Research for undersea project

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.

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Seaweed interpretations

Other things

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: