Ina Mar “Art and The Earth” Blog

I published this human rights calendar today, I thought it could be a nice gift idea for activists, for human rights advocates or for all those who care about what’s happening around us and would like to make a difference.
It contains 12 inspirational designs/slogans related to every month’s human rights’ alert.

• January 8: World Literacy Day
  Slogan: “I dream of a world where all children go to school”
• February 6: International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Cutting
  Slogan: “Human Rites? No! Human Rights! Stop female genital mutilation (FGM)”
• March 8: International Women’s Day
  Slogan: “I stand for women’s rights”
• April 22: International Earth Day
  Slogan: “Live Green, Think Green, Dream Green, Love Green”
• May 3: World Press Freedom Day
  Slogan: “We must dare to invent the future” (Thomas Sankara)
• June 4: International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression
  Slogan: “No more child soldiers”
• July 11: World Population Day
  Slogan: “No woman should die giving birth”
• August 6: Remembering victims of Hiroshima Day
  Slogan: “Don’t forget Hiroshima”
• September 21: International Day of Peace
  Slogan: “Make peace, restore peace, preserve peace, love peace”
• October 17: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
  Slogan: “Fair trade. Help Africa acquire economic self-sufficiency. Food aid dependency is not a solution”
• November 20: Universal Children’s Day
  Slogan: “Help children, protect children, educate children, love children”
• December 3: International Day of Disabled Persons
  Slogan: “Disabled woman, 100% woman”

In fact you can choose between three different sizes:

• Oversized Human Rights Wall Calendar (Measures 17″ x 22″ when hung on wall)
• Vertical Human Rights Wall Calendar (Measures 11″ x 17″ when hung on wall, image measures 11″ x 11″)
• Big Human Rights Wall Calendar (Measures 17″ x 11″ when hung on wall)

The designs included in the calendar are also sold separately in my shop, on a variety of products (clothing, home decoration etc…).

Thanks for your feedback and comments. If you buy the calendar, please send us a note!

Green slogan “Relax in nature, enjoy nature, explore nature, appreciate nature”.

This design is part of a series of ecological and human rights designs I started creating in September 2007:

Here are some pictures of the Biosphere Rhön, I took them in May 2006 during a visit to the Unsleben Castle:

Bel Phos – “The Biosphere Reserve Rhön”, Germany, May 2006

Bel Phos – “Wheatgrass and rapeseed field”, Rhone Biosphere Reserve, Germany

And some of my Rodin “Eternal Idol” variations on the Biosphere Reserve Rhön, “Variation Rapeseed” and “Variation Wheat 2″:

These two works represent the Spring. Green wheatgrass and rape seed in early spring at the Biosphere Reserve Rhön is encrusted into “The Eternal Idol”. A biosphere reserve is a natural monument, enduring seasonal changes. A sculpture is a human artistic achievement, eternal as indicated by its name. By mixing them, I attempt to endow the Rhön Reserve with an aspect of stability and eternity and to give the Rodin sculpture chameleon qualities. The result is a harmonic relation, where Human Nature embraces Mother Nature and vice versa.

What are biosphere reserves?

Biosphere reserves are sites recognized under UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme which innovate and demonstrate approaches to conservation and sustainable development. They are of course under national sovereign jurisdiction, yet share their experience and ideas nationally, regionally and internationally within the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. There are 529 sites worldwide in 105 countries.

Biosphere reserves are much like laboratories where new and optimal practices to manage nature and human activities are tested and demonstrated. They outpace traditional confined conservation zones, combining core protected areas with zones where sustainable development is fostered by local dwellers and enterprises. Their governance systems are often highly innovative. In some cases, new legislation can be introduced. Biosphere reserves have three inter-connected functions:
* Conservation: landscapes, ecosystems, species and genetic variation
* Development: economic and human and culturally adapted
* Logistic support: research, monitoring, environmental education and training

They generate knowledge and experience which can be used in the wider land and seascape. They are tools to help countries implement the results of the WSSD and in particular the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Ecosystem Approach. They are “learning sites” for the UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development.

© UNESCO (Text found in official Unesco site on January 3, 2008)

In Germany there are today 13 biosphere reserves:

1. Flusslandschaft Elbe
   [site is in German, More information on Unesco site]
2. Vessertal-Thüringen Forest
   [More information on Unesco site]
3. Berchtesgaden Alps
   [More information on Unesco site]
4. Wadden Sea and Hallig Islands of Schleswig-Holstein
   [site is in German, More information on Unesco site]
5. Schorfheide-Chorin
   [site is in German, More information on Unesco site]
6. Spreewald
   [More information on Unesco site]
7. Rügen
   [site in German, More information on Unesco site]
8. Rhön
   [More information on Unesco site]
9. Waddensea of Lower Saxony
   [More information on Unesco site]
10. Waddensea of Hamburg
    [More information on Unesco site]
    
11. Oberlausitzer Heide- und Teichlandschaft
    [site is in German, More information on Unesco site]
    
12. Schaalsee
    [site is in German, More information on Unesco site]
13. Vosges du Nord / Pfälzerwald, transboundary reserve France/Germany
    [More information on Unesco site or on official French site]

Buy this green calendar with photos of the Rhone Biosphere Reserve:

Here’s a new botanical variation for my “Homage to Rodin” series. As requested by many of you, I am now adding some horizontal variations. Click on the picture to see the printing and framing options.

This variation is mixing the Rodin kissing couple (The Eternal Idol, 1889) with botanical elements, namely a green grass field in the Rhön Biosphere Reserve in Germany (Biosphärenreservat Rhön). I visited the Rhone Biosphere Reserve in May 2006, really exceptional landscape:

Visit the official Rhön Biosphere Reserve web site for more information.

Now working on a horizontal wheat variation…

My latest after-Christmas design is this recycling sign on a Christmas tree with the slogan “Real tree huggers recycle their Christmas tree”. I rotated the oval some 10-20 degrees to the left, to give some “dynamism” to the design, then used three different tones of green, rather neutral greens, to differentiate the font and graphic elements. The sign overlaps the tree there where there are arrows, and the tree overlaps the sign in all other areas; this way both elements are absolutely visible and at the same time mixed into one new unique element: the recycled tree. I used this cute font called “Advert” by Richard William Mueller, I like its curvy lines…

I found some interesting information about recycled Christmas trees and eco-benefits of Christmas tree farms in Care2 (the article is called “Green Christmas Trees“), not only about composting and mulching old Christmas trees, but also other ideas and uses I had never thought about! Like using Christmas trees as erosion barriers on beaches and lakes, sinking them into private lakes to provide refuge for fish, placing the old Christmas tree in a private yard as a shelter for birds… Well just check out the design and give me your feedback!