Now playing in area theaters is the stunning film “Deepwater Horizon.” It’s an intense dramatization of the April 2010 disaster when an offshore drilling rig exploded and created the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Although it concentrates on the exciting action aboard the rig and not the devastation to the Gulf of Mexico, the film makes its point. Oil drilling is a dangerous enterprise that can be driven by corporate greed and ignorance, capable of destroying our irreplaceable environment.

When my snowbird parents were still living outside of Tampa, I visited the area many times. After the shock of the disaster in the Gulf, I made this 40”x 58” pastel drawing, “The Ocean is Burning.” A drawing can only be cathartic for myself and the limited number of people who see it. But Hollywood has the power to create a message of enormous power and get it out to millions of people. The film has terrific acting (I especially enjoyed John Malkovich as the corporate official from British Petroleum) and incredible fiery effects of the catastrophic blowout.

With our lives so based on fossil-fuel-based energy, this movie gives us reason to pause and think. The story goes continues on today with the current North Dakota pipeline protests.