Life of a Biologist
From the Field to the Lab
Cassandra Ziegler
Cassandra Ziegler
If someone asked you right now what skill you wish you could do, what would you say? Sing? Fix cars? Dance? Build something? My answer is that I wish I could draw. I like to occasionally be creative, but I wouldn’t call myself a creative or artistic type but sometimes I wish I was more creative. If someone would ask me to draw a picture in this moment, it would probably be an image of a sun in the corner with one tree, a grassy field with some simple flowers, puffy clouds, and some birds flighing by making those outlandish v-shapes to represent the wings. That’s about all I’ve got, but my default tends to be something nature-focused. That being said, I’ve decided that one of my 2024 resolutions is to learn how to draw, specifically drawing nature. Birds, trees, flowers, mushrooms, insects, you name it. I have some books already to help get me started and I’m excited to see what I can learn and create in the next year. Of all the skills, I wish I could draw and will start working on it because I love the mixing of science and art together. It brings together what could potentially be thought of as two different groups of people to produce some of the most beautiful works of art I’ve ever seen and provides another form of science communication. If you were to pick up a Sibley bird field guide, you’d notice that it’s filled with illustrations of birds with such amazing detail as to help anyone differentiate between species, between male and female, and even between juvenile and adult birds. People buy books and posters of vintage botanical and mushroom drawings to display on their coffee tables or to decorate their homes. And some drawings are even turned into permanent art and science communication through tattoos (as mentioned in a previous post!). While I’m not a skilled and practiced artist, I deeply appreciate those that are. I follow a variety of nature artists on social media, mostly through Instagram, and continue to follow more everyday. I’ve even purchased a variety of nature art on Christmas tree ornaments, art prints to hang on walls, printed as stickers. I now have a serious sticker addiction with a Barred Owl on the back of my phone case and several bird stickers on the back window of my car. It’s a slippery slope but so much fun. One of my favorite artists is Rosemary Mosco, a cartoonist and writer known for her comics that make science fun, funny, and informative across all of the kingdoms of life. You can check our her website here at Bird and Moon → https://rosemarymosco.com/comics/bird-and-moon As I’ve been following this wide community of artists over the last year, I constantly see their love for what they do.One artist I’ve purchased stickers from who attends birding festivals is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator, has a blog, and a podcast. Another artist I’ve purchased items from recently collaborated with The American Goshawk Project to create a design and is currently pursuing a degree in science illustration in California - did you know there was a degree for that?! There are many more I could list but it would go on forever! I will provide a list below of the artists I follow and I encourage you to explore Instagram artists to follow as well. I also encourage you to pursue this skill you thought of at the start of this blog. It’s never too late to start learning something new, especially if it will bring joy to your life. Support independent artists! Artist Accounts (Instagram): @rosemarymosco @kaylafiskbirds @katrina_haffner @tinyhousebigwoods @weneedtogooutside @borb.a.day @hootalexarchive @vanessafoley @the_local_naturalist @zoekellerart @muiri_ @annaquarelles https://www.redbubble.com/i/sticker/support-independent-artists-rainbow-quote-sticker-by-glowingly/43357731.EJUG5
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AuthorBird Enthusiast and Graduate Student Archives
February 2024
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