Picture
When I have taught art, a high proportion of my art students were cigarette smokers and I never allowed cigarette smoking in my studio both for safety reasons and my personal dislike of the cigarette smoke and the smell.

I first saw  electronic cigarettes,advertised two months ago and I know it is only a matter of time before they become common place in Australia and I am wondering what these will be like as a second hand, sensation,  for non smokers.

Given I have a no smoking allowed sign near me when working out of doors with artist’s materials, will electronic cigarette smokers consider this applies to them?  Should it?  Also, is there any risk when using these near flammable liquids in an art studio?

I would like to know these things and I would be interested in comments on this subject.

This does not affect me personally, as I do not use highly volatile thinners, though most artists do and many smoke.  I have actually seen an artist smoke a cigarette while cleaning brushes over a large can of open kerosene an obvious risk of fire. Common sense is not always common.

Fire Hazards Associated with Chemicals Used in the Arts

The fire hazards associated with artist’s materials are often overlooked, yet fire may be the greatest risk artists face. Common art materials that may cause a fire include flammable or combustible solvents, oily rags, chemical oxidizers, and compressed welding gases.

Improper use of solvents causes most art-related fires. 

Artists must be aware of a solvent’s flashpoint

and volatility, the two primary properties that influence a solvent’s ability to initiate a fire.

The flashpoint, the single most important factor, is the temperature at which a solvent gives off enough vapour to form an ignitable mixture with air and can ignite in the presence of an ignition source such as a flame or electrical spark. The lower the flashpoint, particularly when it is at or below room temperature the more hazardous the material. 

A substance’s volatility determines how much of it will evaporate and mix with air. In order for  solvent to catch fire, it must evaporate and its vapours must mix with air to form the right fuel/air ratio (typically 1-3 percent). The more volatile the solvent, the more readily it will evaporate and the more likely it will create an ignitable fuel/air mixture.  

Acetone is extremely volatile and if spilled, it will evaporate almost instantly. Mineral spirits, which has a much lower volatility than acetone, will evaporate much more slowly if spilled. 

To control the risk of a fire, always choose a solvent with the highest possible flashpoint and the lowest possible volatility. Ventilate the area to keep the solvent concentration from reaching an ignitable air/fuel mixture.  

Remove ignition sources such as open flames and electrical equipment that may generate sparks.  

Vapours from flammable solvents are heavier than air. They can travel some distance to an ignition source and then flash back to the solvent source.

When dispensing flammable solvents, from large metal containers, ground both containers to dissipate static electrical charges. 

To prevent fires, store rags soiled with setting oils (tung oil, linseed oil) in tightly closing metal

containers and have them picked up daily for professional laundering or disposal

  Flammable solvents should be stored in a storage cabinet designed for flammable materials. 

When using flammable solvents, out in the studio, store them in safety cans. If you handle chemical oxidizers such as chlorates, chromates, nitrates, or peroxides, store them apart from organic solvents and other readily combustible materials in storage units specifically designed for these materials. Some types of substances such as organic peroxides and nitric acid are so reactive they should be stored separately from all other chemicals. If you use compressed gases, such as acetylene or propane, be familiar with all the complex regulations that apply to them. Secure them in an upright position and test the regulator fittings and connections for leaks before using them.  

Store flammable compressed gases, separately from compressed oxygen.
 
 
 
Picture
I make a policy to never cry over broken pots.
I strive to accept the creative disasters, think about what is important in life and move on.

When I was a potter sculptor, I had a policy, of never crying over broken pots.  I had some exhilarating experiences when I opened the kiln door and saw thousands of dollars worth of exquisitely beautiful reduction fired, glazed pots glowing at me.  I also saw the devastation of two months of work, shattered and broken or glued to the kiln shelving on several occasions and once those broken pieces cooled I took them and placed some of the more attractive broken pieces around my garden, arranged like sculptural interest then walked back to the studio and began production again.

You say thanks when the creative work turns out well, you learn to accept the disasters.

I once attended a master class in watercolour with Robert A Wade, OAM and he taught his students that to be a good watercolourist, you needed to have strong wrists.  When we looked at him with wonder at why we required strength for the job, he picked up a quite nice looking watercolour on the expensive 100% pure cotton paper and he tore it in two. ‘That’ he said, ‘is what you need to do, if it isn’t good enough’.  This was another example of accepting what we learn when a creative process goes wrong.

Many oil painters are never happy with the painting they create so they re work and re work it and the painting shows the effects of this pentemento. Pentimento, means, ‘the artist repents’, and in the case of oil paintings, the application of darker paint over light paint usually causes the dark paint to crack and placing light paint over darker paint has the result of the dark pigment eventually bleeding through. Sometimes it is best to learn from our creative mistakes and move on rather than rehashing a work repeatedly.

A code I had inserted into one of my web sites to allow Google search engine to track it, became corrupted.  This made it hard for readers to find my web site and when I checked the site using Google Analyticals  it showed my web site as a dead flat line. It took me several tries over a week to correct the code and get it back to the rising line that reflects the interest level I have from readership in that site.  I could easily have felt distressed that six months of my work was not even showing on the web and stayed up all night obsessively working on trying to fix the problem and increase my Google rating. I just worked at it within my allocated hours of work, slept contented and had a life outside of my fix the problem, web work.  I kept my ‘do not cry over broken pots’, rule in my head, and told myself that while ‘my writing and reputation as a writer is important to me, I must never allow it to become an obsession, the best work is created by healthy minds’.  I have a great deal of belief in the value of positive self-talk messages. J

This morning I logged into Google Analyticals and the flat line of web death, has risen, lol, J, my web site is ALIVE AGAIN JJJ, What a relief JJJ.

I have been a creative artist now for sixty years. Maybe time and experience help me shrug off creative failure. It may help new artists if they know that even the masters made mistakes at every stage of their creative careers.  I can recall digging clay from a ditch, fashioning a teacup by hand and air drying it, as a child. The pot, was strong for an unfired raw clay pot and I adored it, felt intense pride in it and then when I dared to lift it by its handle the inevitable happened and it broke.  I felt intense disappointment.  

I am wondering, if it was my mother who first said to me with a smile, ‘Do not cry over broken pots’?

I am not one for saying, “hold back tears”. Tears can be healing, great therapy. All I am saying is, “to LOVE your creativity but don’t wreck your life with obsession over it, keep a balance of a healthy mind and body along with your joy in being a creative person”.