Nature Volve

scicomm illustration

What became clear from this survey was that Hakea What are the mathematical principles
has the toughest and most nutrient-impoverished behind the natural aesthetics of these leaf
leaves in the world: they are so hard and unpalatable structures?
that they do not wilt and retain their shape even
when bone-dry. The clue to these features is in their The hardness of leaves is usually given as dry leaf
tissue structure.
mass divided by projected leaf area. Informed by
How do you combine your scientific
knowledge with your artistic abilities to my structural studies on Hakea leaves, I gradually
communicate the beauty of these plants?
realized that leaf thickness has a special part to play in
To understand how Hakea leaves manage to be so
hard and rigid (the technical word is scleromorphy) it supporting the leaf and increasing its drought and heat
is necessary to wax-embed them, take thin sections
with a microtome, stain with special dyes that pick tolerance (there is more resistance to water loss and
out the different components such as cellulose and
lignin, mount them in resin and examine under the greater ability to spread absorbed heat the thicker the
light microscope. What one sees takes your breath
away because of the beauty and elegance of the leaf).
arrangement of the tissues that are revealed.
I wanted to share what I see under the microscope Also, I could play around with “Hakea has
with my students, others interested in natural history the formula – if I multiplied the toughest
(naturalist clubs, adult-learning courses) and possibly
even fellow biologists. I have a strong artistic streak mass/area by thickness/ and most
(after finishing my Bachelors in Agricultural Science, thickness. It does not change nutrient-
I worked for two years in my father’s landscaping the value of leaf-mass-area
business and took music and art lessons again
after letting them lapse – I gained a distinction but I have now created two impoverished
in matriculation art and completed a diploma in new variables: [mass/(area x
recreation that included fine art options). thickness)] x thickness = mass/ leaves in the
volume x thickness = dry density
So, I thought I could reproduce what I saw as large- x thickness (Witkowski and world”
format paintings. This involved taking photos of what
I saw under the microscope for reference, reducing Lamont 1991).
3-ply wood to about 1.2 m square, and covering
with white water-based house paint. The tissues Thus, the secret to why Hakea leaves are the most
are then outlined, the walls of cells are created by scleromorphic in the world is that they are both thick
dispensing polyfilla via a nozzle and bag used for and dense. My paintings make this clear – usually only
cake decorating and the new surface covered with succulent leaves exceed 1 mm thickness– most are
white paint. The shape is cut out with a jigsaw. Acrylic wafer thin. In addition, the inner cells have unusually
paints are now used to highlight the cell walls of the thick cellulose walls while the photosynthetic tissues
various tissues using a square, 10 mm-wide brush. are supported by girders and wedges of lignified fibres
that stop the leaf collapsing if turgor is lost.

Our work showed that some Hakeas spend the entire
summer below the wilting point and only recover once
the wet season begins again. Hakea invaginata is even
more remarkable: because it has grooves (crypts)
running down its full length, as the leaf starts to shrink
when water is scarce, the crypts seal at their open side
and prevent further water loss (Hakea is not unique in
that respect such as some cylindrical cacti).

The paintings are finished with several coats of Some Hakea leaves have the same density as
household varnish then mounted on another 3-ply hardwood eucalypts! Thus I can use my paintings in
board, separated by wood blocks to give it stability. lectures to show the remarkable adaptations of these
The backboard is then cut to the outline of the species to their harsh environment and highlight form
painted section with a jigsaw. Each has taken about and function, at the tissue level, as well as show, at
30 hours to complete. A mosaic of four of the eight the whole leaf level, the beautiful symmetry of their
paintings I have produced accompany this article. structure and kaleidoscope of colors that are nothing
Perhaps this is a new type of art: micro-naturalism? short of an aesthetic, uplifting experience.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved. p51

scicomm illustration

Right: Painting of leaf section
of Hakea invaginata, which
occurs in semi-arid Australia,
as used in teaching to show
how the tissues are arranged
to minimize water loss yet
allow photosynthesis to occur.
The leaf is 2 mm wide.
© B. Lamont. All rights
reserved.

Final thoughts

Distinguished Professor Byron Lamont shares the endless beauty of these
Hakea plants, whether looking at their leaves in their whole form or through
thin-section, as stained samples or as their bare tissue structure. We learned
that there are several adaptations that make these plants suited to semi-arid
climates: thick leaves and fire-adapted seeds to name a few. By creating large-
scale paintings of the tissue sections he sees under the microscope, Professor
Lamont is able to easily share the intricate details that add to Hakea’s hardiness
to their harsh environment and climate. His style of art, which he deems “micro-
naturalism,” is an effective tool for scientific communication.

Bio

Byron Lamont is Distinguished Professor Emeritus in Plant Ecology at Curtin University, Western
Australia. His expertise is adaptations of Mediterranean floras to fire, poor soils, drought,
herbivores, and pollinators. Byron has published 380 articles cited 27,500 times. PhD (1974), DSc
(1993), Member of Order of Australia (2010). Since retirement in 2010, Byron has published 70
papers, and a book on the southwestern Australian flora, with his research focusing on the role
of fire and climate in the evolution of plants. In 2019 he was placed in the top 0.3% of 7 million
science researchers.

Links

Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Byron-Lamont
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?hl=en&user=V1Ea0pgAAAAJ
2022 publication about Hakea: doi:10.1007/s11258-022-01232-x

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved. p52

scicomm gallery

A scenic pose in Iceland

Tourist posing for Instagram at Reynisfjara Beach, About
Iceland (below) © In The Name of Wild. All rights reserved.
Phillip Vannini and April Vannini
The photograph portrays a tourist in costume posing for are ethnographers and filmmakers.
an Instagram post (in the evening we ourselves found They share an interest in exploring
the picture the tourist took on Instagram). the meaning of “wild” and
The image was taken in Iceland at Reynisfjara Beach, “wilderness” and are the authors
just outside the town of Vik. It’s a spot that has been of Wilderness and Inhabited:
made very popular over the years on Instagram. Wildness and the Vitality of the
Iceland, as a whole, has been a popular sight on Land and the directors of In the
Instagram and the country’s tourist authorities have Name of Wild and Inhabited.
played a central role in using Instagram and other They teach in the School of
social media to promote their landscapes, especially Communication and Culture at
after the country’s financial crisis. Yet, the country’s Royal Road University and live on
hottest destinations and the national infrastructure have Gabriola Island in British Columbia.
struggled to keep up. Vik, for example, has a population
of 750, and yet it receives over a million visitors a year. Contact
This is putting tremendous pressure on both human
and non-human inhabitants. Website:
https://www.inthenameofwild.com/

scicomm gallery

I Was A Kid

I Was A Kid: Angelica Patterson (below) About

© Karen Romano Young, IWasAKid.com All rights reserved. Karen Romano Young is an author, illustrator,
science communicator, comics creator, polar
I Was A Kid is a brand-new multimedia explorer, and deep-sea diver.
project from author/illustrator/explorer I Was A Kid brings all of these strands together
Karen Romano Young. Dedicated to to form a new project in the hope of welcoming
demonstrating pathways into STEAM fields new students and their viewpoints to STEAM
for young people, it shares the stories of education and careers.
STEAM careerists. Find out more about
Angelica Patterson -- and the other I Was A Contact
Kid profilees -- at iwasakid.com
Website: www.iwasakid.com

scicomm gallery

SciArt for bee research

Bee illustration (below) About

© Aiswarya P S 2022. All rights reserved. Aiswarya PS is a physics master’s and biology minor
student at the Indian Institute of Science Education and
This SciArt illustration aims to Research, Thiruvananthapuram, India.
illuminate the importance of She is an avid science communicator and an aspiring
bees and their research. illustrator. She aims to work with scientists to help
communicate and share their research through the
It was created to support fantastic medium of illustration. She is currently serving as
Dr. Hema Somanathan’s a gravitational wave science communicator at LIGO, India,
laboratory, which focuses and head of design at Project Encephalon.
on behavioral and
evolutionary ecology at IISER Contact
Thiruvananthapuram, India.
Email: [email protected]

Art

Art Artist interview

Minimalist elegance

with Amy Louise Lee Above: Fluidity xl, 36” x 36”, metal
on canvas
Amy Louise Lee is an experimental
Below: Empowerment, 60” x 36”,
contemporary artist who is currently metal on canvas”.
immersed in the metal medium. While she
does many sketches, the media she uses Both images: © Amy Lee.
is mixed, even using sculpting paste and All rights reserved.
fabrics, channelling a natural curiosity about
science and nature.

Having spent most of her life in New York
City, she has lived all over the world but
it is now in New Jersey in the Sourland
Mountains, pursuing her artistic practise. She enjoys taken
crude, unrefined materials and transforming them into minimalist
elegance, embracing the design philosophy of wabi sabi: a
world view in Japanese aesthetics based on the acceptance of
transience and imperfection. Amy describes her creative process
and her aeclectic influences with us here.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved. p57

Art Artist interview

Q & A: Amy Louise Lee

How did you become an artist? What about nature inspires you?

I have always been a creative and curious person, Science and nature is my inspiration, being
always wanting to explore and understand things, completely fascinated by the smaller details all
figuring stuff out for myself. I believe this is the true around us, while one might see a tree, I see the
foundation of any artist. As a child, having lived in texture and detail of bark on that tree, wanting to
various countries I realized at a young age the most learn and understand why the bark is the way it is.
common language is art, whether through a painting, I indulge in my outdoor surroundings everyday by
music or dance, it is universally understood. This keeping my curiosity alive, constantly wanting to
allowed me to connect to people without speaking their learn.
native language.
In addition, taking nature classes or reading books
As with most young adults growing up, art is always on ‘math in nature’ keeps me intrigued and engaged.
presented as a poor option to make a living, so I I often wish math was taught in schools in a visual
decided to step into the world of Interior Design. I felt it way, through nature. For example, the Fibonacci
was still a creative field and I could make a nice living sequence is absolutely fascinating and made no
designing. What I found was that my true self was sense when studying it abstractly in school, but
always struggling against
the limitations of design. I
constantly had this nagging
feeling that something didn’t
connect in my soul.

After years and years of
struggling to figure out what
was wrong, I realized that
my authentic self wanted
to just make art without the
input or limitations Interior
Design can present. That’s
when the light came on, I
needed to follow my own
path of creativity. Ever
since I began creating and
exploring art my entire life
has been transformed. I
am flooded with ideas and
have fully immersed myself
into everything art related.
This is one hundred percent
my path in life and I look
forward to seeing where it
takes me.

Right: Circle 2, 24” x 24”, metal p58
on canvas. © Amy Lee. All rights
reserved.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

Art Artist interview

when I started to learn and see it in nature, it blew me creating delicate “Overall, no
away. This beautiful mathematical sequence shows up works of art on
everywhere, in sunflowers, pinecones, ferns, nautilus the canvas. matter which
shells. There is so much beauty and chaos in the tiny process I choose,
details, which I am forever trying to immerse myself
into, not photographically or realistically, but in spirit, If it’s a painting, my wish is to
capturing the essence. Art is my way of expressing
abstractly what I see, sense and learn through nature: then I like to bring the same
simple with complex humility. build up the sense of calm to
canvas with the observer as
I’m quite sure the humble simplicity of the British sculpting paste
countryside is at the center of my being and translates
itself into my work over and over again. and fabric to they would feel

Tell us about your creative process with achieve the walking through
metal, texture and paint mediums maximum texture the countryside.”
prior to painting
I typically begin by sketching out ideas in a large
sketchbook I keep in close proximity. This leads to the canvas.
thinking about canvas size, which materiality I want to
proceed with to communicate the idea. Currently my Somewhere within the painting I like to show a
favorite and most labor intensive material is metal. perfectly straight line to emphasize the contrast.
Using tiny milk glass beads or burlap is another
I take crude industrial metal ingots, melt them down way I create texture, allowing the tactile nature of
over high heat to a molten state which takes approx the product to be the subject.
20min per bar. Then I literally throw it against various
materials to achieve different tones and textures. Once As a result, the texture placement feels familiar
the metal has cooled and hardened, I am able to start and hopeful. Overall, no matter which process I
choose, my wish is to bring the same sense of
calm to the observer as they would feel walking
through the countryside.

Above: Clearing & full circle, 48” x 24”, metal on canvas. © Amy Lee. All rights reserved. p59

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

Art Artist interview

Have you done any interesting collaborations,
or do you have any special plans coming up
this year?

I’m working on a few different upcoming exhibitions, The idea of combining both disciplines is extremely
however I’m most excited about learning AR, exciting and allows for endless possibilities.
Augmented Reality, a technological medium that can In addition to learning how to work with a digital
make my artwork come alive. Although it’s a different medium, I am also in the process of exploring
discipline, I love the idea of creating art on top of my different tactile materials like concrete and wax.
existing art, showing more of my personality. I have been experimenting with both independently
For example, having the circles in ‘empowerment’ and look forward to creating and showing interesting
slowly start to rotate in different directions and speeds shapes and textures. I love the idea of industrial,
so it feels like the inner workings of a machine or functional materials and developing a process that
something more silly like having my head randomly allows them to show as delicate abstract works of art.
hover or appear within the work.

Final thoughts

Amy has always been naturally curious and creative, seeing art as a
common language between all, coming from her worldly perspective.
Pursuing interior design, she felt something lacking. To release the
limitations felt in her career, she followed her own path of creativity,
and has been experimenting with her minimalist art ever since.

Being curious about science, she has always been learning along the
way, such as with the occurrence of Fibonacci sequence, which can
be spotted in all kinds of natural forms like pinecones. She is also
exploring Augmented Reality (AR) and its potential to be infused with
her artworks. Influenced by many aspects of the world, natural forms
are Amy’s artistic muse.

Bio

Amy was born in England, raised in Germany, yet have spent her adult life living and
working in New York City, now resides in the countryside of the Sourland mountains, New
Jersey. Creativity and Art is at the center of her life and is a reflection of her enthusiasm for
warm, minimalist sophistication, embracing the design philosophy of wabi sabi. When she
is not creating art, she is designing interior spaces.

Links

Website: https://www.amylouiselee.com
Instagram: @amylouiselee_art
Email: [email protected]

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved. p60

Art art gallery

Antonio Polidano Vella

Antonio Polidano Vella is a cancer research scientist currently undergoing a PhD

at the University of Malta; his motherland. In his project he seeks to find a better
therapy for a type of Leukaemia called CML.

When out of the lab he pursues his main interest - the visual arts, relishing
painting in oils, particularly by amalgamating scientific concepts into his art.

Artwork Hope in Labcoats (below) Links

© Antonio Polidano Vella. All rights reserved.

Painted in oil paint on canvas. Inspired by the pandemic, this artwork portrays Website:
how imperative the works of scientists and health care workers are, not only for antoniopolidanovella.com
the advancement, but for the mere maintenance of the human race.

The science of medicine will be the torch that will guide us out of dark times and
with the right cooperation, will help defeat all things which hinder us from living.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved. p61

Art art gallery

Star Holden

Star Holden is a self taught artist based in London with an interest in

capturing natural phenomena and exploring our connection to the cosmos.
He uses a combination of digital fabrication methods and traditional
techniques to create performative sculptures.

Planetesimal is a tactile, dynamic depiction of changing light on the
surface of Asteroid 4 Vesta. Shadows emerge and disappear as light
moves bringing different textures into definition.

Artwork Planetesimal (2021) (below) Links

© Star Holden. All rights reserved. Website:
www.starholden.com
Planitesimal imagines witnessing the movement of light and shadow across the
Rheasilvia crater as asteroid 4 Vesta silently tumbles through space. It represents
a snapshot of the early formation of a planet in our solar system.

Surface topography data gathered by NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft in 2012 is sculpted
into a primitive surface, while hundreds of individual lights hidden within the
artworks frame orchestrate shadows revealing millions of years of impact events.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved. p62

Art art gallery

Mark Noble

Mark Noble is an English painter. His works shine a new light on the under-valued

aspects of the world in which we live. Often specialising in landscape paintings and
abstract work, Mark infuses his worlds with a melancholic and spiritual beauty. After a
difficult time at school (dealing with autism and severe dyslexia) and spending nearly
20 years working in a local plastics factory, Mark Noble set out to pursue his dream of
becoming an artist. Inspired by the work of Turner, he expresses the mystical, dream-like
and sublime, through delicate attention to the commonplace or overlooked.

Mark has exhibited paintings across the UK and Europe and has received interest from
as far afield as South America. He is currently running art workshops and wants to
encourage those who, like him, have creative dreams yet to be fully realised.
Mark recently sold work at a major event in London (the OXO Gallery) to raise awareness
of Parkinson’s Disease and he is displaying paintings in several other galleries around
England. In March 2021, Mark became an ambassador for a charity called ‘Outside In’ –
assisting and promote
disabled artists.

Artwork

Sunset over Somerset

(right)

© Mark Noble. All rights reserved.

This Turner-esque painting
showcases Mark’s ability
to capture the sky and sea
in all its glory. The glorious
coastal sunset depicted in
this painting is one you might
be able to witness in person
if you’re fortunate enough to
visit Somerset in the South
West of England.
This is one of Mark’s finest
‘recycled’ paintings from his
‘Driftwood Collection’ and
makes use of wood from a
disused mirror!

Links p63

Website:
www.marknoble.art

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

Art art gallery

Ying Kit Chan

Ying Kit Chan, a Chinese-American artist, is Artwork Not In My Backyard (below)

currently Professor of Art at the University of © Ying Kit Chan. All rights reserved.
Louisville, USA. For over three decades, Chan
used his art projects to celebrate the beauty of The phrase “Not In My Backyard” is a common
nature, but also to critique the anthropogenic expression which carries complex meanings.
impact on the environment. He has presented It implicates environmental injustices and
his artwork in over 200 exhibitions in the identifies environmental issues as social justice
United States, Australia, Canada, Ecuador, issues. Constructed with tree branches and
Germany, Korea, Japan, England, Hong Kong, discarded plastic bags, the materials embody
Poland, Taiwan, and Portugal. the degradation of nature and harmful effects of
plastic waste pollution. The round shape may
Find out more at: yingkitchan.com symbolize the garbage patch or the Runit Dome
in the Pacific Ocean.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved. p64

Written
Word

Written Word poetry

River Liffey,

By Ronan Quinn

The days of the chime in the slime are long
since gone, so too the floozy in the jacuzzi,

But as I stand on your wide open bridge to
look down river, I feel as if the squat like

Houses are closing in on me. The even
more squatter friendly windows and dumpy

Doorways attract your green sludge and
an undercurrent in a swirl, the keen bike

Lovers and the kayaks turning on the tide.
The boardwalks full of drug addicts and

Drinkers or the beggars on the Halfpenny
Bridge. There is a stench of traffic as we

approach the grime, I notice the paucity
of trees lining the banks on my right hand.

It’s a pity to behold, the stark difference
with the sea it flows into, is the river Liffey.

Bio p66

Ronan is an editor, writer, poet and literary translator based in
Dublin. He studied for an undergraduate degree in Russian and
European History in Bangor University and a Masters in Russian
Literary Translation in Trinity College Dublin.

Originally a journalist for various publications in Ireland,
including The Irish Times, Ronan went on to translate many books
from Russian to English. He is currently working for a few Russian
translation outlets and writes poetry for online publications both in
the United States and Ireland.

Find out more at:
theoutposteire.com/2022/05/07/the-releasing-by-ronan-quinn

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

Written Word book flash

Economics For a Fragile Planet

Economics For a Fragile Planet (below) Business as usual is no longer an option -
actions are needed now by governments,
Economics for a Fragile Planet outlines the businesses, financial institutions and
policy, business and consumer actions needed consumers for better stewardship of
now to overcome global environmental risks. the biosphere. Rethinking economies
in this way is essential to reducing
The world is facing growing environmental human ecological impacts and global
risks from global warming, biodiversity loss, environmental risks, for the benefit of both
water scarcity and degradation of the marine current and future generations.
environment. Meeting these challenges calls for
a fresh perspective on our economic relationship About
with the environment.
Edward B. Barbier is a University
For too long we have undervalued nature – at Distinguished Professor in the Department
our peril. Managing an increasingly “fragile” of Economics, Colorado State University.
planet requires new thinking on markets, He is an environmental and resource
institutions and governance that decouples economist and a highly cited scholar on
wealth creation from environmental degradation. global environmental and sustainability
This can only happen if we end the underpricing issues. His latest book is Economics for
of nature, foster collective action, accept a Fragile Planet, Cambridge University
absolute limits, attain sustainability, and promote Press.
inclusivity.
Find the book here.

© Edward B. Barbier.
All rights reserved.

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved. p67

Written Word book flash

Portal Otherworldly Wonders of Ireland’s Bogs,
Wetlands & Eskers

Portal is an immersive

visual exploration
through the realms of
unique flora and fauna
within Ireland’s bogs,
wetlands and eskers,
revealing the hidden
gems that have lived and
evolved for millennia.

Tina Claffey has
been exploring these
wondrous bogs through
the seasons with a macro
lens, which captures this
enchanted wilderness in
its minuteness, seeing
beyond what the human
eye is capable of.

About the Author Image above: © Tina Claffey. All rights reserved.

Tina Claffey is an award winning Irish nature photographer with a fascination with the Irish
wilderness. She is the author of Tapestry of Light (2017) and Portal (2022) and has been
honoured with awards from highly prestigious world competitions including the International
Photography Awards, Fine Art Photography, BigPicture, Close-Up Photographer of the Year
and IGPOTY Macro competition.

She has presented her work on many worldwide online platforms including the Wildlife
Habitat Council Online Conference in the US and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP
26) to promote the importance of the Irish bog wilderness.

Link: p68
Portal - Currach Books

© NatureVolve digital magazine. All rights reserved.

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