Journal of Natural Science Illustration vol.44 no.2

volume 44 • number 2 • 2012

GNSI PUBLICATIONS UPDATE The Guild of Natural Science Illustrators is a non-profit organization devoted toWe’ve now had a few months to get our revised publications/website — a.k.a., providing information about, and en-Communications — efforts up-and-running; it’s a good time to update you on couraging high standards of competenceour progress. in, the field of natural science illustration.We have two main goals: one, to improve the timeliness and quality of the The Guild offers membership to those em-information you are receiving, and two, to streamline the process for those ployed or genuinely interested in naturalof us who organize and publish the information. We have realized at least the scientific illustration.start of both of those goals, and continue to make improvements as we movealong. GNSI Journal of Natural Science Illustration NEWSLETTERS AND THE JOURNAL Volume 44, Number 2The “old” newsletter that you knew is no longer in print form; it exists solely Spring 2012 • ©2012on the website, www.gnsi.org. Some provisions have been made for non-web The GNSI JOURNAL (ISSN 01995464) issavy members. published 4 times a year from 2201 Wisconsin Ave., NW, Suite 320, Wash-We have worked hard to make the website the place to send your workshop, ington, DC 20007, by the Guildexhibit, and event notices, to participate in forums, and to see what is current of Natural Science Illustrators, Inc. $28 of your dues is dedicated to your GNSIand happening around the GNSI and around the sci-art world. JOURNAL subscription; no separate subscription is available.Those of you who don’t have easy access to a computer are getting regular ∞ This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanencedigests of all new material that is on the website. If you would like to be added of Paper).to the list to receive these digests, please contact me. Periodical Postage is paid at Washington, D.C. and additional mailing offices.You will now receive four printed Journal issues per year. We are working POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to:hard to provide you with a professional publication, loaded with inspiration GNSI Newsletter, P.O. Box 652, Ben Franklin Station,and information. Washington, DC 20044-0652. CONFERENCES AND EDUCATION SERIES WORKSHOPS GNSI InformationWe have included the Education Series information in this issue (you can GNSI MEMBERSHIPaccess the registration form online); all conference information is availableonline. Again, those without computer access will receive all necessary GNSI Member dues—U.S.: $85 per year. Visit our web site for moreevent information in the mail. membership options (multi-year, overseas, etc) at: www.gnsi.org/ membership/join-gnsi. Join online or send checks to “GNSI Trea- SUBMITTING MATERIALS surer,” P.O. Box 652, Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044- 0652. Please include your complete mailing address and email. Simple: SEND IT TO ME! Membership includes four Journal isssues per year, conferenceFor the website: Write up your event, include the details (Where? When? information publications, and full access to all features, includingWhat’s happening? Price? Registration/information link? Image(s) please!)). the Membership Directory when you register on the GNSI website.Send it to me. I will get it formatted and posted on the website. CHANGE OF ADDRESS: All changes/corrections to: “GNSIFor the journal: Send it to me. Send me an abstract and we’ll get started. I Membership Secretary” at the above address. Contact us at: www.have a wonderful team of editors who will work with you on your article, gnsi.org/contact Or make changes yourself online.so don’t worry if it isn’t quite polished or you aren’t sure if it’s long enough PURCHASING: Secure credit card transactions can be made(or you worry it’s too long!). If you have sketchbook art you’d like to share, through www.gnsi.org for GNSI memberships and renewals, andcontact me. other GNSI products.Not sure where your information belongs? Send it to me and we’ll sort it out. GNSI JOURNAL REQUIREMENTSPop those creative hats on and think about how you can contribute to the www.gnsi.org/journal-requirementswebsite or the Journal! Both are only as good as you help make them with yourcontributions, so please don’t be shy. GNSI ContactsGail Guth, GNSI Communications Director269-963-1311 • [email protected] Website Updates: www.gnsi.org139 Lathrop Avenue, Battle Creek, MI 49014 Check the GNSI Home Page for frequentCover Illustration: Mantis in threat display; species unknown. Painting by John Cody. updates. You can find announcements of members’ accomplishments as well as current information on upcoming Conference Information, Education Workshops, etc. GNSI General Information, Newsletter Back Issues, or Undelivered Copies: Leslie Becker, Administrative Assistant: Ph/Fx: (301) 309-1514, [email protected]

GNSI 2012 Education Series Workshop: Drawing on a Sense of PlaceWe are excited to invite you to join us for —Sue Ball, Coordinator, and Sara L. Taliaferro, Education Secretary the GNSI 2012 Education Series Work- shop, June 22 through 26, at the Salish other potential project for a client. Partici-Kootenai College in Pablo, Montana, within the pants will learn how to research, plan, andFlathead Indian Reservation. Pablo lies near the design an end product.center of this home of the Salish, Pend d’Oreille,and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT, www.cskt.org) and The course will begin with a discussionis located 60 miles north of Missoula. It encom- led by local Tribal representatives andpasses the Flathead Lake and River and the majestic archeologists about proper procedures and etiquette when working with indig- enous culture and human artifacts.Mission Mountains. This beautiful, mountainous Instructor Linda M. Feltner’s multi- Marmot study; join us in Montana’swestern region provides workshop participants with disciplinary career includes interpre- beautiful mountains for this workshopaccess to rich and varied sets of human and natural tive consulting and interpretive media with Linda Feltner.resources near our workshop location; participants design, book and magazine illustrations,will be surrounded by the beautiful and diverse numerous solo exhibitions, classroomhabitats of the region—its wetlands, mountains, teaching, commissions, and lectures toand prairie, which will provide an awe-inspiring professional organizations. She designsbackdrop for exploration and art. both indoor and outdoor exhibits,This unique workshop, taught by artist and edu- including free-standing panels, kiosks,cator Linda M. Feltner, will provide an immersion murals and interactive graphics.into the people and environment of the FlatheadReservation. Interpreting the land, people, geog- Classrooms, library, internet, cafeteria, and newraphy, flora, and fauna of an area is an assign- fitness center at Salish Kootenai College (www.ment that any illustrator may encounter. We will skc.edu) will be available for participants’ use, anddiscover the breadth of human history and native the campus is a pleasant setting for the workshop.landscape and explore the means to capture its Breakfast and lunch will be available at the campus Below left: Linda’s cafeteria. Dinners will be on one’s own, and a gro-essence in interpretive illustrations. cery store is within walking distance of the College. preliminary draft in pencil,Participants will be guided through the process of Registration is now open: http://bit.ly/GRtkwG 18” x 24”, of a stormwaterplanning and developing a large scale project as if it Inquiries can be directed to Sue Ball at skb-artsci@ pollution poster for thewere a contracted project or work assignment for a City of Bellvue Utilities: Wastewater Div.; and below, the final pen and ink drawing, Pacific Northwest Streammural, magazine or book illustration, a museum or hotmail.com or Sara Taliaferro at gnsieddirector@ Ecosystem (Kelsey Creek).park interpretive display, a painting series, or any gmail.com.VOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012 • JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION 3

A Wildlife Artist for Beebe:A Memoir —John CodyTHERE WAS AN ERA WHEN THE DEMAND FOR tact for half a year like a small family—a dysfunc- tional one, as it would be deemed today.FWILDLIFE ARTISTS EXCEEDED THE SUPPLY. The Director was William Beebe, Sc. D., LL D, or a brief time I was the beneficiary of Director of Tropical Research of the New York that situation when, in 1951, I was hired Zoological Society, veteran of many expeditions, (if “hired” is the right word—I was paidno salary!) by a world famous naturalist about leader of all of them. He was a fine writer and theto embark on a jungle expedition. I went with author of numerous books who first made a greathim, with only my expenses paid, and spent six name for himself when he published a two volumemonths doing watercolors in a tropical rainforest in monograph on the Pheasants of the World magnifi-Trinidad. It was an amazing experience for a naïve cently illustrated by a number of different artists.Brooklyn boy – eye opening, thrilling, disturbing He produced subsequent books after almost everyand occasionally even a bit bizarre. It caused me expedition. Undoubtedly, he is most famous formore than a little pain, distress and disillusionment, his deep-sea explorations in the hollow metal ballbut I would not trade the experience for anything. known as the bathysphere and his account “HalfI painted everything that happened to turn up—I Mile Down.”recall a luridly-colored carnivorous grasshopper, thefoil-like retina of an anesthetized boa-constrictor, He took artists along on every one of these trips. Hethe courtship dance of melpomene butterflies, a was 72 when I joined him, a skeletally thin, bald,curious blue-spotted river fish—in short, anything energetic man, dressed always in khaki field pantsof interest the staff happened to run across. and shirt. He could turn charm on and off like a switch, was not naturally warm and confiding, had abundant courage, ambition and narcissism,In many respects the scientists were as interesting and—to say the least—did not suffer fools gladly. Iand certainly more difficult for me to cope with was always a bit afraid of him and, I believe, so wasthan anything confronting me in the wild. There everybody else.were only five members on the staff—the Director;his female major-domo (who doubled as photogra-pher and spider expert); an all-round handyman, The Californian Jocelyn Crane, who saw to thetrouble shooter, chauffeur, and errand boy (who smooth running of the household, concentrateddoubled as an experienced lepidopterist); a college- her research on the jumping spiders, crabs, and theage female “field assistant” whose main role was threat displays of praying mantids. She was then, Inever quite clear to me (or to her); and myself, the estimate, in her early forties. She was a brunette withstaff artist who, as I will later show, also had other tiny eyes, a brilliant smile, a good figure and, likefunctions. We lived together in close personal con- her boss, could be charming when she wished to be. Jocelyn and Will seemed to form a closed society. She never said a word to me that seemed unguarded, and if I attempted to open up at all she turned cold and business-like. Neither she nor Will ever showed the slightest interest in my background, family, experiences, ambitions, likes and dislikes or any other personal things. It was almost as though my life began the moment I joined them and that I had no existence before that. I never felt I ever got to know Jocelyn or she me. Will, somehow, though just as distant, seemed a little easier to read. Jocelyn had accompanied him on a number of other expedi- tions, their association going back at least 15 years.William Beebe (center), Director of Tropical Research at the New York Zoological Society, Henry, general factotum and lepidopterist, hadleader of the expedition. Also in the photo, Mrs. Fairfield Osborn Jr. (whose husband was the also travelled with Beebe on previous trips and wasDirector the of New York Zoological Society), and John Cody.4 JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION • VOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012

perfectly at home in the rain forest. Jocelyn rarely we owned. In spite of that, myventured into it, and stuck to the paths. He was father somehow managed toabout the same age as Jocelyn, with a wife and chil- send me to college. After I gotdren somewhere. Henry was tall, trim and obvi- my BS in zoology my mother,ously attractive to women (not to Jocelyn, however, most certainly at the expenseand this lack of attraction was mutual.) of the rest of the family, tookOn the surface, he was affability personified. No a job in a garment industrymenial chore was beneath him (and he was assigned sweatshop. By turning most ofmany of these by Will and Jocelyn), and to every her small earnings over to medemand he responded with a happy smile and she enabled me to attend thebouncy alacrity that was quite convincing. He was school of medical illustration atforever driving to Port of Spain for supplies, or Johns Hopkins for two years. Ifixing the generator, or supervising the native road by now had become a reasonablycrew who were perpetually repairing mudslides. If accomplished artist. Of a totallyJocelyn saw to it that things such as meals and the impractical bent, I now yearnedentertainment of occasional visitors ran without a to paint moths in Africa. Obvi-hitch, Henry’s job was to repair things, an unending ously, the time was long overduechore in the tropics. Henry was always kind and for me to quit parasitizing mywarm to me and toward Ellen, the field assistant. good parents and siblings. One of the paintings created by John Cody whileEllen’s name was Ordway, and whenever she was on the Beebe expedition: a pair of melpomeneintroduced, people always said “Eleanor what?—Ididn’t quite catch the last name”. Ellen Ordway I applied for a Guggenheim Fel- butterflies in a courtship dance. The female isloved living things of every kind and had studied fluttering her wings.zoology in college. She came from a wealthy familywho no doubt helped finance these expeditions, lowship and did not get it. Butand as a result Beebe seems to have agreed to take in the course of applying I made a lucky contact. Iher along. She was a tall, robust, apple-cheeked girl, had to find three authorities who would write lettersstraightforward, hearty and friendly. There was not vouching for my aptitude and ability for the projecta trace of the finicky debutante about her. She wore I was asking Guggenheim to support. The nearest tomannish shirts with the sleeves rolled up. She didn’t an expert on painting saturniid moths that I couldseem to have any particular qualifications for her think of was Dr. William Beebe. In practicallyposition but, unlike Henry, performed with genuine every one of his books he stressed how importantaffability whatever was asked of her. She was intelli- to his research he found the work of wildlife artists.gent and it was not difficult imagining her becoming Furthermore, I had once seen in Life magazine aa skilled field biologist. She was good with tools, and night photograph of Beebe and Henry Fleming insometimes helped Henry with his chores. Venezuela. They were at a light, and they were liter-That, then, is the whole cast. Now I must say some- ally covered with moths.thing about how I became part of it.Just before William Beebe came into my life, I had When I wrote to Beebe asking if, sometime, hegreat hopes and plans. I had arranged to go to the might look at my moth paintings and considerTransvaal with the purpose of making paintings writing a letter in support of my plan, I was inof the African saturniid moths. I had the promise Albuquerque working as a medical illustrator.of a place to stay, a laboratory to work in, and an He replied by postcard. To my consternation, heexperienced lepidopterist to be my mentor. I had invited me to call him the next time I was in Newestablished all this by virtue of writing an immense York and maybe we could arrange to get together.number of letters. Everything was in place. All I Later, from my parent’s home I called him, trem-lacked was money. bling with fear and awe as I realized to whom II was twenty-three then, the oldest of six children was about to speak. I know I came across to himfrom a lower middle class family in Brooklyn. My as a timid nincompoop. He was extraordinarilyfather was never unemployed; still, we lacked all unfriendly, was annoyed at being interrupted, andsense of financial security, never living in a house seemed to have forgotten who I was. In the end, he took me by surprise when he said he could give me a few minutes of his time if I presented myself at such and such an hour at the Department of Tropical Research located at the Bronx Zoo. I found him at his desk almost hidden by a profu- sion of potted banana trees, hibiscus plants andVOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012 • JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION 5

other kinds of tropical vegetation. This was Fall in So keep this under your memory hat. I like it so New York, but there he was as though working in a much that I have just plunged for a nearby 178 greenhouse. The walls of the building were mostly acres of sheer jungle with bellbirds and huge glass and it was very bright inside. He introduced beetles and poor-me-ones and whatnots. me to Miss Crane, his assistant. He and Jocelyn Phone me when we return and we will get were at their friendliest and most charming and, together. Having backed you verbally I feel rather for perhaps the only time, I felt comfortable in their responsible for your getting that damned G.F. presence. They praised my work and altogether Miss Crane wants to be remembered to you and I stayed there about an hour and a half and they says it would be grand to have you. seemed in no hurry to be rid of me. Before I left Sincerely, he took the Guggenheim forms and promised he Wm. Beebe would write me a strong letter of recommendation. When I was rejected by Guggenheim, I wrote and How could anyone resist a letter like that, even if he told him as he had asked me to do. In early May wanted to? Though the absence of salary perturbed of the next year I received a letter from him from my father, even he considered it a great opportunity. Trinidad dated May 9th, 1950, three days after my In January 1951, Will, Jocelyn and Ellen went to twenty-fifth birthday. It read: Trinidad by ship. A little later, Henry and I fol- lowed by plane on which was stowed much of the Dear John Cody: scientific equipment needed at the field station. Your letter has lain in storage long enough and I didn’t see much of the gregarious Henry on the here goes for a few lines. I am more sorry than way to South America. Although we were ticketed I can say about the fellowship. What about a for seats side by side, he spent most of the trip season next year in the jungle with all out minds in the lounge chatting with other smokers and on some really new things or points of view or drinkers. I’m sure he invited me to join him, but techniques? I am not certain of when I will return this was only my second flight and the first over (l expect to leave here June 30) but it might work water, and I was enthralled with the cloud forma- out well. I could pay only expenses here but think tions and preferred to stay where I was, glued to we could get somewhere with brand new outlooks. the window. I took my first roll of film out that The place is 1000% more than I hoped and we are window with the 35mm Kodak Pony my father getting some gorgeous things, and the opportunity gave me as a present, and I still have the slides for color work is beyond words. today. I have flown hundreds of times since, and I still believe that the clouds that day were excep- tionally spectacular (or maybe we just flew at the right elevation.)Credit: UPI/Bettmann/Corbis We landed in the Piarco airport at sunset and I found myself in a damp, soft, rosy atmosphere that smelled of burning sugar cane, a great contrast to the frigid air, snow and ice left behind in New York. We stayed at the Queen’s Park Hotel a few days, I suppose so Henry could see to custom’s clearance of the equipment and get it conveyed to the field station. It was just before Mardi Gras, and steel bands were everywhere, producing the most astonishingly mellow sound from pounding on discarded oil drums. Then we drove by car through the Arima valley to the field station. Left to right: Ellen Ordway, field assistant on her 1st trip; Jocelyn Crane, research Zoologist on her Beebe named the place Simla after the town in the 26th trip; Dr. William Beebe, talking with Captain Andrew Devine. Trinidad voyage—January 1951 Himalayas where the British stationed in India went for relaxation and relief from the heat. It is a lovely one-story villa perched on the top of a lushly 6 JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION • VOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012

green hill surrounded on all sides by much highermountains. These were covered with tall erythrinatrees (among plenty of other kinds) that later wouldbloom like gigantic orange azaleas. A road subject toconstant erosion from rain led up to the house. A tallretaining wall of red stone, crenellated at the top, wassurmounted by an expansive terrace that ran up tothe house. The house was a very pale pink.Soon after we arrived Jocelyn had it repainted, The crenellated retaining wall at Simla, William Beebe’s home and workstation in Trinidad.choosing without consultation a shade of pink that Photo by John Cody.no doubt looked soft and lovely in a one inch squarechip. The finished result, spread over thousands of industry a rebuke, probably unjustifiably. Theysquare feet, caused an appalled Margaret Car- might not have noticed when we were gone.michael, Beebe’s nearest neighbor at the VerdantYale estate across the valley, to remark that Simla When caught up on my scientific work I washad been transformed into a “gin palace.” Beebe free to paint for myself. I like to work on paperhimself took no interest while the refurbishing was 22 x 30 inches or larger, a size my desk could notgoing on and stayed indoors the whole time. After accommodate, so I painted at a large table in mythe painting was finished he emerged to savor the room on which there was room for my sometimeseffect. I watched him pop out, Punxsutawney Phil large subjects—bouquets of banana leaves, lichenon Ground Hog Day, take one quick look and, as covered branches, etc. I could never have done thisif terrified by his shadow, bolt back into the house kind of painting in the laboratory. I needed privacy.again. He never uttered a word. There was no doubt When someone looks over my shoulder or is evenabout what he thought. The next day the house was nearby, my concentration is broken. At such times Irepainted a less passionate color. somehow tend to speed up, which is fatal to my bestThere were five desks in the “laboratory,” a large work. I produced about one large painting everyroom at the front of the house that ran its entire three or four weeks.width. We faced a long row of large, screenlesswindows overlooking a gorgeous flamboyant tree Desks in the laboratory: Beebe’s desk in the foreground, then came, in order, Jocelyn’s,and a steep, green declivity into the valley. As one Henry’s, mine, and Ellen’s. I did all my assigned paintings at this desk. Photo by John Codyentered, the first desk was Will’s, then came inorder Jocelyn’s, Henry’s, mine, and Ellen’s. I did allmy assigned paintings at this desk, as my subjectswere never very large, and the sheets of “official”drawing paper measured only about 12 x 14 inches.Nobody paid much attention to what anyone elsewas doing, and there was absolutely no conversa-tion. Will did a lot of typing. Jocelyn peered muchinto microscopes. Henry, if he was not off on someerrand, spent his time examining tiny insects bythe hundreds. Things that did not look interestingto me—exactly what I don’t know—took up thetime Ellen spent at her desk and we never talkedabout her work. Will and Jocelyn kept their nosesto the grindstone, totally absorbed in what theywere doing, and seemed never to take a break. Suchdedication aroused my intense admiration.Ellen and I were perfectly free to leave anytime wechose, and we often took long breaks, wanderingout into the bush, sometimes together, but moreoften alone. Neither Will nor Jocelyn ever repri-manded us for goofing off, yet I felt in their silentVOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012 • JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION 7

Once, when I was already changing. There was a great deal of pink painting like this I in the wings, most of which was apparently the received a rare compli- result of decomposition. I was to paint the mantis ment from Will. He came accurately, but minimize the pink to inconspicu- into my room, stood ousness. I tried to follow instructions but, never silently looking at my having seen the insect alive, I was not sure exactly painting, said “That’s what I was aiming for. I have to admit in fairness to bully coloring”, and left. I her that I did get intrigued by the pink, an unusual was thrilled. Incidentally, and attractive color against the yellow greens and the “bully” came directly blue greens of the rest, and I did not really reduce itMantis in threat display; species unknown. Painted by John from Theodore Roosevelt to anything near inconspicuousness. Still, it was aCody while with Beebe expedition. whom Will told me had good-looking painting, in my own opinion. But when I handed it to Jocelyn she was intenselybeen “like a second father” to him. annoyed. She snatched the paper from my hand and scribbled a critique all over it: “this paintingMy room was a large, mostly empty one. It had a is totally inaccurate...” etc. etc., quite ruining thesink. There was one window overlooking the ter- appearance of my hard but faulty work. Lookingrace. In one corner was a single bed with a tent of back, I really don’t blame her. She had cautioned me.mosquito netting over it. There was a bookshelf and But it dismayed me that her condemnation of mya little dresser. And there was the big table. That was work would have a lasting existence in the files of theabout it. It looked bare. There was a light bulb in the New York Zoological Society. Several months later,middle of the ceiling and a kerosene lamp for when when I was returning home via ship to New York,the generator was turned off. I suppose all the other I got out the painting, tore it up, and consigned therooms were similar, but I never saw any of them. fragments to the ocean. Will once came to me with a painting I had done ofConversation never ran smoothly at meals or at any a beetle. “Oh, how the mighty artist has fallen,” heother times when we were all together. Ellen and I said. My beetle was definitely out of proportion, asboth more or less forced ourselves to bring up items he demonstrated to me by comparing the specimenof interest but, whatever our points of view, Will and with my rendering. He asked me if I had used cali-Jocelyn invariably seemed to find reason to disagree. pers to measure the creature. When I told him thatHenry, highly talkative and even exuberant when I didn’t know what calipers were, he acted shocked.his two colleagues were not around, rarely said I blushed, ashamed of my ignorance. Then he gotanything at table. Before dinner every evening as the out a pair from his desk and quite kindly showedsun went down we were each served two mandatory me how to use them. I used the calipers after that,rum highballs, no more no less. Even the highballs, but I never did it with much confidence that itwhich I never enjoyed, did not loosen us up. helped me much. I learned that there were other difficulties attendantJocelyn could at times be blunt and woundingly to watercolor painting in the tropics. Mold quicklycritical. Once, I was making a painting of two formed on some of the little pans of color. I wouldmelpomene butterflies, greatly enlarged. “Oh,” she stroke a wet brush on the surface of the paint andexclaimed, “how I hate that ugly ochraceous yellow then, to my surprise, find I was painting with waterbackground!” I had never heard the word ochra- devoid of color. The paint had become waterproof!ceous before, and the way she said “ochraceous Scrubbing with the brush on the paint surfaceyellow” impressed me as a combination of “outra- sometimes had to be vigorous as the mold formed ageous” and “yuck.” I was hurt and, besides, I liked resistant crust.the color against the pale greens, black and red The high ambient humidity caused glazes ofof other parts of the painting. I went on with the watercolor over a large area to be extremely slow topainting, not changing anything on account of her dry, and there were no hair dryers in those days todig. I think it spoke well of her when, on seeing the speed thing up. These problems were, however, wellfinished result, she was able to reverse herself and within my ability to cope. Once, though, somethingtold me, “I like the color now.” This response came took place that was a different story.to me as a most agreeable surprise.Once I made for her what I considered a pretty nicepainting of a praying mantis. The specimen wasfreshly dead and, according to Jocelyn, its color was8 JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION • VOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012

We were all at our desks after dinner—not a very cool as cucumbers. Ellencommon situation the reason for which I don’t and I, in contrast, wererecall. I was painting and had just laid down a practically in the car onbroad wash. As I waited for it to dry, a good-sized the way to Port of Spain.ant entered onto the paper, waded through the Then, calmly decisive aswash, and walked off the other side. It left a trail usual, Will became theof tiny footprints! Then came two more following leader and we all wentthe trail of the first one. Brushing them off with my into action according tohand was out of the question because if I touched his directives. It was clearthe wet painted surface more damage would be that this was old stuffdone than I supposed ants could possibly do. But to Jocelyn and Henry.the ants quickly multiplied and multiplied, and We put poisonous tapethe tune from the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” popped around the bases of allinto my mind. In minutes, battalions of ants were the cages and terraria.crossing my desk and over the paper. The ants’ feet We filled bowls withwere covering my painting with thousands of tiny kerosene and lifted alldots of paint! Then I heard Ellen slapping at her the beds and set the legs Mantis in threat display; species unknown. Painted by Johnankles. “Wow, the bugs are really bad tonight,” she into the bowls. We locked Cody while with Beebe expeditionwhispered, and I agreed. Will, Jocelyn and Henry, all accessible food away.intent on their work, remained unaware. Sud- Finally, we stood in the laboratory teeming withdenly, Ellen turned to me and in a stage whisper ants and Will surveyed the situation. A river ofsaid “Look!” and pointed to the wall near the door. ants poured out the door. Being dragged along withThe sight was frightening. It was as though a black them were mice, lizards, roaches and other housecardboard silhouette of a tree had been affixed to vermin, seemingly floating like canoes on a stream.the wall and over the ceiling. A trunk 18 inches Everything that needed securing seemed secured,wide ran up five or six feet and then divided into and Will was satisfied. He told us, “OK folks. Nowthick branches that ramified and ramified into let’s all retire for the night. Sleep well.” The generatorlesser divisions until they became elongated twigs, was turned off, the house was pitch dark, and weand these were over all walls and partitions on our were soon under our tents and in our beds. It feltside and all over the ceiling. Another “tree,” equally eerie, lying in the dark, knowing that on every sidehuge, was lying diagonally across the laboratory and under the bed, hordes of voracious little animalsfloor and branching out under our desks and up were consuming or carrying off every living thingthe sides. The tree was composed of millions of they encountered. Next morning, to paraphrasefast-moving ants. Individual ants, like scattered the old children’s song, “There was no sign the antpollen shed by the tree, were swarming everywhere. brigade was ever out upon parade.” The house wasWhat struck me as weirdest of all was that all this perhaps cleaner than it had ever been before.tremendous activity was absolutely soundless. Yet there was one trace of the night’s activities. The“’Will!” Ellen and I exclaimed, “Look at the ants!” bowls of kerosene were filled to the brim with deadI had a feeling I would not get much more painting ants. It is certain that if the invasion had lasted a fewdone tonight. hours longer, ants would have been able to crawl overA little irritated at the interruption, Will reluc- the bodies of their brothers and climb to the beds.tantly put down something he was working with Would we all, then, have gone the way of the orchid-and looked around. I expected him to be appalled. gathering tourist? Will laughed at the idea, but I“Oh good,” he said mildly, “they’re Army ants.” He never got an answer. At any rate, the ants never camewas pleased. again while I was in Trinidad.Pleased! Could any man be more unpredictable? There was one occasion in Trinidad when a snakeLike everyone else, I had heard sad stories of inno- did make me nervous. Henry was taking a showercent tourists who had stopped to admire orchids when he began yelling for me. Dropping my brushalong jungle paths. Overtaken by Army ants, they and abandoning my painting in mid wash, I ranwere reduced to skeletons in half an hour, the ants to the shower room, alarmed at the urgency in hishaving eaten them up, pith helmets, orchids and all. voice. He was standing there naked, cold waterAnd there was Will, and Jocelyn and Henry too, allVOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012 • JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION 9

pouring down on him. me that the narrow area just behind a snake’s head Curving out from his might be a bit easier to hold on to than its thick right foot in a loop was middle.) We accomplished what we set out to do, a coral snake, both its and it was pleasant to see the frightened reptile glide head and tail ends under into the bush. It gave me, however, a new respect for Henry’s bare foot. “Get a the strength of these animals. And it gave the maid big jar,” he told me, “and a new respect for her employer and his wimpy artist. when I lift my foot clamp She now looked at us as though we were gods. the jar over its head.” I Wealthy Americans on vacation dropped in on got the jar and prepared our remote retreat from time to time, presumably to do as directed. But people who gave financial support to Beebe’s proj- which was the head end? ects. If they were only friends of his backers, or not Coral snakes have little themselves bonafide big wigs, it became my role to if any taper, and Henry act as tour guide, a role Will and Jocelyn thought said he wasn’t sure if the I played well and imagined was one I liked. In this head was near his toes way, they were spared extended interruptions of or his heel. I crouched in their own work. the cold spray, wavering Usually these visitors were very pleasant, and even with the jar from toe to though I was painfully shy at that time of my life, I heel and back again, sure could hide it, and it was a task I eventually became that as I aimed the jar at fairly comfortable with. But, as the product of aOne of the mantids displaying a threat posture, painted by lower middle class family that always had great difficulty making ends meet, I was not used to theJohn Cody while on the Beebe expedition. the harmless end a col- ways of rich people. Quite unintentionally, they often amazed and bewildered me. I remember oneorful head and fangs would rear up from the other. woman telling me that she had a son my age. An avid skier, he went from continent to continent,“Go!” yelled Henry and lifted his foot. He now hemisphere to hemisphere, following the skiinglaughed uproariously at my anxiety. The snake lay seasons, and at the moment he was in southernthere like a corpse, not moving a muscle, and I Argentina. Then she asked me if I did that, too. Ieasily got the whole thing into the jar. It was quite could only say no, and let it go at that. Nowadays,alive and deadly, but cold. As soon as Henry had everybody who wants to can ski, but in the 1950sseen it he turned off the hot water, chilling the the sport was confined mostly to Scandinavianssnake into cold-blooded immobility. I thought it and the very well-off. What would she have said iftook a lot of nerve to pin down a coral snake with I had told her I had never even seen a ski? I believea bare foot. But I admired Henry even more for it surprised Will and Jocelyn that I conversed withhaving the fortitude to turn off the hot water. seeming ease with these strangers when I was rela- tively silent and ill at ease with them.Another snake incident involved Will and me. We I painted away, day after day, and what I producedheard terrible screams coming from the maid’s was satisfactory, I guess, as there were no furtherquarters. The maid had uncovered a huge snake on serious complaints. Still, I was always expectingthe towel shelf in her bathroom and, believing it to the axe to fall. One of the ongoing things thatbe a bushmaster, (to the Trinidadian all snakes are tended to undermine my confidence may actuallybushmasters until proven otherwise), she thought have been initiated by Will and Jocelyn to buckherself about to meet her maker. Will rushed into me up. On their previous expedition they hadthe room without hesitation and discovered a large, with them a young artist named Doug. They neverbeautiful, harmless boa. He told me that he would ceased talking about what a nincompoop Douggrab it just behind the head, and that I should grab was. No matter what they pointed out to Doug hisit near the tail end, and together we would carry it response was always a vacuous, “Oh, I didn’t knowto the edge of the retaining wall and release it into that,” which had become a catch phrase at Simla.the jungle. Easier said than done. The snake was Evidently, Doug was socially inept and physicallyunbelievably powerful and we wrestled with it the clumsy, forever blundering and having ludicrouswhole fifty or sixty feet to the edge of the battlement.Skinny as Will was, I was amazed that he neveronce lost his grip. I, almost fifty years younger andat least thirty pounds heavier, only with the greatestdifficulty hung on. (Only much later did it occur to10 JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION • VOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012

accidents. They may have been trying to tell me What a relief from the austerity of Simla! It struckthat they didn’t see me that way. Nevertheless, soon me as a pity that Will and Jocelyn weren’t with us.I was identifying with poor Doug and wondering, They were by no means lacking in humor them-in paranoid fashion, if they were really in a round- selves (if it did not reflect on them or interfere withabout way, criticizing me. I felt some relief when business) and it would have done much to alleviateHenry one day told me that Doug wasn’t really so the field station’s tenseness if we all could havebad. The problem was simply that Will and Jocelyn enjoyed some things together.had gotten down on Doug early on and never after-wards gave him credit, however hard he tried. Henry kept fueling my distrust of the two of them.It became apparent after just a few weeks in Trinidad During the course of the expedition I had madethat the Simla “family” was hopelessly split in two. a series of large watercolor paintings of variousHenry had much to do with this. He was a so-called colorful insects. These were done in my spare timenight person; Will and Jocelyn the opposite. At and were separate from the paintings I made for9pm (or was it 8:30?) the generator was turned off Beebe which were done always according to hisand Simla plunged into darkness for the night. We specifications of size and type of paper. These fitthen had to make do with kerosene lamps. Because into storage boxes that he had especially made.nothing further was now to be accomplished along Thus, from decade to decade, all work of all hisscientific lines, Will and Jocelyn saw nothing better many artists conformed to these requirements. Byto do than to go to bed. contrast, those paintings I did for myself I was freeHenry, still full of energy at this hour, and freed to do any way I pleased, and at the end of our stay itfrom his onerous responsibilities, wanted some was agreed that I would retain possession of them.fun. Accordingly, he rounded up Ellen and me andtogether, once he decided that Will and Jocelyn “Ha-Ha,” scoffed Henry, “that’s what you think. Willwere safely asleep, we groped our way out of the will want to exhibit them at the annual meeting ofhouse and down the hill, fearful even of using a the New York Zoological Society and you’ll never seeflashlight until we got into the deep bush lest they them again. That’s what happened to Doug’s work.”see it. Usually, we crossed the valley via a narrow,hazardous jungle path that led to Verdant Vale, I was alarmed. Exceptthe cocoa plantation house of Sandy and Margaret for the experienceCarmichael. There, the hospitable British couple (admittedly an invalu-plied us with snacks and drinks. Relaxed, we able one as it introducedjoked, laughed and engaged in the kind of happy, me to the rain forest forunguarded conversation that was so conspicuously the first time) I wouldabsent at Simla. have nothing but myI enjoyed the Carmichaels. Sandy was full of inter- large paintings to showesting stories about his exploits in the RAF and for the six months. I wasMargaret, a delicate, dark-eyed beauty, had a lively not paid, remember.sense of humor. She was the first person I knew to If I lost them nothinguse the later ubiquitous expression “’tisn’t true” in tangible remained.the sense of, say, “That pink that Jocelyn had them What added credibilitypaint Simla is so goddamn bawdy it just tisn’t true”. to Henry’s remarksMargaret said “tisn’t true” every other sentence. She was the large collection Ellen Ordway and Henry Fleming, Trinidad. Photo by Johntold us about her first solo flight on a motorcycle. of Doug’s paintings Cody.She was in England then. It belonged to her brotherwho seated her on it and gave her careful instruc- that Will had shown me. They were all of fungitions on how to start, steer and control it. She was of various kinds. Not only were fungi a specialoff with a roar before she remembered that he had interest of Doug’s, but none of the fifty or so paint-not told her how to stop. Her description, much ings I saw were executed using the standardizedembroidered, of tearing willy-nilly through hamlet paper and dimensions. It seemed all too reasonableafter astonished hamlet until she ran out of petrol, to conclude that these were the paintings Doug didwas a comic gem. We laughed until our sides ached in his spare time, paintings which he expected toand then laughed some more. keep, and which were now in Beebe’s possession. What I might have done to dispel this nightmare was to go directly to Will and ask him if there was any truth to what Henry had said. But I feared thatVOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012 • JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION 11

if I did that I would get Henry in trouble. I liked microscopes, files and so forth. The others flewHenry. I found him warm and approachable, and home. The ship’s crew spoke no English and theremuch of the pleasure I experience on this strange were no other passengers. It seemed to me a tire-trip I owed to him. I never confronted Beebe, some- some voyage. l was impatient to see my family andthing I regret to this day, and I never discovered if friends. The captain, who was very kind to me, letthe likeable Henry was really a kind of Iago. me eat at his table and lent me books. We stopped at many ports, one of them being Barbados, highlyBeebe had a Brooklyn accent (or one of the recommended to me by Will and Jocelyn. I didBrooklyn accents—the two of us didn’t sound at not get off to see the island, having had enough ofall the same). A favorite expression he always used the tropics for the time being. Instead, I stayed onin a comical context was, “And that’s the woist board reading Crime and Punishment.(worst) of it,” though it wasn’t quite woist, butsomething between that and waste. A typical usemight be, “When the skipper fell overboard he The highlight of the trip, which was truly exciting,got a broken nose, cut his head open, sustained a was the appearance of a huge waterspout quiteconcussion and couldn’t remember who he was for nearby. I wanted to photograph it and the captain,four days. And he was wearing his best cap. That’s to oblige me, turned the ship around and headedthe woist of it.” He used the word “person” in a directly toward it. As I was taking pictures, otherquite funny way too, always as a term of oppro- waterspouts began forming at a distance, and soonbrium. If someone did something boorish or inept along the horizon, was a perfect forest of them.he would exclaim, “Who is that poyson,” though Back in New York, I saw my associates again. Whenagain the sound veered toward payson. lf you were Will and Jocelyn learned that I never disembarkeda poyson you were beneath contempt. at Barbados they took it personally. SurprisinglyI found it fascinating to go through Beebe’s file irritated, they berated me soundly for missing theboxes of paintings. He engaged artists on all his opportunity. What they forgot, or maybe neverexpeditions and some, for example, Isabelle Cooper, knew, was that I had no money and therefore nowere first rate. We added to each other’s paintings in way except by walking to get around the island.this way: In 1916, say, in Kalacoon, British Guiana, Weeks passed, and then the dreaded summonsan artist paints a half grown caterpillar which then came. Beebe wrote, said the annual meeting of thedies, perhaps parasitized. In 1924, in Kartabo, New York Zoological Society was imminent, andBritish Guiana, a similar caterpillar is found which requested me to deliver my large personal paintingsmoults into the next instar and is painted by a to him. What to do? I hated to alienate him. I felt Idifferent artist on the same piece of paper as the owed him a great deal and—in an ambivalent way—first. This caterpillar spins a cocoon. The cocoon liked and admired him. I was equally reluctant to beis painted but, for some reason, the moth never beguiled out of my work. I explained the dilemma toemerges. ln 1942, a similar cocoon is found in a lawyer, my future brother-in-law’s father. ChargingCaripito, Venezuela and it yields a moth, which me nothing, he kindly took up the problem onis painted by a third artist. In 1951, in the Arima my behalf. He wrote to Beebe on official lawyer’sValley, Trinidad a fertile female moth is found which stationary and explained that I would lend the paint-lays eggs which hatch into 1st instar caterpillars ings provided Beebe signed an enclosed agreement.and these are painted by me. In this way over time a The agreement specified that the paintings were mycomplete visual record of the life cycle is assembled. property and must be returned to me at the close ofThe final composite painting may be the work of a the exhibition.half dozen different people created over a span ofseveral decades, a collaboration of artists that nevereven knew each other. I found the idea intriguing. I’m afraid that when Beebe received this commu- nication, redolent of suspicion and veiled threat, I became in his eyes a “poyson”. He did not sign theThe exotic six months ended. Someone gave us a agreement. He said he was “bewildered” by myfarewell party at which everyone got more than a attitude, and he concluded that some “enemy” oflittle tight, even Will. In general, the party was not his had gotten to me and poisoned my mind againsta success. him. I kept the paintings. I never saw him again.I went home on a Norwegian freighter that carried And I never have been able to settle in my ownasphalt and lumber, accompanying the telescopes, mind who was the villain, Will or Henry.12 JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION • VOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012

Science Illustration and New Media —Emily CorenAS A GUILD, A GROUP OF LIKE-MINDED PROFES- Facebook, I shared the article written about it on Samples of Emily’s pagesSIONALS, we need to promote ourselves both for Twitter. This means more people will see the artist on various social networkingthe benefit of our profession and our own careers. who created the stamps, and Diana will hopefully sites, such as Facebook,Using social networking tools is a powerful mar- get a few more fans of LinkedIn and Twitter.keting strategy that if used collectively can bring her artwork. It’s part ofmore money and prestige to our field. I am very the protocol on Twitterproud to be a science illustrator and unfortunately to repost. If someonemost of the world has no idea who we are. People shares your work, try toneed to know who we are, why we are doing it and share their work back;why this work is important. I’ll summarize a few of there’s a politeness tothe most popular new media tools, including how reposting I really like.to use them and why. Overall the goal is toFACEBOOK: Personal Networking, except for Pages improve distribution ofwhich are more like fan sites. I use the personal relevant work. No needside to keep up with my artist friends. I like hearing to tweet what youabout what my friends in the Guild are up to: for had for dinner, but ifexample, the United Nations Stamps designed by you see a cool scienceDiana Marques, and the wildflowers contributed art project, share itto National Park iPhone Apps by Jenny Parks. It’s around!important to mention that only people who I am BLOGGING: Digitalfriends with in real life are connected to me on Face- Publishing. A blogbook. Everyone else gets redirected to my Fan Page. is a digital maga-LINKED IN: Professional Networking. I’ve been zine article. This isusing it as a people finder. If I’m looking for a where the contentgrant writer or an agent to promote my work I is. It’s a periodical,start looking here. I first approach the people like a magazine, butI’m connected to before starting cold calling. If online; and instead ofyou set it up before you need it, then you will subscribing to a wholehave an existing pool of people available to you magazine, you canwhen you want to find someone. It’s also useful subscribe column byfor checking credentials. If you see someone column so you only getonline (say, Twitter) that you don’t know, before updates on the articlesyou share their work you can often take a quick you want.glance at their resume if they’ve posted one. It’s RSS FEEDS: Auto-important to only add people to your network mated Syndication.that you know in real life. You may someday be You get to read articles of your choice as theyasked to make an introduction from someone in are published, at your convenience. People don’tyour network to another colleague or to provide have to keep checking your website, where theya reference for them. might miss information that you want them to know. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSSTWITTER: Distribution System (a message limited to 1. Start off by installing a reader, like Google140 characters). I auto-post my blog on my Twitter reader. (If you already use Gmail, it’s a built-infeed. For example one entry looks like: “Our feature, look under the More menu at the top ofNewest Arrival... http://post.ly/5D53m where“Our Newest Arrival” is the title of my blog post, your Gmail Inbox)which is then followed by the link. 2. Subscribe to feeds you want to follow. The list below includes blogs written by other science illustrators, which might be one place to start. IfI also share project updates, including photos of there’s a website you read often, enter the websitework in progress and share links for other people’s into your reader and have it delivered directly towork that I enjoy. For example, since I liked United you when new articles are written.Nations Stamps designed by Diana Marques onVOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012 • JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION 13

3. If you have a smart phone, share selectively. Keep it brief. Share each others’ I recommend trying an science illustration work. The goal here is to build RSS feed app to get your a collaborative web presence to bring more atten- articles sent to your phone. tion to our field. Yes, we are marketing ourselves. I use gReader, but there are However, there is no need to over-share; only many available. I like to read sharing new content when you have something new articles while waiting for or valuable will keep people interested. Work for an trains just like I would have institution and don’t want to share personal infor- traditionally read a magazine, only mation? No problem! Use these tools for all of the now I can customize the content. things for which you would issue a standard press 4. Once you start reading them, release: for example, a gallery opening, publication maybe you’ll want to start writing of a book that you just illustrated, or announcement them too! Tools to write blogs are of a workshop that you’re holding. built-in to most blogging platforms. It is our responsibility to market ourselves. I think EMAIL: Direct mail. Yes, we all that part of earning what we’re worth as science know what it is. I include it here illustrators is educating the public and our potential just to add that I use it for direct clients that we exist and that what we do is of valueperson to person contact only. Who wants a clut- to society. Draw insect genitalia? Great! Blog abouttered inbox? I don’t. I use RSS feeds to my reader it. I think you’ll be surprised how many people willfor more passive information gathering. Email is read about it and find it interesting. We are in a rarenot a social marketing tool. position of having access to interesting content andMEET-UP: www.meetup.com Organizing people knowing how to communicate it. This is a powerfulin real life. I saw it used first by our DC chapter to combination of skills.hold a joint event with a group of science animators. List of some science illustrators using new media:Out here in California, we’ve started using it for Jenny Parks: jennyparks.tumblr.commanaging our upcoming events. John Wolf is usingit to mobilize an active community of field sketchers Twitter@jennyparksillusin Monterey, CA. As an organizer I like it because it Katura Reynolds: katura-art.blogspot.comhelps me see who is behind the massive email lists Ihave to who is actually involved in what. Twitter@katura_artTo start with, just join a few meet-ups in your area. Dorothia Rohner: dorothiasketchblog.wordpress.comIf there are none for science illustration, talk toyour regional chapter organizers and start one. Twitter@dorothiarIt takes about 15 minutes to set-up a new group. Kalliopi Monoyios: kalliopimonoyios.com/blogs.htmlI’d like to acknowledge that we are all learning new Twitter@eyeforsciencetechnology here, constantly. New Media requires Ikumi Kayama: www.ikumi-kayama.comsometimes learning a new version of an interface,for example Facebook, as frequently as every couple Twitter@ikumikayamaof months. I know that this can seem daunting or Diana Marques: www.dianamarques.comscary, especially when you are learning a social net-working tool where the mistakes you make can be Twitter@diana_c_marquesvery public. I’d like to suggest compassion—com- Catherine Wilson: www.catwilsonart.compassion and patience for all of us as we learn thistogether. Because it doesn’t matter if you’re familiar Twitter@CatTheWilsonwith the existing tools or not, new ones come out Scientific American (Glendon Mellow & Kalliopi Monoyios):daily, so we are all continuously re-learning. blogs.scientificamerican.com/symbiarticWHAT TO SHARE AND WHEN. These are just Twitter@symbiartictools to share information, and what you share Sara Taliaferro: happybeetle.comis something only you can answer. I recommend Twitter@HappyBeetle1trying these tools out to make what you want to Britt Griswold: www.brittgriswold.comshare easily accessible, and afterwards you get to Twitter@tbgriswold Emily Coren:WalkaboutEm.com Twitter@EmilCoren GNSI National Conference: Twitter@GNSI_Message Not on the list? Great! Follow us and we can each start linking to you. If all of this is still Greek to you, call me. I’ll be happy to talk you and answer your questions. Emily Coren, Director of New Media for GNSI Cell: (443) 472-5899, Pacific Standard Time14 JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION • VOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012

Labeling & Scales on a Botanical Plate Studio Tips —Marjorie LeggittLabels and scales can be written in pencil fol- tical. Labels must be scientifically accurate, and lowing the conventions below. If labels and clearly written in your best handwriting. HINT:scales are to be included in your artwork, their Print out several computer generated labels inplacement should be considered as you design several font styles and sizes. Select the one thatyour composition. Unless intended otherwise, works best with your artwork and, using a lightthe label should run horizontal, and scales, ver- table, copy the label onto your art.Labeling convention: Species name: Pisum sativum genus name: Pisum (italicized, capitalized) species name: sativum (italicized, lower case) Subspecies: Pisum sativum ssp. arvense interspecific marker subsp. (or ssp.) (regular font, lower case) interspecific epithet arvense (italicized, lower case) Botanical varietal: Linum perenne var. lewisii interspecific marker var. (regular font, lower case) interspecific epithet lewisii (italicized, lower case) Botanical cultivar: Vicia faba ‘Aquadulce’ cultivar marker/epithet ‘Aquadulce’ (regular font, capitalized, with single quotation marks)Scales: A metric bar scale is to be included on the plate. Separate scales are required for detailsdrawn at different scales. Use a proportion wheel or a calculator to determine the proper sizes for allscales on your drawing.• standard units of measurement are shown in the following examples: .5, 1, 3, 5 mm or 1, 3, 5, 10 cm• avoid “times factor” scale (EX: x3), as information becomes obsolete if the artwork is enlarged or reduced, unless x1 is clearly indicated.Instructions and artwork by Marjorie Leggitt, ©2011VOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012 • JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION 15

Member Spotlight:Emily CorenNatural science illus- Gail: How did you get started in your career? Gail: Do you specialize in one area? If so, how didtration is a relatively EM: I started off as a biologist. I have a B.S. in that come about?unique profession, and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from UC Santa EM: I specialize in plants, insects and paleontology,its members come from Cruz. My focus was primarily in Evolution and mostly because these were the focal points of myvaried perspectives.  The Developmental Biology studying insect genetics, research when I was working as a biologist. Thefollowing is a question- especially the development of eye spot patterns in travel writing component is new, but I think it’s aand-answer interview butterflies. At some point it became apparent to me very natural continuation, because like the ecosys-by Gail Guth with Emily that there was a need for better science commu- tems that I’m exploring, science happens every-Coren, an independent nication with the public. As much as I loved what where. Part of what’s so exciting to me about under-scientific writer/illus- I was researching I understood that there was an standing science is that it shows you how the worldtrator and current GNSI enormous gap in science understanding between works and teaches us how things are interconnected.Director of New Media. the researchers that I worked with everyday and I think that’s become an integral part of my work. the people who I rode the bus with to get to work each morning.  My goal as a science illustrator has Gail: Did you need any specialized training or tools always been to use popular media to make science for this market? accessible to people with non-science backgrounds. EM: Yes and no. I have a pretty unique combina- tion of skills, and the work that I do is impossible Gail: What helped you prepare? without the network of people that I have built for EM: Oy vey. Not what myself. The actual tools though are watercolors, but whom. I needed pens, and computers, which are readily available. I to learn to draw, and am quite proud of my mobile office, which now fits fast, so I spent all of inside my purse, lets me work remotely, and comes my time off from my with me wherever I go. day job as a biolo- gist drawing at the Gail: How do you promote yourself? Smithsonian Institu- EM: I’m using social media such as Facebook and tion. Alice Tangerini Twitter to improve my distribution. I also work very was wonderful, she publicly in the field and get a lot of new readers from gave me critiques the people who are looking over my shoulder when on my work, which I’m working in museums and national parks. helped me learn Gail: Describe one or two projects you have worked botanical illustration. I also studied under Marie on recently. Metz who generously taught me to use a camera EM: Currently I’m developing a blog that is an lucida for entomology and to do digital illustra- informal interactive science education tool, Walk- tion. I then graduated in 2008 from the Science aboutEm.com. I use a narrative non-fiction format Illustration Graduate Program at UC Santa Cruz. that uses my travels to explore different areas of science both in the field and in research labs. I Gail: Who do you admire in your field? am also working on a graphic novel with Russell EM: Oh, lots of people. Jenny Keller, Ann Caudle, Hawley which is a love story of tetrapods in the Marie Metz, Alice Tangerini, Ray Troll, Byrn Late Devonian. Barnard, Trudy Nicholson, Kalliopi Monoyios, and Russell Hawley to name a few... In conclusion, Emily says, “I have chosen to spend my time creating the work that I love, and am hoping Gail: Roughly how much of your work is commis- funding will appear to support the work that I want to sioned, versus self-generated? create. I came to science illustration because I think I EM: At this point all of my work is self-generated. I know great ways of using my training to share my pas- came to this work because I have something to say sion for science and the environment with the public.” and illustration just happens to be one of the tools that I use to tell it. Read Emily’s postings regularly on her blog, Facebook, and Twitter, and watch for her upcoming book!16 JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION • VOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012

Chapter HappeningsLichens & Lunch: Great Lakes Chapter—Suzanne Wegener, GNSI National Board PresidentWhat do you do to spice up your meetings museums. Museums are especially interested in when attendance starts to slip? Well, you outreach programs due to the sluggish economy add food of course! And also something and may present programs at little or no charge ifthat members might not normally have access to.  they feel there is a new audience to be reached. I contacted Rich Hyerczyk, a local lichenologist, I hope your chapter enjoys many interesting meet-and asked if he could bring some specimens for ings and outings this year!our group to sketch. He replied that he had justcollected specimens for another program and hewould be delighted. After securing a room andmicroscopes through my workplace we were onour way. Imagine our delight when we entered theroom and saw a 10 ft. table covered with lichensand mosses. After a brief lecture on lichen identifi-cation we sketched while Rich answered questionson structure or color. After a leisurely 3 hours ofsketching we took a break for a delicious pot lucklunch and had a brief business meeting.  Here are some tips for arranging a lunch andsketch meeting. When researching locations, checkout local botanical gardens, zoos, small collegesand universities; often they are willing to help outby offering a room. Or a presenter may be willingto add a lecture if he or she is already in the area.Check out birding and environmental groups andsee what they have scheduled. Ask your memberswhat groups or clubs they belong to or who theymight do volunteer work for. Forest Preservesare excellent sources of expertise as are small © Victoria Fuller, lichen drawings(above), and ©Karen Johnson (left).VOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012 • JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION 17

2012GNSI Board of Directors Election Britt Griswold tion, graphics and web design. She holds a Master of Art degree in Medical and Biological Illustration from Britt is a multimedia graphics Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a specialist working with the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Scientific Illustration Infrared Space Sciences Group from the University of Georgia. Her work has appeared at NASA’s Goddard Space internationally in juried shows, exhibits, textbooks, Flight Center. He creates display scientific journals, presentations, television shows, and graphics, web sites, multimedia websites. Ikumi is also the recipient of many awards presentations and science from a variety of organizations including GNSI, Illus- illustrations as the visual and outreach support for the trators Club, and AMI. Astrophysics Science Division. He has also worked for many years as a freelance science artist for the Marjorie Leggitt Smithsonian, National Geographic, and the USDA. Britt has been a member of the Guild for 31 years Marjorie discovered and and has served as GNSI membership secretary, board became a member of the GNSI member of Science Insights Inc., and project manager in 1979 while working at the for the Science Illustration Creative Source Directory Field Museum in Chicago and Science-Art.com. Britt is twice a recipient of the drawing Australian land GNSI’s Distinguished Service Award. snails. In 1986 she became the full-time freelance illustrator. Gail Guth Her illustrations appear in many scientific trade and textbooks and exhibits. Current projects include Gail is a freelance natural sci- illustrating Digging Snowmastodon! about the Pleisto- ence illustrator and graphic cene discovery in Snowmass, CO, two junior readers designer. Her clients include national parks books (her 10th and 11th, in the local firms, national publishers, series), a book on the ecosystem of French Polynesia, and individual researchers. Volume 13 of the Flora of North America (Magno- She also teaches workshops liophyta), and interpretive signage for Colorado open in drawing, sketching and space and parks. She has been an instructor in the watercolor landscapes. Her work combines traditional Botanical Art and Illustration Certificate Program techniques with computer graphics, and ranges from at the Denver Botanic Gardens since 1990 and also small design projects to exhibit graphics, academic teaches multi-day sketching and plein-air workshops. publications and book illustrations. Gail works from In 2003, Marjorie chaired the GNSI Annual Confer- her home studio in Battle Creek, MI. ence in Denver and completed the revision of the Gail has been a member of the GNSI since 1976. She GNSI Conference Guidelines in 2009. Marjorie is currently serves as Communications Director, and running for her sixth term as GNSI Treasurer. was the GNSI President from 2008-2010. She has hosted GNSI Summer Workshops in 2007 and 2008, Sara Taliaferro served on several annual conference committees, and has contributed to the newsletter. Sara is a natural science illus- trator with seventeen years Ikumi Kayama of experience, specializing in entomological, botanical, and I am honored and thrilled to be paleontological illustration nominated again as the Board rendered in computer-gener- Secretary for GNSI. The Guild ated line and color, pen and has always been the source of ink, carbon dust, watercolor, and acrylic. Her work inspiration and encouragement is primarily published in books and journal arti- for me as a science illustrator. cles, yet she also exhibits and sells natural history With the Guild, I had the oppor- fine art. She has exhibited in juried shows at the tunity to work as digital presentation coordinator for Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, AZ (2004); The the annual conferences, and I was able to meet and get University of Kansas’ Natural History Museum in to know many talented illustrators in the Guild. I would Lawrence, KS (2008, 2009), The Haydon Art Center love to continue giving back to the Guild. in Lincoln, NE (2009), and the Annual Guild of Ikumi is a principal medical and scientific illustrator Natural Science Illustrators Exhibition (Fort Kent, of Studio Kayama specializing in illustration, anima- ME in 2009; Raleigh, NC in 2010; Olympia, WA in 2011). Sara has been running Happy Beetle Studio18 JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION • VOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012

GNSI Election 2012for over eight years. Prior to launchingher own business, she held a staff positionwith the Museum of Natural History andBiodiversity Institute at the Universityof Kansas. While there, she worked forover six years with Dr. James S. Ashe, aspecialist on Aleocharine beetles, FamilyStaphilinidae. She currently serves as theGNSI Education Secretary and is the Sec-retary of GNSI-Great Plains Chapter. She isalso a member of the Lawrence Art Guildand has served as their Membership Chair.Sara holds a Masters in Botany-Geneticsfrom the University of Kansas and a B.S.of Education in Biology from MansfieldUniversity in Pennsylvania. Thank You! Special thanks to Britt Griswold, Barbara Harmon, and Clara Richardson for their help editing articles for this issue; to Barbara Gleason for her excellent layout and design; and to Britt for his tireless help and support! -Gail Guth, Managing Editor www.gnsi.org: SketchbookDID YOU KNOW? 1st Beach: I did not expect to see a flotilla of pelicans in Washington State. We watched from a • You can be a full print or digital-only member? waterfront restaurant while our meal was prepared. Gliding, diving, slowly flapping, they convoyed Check out www.gnsi.org by. The rock seastacks off the coast are quite striking formations, especially emerging from the mist. for pricing and details. Eroded from the mainland, they stand like sentinels along the coast. Art ©Frances Topping • You appear in the privatemembership directory when you join. But to appear in the public directory, youneed to update your profile. [Hint: get help in the Forums/FAQs!]• Your Profile can display up to four images of your art along with listings of your art specialties and resumé, all editable by YOU!VOL. 44 | NO. 2 | SPRING 2012 • JOURNAL OF NATURAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION 19

Join Us In Savannah! Enjoy Old World charm, unique natural areas, The 2012 GNSI Annual Conference is just around the corner! and unbeatable GNSI Join us July 8-14 at the Savannah College of Art and Design camaraderie at the 2012 Annual Conference in Savannah! (SCAD) for an unforgettable meeting in one of America’s premiere destination cities. (Top: romantic carriage rides; left: Wassaw Dune hike; below: Techniques Showcase)The Conference Committee has put together a top-notch program with fascinating speakers, presentations and workshops. Savannah combines Old World charm with modern amenities: enjoy field trips and tours of the amazing natural areas of this coastal community and the beautiful Historic District homes and public squares for which this city is famous; enjoy wonderful cuisine at a wide variety of restaurants, and unique shopping. The Conference website is up and running on http://gnsi.science-art.com, and is packed with information about workshops, exhibits, presentations, events and on-your-own activities. You can register online, or download the form and send in your reservation. Make plans to spend a memorable week filled with inspiration, innovation, education, and fun! Register before June 5th to avoid late fees. Come to Savannah this July!