These aren’t finished – they’re just night time thoughts that will come together somehow into prints, later. I like putting them online because then I can look at my ideas from my phone. Love that phone.
Category Archives: Marine biology
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Seaweed interpretations
Radiolaria, foraminifera, sessile invertebrates and more primordial soup under the sea
Radiolaria
The forminiferal ooze! (Here’s a full illustrated catalogue of forminiera: http://www.foraminifera.eu/ )
What are Radiolaria and Foraminifera?
- Amoeba-like single-celled microscopic organisms
- Produce intricate mineral shells or skeletons
- Live in environments that contain liquid water e.g. in the ocean, inside the body
- Usually less than 1 mm in size
- Their structures are made of natural glass http://www.cmog.org/article/glass-nature
- Belong to the group “Rhizaria”.
There are three main groups of Rhizaria:[4]
- Cercozoa – Various amoebae and flagellates, usually with filose pseudopods and common in soil
- Foraminifera – Amoeboids with reticulose pseudopods, common as marine benthos
- Radiolaria – Amoeboids with axopods, common as marine plankton
Sessile invertebrates
These are animals without backbones that can be attached to a reef, like corals, barnacles, sponges and aenemones.
My work is influenced by impressions of these deep sea forms. The microworld of the sea fascinates me. I want to invoke natural colours and forms. I derive inspiration from marine biology, mycology. I love looking intently at the detailed morphology of lichens, fungi and microscopic marine organisms. The more I look at their detail, the more beautiful they seem.
Here’s some of my recent explorations: