Alcohol brush marker and brush marker- inquiries sent out

Today I inquired about brush tip marker and (brush tip) alcohol marker. I have written to following brands:

-Too, Copic Marker and Paper

-Chameleon Marker

-ShinHanart, Touch Twin Marker

-Dick Blick Art Materials, Blick Marker

-Spectrum Noir, maybe they answer this time

-Winsor & Newton; Pro Marker, Brush Marker, Pigment Marker and Marker Paper – because their information sheet they always send out for this kind of inquiries is probably outdated and existed already before the acquisition of the  Letraset Marker range

– Sakura Color Product Corp. through Royal Talens, I inquired about the Koi and Pigma Range, especially about the the Koi Brush Pens, Pigma Brush and Pigma Calligrapher – I hope I get a response this time (contact form on official jp website does not work)

-Deleter, Neopiko Marker – I hope something goes through to them, the mail adress on their main website still does not work after all those months.

-Tombow Europe, I inquired about the ABT Dual Brush and the Mono Drawing range as well as the Blending Kit

 

I hope I get some answers soon!

 

Here are the two vegan friendly alcohol marker ranges I already mentioned:

-Delta Marker by Rotbart  https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/07/delta-marker/

-ZIG Kurecolor by Kuretake  https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/06/17/vegan-friendly-products-kuretake/

 

Source: Mail contact

Update

Last week I wrote again to Viarco (Art Graf), Daniel Smith, Sennelier, Kuretake and also again to Weber Art (Mijello). So far I got one reply from Viarco that  my further inquiry will get passed on and Kuretake wrote back about a couple of products, but I inquired further information about not only the actual and end product being vegan and cruelty free but whether the cruelty free part applies to the company and not just to several products. I did send my definition of a product being vegan but I also don’t know whether they only mean the actual product or the whole manufacturing process as well. Whenever I think it is just a matter of small formalities and a couple of days to get the right information to pass on to you and I am one step away from the finish line of the whole process, a gust of wind comes in and I land where I started.  Months ago it seemed as though I could give you the facts for Art Graf and Kuretake in an instant, and then I did not hear back till I wrote again last week. The many other companies which decided to not even bother to reply that they are not interested in art supplies free of animal derivatives and cruelty, they just could have answered “no interest at the moment” which I mention in my inquiries as an option. And for the companies not to answer, although I mentioned specific products that I own, and wanted the information for them, that is not just rude, but also bad/ nonexistent customer service. Since I sent out all my inquiries to all the different companies, it has already been over three months, so I don’t think there will be any other replies from all of those.

 

 

 

I know the process of getting product information has slowed down so much, but I hope I will still get some bits of information from time to time.

 

Here is my list again from end of April 2017, nothing has changed much but Canson moved from the “did not reply” category to not being vegan friendly or cruelty free.

https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/04/28/big-overview-so-far-end-of-april/ 

https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/05/22/company-update-canson/

 

 

Source: Mail Contact

Update

Today I wrote again to Daniel Smith, Kuretake, Viarco and  Sennelier.   I did not stop looking out for our vegan friendly products, but I waited and hoped to have heard back by now from several companies.

Since there are a lot of different brands and companies around the globe, I am also happy if you want to let me know about a brand or company that I did not mention or thought of before here(https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/04/28/big-overview-so-far-end-of-april/) and I will write to them. I also looked through Etsy last month and wrote down a couple of Etsy shops selling their own inks and also brand names from different countries, e.g. Lithuania. I am still a bit hesitant because I don’t want to release “vegan hell” on single indivuals making art supplies in small amounts.

I hope there will be new company updates soon,

Ansho

company update: Canson

After over two months waiting, I got a reply from Canson today.

Canson: although their papers do not contain animal derivatives with the exception of Mi Teintes and Ingres Vidalon, they do not now about the glue and packaging and several dyes get tested on rabbits.

So Canson is neither completely vegan nor is it cruelty-free.

The reply came from Lyra, so I guess it is the German distributor of Canson. And it is funny that the Canson response came via Lyra, but my inquiry to Lyra about their brand’s products was politely overlooked. But if Canson and Lyra are from the same company, Lyra is probably not vegan friendly as well.

 

Source: Mail contact

Big Overview so far – End of April

 Vegan products available from following companies/manufacturers:

 -Faber-Castell

-Defet Manufactory, da Vinci Brushes (all synthetic brushes, except synthetic and natural blend brushes)

-Finetec (Finetec Pearlcolors)

-UHU (all glue products)

-C.Kreul (various paints and glues, varnish)

-Strathmore (all paper except Gemini Watercolour Paper)

-Liquitex (except the colour Ivory black)

-Colorfin (Pan Pastels)

-Gelli Arts (Gelli Plates)

-Derwent

-Daler-Rowney

-Royal Talens (Ecoline Brush Marker and Ecoline ink in jars)

-Hahnemühle (all FineArt paper products except Photo Silk Baryta and PastellFix.)

-Lana Beaux Arts (Paper)

-Schmincke

-Golden Paints

-Fabriano (all papers, except Roma, Esportazione and Secolo XIII)

-Lascaux (all products except acrylic colour Resonance Black)

-Rotbart (Delta Marker –those are alcohol marker)

Winsor & Newton (vegan friendly data sheet not updated; several years old? – Update from Colart for Winsor Newton,July 11th, 2017: they are definately cruelty-free but they are currently checking the products because they cannot guarantee that the (raw) materials are not contaminated by animal derivatives.

 

To find the vegan friendly products from above companies please go to their individual entries:

Daler-Rowney: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/10/products-by-daler-rowney/

Rotbart Delta Marker: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/07/delta-marker/

Finetec Pearlcolors: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/07/finetec-perlcolors-perlglanzfarben/

UHU Glue: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/10/glue-products-by-uhu/

Pan Pastels https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/11/pan-pastels/

Gelli Arts Gelli Plates: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/11/gelli-plates/

Liquitex: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/13/all-liquitex-products-except-the-colour-ivory-black/

Lascaux: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/13/all-products-by-lascaux-except-the-acrylic-colour-resonance-black/

Strathmore Paper: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/24/strathmore-paper-products/

Derwent: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/17/vegan-friendly-products-by-derwent/

Ecoline by Royal Talens: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/17/ecoline-brush-pen-and-ecoline-ink-in-jars/

Faber-Castell: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/15/vegan-friendly-products-by-faber-castell/

Hahnemühle : https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/14/vegan-fine-art-paper-and-canvas-by-hahnemuhle/

Lana Beaux Arts distributed by Hahnemühle: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/14/vegan-fine-art-paper-and-canvas-by-hahnemuhle/

Schmincke: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/14/vegan-products-by-schmincke/

Da Vinci Defet: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/13/synthetic-brushes-by-da-vinci/

Golden Paints: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/13/acrylic-products-by-golden-paints-with-exceptions/

Fabriano Paper: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/13/all-products-by-fabriano-except-roma-esportazione-and-secolo-xiii/

Winsor & Newton :Winsor Newton Animal derived ingredients list  (information sheet preexists their acquisition of the Letraset markers)

C.Kreul: https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/04/18/products-by-c-kreul

 

 

Following companies were worried about the raw materials being contaminated by an animal source; however, I wander whether they were the only ones mentioning this, being concerned with this matter:

Edding: cruelty-free; they do not use animal ingredients in their products, including the nail lacquer

Staedtler: cruelty-free; they use beeswax in some products

Stabilo: (did not mention being cruelty-free) they do not use animal raw materials, such as fats and tallow

https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/22/brands-companies-update/

 

No further information/miscellaneous:

-Yupo Paper by Legionpaper: Yupo is entirely synthetic, but no information about the manufacturing process

Botz Glazes: Botz is a small business and although its own brand glazes could be considered vegan friendly (including cruelty free), they cannot guarantee this for the supply chain and the other products they sell.

https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/22/brands-companies-update/

 

These Companies don’t want to be mentioned, they are cruelty-free:

Caran d’Ache (they prefer individual customer inquiries, they do have some vegan friendly products, so do write to them)

Pentel

 

Following Companies are in the process of building up vegan friendly product data, but because of their wide range of products, this can take 1 to 2 years:

  • Koh-I-Noor (most of their products should be suitable,except inks, animal hair brushes, and wax aquarelles.)
  • Colart for Conté à Paris, Winsor&Newton, Lefranc & Bourgeois, Reeves, and others. At the moment you can inquire for specific product information

https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/22/brands-companies-update/

 

For following companies it is a NO on vegan suitability, for some it might change in future:

  • Schjerning (paints)
  • Buttinette (paints and glues)
  • Arches (paper)
  • Stillman & Birn (paper)
  • St Cuthbert Mill (paper)
  • Waterstons Sealing Wax
  • Chartpak
  • Grumbacher
  • Cretacolor
  • Holbein
  • Herbin (inks and sealing wax; not interested in vegan products -> G-Lalo)
  • Brause (not interested in vegan products -> G-Lalo)
  • Havo (paints, e.g. brand Creall)
  • Lamy
  • Schneider Pens                                   

 

I am waiting for replies from following companies currently:

Marabu (various paints, including fabric paints)

Lukas (Lukas Cryl Studio); second try contacting

Kuretake

Viarco (Art Graf; graphite products)

 

These companies did not respond to further inquiries:

-Deco Art

-Viarco for Art Graf (still hope here for an important update)

-Winsor & Newton

-Daniel Smith

-Dc.Ph. Martin’s (Salis International Inc.)

-Colorfin for Sofft Sponges

-Tombow

-Elmer’s Glue (did not deliver sufficient information, that was the second try, so I gave up on them; Elmer’s is a Newell Brand, like Rotring and Uniball for those two I got no replies at all)

 

Contacting following companies did not work:

-Deleter & Deleter US; mail error, although I used the correct email addresses from their websites

-Montana (constant error on their website; it could not sent the inquiry; no extra mail address to be found)

 

 Following companies did never reply, so I read this as indifference towards the vegan art sector:

 -Clairfontaine

-Vang (paper and Jaxon oil pastels)

-Tsukineko (tried it twice; the person who informed me about the ink pads (back then just inquired about the product itself being vegan; and they were) years back probably does no longer work there and no reply by the second inquest to customer service)

-Lukas (I hope they respond the second time; I mean this time it is just one product range, that I own several products of, so I am a customer and I hope there will be a reply this time; years back they did verify me the Cryl Studio range except black being vegan (inquiry was about the product itself being free of animal derivatives; no extended inquiry about manufacturing process etc.) and I also inquired about Nerchau paint products that I own and owned (because except one (the Patina) all are dried out by now).

-Posca (marker)

Folia Bringmann (origami paper; coloured and patterned paper)

Rico Design (various paints & glues; fabric paint ink pads)

Spectrum Noir (alcohol marker and coloured pencils)

Manuscript

Blauweisschen (fabric paints and hand carved wooden stamps)

-Canson (paper)

-Pelikan

-Uniball Mitsubishi (now owned by Newell Brands)

-Rotring

-Mitsubishi Pencils

-Motip Dupli (Dupli Color Spray Paint)

-Shin Han Art

-Cléopâtre (French glue)

-Viva Décor

-Schoellershammer

-Old Holland

-Weber Art (Mijello watercolor paint)

-Ghiant

-Blockx

-Eberhard Faber

-Deka Farben (paints)

-Clay & Paint Factory (Cernit and darwi- modelling clay, paint and varnish)

-Bob Ross Inc.

-Lyra (F.I.L.A. Group brand)

-Royal & Langnickel

-Standardgraph

-Gerstaecker (house brand products)

-Boesner (house brand products)

-Zebra Pen

-Molotow

-Pébéo

-Sakura through European Distributor Royal Talens; I did not find another direct contact address for the company.

Art Select

-Sennelier

-Amsterdam

-Honsell

-Pilot

 

https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/22/brands-companies-update/

 

Source: Mail contact and companies’ websites

 

Company update and brands’ family tree time

Schjerning (paints): they are not interested at the vegan art sector at the moment.

Elmer’s: According to Newell’s customer service, they don’t use any animal or plant derivatives in their glues, adhesives and containers and they don’t test on animals. This was the answer to my second mail, in which I inquired about animal derivatives in the manufacturing process and animal testing carried out by themselves, their parent or sister companies and partners and that they do not commission other third parties to do so. I will leave it at that. So I want you to be your own judge about this.

 

When I elaborated my vegan friendly criteria, I also tweaked my standard inquiry form (I learnt it the hard way. I finally  made two standard inquiry forms that I only need to adapt for the individual company, after I wrote out the first twenty or thirty letters each single time (I hope it weren’t more, lesson learnt) and working my way through all their products and listing them in the inquiry. In the case of big distributors such as Gerstaecker and Boesner, it took me a while to sort out all their own brand products and I got unfortunately no reply.                              I also included  in my letter, the companies should be so kind to explicitly mention they being cruelty-free according to my criteria (The manufacturer does not test on animals or commissions other parties to do so, none of their parent and sister companies or any other partners test on animals or commission animal testing, none of their raw material suppliers and subsuppliers test on animals or commission animal testing, if there are other options.(According to the European Chemicals Agency, ECHA, animal testing has to be avoided if it is possible and has the goal to minimize animal testing for REACH. Lastly, there is no animal testing abroad for the manufacturer’s products to be sold abroad.)).
I adjusted my standard form letters a couple of times, in order to have everything covered and no loopholes left, for the companies and I to be understandable and to save time and effort; but still, companies like to tiptoe around this specific topic – animal testing.                               Although the answer was kind of repetitive and cryptical, I am still thankful that I got an answer from Newell for Elmer’s. I struggled before with those big corporations and already thought, what hassle I am in for writing to big business brands and I probably should not bother the try. I already wrote to Rotring about 2 months ago, and got no reply. And I learnt looking up Rotring, that it belongs to Newell Brands. They own a lot of brands, such as Prismacolor and Sharpie (I went a couple of times to the websites of those two and even started writing an inquiry, but then, what was the sense of it), Parker (fountain pens), Waterman, Elmers and non crafting/art brands such as e.g. Yankee Candle.                                   It is surprising and sad to see so many brands/manufacturers with up to  a couple of centuries’ old company history to be gulped down by a big  overshadowing human built structure.

During my “research”, if you want to call it so, I stumbled across several companies/ manufacturers that do belong to big companies, what I did not know before. With a lot of art supplies’ brands it is just like it is with the majority of fashion brands. And not all big companies are associated with negative stuff like animal testing, but big companies, which also own brands producing laundry detergent, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and chemical product manufacturing are, because concerning pharmaceuticals, there probably will be animal testing.                                                           There are big companies, which  might just have brands of a certain type, e.g. art supplies, but there are also big companies, which own a wide array of different brands, e.g. Newell Brands , Baiersdorf (Tesa – adhesives/glue, Nivea) and Henkel (Pritt glue). Baiersdorf was also mentioned by a company as their raw material supplier, but being part of the EU, REACH applies to them and also the guidelines of ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) to avoid animal testing and reduce animal testing. This is not much, but better than nothing, another but, they can always use those kind of testing results/data from their other branches.                 Overall, you probably know the big baddies out there.

To the companies and brands; Time for some brands’ family trees.

There are: ColArt- which is subsidiary of Lindéngruppen along the line, F.I.L.A. Group and Bolton Group, those are probably not all, but I stumbled upon them.

ColART (ColArt Group, subsidiary of AB Wilh. Becker, and in the end subsidiary of Lindéngruppen, nesting doll principle- a group in a group …): ColArt do not support animal testing (Colart Vegan Friendly Statement 28march2017); some brands of ColArt are: Winsor & Newton, Reeves, Lefranc Bourgeois, Liquitex, Conté à Paris and Arches.

F.I.L.A. Group– story time, little Nerchau was swallowed by Lukas in 2009,  in 2004Lukas developed the Bob Ross oil paints, then, Lukas was swallowed by the Daler Rowney Group which was swallowed by F.I.L.A Group. What a tale of eating and getting eaten, and yet another tale of nesting dolls; a group in a group, … ). Here are some of the F.I.L.A. Group’s brands: Lyra, Daler-Rowney, Canson, Giotto and Lukas.

Bolton Adhesives (Bolton Group) home of Bison, Griffon and Uhu. Uhu is vegan friendly (https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/10/glue-products-by-uhu/). I have not yet inquired about the other companies.

Royal Talens (joined the Sikkens Group NV in 1963, in the 1970s  Sikkens was taken over by the AKZO group and Talens  became an AKZO subsidiary as well, until 1991. Since 1991 it belongs to the Sakura Color Products Corporation). Royal Talens’ own brands are: Talens, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Amsterdam, ArtCreation, Cobra and Ecoline. Royal Talens is European distributor of Sakura, and distributor of Schjerning, Strathmore and Bruynzeel (belongs to Sakura as well)

And lastly a little friendly fish: Golden Paints purchased Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors.

Faber-Castell is pretty much its own group, for its own brand. Some other independent  companies/manufacturers are Lascaux (paints from Switerland), Finetec (as in Finetec Pearcolors) and Hahnemühle (Paper), which kind of did a reverse thing; it once merged with  Schleicher & Schuell all the way back in 1902, in 1927 the latter owned Hahnemühle till it demerged in 2004, and was released back into the wild, being independent ever since.

 

Source: Mail contact, websites

http://www.newellbrands.com/Pages/Index.aspx

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newell_Brands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beiersdorf

http://www.beiersdorf.com/brands/overview

http://www.henkel.com/brands-and-businesses

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henkel

 

http://www.boltongroup.net/en-ww/brands/brands

http://www.boltonadhesives.com/en/

http://www.filagroup.it/en/around-the-world/#filabrand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.I.L.A._(company)

http://www.lukas.eu/614/

http://www.colart.com/our-brands.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ColArt

Colart Vegan Friendly Statement 28march2017

Colart Vegan Friendly Statement March 2017

http://lindengruppen.com/our-businesses/

http://www.goldenpaints.com/press_releases/2010/golden-completes-purchase-of-williamsburg-handmade-oil-colors

http://www.faber-castell.com/company/history

http://www.finetec-mica.de

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hahnemühle

https://www.hahnemuehle.com/en/company/history.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Talens

https://www.royaltalens.com/brands/

https://www.royaltalens.com/about-us/

company update: new and second time inquiries

I just sent out three new inquiries, of which two are second tries, and I hope the companies will respond this time.

Elmer’s my first try; inquired about their glues, adhesives and paint markers; on their site they state that there are no animal derived ingredients in their glues  http://elmers.com/about/faqs/general.

Marabu (paints), my second try but this time specified; I inquired about following products: Creabox Creapaste, Creabox Mix & Create WAX, Marabu Basic Acryl acrylic paint, Creabox Professional Acyrlic Paint, Creabox Design Glitter, Creabox Design Marker, Creabox magnetic paint, Creabox Creacolor acrylic paint, Creabox Design Metallic paints, Creabox blackboard paint, Marabu Textile Spray

Lukas (paints); second try, but specified: Lukas Cryl Studio acrylic paints, Nerchau Patina, Nerchau Pastes: Granit, Graphite, Gold, Fine Sand and Grit; and I inquired about Bob Ross oil colours, since Lukas developed those in 2004 and Bob Ross Inc. did not respond to my direct inquiry over a month ago. http://www.lukas.eu/614/

Again, I hope this time, I will get a response.

 

company update

A couple of days ago inquired to these three companies:

  • C.Kreul about: -Javana and other Fabric Paint supplies, art potch, photo transfer potch, Hobby Line synthetic resin lacquer, Solo Goya varnish, fixative and acrylic paints and markers, chalk paints and gemstone glue; I have been using Javana Fabric paints for over a decade now, and before purchasing following products, I got the information back then, that they were vegan, in the meaning of the products not containing any animal derivatives: Javana Fabric Paints, art potch, photo transfer potch Hobby Line synthetic resin lacquer, glossy and matte.   Except the new series of chalk paint, I own all of the products I inquired about this time, so I hope it makes it easier for the Company to answer this time after they did not respond to my last inquiry over a month ago.                                                                                                                                                   Sidenote: I don’t think I am going to hear back from any of the other companies and distributors I have written to over a month ago. So those you see actually listed here, are the meagre harvest of my efforts. https://www.veganartstuff.info/2017/03/22/brands-companies-update/)
  • Schjerning: Paints from Denmark; I inquired about fabric paints and sprays, and vintage acrylic colours
  • Deco Art: they replied once back yet and I am waiting for an update. All their paint products don’t contain animal derivatives according to them, and their products are not tested on animals. I wrote back, whether that also includes no animal derivatives during the manufacturing process.

 

 

Company Update

Buttinette (German crafting material and fabric supplier): I inquired about all their own brand crafting products, reaching from paints (acrylics, fabric, …) to glues and tailor’s chalk.  Buttinette’s reply was that their focal point is not the art/ crafting market at the moment. They are working on creating vegan friendly textiles.

Source: Mail contact

Filibuster Tiptoe

Almost all companies have replied to my latest inquiry about distributors commissioning animal testing.

I found out, that animal testing for launching products on the US market is not a requirement.

Although at first there seemed to be a discrepancy between an US distributor and a German Brand they sell in the US, the unclear testing methods do not include the EU Brand, since they stated that none of their US distributors would commission animal testing for their products and that their products get only tested theoretically.

The range of replies I received ranked from very committed and communicative, positive and generally interested ones, over business friendly ones, to upright negative and offensive.

I certainly never meant to step on anybody’s toes, but it is not an easy thing to get this information out of companies. There is generally no problem with inquiring about products being vegan (except one case), but it is a complete different thing to get answers about animal testing.

It all comes down to filibustering and tiptoeing around this topic. If a company states they don’t test on animals that does not include commissioning it from third parties. So you have to require about this again. Also, there is a difference in saying no animal testing in the end-product, or in the manufacturing process of said product. This says nothing about the company itself, whether they do animal testing or commission it for other products. I think it goes along for a vegan, not only the product you use being vegan, but also the company, which sells it, being cruelty-free.

Again, there were a couple of companies, which were very helpful and seemed very interested in this matter and which also strictly oppose animal testing. The most genuine, supporting and friendly exchanges I had were with Coliro (Finetec Pearlcolors), Goldenpaints and Liquitex. Derwent was also very helpful.

I am grateful to all companies for investing time and effort in this matter.

It is also something to see how first so communicative exchanges from big companies changed into annoyed defensive ones, although they mostly kept a (cold and controlling) friendliness, hinting the communications are now closed for good.

I also do not understand how one big brand says it wasn’t responsible for what their distributors will do, yet other brands could state that their distributors do not test on animals and do not commission testing facilities to do so.

Overall I learnt a lot about this topic. To me it was like opening Pandora’s Box and the very earth I stood on, started to crumble underneath my feet.

There are limitations which come along choosing a vegan lifestyle and I live with them. And especially in the arts, it weighs heavy upon one. And if you have already a limited range of companies and products you can use (and yes these limitations are 100 per cent self-inflicted) it hits hard, when you find out not so nice stuff about a company and be it only for them being rude in personal exchange.

This one particular German brand, I deleted from my list and from a post. I did oversee their first insult to me for the sake of the products and others being able to enjoy working with them. This was not easy to oversee, as they attacked my lifestyle, my very beliefs and I had to spend time and energy to justify my life choice. The second time I contacted them, although I didn’t really want to, but I followed through and wrote to them the same I wrote to all companies, they leashed back out at me that I was implying things and attacking them. However I also learnt that the cruelty-free apparently did not apply to the company, only to the certain product range.

You know, I just would have been fine with the answer “we are momentarily/generally not interested in the vegan art sector”. No hard feelings there. I also could not understand, why they still replied then, only to be negative, and why I was only contacted by the same biased person. After all he just could have passed the inquiry to another colleague or state no interest in the matter, but he chose to go after me. So good riddance. I am also going to cover the labels on their products I own, so I might be able to continue using the rest, although all negative responses I get overall make them cling to the products.

I did not expect the whole undertaking of being quite so draining and stuff I would have been better of never knowing in the first place.

And as someone creating, painting etc. in the arts we are still better off than vegan musicians. I used to play a couple of instruments, for some things you can find substitutes, e.g. using vegan lip balm for the cork ring of your recorder, but string instruments are tough. I stopped playing double bass and piano when I was still a vegetarian and now it seems impossible to me. First of all, the bows are stringed with horse hair and in the traditional manufacturing of string instruments like celli, violins, violas and double basses bone glue is used. And although you don’t see it on first glimpse on the piano, in the instrument woolen felt is used. I don’t know whether there are already synthetic felts used. And your smaller string instruments can also be stringed with gut strings, for example baroque instruments.

As for dance, there are already a couple of dance shoe alternatives, although I do not know whether the glue used in non-leather sole point shoes is animal derivative free. What I never found in all my searching, were vegan Irish dancing hard shoes. Ballet slippers and highland dancing ones yes, Irish ones, no.

 

Others might think outing yourself as a vegan is to show off, being extra, being special, creating drama and other things. Those were never reasons for my choice of becoming one. It is rather one of being respectful and considerate towards everything and everybody. I don’t want animals to be harmed because of me. I became vegetarian aged about 11 and vegan aged 18. So for the last 11 years I have been vegan. And never was my decision for it to be an attention seeker.

Why do other people condemn you for being concerned about the world we live in? There are enough topics to choose from, for condemning persons’ lifestyles and positions, e.g. for being misogynistic or and racist, but it seems that the world prefers sociopaths over empaths and caring individuals, after all it is easier to attack the latter.

Animal testing should no longer be a go-to testing method, where already other alternative methods exist. Animals are complex thinking and feeling creatures, just like humans are.

For those people, who cannot understand all the fuzz we make about them with our stance, put yourself in their position. Being put in a small cage, or plastic container with many of your kind, no place to move, your litter being food pellets on which you also defecate and urinate, water not always in reach or fresh and shared by all, no earth to put your feet on, no grass, no sunshine, only artificial light, containers stacked high, weird and loud noises by machines, constantly being pumped with drugs in order for you not to pass out of pain, and to cloud your levels of anxiety in order not simply to die from panic. No empathy with your needs, simply no compassion, just the objectification of your person. Your life being worth nothing and you being there only as an instrument in their endeavours. For humans the conditions are not acceptable, criminals have it better in prison (in the western parts of the world) than animals in testing facilities and those have never committed a crime. No attention, handled like an object, being pumped with drugs, altering your senses, light sensitivity, different perception of your hearing, dull hearing, you don’t know what will happen to you, you have nowhere to go, you have no say over your own person and what others do to you. You will be tempered with, you do not get the food you would eat in your natural habitat, you will be stabbed with needles and worse, you are surrounded by a fog of drugs, plumped on cold steel surfaces, only to be thrown back afterwards into your plastic container or cage into your own and others’ bodily fluids, you are surrounded by others, who are also in pain and you can feel their pain and share their constant panic and despair. Anxiety and pain are your general settings you will be in.

How are untainted creatures, at the mercy of human hands, thinking and feeling creatures, already proven to also dream in their sleep, being able to laugh, having superior senses over human ones and humans benefiting from them (e.g. sniffing out cancer, drugs and explosives, warning for an epileptic fit, warning for earthquakes, service animals,…) ok to be treated inhumane but a mass murderer is allowed to communicate with the outside world, use the internet and is allowed to study paid for by the government? If you think humans and animals are so different, and a human is so much more worth than an animal, and I am not allowed to think like this; do you really think a murderer is better than an innocent individual, be it of another species?

The biggest vice of humans is to never being content with what we have got. There always has to be something better and bigger. This everybody can observe from commercial animal breeding plants.

Their existence skryrocketed after the launching of freezers. All of a sudden people didn’t eat meat a couple of times a month but could have it for every meal. And the meat got cheaper. Consumption of meat wasn’t something special any longer, which you could only afford on a couple of occasions. After all the postwar rationing, people were happy to indulge in sought-after goods. But what did it do to the environment, the animals and people’s health? If you don’t want to see the impacts on environment and the animals (being treated inhumanely and killed in masses), what about your health? Apart of too much consumption of meat being bad for you, what short cuttings do you think does it take to make meat so cheap, such big quantity and variety and constant supply of it? Commercial bred animals get plugged with hormones and other things to fatten them up for a fraction of developmental time than their normal raised peers, and they are fed with animal derived produce and stuff, that you wouldn’t touch. Also, is it okay for them being forced to cannibalism, eating reminders of their peers? Is it okay for them that their body frame, ligaments and bones weren’t made for all the weight they amass in such a short period of time that they snap? How would you feel aside from the deafening pain, if your leg just gave way under your weight? It would be horrific.

People have gotten too desensitized.

Finally after taking a detour over other fields of arts and breeding plants this is the end of this post. I don’t really think it was a detour to graze the topic of commercial animal breeding, but another example of the commonly accepted treatment of animals. Commercial animal breeding is also part of art supplies, because animal derived raw material such as charred bones, oils, fats, tallow and e.g. gelatine will come from such sources.

 

To all of the people being well enough off, be content and resourceful with what you got.  Megan Guyver the heck out of what you got.                                                                         If all just keep on taking, nothing will be left.

 

I will keep you updated on company and product informations I receive.

I might be able to give you soon some news about Viarco (Artgraf) and Kuretake. I received information yesterday that Kuretake is cruelty-free, they will check on the US distributors, and there are a couple of vegan friendly products and I will be glad when I am allowed to list them.

 

Sources: Mail contact; history