I shall be the Artist in Residence at Nature in Art in Gloucestershire from 10th - 15th September. Along with a selection of work from my job at the zoo I shall also have paintings from my other role as a wildlife artist, mainly oils.
Please pop along if you can, it is a wonderful place to visit.
Monday 26 August 2013
Monday 19 August 2013
I have some catching up to do!
For one reason or another I have neglected to get round to
posting for the last two weeks.
Naughty girl!
So here we go for a bit of a marathon catch up, I will try
and keep it brief so as not to make it too long and a bit of a slog to get
through.
August 5th – 7th
On the Monday of this week the blue spiny lizard was checked
and ok’d by the animal section – no alterations to make, they were very happy
with it; which was a great relief.
This illustration was done bigger than I normally work (to
make it easier on my eyes) so I had to scan the painting on our little A4
scanner in two sections and then in Photoshop, ‘photomerge’ the two scans
together. This worked much better
than I anticipated so I am feeling very pleased that this will mean I am not
limited to doing everything now less than A4. There will be some species that
will be better to do a larger scale, now that my eyes aren’t as good as they
used to be for painting detail. Such a relief!
Once I had scanned and photomerged the lizard, I could then
drop the picture file onto the ID document and print it ready to laminate and
take over to the Reptile House. Two copies are needed as there are two separate
displays – one with adults and one with juveniles.
Today is ID sweep day… I started this last week so I was
able at the same time to put up the IDs I had prepared back then. On my ID
Sweep’s I walk the zoo grounds and through the animal houses checking the
condition of the ID signs, cleaning any that are mucky with dust, cobwebs, dirt
etc. I take note of those that will need replacing due to being faded or
damaged or even missing; this can take a few hours to do properly.
Once back in the studio I contact other departments like
gardeners or maintenance if there are any jobs that relate to the ID signs that
may need addressing such as a broken or wobbly post that IDs are attached to or
plants obscuring the signs. I also
start on the computer printing the ID’s that need replacing.
On Tuesday I carried on with the printing of ID replacements
and then started the process of trimming them to size, laminating them,
trimming and then putting double-sided tape on the backs. Not a great deal else was done that
day, the making of the signs kept me busy enough.
On Wednesday I put up the ID’s that were ready, printed and
laminated a couple more bird IDs, as well as hole-punched and put the metal
eyelets in the bird IDs for Forest of Birds. At the end of the day I did a ‘top
up’ ref search for the next species on my list to do… the Indian six spot
ground beetle Anthia sexguttata as well
as an upcoming species the iridescent shark catfish Pangasius
sanitwongasei. I gathered together the
images that I wanted to help me paint the beetle and was looking forward to
starting it next week.
However on my way home I saw Mark, Assistant Curator - Invertebrates,
and mentioned that I was about to start the beetle next week. He told me that
unfortunately there would be little point now as there was only one beetle left
(the others all having come to the end of their natural life span) and they had
not managed to breed this difficult species (many collections have tried and
failed - it would seem the exact conditions needed for this species to breed in
captivity have not yet been replicated successfully). If he were to try again
with another group of these impressive beetles, the animals he would end up
with would be wild caught and ethically Mark did not want to pursue this. He
had hoped with the group he had acquired, he could successfully get them breeding
to create a sustainable captive population.
August 12th – 14th
Monday
There were just a few ID’s left to finish off from the ID
Sweep… four mammal signs in Twilight World. Dave, Education Manager, had seen them
and thought it might be best to revise the text as they were written over 10
years ago. So I printed the IDs and gave him the copies to review. These were
also old Freehand documents so I carried on with the process of converting and
adjusting some elements of the layout to a more up to date look. Fonts were
change and made consistent along with the size of the text being enlarged to
make it easier to read in the low light levels, which took me most of the day
to do. I also printed another ID for the underground area of Seal and Penguin
Coast for the spiny starfish and their present tank companion, an edible crab.
Tuesday
Finished off the new spiny starfish/edible crab ID and put
that up in situ. Got the revised texts back from Education for the Twilight
World IDs, so I was able to finish them and get them back up on show in the
Forest area. Copies of the other ID’s in that area have been left with Dave to
look through and revise when they can.
Wednesday
Spent most of the morning updating ID files to the server as
Back-up. This week there have been discussions between Dave and myself on the
process for ID requests text - a batch of recently done ID’s (not yet on show) were shown to have a
number of errors in the text or Dave wasn’t quite happy with the wording of the
content. Some would need to be redone! To try and minimise this kind of problem
in the future we thought about the process and revised the procedure to ensure
mistakes are caught at an earlier stage – before the sign is printed.
Looking at my ‘To Do’ board I saw that my next species is a
Giant Ghana land snail Achatina achatina …
so I checked my ref photo’s and printed off a selection to work from. I managed
to get the drawing done for this species before the end of the day, which I can
start painting next week hopefully.
Giant Ghana land snail
My
list continues after the landsnail with a bird (wrinkled hornbill) and then
five fish. The bird already had an ID with a photo out on display but the fish
were fairly new and as yet had no ID at all. So I compiled the IDs with their
information (but no picture) and following the revised procedure I sent a copy
of the final sign to Jonny, Assistant Curator - Aquarium, to check the facts and
common/scientific names.
And to finish I have a few photo's taken recently at the zoo...
African penguin having a wash
The boys are growing up!
Kemran and Ketan at about nine months old
The new batchelor group of ring-tailed lemurs enjoying a huddle.
Sunday 4 August 2013
Finally! Blue spiny lizard done!
It's been two weeks since I was working on this lizard... last week I was on holiday, but spent it working as a tutor on a 5 day batik workshop and the week before that we were all up at Wild Place putting up the signage ready for it's opening.
It was hard to get my concentration back for the lizard and it's scales. Working in the larger size has helped my eyes, but I've yet to see how well I can photomerge it. I will have to scan it in two halves, as we only have an A3 scanner, and then join the two images together. When I have done this before at home with other work I always seem to get a small shadow at the joins. So... we will see.... Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of it finished so I will post one of it next week.
Monday 29th
Today I basically worked on two things... the lizard illustration and converting a Freehand document to Illustrator for an invertebrate species.
The lizard was, as I said, hard to get back into.... I had lost the 'flow' and struggled to get my head back round the scaling again, I did eventually and continued work on the hind leg. However, the break away did mean I came back with 'fresh eyes' and I made a few adjustments to what I had done so far. First thing that I noticed was that the female's eye seemed too far forward, so I repainted that so it sat back a little more. Other little details were added like more definition of the edges of some of the scales and making the female's body darker, so it didn't merge so much into the male's. Again it doesn't sound a lot to do but it was the time that it took to it which made it take all day.
Tuesday 30th
The text for the black hornbill came back to me from Education; Dan had adjusted the text so that it read much better. I dropped this text onto the ID document and printed 2 copies for the aviary (one each side - if a round aviary can have sides!). Once laminated and trimmed I took them out to replace the current sign.
On my way out of the Education building I heard the squeek of a moorhen chick, it was continuously calling. Finding that strange I looked across to the shrub up against the building, from where the sound appeared to be coming. I wondered if there was a nest in there and a new brood was what was making all the noise. An adult moorhen was walking around looking uncertain and a little confused. This made me curious so I went closer to see if there was something disturbing the nest. It was then I realised the squeeking chick was not under the shrub but down a pit in front of the building!!
There are two grills placed over two deep 'pits' in front of the windows, these pits are part of the ventilation system of the building. Looking through the grill I could see below the sad sight of a very young moorhen chick. No wonder the parent bird was confused as to where it's chick was. I went back in the building and got Dave. Together we lifted one of the grills covering the pit and Dave climbed down. It was much deeper than I thought. Dave is nearly 6 foot and his head was well below ground level when he stood at the bottom of the pit! He handed the chick up to me and as I held it carefully, I was surprised at the very blue colour of the skin over its eyes. I put it down somewhere safe as Dave climbed back out and we replaced the grill. The parent bird had gone into the shrub out of sight. I had seen it go in, so Dave carefully placed the chick near where we thought the adult was and stepped back. The chick was calling and the parent came out and after a quick touch of beaks, led it away. The chick walked normally, no sign of injury, so hopefully it will grow successfully, with no more mishaps, into adulthood.
Our good deed for the day done, we watched it walk and run after the adult bird away into another flower bed and then we both returned to what we were doing before. I was on my way to put up some signs on the Round Aviary.
The rest of the day was again spent on the lizard, I was now on the last bit... the tail. Almost there! I'm hoping that nothing crops up that will prevent me from finishing it this week. Next week I am due to do another ID Sweep, so it would be good to get this wrapped up and out of the way before I get stuck into a sign replacement mission.
Towards the end of the day, when I had finished my main work, I popped along to see if the baby meerkats were out. It's been a while since I had seen them and as it was a lovely sunny evening and the forecast was for rain later this week, I thought I'd try and see them whilst the weather was good.
There was a lot of crowded activity, with practically all the meerkats focused on one thing... a cardboard tube that the keepers had put in for them. The inside had been blocked up with holes cut in the tube and some tasty morsels obviously were inside judging by the keen way the meerkats were scrabbling at the holes and tube to get in to them. It was quite a scrum with a lot of 'lying over' the tube to gain possession and even sticking paws in the holes to stop others getting in there! I took this video of them, which I had to split into two parts and lower the quality as it wouldn't upload in as one video.
Wednesday 31st
Back to lizard tail today. I can feel the relief growing as I get closer to the tip of the tail and getting it finished. It's been another lizard that was not an easy job. During the day I was able to push the illustration aside.... it was done. I just had to get it checked with Tim, Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians, but he was involved in the interviewing for the job vacancies that had come on on the Ectotherm Section. So we made arrangements that if he couldn't get to see it today, he'll check it next week.
I had an email from Carmen,a keeper from Bug World, to say that the lights were now ok for the backlit sign in Twilight World for the imperial scorpions. I had the sign ready so after a quick chat with Mark, Assistant Curator - Invertebrates, I popped up to Bug World and collected the key I would need.
The access to the sign is from the front in the public area, but the bulbs were kept at the back of the display in a little 'keeper only' room, which is why I needed a key to unlock the door to this space. Behind the door was a very tiny room.... very tiny, less of a room more of a priest hole! The floor space probably measured just over 30" square and just behind the scorpion tank back was a ledge about 30" x 20". It was just enough to get in and have an out of the way place to work whilst I prepared the sign (trimming it to fit the holder) and removing and replacing the holder's back plate, fixed with four screws. The lighting was red... so the overall effect made me feel like I was in a photographic darkroom for elves.
There were four new bulbs to fit so once the sign was in its holder, I popped the bulbs in, lighting up the underground area temporarily and then slid the sign holder into place. All done.
Before starting the next illustration (which is a beetle) I have the bi-monthly ID Sweep to do, so with the day nearly over I started this next job by doing a small section of the zoo.
On the way back to the studio I passed the okapi paddock and was pleased to see the calf out with Mum, Rubani. Last time I saw this little one it was small enough to walk under Rubani's tummy easily. Now it is a wee bit bigger as you can see from this photo!
I enjoyed watching this boisterous youngster kicking its heels up around the paddock. Unfortunately he was too fast for me to get a good clear photo of its antics.
Back in the studio I printed 4 IDs and 11 Blanks replacements, laminating and taping them ready to put up next week.
Here are a few photo's taken recently...
It was hard to get my concentration back for the lizard and it's scales. Working in the larger size has helped my eyes, but I've yet to see how well I can photomerge it. I will have to scan it in two halves, as we only have an A3 scanner, and then join the two images together. When I have done this before at home with other work I always seem to get a small shadow at the joins. So... we will see.... Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of it finished so I will post one of it next week.
Monday 29th
Today I basically worked on two things... the lizard illustration and converting a Freehand document to Illustrator for an invertebrate species.
The lizard was, as I said, hard to get back into.... I had lost the 'flow' and struggled to get my head back round the scaling again, I did eventually and continued work on the hind leg. However, the break away did mean I came back with 'fresh eyes' and I made a few adjustments to what I had done so far. First thing that I noticed was that the female's eye seemed too far forward, so I repainted that so it sat back a little more. Other little details were added like more definition of the edges of some of the scales and making the female's body darker, so it didn't merge so much into the male's. Again it doesn't sound a lot to do but it was the time that it took to it which made it take all day.
Tuesday 30th
The text for the black hornbill came back to me from Education; Dan had adjusted the text so that it read much better. I dropped this text onto the ID document and printed 2 copies for the aviary (one each side - if a round aviary can have sides!). Once laminated and trimmed I took them out to replace the current sign.
On my way out of the Education building I heard the squeek of a moorhen chick, it was continuously calling. Finding that strange I looked across to the shrub up against the building, from where the sound appeared to be coming. I wondered if there was a nest in there and a new brood was what was making all the noise. An adult moorhen was walking around looking uncertain and a little confused. This made me curious so I went closer to see if there was something disturbing the nest. It was then I realised the squeeking chick was not under the shrub but down a pit in front of the building!!
There are two grills placed over two deep 'pits' in front of the windows, these pits are part of the ventilation system of the building. Looking through the grill I could see below the sad sight of a very young moorhen chick. No wonder the parent bird was confused as to where it's chick was. I went back in the building and got Dave. Together we lifted one of the grills covering the pit and Dave climbed down. It was much deeper than I thought. Dave is nearly 6 foot and his head was well below ground level when he stood at the bottom of the pit! He handed the chick up to me and as I held it carefully, I was surprised at the very blue colour of the skin over its eyes. I put it down somewhere safe as Dave climbed back out and we replaced the grill. The parent bird had gone into the shrub out of sight. I had seen it go in, so Dave carefully placed the chick near where we thought the adult was and stepped back. The chick was calling and the parent came out and after a quick touch of beaks, led it away. The chick walked normally, no sign of injury, so hopefully it will grow successfully, with no more mishaps, into adulthood.
Our good deed for the day done, we watched it walk and run after the adult bird away into another flower bed and then we both returned to what we were doing before. I was on my way to put up some signs on the Round Aviary.
The rest of the day was again spent on the lizard, I was now on the last bit... the tail. Almost there! I'm hoping that nothing crops up that will prevent me from finishing it this week. Next week I am due to do another ID Sweep, so it would be good to get this wrapped up and out of the way before I get stuck into a sign replacement mission.
Towards the end of the day, when I had finished my main work, I popped along to see if the baby meerkats were out. It's been a while since I had seen them and as it was a lovely sunny evening and the forecast was for rain later this week, I thought I'd try and see them whilst the weather was good.
One of the new meerkat kits and some adults out enjoying the early evening sun
There was a lot of crowded activity, with practically all the meerkats focused on one thing... a cardboard tube that the keepers had put in for them. The inside had been blocked up with holes cut in the tube and some tasty morsels obviously were inside judging by the keen way the meerkats were scrabbling at the holes and tube to get in to them. It was quite a scrum with a lot of 'lying over' the tube to gain possession and even sticking paws in the holes to stop others getting in there! I took this video of them, which I had to split into two parts and lower the quality as it wouldn't upload in as one video.
Meerkat Scrum Part One
Meerkat Scrum Part Two
Wednesday 31st
Back to lizard tail today. I can feel the relief growing as I get closer to the tip of the tail and getting it finished. It's been another lizard that was not an easy job. During the day I was able to push the illustration aside.... it was done. I just had to get it checked with Tim, Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians, but he was involved in the interviewing for the job vacancies that had come on on the Ectotherm Section. So we made arrangements that if he couldn't get to see it today, he'll check it next week.
I had an email from Carmen,a keeper from Bug World, to say that the lights were now ok for the backlit sign in Twilight World for the imperial scorpions. I had the sign ready so after a quick chat with Mark, Assistant Curator - Invertebrates, I popped up to Bug World and collected the key I would need.
The access to the sign is from the front in the public area, but the bulbs were kept at the back of the display in a little 'keeper only' room, which is why I needed a key to unlock the door to this space. Behind the door was a very tiny room.... very tiny, less of a room more of a priest hole! The floor space probably measured just over 30" square and just behind the scorpion tank back was a ledge about 30" x 20". It was just enough to get in and have an out of the way place to work whilst I prepared the sign (trimming it to fit the holder) and removing and replacing the holder's back plate, fixed with four screws. The lighting was red... so the overall effect made me feel like I was in a photographic darkroom for elves.
There were four new bulbs to fit so once the sign was in its holder, I popped the bulbs in, lighting up the underground area temporarily and then slid the sign holder into place. All done.
Before starting the next illustration (which is a beetle) I have the bi-monthly ID Sweep to do, so with the day nearly over I started this next job by doing a small section of the zoo.
On the way back to the studio I passed the okapi paddock and was pleased to see the calf out with Mum, Rubani. Last time I saw this little one it was small enough to walk under Rubani's tummy easily. Now it is a wee bit bigger as you can see from this photo!
I enjoyed watching this boisterous youngster kicking its heels up around the paddock. Unfortunately he was too fast for me to get a good clear photo of its antics.
Back in the studio I printed 4 IDs and 11 Blanks replacements, laminating and taping them ready to put up next week.
Here are a few photo's taken recently...
A brittlestar in the new coral reef tank in Bug World
Three of this year's greater flamingo chicks.
Backlit leaves on the gibbon island
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