Oh Bacteria, My Bacteria!

I work as an exhibit developer at my local science museum. Folks often ask what the difference is between an exhibit developer and an exhibit designer. Short answer: I read all the scientific papers and figure out how to make the juicy data fun for 8 year olds. And then I coordinate with the exhibit designers, who do everything from color schemes and fonts to figuring out how to make structures that won't fall over when countless 4-year-olds throw themselves headlong at them.

It's mostly a writing and thinking job, but I do get to scribble in the margins to help me communicate my ideas. And I will admit that I've gotten very fond of creating fast scribbles of microbes in fat felt-tip markers. Kind of a zen circle sort of thing.

My big new project, Zoo in You: The Human Microbiome, is just now packing up and getting ready to head to the next stop on its national tour. Look for it in Ashland, Oregon, or San Diego, California, or Boca Raton, Florida, or beyond!

Spring, Springing

Portland trees are erupting with lovely blossoms all over town. I decided to challenge myself to an art experiment this weekend: capturing the beautiful pink cherry blossoms in the neighbor's yard using a unusual art tool...being the 16-month-old kiddo.

Step one: Admire the awesome flowers. (Wow, huh?)

Step two: Assemble non-toxic art supplies in the appropriate color scheme (in this case, a gray washable non-toxic marker, a custom mix of red and white tempera paint, a nice soft paintbrush, and a stack of cream-colored cards.)

Step three: Strategically hand art supplies to kiddo during a gap in the incessant going-down-the-slide practice and cross fingers...

Step four: Burst buttons with pride at how nicely that all turned out. Brag on internet, mail originals to grandparents.

Yeah, OK, it's not really that much different than the folks who dip grubs in paint and them them crawl all over the paper...But it's a fun exercise in selecting materials and introducing chaos! (Plus, it's so exciting to watch this grub learn how to re-load a brush with paint.)

Happy spring, y'all.

Back-of-envelope baby sketches

OK, as this darling baby kiddo gets older, sketching gets more difficult for me. She's ambitious! She wiggles! She wants to put every darned thing right into her mouth!

But I have been able to whack out a few back-of-an-envelope opportunistic sketches, usually when she drops off to sleep in my lap.

Sometimes those sketches happen on the back on an incoming envelope...

...and sometimes it's on the back of an outgoing envelope. 

(These sketches were from March and April, and she's changed so much already since then!)