ABOUT US
It all began with a New Hampshire artist, Marshall Carbee.
In 2008, Carbee read a book written by a childhood friend. This friend had created the world’s largest and best organic yogurt company on the planet, with a mission dedicated to preserving and protecting the earth.
Carbee was inspired, and began to adapt the same mission to his art studio. Realizing that almost all commercial art materials are toxic, petroleum-based products containing chemicals harmful to the environment, he began to look for alternatives.
He set out on a mission - to make art more earth-friendly. He began by going “green” in his own studio. Carbee changed several of his practices to become a green painter, from using organic cotton canvas to using only local wood for stretching and framingpaintings.to recycle his canvasses and pay carbon offset fees. Visit marshallcarbee.com for more information on Carbee's green painting process.
He found low-impact earth pigments from around the world, and used them to make his own paints - mixing, grinding and blending them by hand. He used walnut oil, flaxseed oil and citrus oils.He became fascinated with their inherent properties and the unique qualities that are created when different earth pigments are used together.The "earth" paints react completely differently than commercial paints. Carbee began producing "eco-friendly art" for "green" buildings; specifically, for buildings LEED-certified by the U.S. Green Business Council.
“The making of a Carbee Green Painting eliminates the use of petroleum products, toxic pigments and reduces the carbon footprint.Non toxic materials are used whenever possible.My process basically eliminates any harmful chemicals to create an environmentally safe, non toxic work of art.The painting process and the overall operation of the studio has a reduced carbon footprint. The goal is to eliminate our footprint. The is no compromise in quality, durability or longevity.
We make our own paint. Commercial art supplies are generally toxic, petroleum-based materials whose manufacture is a dirty business. Manufactured paints contain harmful pigments such as lead, cadmium, chromium, and cobalt. Green art is healthier for the artist creating the art and the people enjoying it, all the while leaving a smaller carbon footprint in its creation."
-Marshall Carbee, 2008
Carbee sought a way to make a large-scale impact on the earth through other artists. He was determined to find a way to create a universal gesso that could be used successfully on multiple media, while at the same time protect and restore the earth. A renewable, sustainable, non-toxic gesso.
He researched, spoke with many people, and experimented with many products. Carbee collaborated with a group of eco-friendly scientists, with whom he created a gesso formula which functions well on many surfaces. A professional-grade gesso which is renewable, sustainable, and non-toxic.
(See our products page for more details.)
The gesso formula that they produced also created a seal between the media and the base. This resulted in a foundation superior to any created by existing, commercially-produced gessoes. The team's search for a product safer for the earth had led them to the creation of a premium gesso superior to existing commercially-produced products!!
And that was the beginning of Carbee Soy Gesso™, the first soy-based,"green" gesso ever made, and of Carbee Eco Art Products. Please visit us often, as we intend to expand our GesSoy™ line of “green “ artist products.
Safer for the earth. Safer for the artist.
Earth-friendly artist Marshall Carbee has exhibited his paintings, sculptures, and works-on- paper in one-man shows in cities around the world.
Carbee's studio has gone green. Carbee is a member of the Maine Chapter of the US Green Building Council.Now using only sustainable art materials with low impact earth pigments, Carbee has developed a new artist gesso as part of an effort to expedite the current green industrial revolution.
In May of 2004, over 100 of Carbee's works were displayed in a one-man show at Tufts University. He was twice nominated to Esquire's prestigious Annual Register of Americans Under Forty, a list of young people who have made significant contributions in their fields.
Born in Manchester, New Hampshire, Carbee graduated from the University of New Hampshire, where he participated in the school's first Fine Arts Degree program. His studies there resulted in the formulation of his own curricular innovation, a degree awarded in the discipline of drawing.
Shortly after graduating, he illustrated a children's book, The Magic Board, which was a gift from his alma mater to the regional public school system.
A succession of multimedia projects led Carbee to participate in music videos and movies, and become a member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829, in New York City. His work can be seen in films by Robert Altman, Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Al Pacino, Julian Schnabel, Richard Donner, and Ang Lee, among others. His film credits include Men in Black, Eraser, Donnie Brasco, Conspiracy Theory, The Ice Storm, and Basquiat. Carbee worked on several television projects in New York including Saturday Night Live, Good Morning America, Prime Time Live, 20/20, ABC News, Sesame Street, The View, All My Children, and One Life to Live. Among his television credits, Carbee's work provided the prototype for the original Mutant Toyland of Pee Wee's Playhouse. His production design for the music video of Michael Jackson's Grammy Award-winning single "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" features Carbee's miniature set design and original animation. He has created artwork for special events industrial shows and for the private collections of such recording artists as Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, The Clash, Elvis Costello, Joe Cocker, Cheap Trick, Meatloaf, Earth Wind and Fire, Michael Jackson, Barbara Streisand, and the Rolling Stones..
Carbee resides on the New England coast. Carbee's visual column 1502GDD is published. weekly in The Wire, a local arts and public affairs newspaper.