A project of atonement for environmental damage in the Moshannon Creek Watershed in Clearfield and Centre Counties, Pennsylvania."Yellow boy" is the mining term for the yellow-to-orange sludge coating waterways contaminated by acid mine drainage (AMD). In Clearfield and Centre Counties, Pennsylvania — where my ancestors were among the landowners who leased to coal mining companies — flooded abandoned mines spew thousands of gallons of contaminated water into the community every minute. The AMD carries heavy metals with a pH far below what aquatic life can survive; water that looks pristine can test in the 2's.
For the Yellow Boy project, I created eleven drawings inspired by this landscape, made with natural ochre pigments reclaimed from AMD sludge. Yellow boy is largely iron oxide, the very material ochre pigments are made from. I will donate 100% of proceeds from their sale to the Moshannon Creek Watershed Association (MCWA), the local organization leading mitigation efforts.
After visiting the watershed twice with MCWA guides Eric Skrivseth and George Franchock, I hope eventually to make my own ochre from AMD discharge on my ancestors' land.
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About the
Drawings
100% of proceeds from the sale of my Yellow Boy drawings will be donated to the Moshannon Creek Watershed Association. Drawings are currently on view at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, PA, through October 12.
Along with AMD-sourced ochre, I sketch faint lines with an actual piece of coal from the watershed. Even though this is not best studio practice, because the oils in coal could eventually break down the paper, it is a fitting, time-based element that adds a meaningful conceptual aspect to the work. My decision to use coal on paper mirrors society's use of coal. In our hunger for energy we set aside caution, just as I set aside caution for the immediate gratification of this symbolic material. The coal, never meant to see the light of day, may do to the artwork what it is doing to the natural world. The result will be a mystery—something to watch for in the years to come. Will the coal darken the paper, will it feather and discolor it?
There is an element of the unknown attached to the drawings that mirrors the uncertain future of the Earth's climate crisis. In contrast, the money donated to the MCWA from each drawing's purchase has a lasting effect on the watershed's ecology. The MCWA and its partners have strong plans for treatment — what they need is support for day-to-day operations. Every drawing purchased sends its full proceeds directly to that work.
View the Drawings
Central Appalachian AMD iron oxide pigment, coal on Arches 140 lb cold pressed watercolor paper, float mounted, 22” x 30”, 2026
This work includes a time-based ephemeral aspect of using coal on paper. Read more here.
100% of proceeds will be donated to the Moshannon Creek Watershed Association
Central Appalachian AMD iron oxide pigment, coal on Arches 140 lb cold pressed watercolor paper, float mounted, 22” x 30”, 2026
This work includes a time-based ephemeral aspect of using coal on paper. Read more here.
100% of proceeds will be donated to the Moshannon Creek Watershed Association