Maybe my last oil painting

[awhuber]

3 hours ago, David Unnerstall said:

Well Al, I was a typewriter mechanic from 1980 to 1994 and we used trichloroethane to flush out and clean typewriters.  I had an annoying irregular heartbeat that completely went away when I stopped inhaling that stuff.

David you may have to explain to our younger members what a Typewriter was.

[jdmidwest]

23 minutes ago, BilletHead said:

                Thanks for the lesson Johnsfolly. Especially the spelling part . I was so far off spell check would not recognize it. That or they did not know what it was. 

   jdmidwest are you still of the chewing tobacco? Hope so bud,

BilletHead

Over a year since I had a dip.  I came home that night from the ER and tossed a partial can I had in the house.  That was a year ago Friday.

But, my cancer doc said that was not what was to blame in his opinion.  It would have been in Jaw/gums normally from that.  My cousin is going thru almost same thing, they blame prior cigarette smoking on it, not his current dipping.  His was located at base of tongue in windpipe.

[jdmidwest]

21 hours ago, Al Agnew said:

Then I got to thinking...what else could it be?  And suddenly I got a suspicious idea.  The whole period of Mary's treatments, I had not picked up a paint brush, because I couldn't concentrate on painting.  When we got back out to Montana, I finally felt like I could start painting again, and spent the last couple of weeks of that period of time in early August working on a big, 3X5 foot painting.  When we got back to Missouri I didn't paint.  When we came back out here this time, I began work on another big painting.  I knew that the solvents used in oil painting and the chemicals in oil paint have given other artists health problems after many years of painting in oils, but I hadn't really heard of it causing irregular heartbeat.  But, a quick google search did indeed show that as one of the symptoms of allergy to those chemicals. 

I had a couple more days to finish the painting.  Those two days, and the next day, it was bad.  That was Saturday.  Yesterday...only a couple episodes in the morning.  Today...nothing.

I won't paint any more until I get back to Missouri next week.  If, as I expect, I don't have any more serious episodes, I'll know that was the problem.  So...looks like I'm going to go back to painting in acrylics and see if I have any problems.  No solvents, just water, so the only things that could be a problem in the acrylics would be the plastics or pigment chemicals.

I used to paint with oils as a kid, but I was allergic to the turpentine.  I actually used a different type of thinner that worked well, but can't remember what it was.  I never really liked acrylics, could not get them to blend well and they dry to quick.  Oil paint lets you take your time to get the right effect.  Or scrape it off and reuse the canvas.

[Al Agnew]

Like I said, I've had this all my life, as has my brother and father (and I think my sister has it, too).  I've had it thoroughly checked out one time, and had other doctors' opinions as well.  Mary and I pay a yearly fee for our own doctor which pays for thorough yearly check-ups and any other visits handled by a regular doctor, and he always asks me about it, whether it's a lot worse, etc.  And we get yearly EKGs in the annual checkup.  So I'm not worried about it since I seem to have figured out what the main trigger was this time (today was another day with nothing happening).

I think I've been fortunate in that I've only painted in oils for about ten years.  Before that, I painted in acrylics for about ten years, before that it was watercolors and scratchboard.  The artists I know who had serious health problems from oil painting had painted in oils for several decades.

Mary had two PET scans, one to check to see if her cancer had spread, the other to see if it was gone, so I knew the way they worked.  I found it interesting that they not only showed the tumor, but also lit up her shoulder arthritis and the cracked vertabrae she had suffered as a teenager (from falling from a rope swing).

Jd, I wasn't bothered by turpentine but knew it wasn't very good for you, and very quickly began to use Gamsol odorless mineral spirits.  They were slightly "safer" than turp or ordinary mineral spirits but far from completely safe...and I used a LOT in my style of painting.  I had learned to handle ordinary acrylics from starting out in watercolors, which also dry quickly, but found alkyds, the faster drying oil paints, to be perfect for my evolving style of painting.  I could speed drying time by liberally using mineral spirits to thin them and applying multiple layers of paint, even using a hair dryer to speed the drying when I needed to (and THAT was probably far from healthy).  Mary first got concerned about the use of this stuff last year, and I bought a bunch of the Golden Open acrylics, which are much slower to dry.  They are somewhat comparable in handling to the alkyds.  I painted one painting with them and set them aside, but now I think I'll be able to get used to them pretty quickly.

[Quillback]

11 hours ago, Mitch f said:

Speaking of blood work, I just had mine done and am way too close to diabetes for comfort. I started a diet and have lost 13 pounds in about 2.5 weeks. I feel better already

Even if a person decides to not get health care coverage, you can still get a physical and blood tests done.  Then if something is found, you can sign up for coverage under the ACA and get it treated.   Get the test done right before the open enrollment period. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

I saw a stat recently that said the average American consumed 2 pounds of sugar per year at the turn of the century.  Today it's 98 pounds.

Don't forget, modern bleached flour acts the same as sugar in your in body.

[Al Agnew]

Just an update to this whole thing...the irregular heartbeat soon came back, and again got pretty bad.  I was going to have a yearly checkup anyway, so when I did I told the doctor about it.  He said he doubted if it was serious, but I should probably have an echo-cardiogram and wear a monitor for 24 hours to see what it was.  That was scheduled for two weeks or so later.  About three days before the appointment, the irregularity stopped.  Completely.  The echo-cardiogram was completely normal.  The monitor showed two very slight irregularities in the entire 24 hour period.  So everything was okay.  Then it came back again, about two weeks later, right around Christmas.  Got pretty bad again.  I was able to mostly ignore it instead of worrying constantly about it, due to the results of the checkup.  It has now subsided almost completely again.

I have not yet picked up a paintbrush, since October.  The artwork I've done since has been on the computer.  So the question remains whether or not it was brought on by the solvents in the oil paints.  Pretty soon I intend to get back to painting, but now I have a decision to make...do I continue with the oils and see what happens, or go to the acrylics and see what happens? 

 

[fishinwrench]

You're leaving out Retirement as an option?  

Haven't you made enough money yet?!!!?

[Al Agnew]

Hey, I've been retired!  Now I'll do paintings as a hobby

 

[Blazerman]

Great line Wrench "I'd rather live a shorter awesome life than a longer sucky one".  That could probably go on a lot of headstones. I am sure many people feel that way.

Back in my other life in lawncare and landscaping, i had my Missouri's pesticide applicators license. got that when i was applying different chemicals to lawns, trees, and shrubs. When i was working at a golf course, knowing i had the license, they asked me to help spray greens with the different chemicals they apply on them. i did it one day and with the wind swirling, the stuff ended up covering us and my whole body was burning at the end of the day. As soon as i got home i took a shower but still felt rough for a couple days after that. Right then i made the decision to not be doing any of that spraying anymore.

BTW, golf courses have more chemicals sprayed on them then about anywhere you can find. i bet if they tested a typical golf course it would be declared a biohazard and nobody would be allowed on it.