Brookesia Micra

Well, this little mite has been all over the internet recently, but I couldn't resist.

Why am I, and assume by extension is everyone else, so obsessed with tiny creatures?I suppose that they seem so impossible. Something so complex in a package so minute. All aesthetics and heart shrinking feelings aside, the tiny chameleon, more correctly the Pygmy Leaf Chameleon is found in Madagascar, along with a host of fascinating creatures, including lemurs (all the lemurs, they are found nowhere else) and was once home to the now extinct Elephant Bird. Madagascar also has an interesting history, and language. An amazing description of the island can be found in the introduction of Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams. One of my favourite books of all time. David Attenborough also seems pretty fond of the chameleon: The Brookesia micra is the smallest chameleon in the world, part of an entire family of miniature sized leaf chameleons, the Brookesia Minima group.

The Brookesia is not only near impossible to see due to its size, like all chameleons it is able to change colour to blend in with its surroundings. If threatened the chameleon will 'play dead' hoping to be mistaken for some sort of dry leaf.

Like most of the creatures on Madagascar, they are listed as a threatened species.

Blackstock

In 2001, Gregory Blackstock retired from "25 1/3" years of work as a pot washer at the Washington Athletic Club (WAC). This has given him more time to devote to his art and music interests. He has been publishing drawings since 1986, first and the WAC newsletter and recently in a book of his work Blackstock's Collections: The Drawings of an Artistic Savant.

Blackstock is an autistic savant, he speaks many languages, can recall events with an uncanny precision and is an incredible mimic. He is also very skilled with music and can be seen around Seattle playing his accordion. He first caught the attention of the Garde Rail Gallery in 2003 leading to several shows and the eventual publication of his book. Many, many more images on their site.

The subject matter for his drawings varies a great deal from state birds to state prisons, tools to WWII bombers, and mackerel to Boeing jet liners. I've mostly included the drawings of animals and birds with a few vegetables, focusing on the images from nature.

His drawings are often large, made up of smaller pieces of paper taped together. They are complete collections, laid out in precise rows. The drawings created with pencil, crayon, ink and marker. The range of scale is seen here:

Blackstock is wearing a t-shirt with his drawings as a design! (Where can I get one!)

A revealing description of his abilities and personality: "Gregory Blackstock says he speaks 12 languages and is happy to prove it, bellowing greetings in a rapid succession of diverse tongues. Not only does he have perfect pitch, he can play any instrument he picks up but prefers the accordion, because it's loud." Regina Hackett, Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Hybrid

The Mechanics of it boggle the mind.

Medusae

While not exactly the same as the siphonophores, who am I to split hairs when it comes to simple and elegant design.

Pendant Lamps by Roxy Towry-Russell

Siphonophore

Surprisingly this isn't science fiction...but a marvel from the ocean right here on planet earth. Siphonophores are creatures, actually they are a colony of creatures, belonging to the same family as corals, hydrids and jellyfish. They are composed of several separate zooids (individuals)that are either medusae or polyps. Medusae are basically jellyfish and polyps are basically sea anemone. Each zooid in the colony has a specialized function of swimming or eating. Neither can perform the other, they are entirely dependent on the colony.

All siphonophres are predators, capturing their prey with lures, similar to the anemone. The majority swim in the wide ocean and to feed cast a wide net of minute tentacles. One species tethers itself to the bottom, and the most common species, the Portuguese Man O' War drifts about on the surface of the ocean.

There are approximately 175 species, some specimens being the longest animals in the world measuring over 40 metres and are long and thin. Some have orange or red pigmentation but most are of a clear gelatinous material. Many of them are bioluminescent, glowing green or blue when disturbed.

Beautiful images of Siphonophores and other sea creatures from the Census of Marine Zooplankton. More detailed information and diagrams here.

Kate McGuire

When I started this blog there were a few things that definitely inspired me. Some artists and some images and some ideas that were intrinsic to the whole idea of this blog. In the ragged notebook that I keep my lists of ideas for postings Kate McGuire is near the top. I still think better with paper in front of me, and often build on an idea as I am writing the post. But there are a few that I have been saving, like jewels, as though if I post on them too soon I will run out of ideas.
But now seems like a good time to make this post, I was just reminded of McGuire's work by Laura from Atelier L.A.F. I have been meaning to do a post on them for ages as well...so it makes sense to do both.
Heave, 2008
This is the first image of McGuires that I ever saw, and although she has honed her skill and medium over the years, I can still recall my initial reaction of attraction and repulsion. In her newer works the feathers are more lush, all iridescence and silkiness. But the feathers in this work are just feathers, it is all to easy for me to associate them with the bird they may have come from. My respect and admiration of the winged, anyone who has spent much time with birds, up close and personal, knows that there a little bit repulsive about them. Especially in large numbers. Feathers are dusty. And coupled with the title and gushing forth onto the floor the concept deals with the abject.
But the piece is beautiful as well. The even layering of them is exquisite. I can only imagine what it would feel like to touch one of her pieces.
It is this relationship between attraction and repulsion in Nature that I find so fascinating myself. This push and pull also informs the work that I make.
Vice 2009.
Kate McGuire also has a series of pieces contained in vitrines. Each feathered structure forces against its confines. Either preserved as a museum specimen or entrapped in glass it is a creature with no head, no end and no beginning. A creation speaking both of serpents and feathers, a creature of mythology.
Corvid 2011.
The piece above has broken the bonds of its container but still roils, trapped by its own form. Each piece uses feathers to create a tension between the chaos of the natural world and the delicate care that is taken in constructing each piece.

Octopie

It has been almost seven months since C.C., the giant Pacific octopus who lives at the Vancouver Aquarium, mated and laid eggs. Earlier this week, close to 300 of her eggs hatched. The babies are only 5 millimetres in length.

C.C. was introduced to her male partner, Clove, last October in the Strait of Georgia display. Mating marks the beginning of the end for octopuses, and Clove died 67 days after mating. C.C. is expected to die naturally in the coming weeks now that egg incubation is completed.

The giant Pacific octopus typically lays around 70,000 eggs on average, of which only a few are expected to survive to adulthood in their natural habitat.

These little guys are so amazing, who knew that Cephalopods could be so endearing. And so wonderful that 300 of them hatched and survived.



Perhaps this will lead to some sort of knew cephalopod fascination on my part. Here are a few items that I have found.

Knitted guy by Megan Stitz


Clockwise from top left: Illustration fromGemini Studios, bowl from No Tengo Miedo, print from Mateo and Isabel, t-shirt from Non-Fiction.

Ring from Heron Adornment

oh, and this scientifically accurate little guy:


from The Dapper Toad