On The Interwebs

My grand plans of updating the blog while away on my 3-month research adventure up in the San Juan Islands sorta, well, failed. Miserably so. I was so busy in the lab, out in the field, meeting new folks, doing/writing/presenting my research, and all-around having one of the most amazing experiences of my life that I had little to no time for the internet. Which is a pretty blissful state to be in, frankly.

However! I am here to announce that a) the shop is open and taking orders again and b) I now have a facebook page for my art! Finally! You can find me here:

Eggman Studios on Facebook

I've held out for so long primarily because I'm terrible with social media and find it all sorta confusing. But it's time to enter the modern era and all that jazz. I'll still be keeping the blog alive and updated when new things are made, but I'm hoping the post-and-run nature of Facebook will make it easier for me to post and update regularly.

For the remainder of the night, I'll be working on some paintings and plans for new pieces, but I also thought I'd share a few pictures from my time at Friday Harbor Labs on San Juan Island (which I am already aching to go back to)...

I spent most of my time there conducting research on the effects of warming ocean temperatures on byssal thread production in a cold-tolerant, native species of mussel. Here you can see one of my mussel test subjects in the flow tank, sticking out his "foot" to make byssal threads (the hair-like threads mussels create to tether themselves to rocks).

 

I also got to catch and play with lots of different intertidal invertebrates as well as various fishes, such as this teeny Pacific spiny lumpsucker (known as one of the cutest fish alive--I can see why!).

Thanks to my Ichthyology class at Friday Harbor Labs, I am now able to identify by scientific name over 50 species of local fishes (meet Agnopsis vulsa, also known as the "Northern spearnose poacher"). 
 

Every morning I'd wake up to the foghorns of passing ferries and I'd get to see this out my door. Heavenly.

 

I also met so many amazing people and made a lot of wonderful friends. So happy to have had the opportunity to go!