Are you a beach lover?

This week I saw the documentary, Conquering Skin Cancer, and far out, it’s made me even more aware of my cultural conditioning about having (and desperately wanting) a tan.

Ever since I was a kid (yes, that’s little me), and we were lucky enough to spend Christmas holidays with grandparents at Mermaid Beach, I’ve absolutely loved the beach.

We had floppy hats, and zinc cream, but I remember being sunburnt every back-to-school Monday when we lived in Gympie, and the totally-socially-acceptable peeling skin of my highschool girlfriends each Toowoomba Summer.

Way back in 2010, there was a TV ad that warned us, “there’s nothing healthy about a tan”… but even last week, when I spent a few days at the beach with family, we were all trying to tan ‘safely’.

But here are the facts (and I promise I’ll relate this to art before I’m done!):

• Skin cancer claims a life every 4 minutes.

• In Australia and New Zealand, one in 20 men and one in 30 women develop melanoma.

• By 2040, there will be 510,000 new cases and 96,000 deaths.

• Australia alone spends $1.7 billion annually on skin cancer treatment

These were the main messages from the documentary (Hugh Jackman is in it!):

1. Skin cancer is preventable. So slip, slop, slap, seek and slide.

   I’m going to keep wearing sunscreen every single day. I’m sorry to say this has only been a habit for the last few years, but I’ve finally found an affordable sunscreen that I like enough to use.

2. Get your skin checked annually from the age of 18. (I’m overdue so that’s a job for Monday.)
   

   How does this relate to art (or if you’re not in Australia)?

   I may be drawing a loooong bow here, but alongside my PSA about wearing sunscreen daily, I’ll add one about drawing/painting daily-ish. It’s good for you.

   Even if it’s only a 5 minute sketch of your coffee cup… your toast or your shoes, or perhaps your Christmas decorations… fill your page then fill your book….
   
   … and next time, when you’re on the beach (or even the park!), with your hat, umbrella, sunscreen (applied before you leave home for the beach) and art supplies, you’ll have enough miles on your pencil and brush to sketch a little.

   And you just might love the beach more than you ever have before.
   

   Anna
   

   PS. Want to go on an Art Holiday to Heron Island at the end of February next year? I’ll be there, teaching art alongside my friend, the adventurer Cathy Finch, who’ll be teaching photography. Details here.