Gassed

I had been saying for a while that I had wanted to perform a series on Mustard Gas and after being stricken with a left inguinal hernia and being knocked out of work I have found time suddenly to be able to work on the canvasses at last. I am seeing my surgeon soon for an exam and will likely be undergoing corrective surgery - my greatest nightmare coming true. Such a simple procedure, yet, Lord, have mercy on me. I will continue working on these canvasses until I feel that they are finished. Mustard Gas, sulfer mustard, is an extremely powerful chemical agent which was notably employed during the first World War by the Germans at Ypres, Belgium and remains an enduring symbol of trench warfare to this day. This gas was especially scary to soldiers on both sides because of what the gas did to the body. Although it was not a very effective killing gas, mustard gas was a very potent blistering agent which causes 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree burns any where that it has come into contact with skin. If the gas was inhaled into the lungs, then there could be internal hemorrhaging and blistering which would lead to eventual death. Mustard gas was very different from the more lethal Chlorine gas of that time in that the dispensing agent would linger for a very long time where it had been released and would settle in the environment, leaving the afflicted zone extremely hazardous for a long time afterwards. To round about the last of its horrible attributes, this gas was extremely mutagenic and carcinogenic which also were factors that could lead to the death of those afflicted. Today, mustard agents are no longer utilized in warfare, yet insurgent groups still occasionally have deployed this gas in proxy wars and engagements throughout modern history. This gas is characterized in its weaponized state with a very distinct garlicky, mustard-like smell...