About Barbara
Barbara’s Brief Bio:
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Barbara is a scientific illustrator, botanical illustrator, nature photographer, underwater nature photographer, computer animator, 2D & 3D animation, video editing, and writing. Her illustration career began while studying biology in college where she began illustrating for the biology department, including an entomology lab manual and human anatomy manuals.
Barbara has earned her living translating complex scientific concepts into easily understood illustrations ever since in different disciplines ranging from genetic engineering and biotechnology to earth systems science.
Barbara turned toward botanical illustration in 2007, when she began a certificate program with the Brookside Gardens School of Art and Illustration. She now holds a certificate of Botanical Art & Illustration from that program.
Learning and Discovery are Barbaras greatest joys. Observation and recording those observations are central to both science and art. Learning about the interconnectivity between different nature elements is what Barbara finds most interesting and dynamic. For example, the connection between plants & pollinators, or health forests and oceans, or ocean surface temperatures and storm intensity.
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Barbara’s Botanical Art Mission Statement:
Botanical illustration can teach us so much about plants belong how pretty they are. Botanical illustration can highlight significant facts about plants that are often overlooked.
I’m attracted to the educational potential botanical art provides in, promoting environmental and ecological awareness and understanding.
Here are just a few examples:
• Plants are becoming extinct at over twice the rate of all animals combined. Documenting plants in any habitat provides valuable information.
• Plants can be used for medicinal purposes, and are often and excellent source of protein, vitamins, minerals, and soluble fiber. Native plants support native pollinators and protecting both are vital to our own well being.
• Plant fossils can tell us a lot about the temperature and atmospheric gas mixtures in the past.
• The paleo record also show us forests that were rapidly replaced by grasslands.
These and more information from the paleo record can help us understand and prepare for current changes in our climate that are out of the range of our ~ 100 years of scientific observations.