry Wade of St. Louis, have artists in their ancestry.  Patricia feels that she is inspired by all things in nature as well as a simple verse or word of spiritual meaning.

Patsy Croft

“Jewelers for the Gulf”

Art Jewelry Magazine Calling for the Cause!

Many thanks to  Hazel Wheaton  Editor of Art Jewelry Magazine for recognizing our cause and featuring the Fundraiser in their news letter this week. We have had several more donations and this has also brought in more bidders!

Style Spotlight, American Style Magazine

Style Spotlight: The Jewels of the Gulf

AUGUST 2010 |  BY JENNIFER CLARY |  FALL 2010, ISSUE 73

The oil spill in the Gulf has not only damaged Louisiana’s ecosystem, but also many Gulf Coast residents’ livelihoods. In order to help those affected by the disaster, more than 20 notable jewelry artists, including Mary Timmer, Mary McBride, have come together to donate their work through the charity website eBay Giving Works.

Throughout September and October, the artists, who call themselves “Jewelers for the Gulf,” will provide unique pieces for auction, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans, which has provided food and assistance to almost 20,000 fishermen and their families since early May.

“We designed this event to help shine a light on the fact that many people are now out of work because of the oil spill,” says participating artist Patsy Croft. “This event gives people a way to help their fellow Americans while doing something nice for themselves or a loved one at the same time.”

Beginning Sept. 1, visit www.ebaygivingworks.com and search for “JewelersForTheGulf” to view the available pieces.

Mary McBride is among the artists who are donating pieces

to an online charity auction for oil spill victims.

Thank You for helping us spread the word!

From the beginning of our announcement FSG supported us in helping to spread the information about the Cause and reach out to artist. GGG, The Enamelist Society, Many of the individual guilds, The Daily Jewel, Earth Times, National Jeweler, American Style, American Craft, Crafthaus, Ornament, and Glass on Metal, we thank all of you for the support!

“Jewelers for the Gulf”

More Families Feed!

Thanks to all these wonderful artist for their support and donations of their jewels to help us feed the fishing families of Louisiana! We had another great week at the auction.

Check it out, we will be running through the first week of Oct.  ”Jewelers for the Gulf”

Patsy Croft

Rio Grande!

Rio Grande just made a very nice donation for Jewelers for the Gulf

We are helping the families of Louisiana! THANK YOU ARTIST

It feels great to be able to help our neighbors. The wonderful jewelers here have come together and made great donations of their time and materials to make a difference. I am proud to be among them!

We finish our first round and already have the second and third going. If you have not looked at the auction you are missing out. Jewelers for the Gulf

These Families Need Our Help, Donate Jewelers for the Gulf

Catholic Charities relief effort for victims of Gulf oil spill running out of funds.

“the public think the spill is over but the damage will be here for a while” Patsy Croft

Catholic Charities workers prepare to help oil spill victims. Credit: ccano.org.

New Orleans, La., Aug 5, 2010 / 03:02 am (CNA).- Efforts to help those affected by the Gulf Coast oil spill are running out of funds, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans has said in an urgent appeal. So far the charity’s action has helped almost 20,000 people for 90 days, but financial resources are almost “exhausted.”

Relief services have been provided along the coast at nine sites at a cost of over $100,000 per week.

“We are now spending our meager reserves to assist fishermen and fishing communities affected by the spill. We will not waver in our commitment to the people,” Catholic Charities co-president Gordon Wadge stated on August 3. “We believe supporters locally and nationally will come through for us and enable us to continue to provide the quality services that have allowed so many to cope and keep their lives together.”

Catholic Charities reported that the oil company BP provided $1.1 million in funding on May 18 for 30 days of service. The oil company approached the charitable agency because it was already delivering services and because BP believed its emergency response model was effective.

The charity said it worked closely with BP outreach staff and “leveraged” the corporation’s initial contribution to provide 60 days of service. However, its $1.8 million in funding, which included contributions from individuals and foundations, is now “exhausted.”

Catholic Charities co-president Jim Kelly reported that in late June the agency submitted a request to BP for $12 million in additional funding to serve seven civil parishes in coastal Louisiana. BP has discussed funding of necessary services in meetings with officials from affected states.

“The real danger is that our ability to put food on people’s tables, to counsel those in need, and to pay outstanding bills for fishing families with no income could come to an end,” Kelly added. “We have a covenant with these brave and hard working people, but our work is not sustainable without new funding.”

The charity reports it has provided emergency assistance to 19,577 people, including 7,960 families. It has distributed almost $600,000 in food vouchers and almost $79,000 in emergency food boxes from its affiliated ministry Second Harvest Food Bank. The food bank itself has distributed over 300,000 meals.

Other aid includes more than 1,000 packages of diapers and nearly $194,000 in other direct assistance and baby supplies to families. Mental health crisis counselors have also counseled over 6,000 people.

Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans is accepting donations at its website, http://www.ccano.org.

Get involved and donate! Jewelers for the Gulf

Patsy Croft

Our News does not seem to be focusing on the People

It is hard for me to understand how and why the media focused on the people of Haiti intensely and has not shone the faces our people of the Gulf. It seems to me if they would the people of America would help these people as we did when Haiti was in their crisis.

BAYOU GRAND CAILLOU, La.

In Gulf of Mexico waters deemed safe, at least for now, the two metal claws of a weather-beaten flatboat rake the muck below for those prehistoric chunks of desire, oysters. Then the captain and his two deckhands, their shirts flecked with the pewter mud of the sea, dump the dripping haul onto metal tables and begin the culling.

They hammer apart the clumps of attached oysters and toss back the empty shells and stray bits of Hurricane Katrina debris. They work quickly but carefully; a jagged oyster will slice your hand for not respecting its beautiful ugliness.

The men sweep their catch onto the boat’s floor, not far from a pile of burlap sacks. Their day will be measured by the number of full sacks their boat, the Miss Allison, carries to shore. Each 100-pound sack means $14 for the captain and $3 apiece for the deckhands.

The rocklike oyster and the burlap sack. As basic as it gets in the gulf, yet both are integral to a complex system of recycling and ingenuity, a system now threatened, along with most everything else, by the continuing oil-spill catastrophe in the gulf.

The disaster’s economic fallout has had a sneaky domino effect, touching the lives of everyone from the French Quarter shuckers who turn oyster-opening into theater to the Minnesota businessman who grinds the shells for chicken-feed supplement. Some victims were unaware that they were even tiles in the game, so removed were they from the damaged waters.

Take the burlap sacks on this oyster boat, for example, bearing the markings of Brazilian, Costa Rican and Mexican coffee companies. They come from a simple business, Steve’s Burlap Sacks, run out of a hot warehouse in Waveland, Miss., 120 miles away. And if you were to go there today, you would find the warehouse quiet, and the work-hardened owner trying very hard to keep it together.

“I don’t think the Lord’s looking this way no more,” he says.

Before a distant and fatal oil-rig explosion nearly three months ago, here is how the symbiotic sack-and-oyster system worked:

Coffee companies in Florida, Louisiana and Texas would unload the raw beans shipped from around the world, then sell their sacks in bulk to just about the only person who wanted them, a callused former oysterman from Louisiana named Steve Airhart.

Burlap sacks have long seemed almost divinely designed to hold oysters. Resilient, ventilated, able to handle the wet, and when past their use, they even burn well enough to keep the docks free of the pesky bugs called no-see-ums. But two decades ago, when Mr. Airhart was still raking for oysters, he could never find enough sacks.

After a friend’s relative helped him get some sacks from a large coffee importer, Mr. Airhart sensed opportunity. Within a year, he was harvesting sacks rather than oysters, sorting and stacking them in his driveway and then reselling them to oyster operations. From Bayou La Batre, Ala., to Galveston, Tex., he became known as the burlap-sack guy.

He had to start all over after Hurricane Katrina, living in a tent for several months while building a new warehouse in Waveland. But soon his employees were unloading truckloads of sacks, then laying the undamaged ones into a baler, 500 to a bale, each a ragged postcard from some faraway place.

“Produce of Indonesia.”

“Produce de Cote D’Ivoire.”

“Cafes do Brasil.”

Mr. Airhart’s six employees — Ben, Clyde, Jessica, Paula, Tommy and Tyler — would work from 7 a.m. until whenever, breathing in the fine coffee dust, sweeping up the stray green beans, taking in the smell that was like wet dog, earning $13 a bale. Then a trucker would deliver the baled sacks to Misho’s Oyster Company, in San Leon, Tex., or to Crystal Seas Seafood, in Pass Christian, Miss., or to Motivatit Seafoods, in Houma, La.

Motivatit is owned by two brothers, Mike and Steve Voisin, whose family has dedicated several generations to the pursuit of a living thing in a forbidding shell; a thing that poses a faint risk when consumed raw, yet evokes the wildness of the ocean.

“You’re getting a real bite of the sea,” Mike Voisin says.

Motivatit is one of the gulf’s dominant oyster operations. Before the spill, it managed 10,000 acres of oyster beds and processed 60,000 pounds of oysters a day. But to collect these craggy surprises of nature, the company hires boats like the Miss Allison.

Several times a week, the Miss Allison pulls away from a dock near a small place called Theriot, La., bound for where porpoises sometimes provide escort. Its captain, Santos Rodriguez, sun-baked and 44, has churned these waters for 26 years, long enough to wonder whether he’s raking up the same shells and bottles; long enough to measure a bag’s weight by hand rather than by scale.

And yes, the captain eats oysters. Using a short knife, he pops the seal of a just-harvested oyster with safecracker élan, makes a cut, and slurps the wild goop down.

But with the oil spill forcing the shutdown of oyster beds throughout the gulf — including about 60 percent of Motivatit’s acreage — he has never seen the catch so low. Yes, the price for a sack is up, but the total number of sacks is down. Normally, he and his crew will return to shore with about 60 sacks; now, a good day is 35.

His two muck-spattered deckhands, Luis Gomez, 24, and Cesar Badillo, 23, reflect the changed life, having recently moved to Houma after oyster beds elsewhere in Louisiana shut down. Mr. Gomez wears a cross around his neck, Mr. Badillo wears a burlap sack for an apron, and both wear gloves over their shell-scarred hands.

After a piece of machinery breaks, the Miss Allison turns around. By the time it reaches shore, to a dock paved with crushed oyster shells, the crew has 30 sacks filled and knotted — about $90 each for the deckhands, and about $420 for the captain, who has paid for the gas and food and must now fix the broken equipment.

Early the next morning, amid the din of the Motivatit plant in Houma, a stocky woman in a blue construction hat weighs these bags and others by hook. She then dumps their contents, which look like bits of construction debris, onto a conveyor belt to begin a process that involves tumblers, washers and dozens of employees. Wearing hairnets and aprons adorned with their first names and hand-drawn hearts, they shuck and shuck.

But because the oil spill has forced the shutdown of so many of Motivatit’s oyster beds — most of them out of precaution, some of them because of the presence of oil — these workers are processing about half the normal number of oysters. “With the lower amount of product, we’re having to cut most of the orders,” Mike Voisin says. “We’ve had to minimize.”

This means that Motivatit now employs about 80 workers, two dozen fewer than usual. The entire night shift has been suspended.

This means that the weekly deliveries to Los Angeles, by way of El Paso, Tucson and Phoenix, have stopped, as have the deliveries to Las Vegas, where clients prefer smaller oysters from beds that are now off limits.

This means that Warehouse Shell Sales, in Newport, Minn., may have to adjust. Several times a year, it has 1,500 tons of gulf oyster shells, including many from Motivatit, barged up the Mississippi River to be crushed and sold as poultry feed mix; chickens draw calcium from the oyster-shell bits sitting in their gizzards, hardening the shells of the eggs they produce.

But the oil spill has the shell company’s owner, Gary Lund, worried about supply. He says he is now exploring other options.

Finally, this means disaster for the burlap-sack guy, Steve Airhart.

Four months ago, his hot and dusty warehouse in Waveland was humming, with loose sacks coming in and baled sacks going out: 135,000 sold in March, 139,000 in April, and the busy summer season coming up. Then it stopped.

Mr. Airhart, 49, did what he could for a few weeks, but finally he had to lay off Paula, Jessica and the others. “One of the hardest days of my life,” he says. “But they knew it was coming. They heard me on the phone, begging to make sales.”

Now the warehouse is mostly empty, save for the few stacks of bales no one wants, and a boat that Mr. Airhart suddenly had the time to finish. He says thatBP, the oil company responsible for the spill, has paid him $20,000 so far for lost business, but that is nowhere near enough to cover the $320,000, plus sweat equity, that he has invested in the company.

The former oysterman is looking forward to sliding this boat he’s built into the damaged waters. He wants to help clean up what has broken so many fragile systems.

If you need some ideas of how you can help visit www.oceanfutures.org/action/offshore-oil-drilling/how-you-can-help

And if you decide to join “Jewelers for the Gulf” we will help these individuals.

Patsy Croft

Jewelers for the Gulf Donating to a Cause

News

Here in Orange Beach, Al. Many of  my friends are in trouble and more so in Mississippi and Louisiana 

We are making  jewels and researching a way to help those in need. Anyone interested, enamelist or metalsmith in helping the families whom have lost their livelihood  because of the oil spill stay tuned while we work out the details.

This is a place I believe would be great to help. Many, as we have found are donating to the Wild Life Foundations but not the people.

• Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans is fighting hunger in south Louisiana through food distribution, education, advocacy and disaster relief.
• One in eight people in Louisiana is struggling with hunger.
• We serve approximately 262,800 clients annually across 23 parishes in south Louisiana through over 235 faith-based and nonprofit member agencies.

OIL SPILL RELIEF

• According to the LA Department of Social Services, it is estimated that 47,656 households may eventually require food assistance due to the effects of the oil spill.

Second Harvest Food Bank member agencies have already experienced a 15 to 25 percent increase in the number of new people seeking emergency food assistance since May 1 in affected communities. We anticipate that this number will grow and that emergency food assistance will be needed in coastal communities for the long term.

Start sending us your images today and we will begin posting them the first of next week on the eBay Giving Works. Our auction is planned to begin Sept 1  and run through Oct 30.

Look forward to hearing from you,

Patsy 

In Our Weekly Town Meetings

We all know man’s greed has caused many problems in our world. And here in Orange Beach, Al at our weekly town meetings it is visible that man’s greed is killing us and all we love and have lived here for. I will never be able to understand, and I know in my life time I will never see this cleaned up.

The worst of it to me is not only seeing the dolphins wash to shore dead and the pelicans dying, but BP’s lies and our government turning this into a political gain. It  has been as difficult as watching my parents die!

A man died this week as he lost his life here as a fishing guide. A wife and children have lost their loved one. And BP is trying to look like a good guy by paying for his funeral. How ridiculous!

BP Promises to Pay for Kruse’s Funeral – Gulf Shores Alabama

Friday, June 25th, 2010

GULF SHORES, Alabama – BP promised to pay for the funeral of charter boat captain Alan Kruse from Orange Beach, who committed suicide Tuesday. Alan Kruse shot and killed himself June 22, supposedly distraught over the ongoing coastal crisis. Kruse was known as “Rookie” to his friends, and took his own life aboard his boat at the Gulf Shores Marina in Fort Morgan. He was fifty-five years old. He left behind a wife and kids. He was known as a man who would give you the shirt off his back and had a wicked sense of humor.

And yes, as Mayor Tony Kennon says BP is not doing what they say to the media. We have claims here, friends are in a very bad way and BP week after week tell the people they lost their claim, fill again. Or if they process it  a check might be received for 1/10 of the filed claim.  I have heard BP say the check was lost in the mail, so you will have to re-file!

You can watch this commercial and come visit here and you will see a different story.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/business-15749628/20530635

In the paper today, If there is a face of hope in South Alabama these days, it is Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon. He is a Republican, but says the partisanship must go.

“Our lives are completely disrupted, and political games are being played on the right and the left,” he said. “It makes me mad.”

“If we’ve become a country that uses the pain of others for our own political gain, we have no future.”

As it rolls in:

Sea creatures flee oil spill, gather near shore

GULF SHORES, Ala. – Dolphins and sharks are showing up in surprisingly shallow water just off the Florida coast. Mullets, crabs, rays and small fish congregate by the thousands off an Alabama pier. Birds covered in oil are crawling deep into marshes, never to be seen again.

Marine scientists studying the effects of the BP disaster are seeing some strange — and troubling — phenomena.

Fish and other wildlife are fleeing the oil out in the Gulf and clustering in cleaner waters along the coast. But that is not the hopeful sign it might appear to be, researchers say.

The animals’ presence close to shore means their usual habitat is badly polluted, and the crowding could result in mass die-offs as fish run out of oxygen. Also, the animals could easily get devoured by predators.

“A parallel would be: Why are the wildlife running to the edge of a forest on fire? There will be a lot of fish, sharks, turtles trying to get out of this water they detect is not suitable,” said Larry Crowder, a Duke University marine biologist.

The nearly two-month-old oil spill has created an environmental catastrophe unparalleled in U.S. history as tens of millions of gallons of have spewed into the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. Scientists are seeing some unusual things as they try to understand the effects on thousands of species of marine life.

Day by day, scientists in boats tally up dead birds, sea turtles and other animals, but the toll is surprisingly small given the size of the disaster. The latest figures show that 783 birds, 353 turtles and 41 mammals have died — numbers that pale in comparison to what happened after the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska in 1989, when 250,000 birds and 2,800 otters are believed to have died.

Click image to see pictures of Gulf wildlife

Jose Luis Magana/Reuters

Researchers say there are several reasons for the relatively small death toll: The vast nature of the spill means scientists are able to locate only a small fraction of the dead animals. Many will never be found after sinking to the bottom of the sea or getting scavenged by other marine life. And large numbers of birds are meeting their deaths deep in the Louisiana marshes where they seek refuge from the onslaught of oil.

“That is their understanding of how to protect themselves,” said Doug Zimmer, spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

For nearly four hours Monday, a three-person crew with Greenpeace cruised past delicate islands and mangrove-dotted inlets in Barataria Bay off southern Louisiana. They saw dolphins by the dozen frolicking in the oily sheen and oil-tinged pelicans feeding their young. But they spotted no dead animals.

“I think part of the reason why we’re not seeing more yet is that the impacts of this crisis are really just beginning,” Greenpeace marine biologist John Hocevar said.

As for the fish, locals are seeing large schools hanging around piers where fishing has been banned; apparently the fish feel safer now that they are not being disturbed by fishermen.

Also, researchers believe fish are swimming closer to shore because the water is cleaner and more abundant in oxygen. Father out in the Gulf, researchers say, the spill is not only tainting the water with oil but also depleting oxygen levels.

A similar scenario occurs during “dead zone” periods — the time during summer months when oxygen becomes so depleted that fish race toward shore in large numbers. Sometimes, so many fish gather close to the shoreline off Mobile that locals rush to the beach with tubs and nets to reap the harvest.

But this latest shore migration could prove deadly.

First, more oil could eventually wash ashore and overwhelm the fish. They could also become trapped between the slick and the beach, leading to increased competition for oxygen in the water and causing them to die as they run out of air.

“Their ability to avoid it may be limited in the long term, especially if in near-shore refuges they’re crowding in close to shore, and oil continues to come in. At some point they’ll get trapped,” Crowder said. “It could lead to die-offs.”

The fish could also fall victim to predators such as sharks and seabirds. Already there have been increased shark sightings in shallow waters along the Gulf Coast.

The counting of dead wildlife in the Gulf is more than an academic exercise; the deaths will help determine how much BP pays in damages.

Roger Helm, chief of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s contaminants division, said the government expects a battle with BP over the extent of the damage and has every incentive to be scientifically credible.

“Both sides go to their own corner and interpret the data the way they want,” Helm said. “This is a legal process, and if we can’t get an agreement we’ll end up in court.”

Our Hearts are Breaking!!!!!

Don’t Just Turn the Page

Humans are interesting, we read the story, complain, and that is the end. No action taking! I hear from my children, whom are adults now, bla, bla, bla. But do they get involved and act on any of their complaints? Of course not. Like most of the rest of the human population they just complain.

Get involved! Here is a very very easy way www.worldwildlife.org/home.html Just go to the home page and there are many many issues you can say something about. It easier than taking out the garbage. As I mentioned before, if you don’t act on an issue then you are really condoning it!

Patsy Croft

The Gulf Spill

You may have heard the news in the last two days about the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig which caught fire, burned for two days, then sank in 5,000 ft of water in the Gulf of Mexico.  There are still 11 men missing, and they are not expected to be found.

The rig belongs to Transocean, the world’s biggest offshore drilling contractor.  The rig was originally contracted through the year 2013 to BP and was working on BP’s Macondoexploration well when the fire broke out.  The rig costs about $500,000 per day to contract.  The full drilling spread, with helicopters and support vessels and other services, will cost closer to $1,000,000 per day to operate in the course of drilling for oil and gas.  The rig cost about $350,000,000 to build in 2001 and would cost at least double that to replace today. The rig represents the cutting edge of drilling technology.  It is a floating rig, capable of working in up to 10,000 ft water depth.  The rig is not moored;  It does not use anchors because it would be too costly and too heavy to suspend this mooring load from the floating
structure.  Rather, a triply-redundant computer system uses satellite positioning to control powerful thrusters that keep the rig on station within a few feet of its intended location, at all times.  This is called Dynamic Positioning. The rig had apparently just finished cementing steel casing in place at depths exceeding 18,000 ft.  The next operation was to suspend the well so that the rig could move to its next drilling location, the idea being that a rig would return to this well later in order to complete the work necessary to bring the well into production.

It is thought that somehow formation fluids –oil /gas –got into the wellboreand were undetected until it was too late to take action.  With a floating drilling rig setup, because it moves with the waves, currents, and winds, all of the main pressure control equipment sits on the seabed –the uppermost unmoving point in the well.  This pressure control equipment –the Blowout Preventers, or ‘BOP’s”as they’re called, are controlled with redundant systems from the rig.  In the event of a serious emergency, there are multiple Panic Buttons to hit, and even fail-safe Deadmansystems that should be automatically engaged when something of this proportion breaks out.  None of them were apparently activated, suggesting that the blowout was especially swift to escalate at the surface.   The flames were visible up to about 35 miles away.  Not the glow –the flames.  They were 200 –300 ft high.
All of this will be investigated and it will be some months before all of the particulars are known.  For now, it is enough to say that this marvel of modern technology, which had been operating with an excellent safety record, has burned up and sunk taking souls with it.

The well still is apparently flowing oil, which is appearing at the surface as a slick.  They have been working with remotely operated vehicles, or ROV’swhich are essentially tethered miniature submarines with manipulator arms and other equipment that can perform work underwater while the operator sits on a vessel.  These are what were used to explore the Titanic, among other things.  Every floating rig has one on board and they are in constant use.  In this case, they are deploying ROV’sfrom dedicated service vessels. They have been trying to close the well in using a specialized port on the BOP’sand a pumping arrangement on their ROV’s. They have been unsuccessful so far.  Specialized pollution control vessels have been scrambled to start working the spill, skimming the oil up. In the coming weeks they will move in at least one other rig to drill a fresh well that will intersect the blowing one at its pay zone.  They will use technology that is capable of drilling from a floating rig, over 3 miles deep to an exact specific point in the earth –with a target radius of just a few feet plus or minus. Once they intersect their target, a heavy fluid will be pumped that exceeds the formation’s pressure, thus
causing the flow to cease and rendering the well safe at last.  It will take at least a couple of months to get this done, bringing all available technology to bear.  It will be an ecological disaster if the well flows all of the while;  Optimistically, it could bridge off downhole.

It’s a sad day when something like this happens to any rig, but even more so when it happens to something on the cutting edge of our capabilities.  The photos that follow show the progression of events over the 36 hours from catching fire to sinking.

Written by a drill consultant.

Disaster!

Deepwater Horizon disaster and oil spill will impact people, communities, environment for decades

The Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico is a disaster unfolding before our eyes. Eleven lives were lost in the initial explosion, and that incalculable loss is compounded daily as oil continues to flow from the wellhead despite efforts on the part of BP and TransOcean to quell it. No one can accurately predict how long it will take to cap the leaking wellhead: it could be a matter of days, weeks, months. And regardless of how long it takes to staunch the flow of oil, the impacts of the oil spill on the people, economy and environment of Gulf coast states will persist for decades.

Here in Alaska, the impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill that took place more than 21 years ago are still being felt by people, communities, and the environment. You can still see a “bathtub ring” of Exxon’s oil in Prince William Sound, and you don’t have to dig very deep to find oil lingering below rocks on beaches. Exxon Valdez oil is still being ingested by wildlife more than two decades after the spill, and many species have yet to recover.

The phrase “oil spill clean up” is an oxymoron. In most cases, the lion’s share of spilled oil is not removed from the environment, it is dispersed, diluted, burned, or it sinks in globs, or it is left behind in one form or another to wreak havoc on the environment for years to come.

And let’s not forget the issue of corporate accountability — ExxonMobil hunkered down for the long haul, using every trick in the book to appeal, stall, and delay court cases seeking accountability or damages from the spill. In fact, one-fifth of the plaintiffs who sought damages for the Exxon Valdez spill passed away before the case finally went to the US Supreme Court.

Regardless of where the fault lies with the Deepwater Horizon — BP, TransOcean, or some other entity — people who have lost loved ones or their livelihoods because of the spill will have to fight a long, uphill battle for recompense and justice.

On a related note, just last year BP and TransOcean aggressively opposed new safety regulations proposed by the Minerals Management Service, the federal agency that oversees offshore drilling. The impetus for MMS’s new regulations was a study that found numerous accidents occurring in the industry.

The tragedy we’re witnessing right now is but the latest in a long line of oil spills, be they from pipelines, tankers, or exploratory drill rigs like the Deepwater Horizon. Each accident brings with it Congressional inquiries, finger pointing, scathing editorials and public outrage, yet we as a nation are no closer to weaning ourselves from oil than we were after any other big oil spill. So long as we remain dependent on oil we will continue to pay the price in human lives, as well as in environmental and economic damage.

The Deepwater Horizon was lauded as a state-of-the-art “marvel of modern technology” when it was first deployed in 2001. The rig was able to drill at depths that were unthinkable a mere decade before. Let’s keep that in mind as the President, Congress, and oil companies propose expanding oil drilling in US waters — there is no technological fix when it comes to oil exploration, drilling and transportation. You can take action now to tell President Obama that it’s time to break our addiction to oil.

Oil will spill, period. And it can’t be adequately “cleaned up.” Let’s hope the legacy of this disaster is not one of more oil drilling and spills, but of a meaningful shift away from our dependence on oil in order to protect human life, the economy, and the environment.

Sad but true, a friend last evening emailed me with descriptions and photos of the disaster and referred to it as ” STUNNING”.

What I can not understand is we as homeowners have to have emergency turn off valves in place before we turn on the water, gas, electricity. We also have emergency plans in case of fire = the fire department. And our home insurance is based on how close our house is to the location of a fire hydrant. Why is this not the same?????? They don’t have an effective emergency plan in place. I hear very often the government is in too much control!  It sure looks to me that humans have to be told what to do, humans are too stupid and greedy to do what is right! This could have been avoided!

Patsy Croft