News from the Studio

ScienceOnline 2012 Exhibit

emilydamstra — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 01:28:30 +0000

I entered three images into the inaugural ScienceOnline 2012 Digital Art Show, and one of them received a prize in the category “Best science art having to do with daily life.” It’s this image of an earthworm dissection that appeared in a recent post. You can see all of the artwork in the exhibit in a slideshow here.

Earthworm dissection illustration © Emily S. Damstra

Rob Dunn of Your Wild Life was very generous in funding the prizes; thanks for your support of science art, Rob! And thanks to Glendon Mellow and Karyn Traphagen, among others, for organizing the show.

Details from most recent illustrations for interpretive signs

emilydamstra — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 15:54:53 +0000

Below are small details taken from large illustrations of a meadow and a forest in the Great Lakes Region. I’ll post the entire illustrations when the signs are installed this spring.

Details from meadow illustration, © Emily S. Damstra

Details from forest illustration, © Emily S. Damstra

These kept me busy last fall!

From a decade ago: Earthworm Dissection illustration

emilydamstra — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 00:52:50 +0000

I’ve been really busy working on a couple complex illustrations, but they aren’t ready to post so I thought I’d share an illustration I created about a decade ago. I dissected this earthworm and then illustrated it with carbon dust and charcoal pencil. It was used in high school biology labs on a cd-rom dissection guide. For the cd-rom, I colored the different organs in Photoshop so they were easily differentiated (see here) , but I’ve always preferred this plain grayscale version.

Earthworm dissection illustration © Emily S. Damstra

Cougar illustration, engraved in gold and platinum

emilydamstra — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:08:41 +0000

The Royal Canadian Mint recently released two new collector coins featuring one of my illustrations – the head of a snarling cougar.

0.5 g Fine Gold Coin - Cougar (2011), illustration by Emily S. Damstra

This 0.5 g gold coin is only 11 mm in diameter! It is the smallest gold coin that the Royal Canadian Mint offers. You can also see it at the Mint’s website.

The Mint released the same illustration on a 30 mm diameter platinum coin which has already sold out:

One Ounce Patinum coin - Cougar (2011), illustration by Emily S. Damstra

You can view this coin at the Mint’s website as well. Thanks go out to the local coin shop Colonial Acres for allowing me to take this photograph of their coin. (At $3,000.00, it wasn’t going to end up in my collection!)

“Artistic by Nature” – an exhibit at Artway Invitational Gallery

emilydamstra — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 23:11:04 +0000

Along with works by three other SONSI members, several of my paintings will be on exhibit at the Artway Invitational Gallery in Brampton, Ontario, beginning this Thursday. See image for details.

Exhibit postcard design by Jennifer Osborn.

This seems to be quite the year for exhibits!

Alumni Exhibit at Alma College

emilydamstra — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:59:15 +0000

Illustration of Salvia anatomy © Emily S. Damstra

From October 10 to November 10, this painting along with four of my other drawings or paintings will be displayed in the Flora Kirsch Beck Gallery at Alma College, in Alma, Michigan, as part of the first Department of Art and Design Alumni Exhibit.

(Late addition: Click here for a write-up about this exhibit).

Two new Mythical Creatures illustrations on coins from the Royal Canadian Mint.

emilydamstra — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 21:30:43 +0000

Earlier this summer the Royal Canadian Mint released a collector coin featuring my illustration of the Memphré, a mythical creature said to inhabit Lake Memphremagog (on the border of Quebec and Vermont). Click here to see the coin at the Mint’s website.

Illustration of Memphré by Emily S. Damstra

The Mint released its latest Mythical Creatures coin this month featuring my illustration of Mishepishu, a creature that haunts the waters of Lake Superior according to Ojibwe legend. Click here to view the coin at the Mint’s website.

Illustration of Mishepishu by Emily S. Damstra

Science illustrations as tattoos

emilydamstra — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:18:53 +0000

Over the years I’ve been contacted by a few different people interested in licensing one of my illustrations for a tattoo. Most recently, John Conn, an Air Traffic Controller for the United States Air Force, wanted to incorporate my illustration of a timber rattlesnake into his “Don’t Tread on Me” tattoo (on his calf).

John Conn's "Don't Tread on Me" tattoo

Several years ago, a woman licensed my pen-and-ink blastoid illustration for an arm tattoo. Kat Marie Moya inked the tattoo.

fossil blastoid illustration as tattoo

It makes me happy when folks like my illustrations enough to wear one on their skin!

New book with my illustrations: The Atlantic Coast, a Natural History

emilydamstra — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:50:00 +0000

Image of the book cover, used with permission of the publisher

Last week’s mail yielded a delightful surprise – a copy of Greystone Books’ just-released title The Atlantic Coast; A Natural History by Harry Thurston. Read the description here on amazon.ca. I created 29 illustrations for the book earlier this year, two of which I featured in an earlier post. Here is one more:

September exhibit at local nature reserve

emilydamstra — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 23:42:53 +0000

For the month of September, roughly 30 of my illustrations will be on display at the administration building of the rare Charitable Research Reserve in Cambridge, Ontario, including this Tiger Swallowtail. There is a public opening reception on September 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm; details can be found here.