Hiking around Santa Cruz with a friend both our kids and a dog, we stopped by a stream to sketch. The first visible plant next to our picnic blanket to draw was this poison oak. Amazingly, no one (not even the babies or the dog) touched it.
At the Science Writers party at the AAAS meeting, last week, Melissae and I made small creatures. There was a ‘Make a Robot’ station at the San Jose Museum of Art (http://sjmusart.org/exhibition/koret-family-gallery-maker-space) where the party was held. You could choose a little packet of random supplies and then were challenged to make some sort of creature with only those materials. I made a little robot, she made a little bug. It was fun.
Mandi, a aerospace engineer friend, embroidered a set of shirts with math puns.
Other friends did other science art baby related craft projects. Melissae (http://www.melissaefellet.com/), a science writer friend, knitted a DNA double helix toy with squeaks, rattles and chews built in.
The quilt is large, so this is the last of the blocks that I’ll share. I wanted to point out a few really creative ones though. Amy Lynne a friend from Maryland designed her own fabric using Spoonflower (http://www.spoonflower.com/welcome) to make this crayfish (Astacidea) block.
The three-dimensional bear, also made by my mom along with the wolf, shows multiple trophic levels with the bear bordered by embroidered plants. The full text of the card sent with the bear and wolf blocks reads:
Ursus americanus and Canis Lupis were good friends. One lived on the left side of their small world and the other lived on the right. Ursus said to Canis one fine night, “come here, come here I’ve found some lovely ripe Vaccinium pallidum for a late night snack and the Pinus virginiana are dropping the nicest seeds from the ripe cones”. “No Thanks,” said Canis joyfully, “ The moon is full and I’m out for a howl.”
Anja, Zev’s aunt, who is a professional artist in her own right, contributed a frog. You can see a bit of her artwork here (http://www.artslant.com/global/artists/show/66094-anja-ulfeldt), she’s got an ice-brain sculpture in the Exploratorium.
Both grandmothers contributed blocks, of course. Here are native California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) by Grandma Linda, and my mom did a Grey Wolf (Canis lupus).
Handmade community quilt with key native animals? Check. I did a monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), we have lots of those here in Santa Cruz.
Native aquatic animal bath time handpuppets. Check.
Jellyfish (Cnidaria) and Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris)
Walkabout 