As most of you know, my work revolves around finding connections between art and science and looking for ways express scientific ideas visually through art. My husband has been encouraging me for a while to look at my work under a microscope as another way to merge these two practices. I am excited to share with you that this past weekend we were able to finally explore this idea. And wow–it takes observation to a whole different level. Looking so closely that I’m not even sure what I’m looking at any more. It is an interesting reminder that all art is abstract because its not actually an image that you are looking at, but strokes of pigment attached to the fibres of your drawing paper. The picture below shows a tiny close up of part of a salt formation on one of my seawater drawings. I love the circle around the image from the microscope lens. A circle is such an interesting shape because it represents both the infinitely small and the infinitely massive–like a cell or a planet.