HELP US GET TO MONTANA. Tony Martin and I need travel funds to get to Montana for his research in July. Exciting things will be taking place on the Egg Mountain dinosaur-nest site near Choteau. His colleague from Montana State University, David Varricchio, will be there with a barrage of other scientists, students, and volunteers. I would like to join Tony after I finish my Life Practice Program with InterPlay mid-July. Tony often pays for his own research travel, and because I am in a career transition right now, we want to support this trip by selling giclée prints of our artwork. Up until now, we have been too shy to market these prints. Will you purchase our Cretaceous-themed art? |
You can help support fossil research and science-communication outreach by buying one or both of these prints: “Mother Earth,
Mother Dinosaur,” by Ruth Schowalter and “Parasitoid:
In Rocks, No One Can Hear You Scream,”
by Anthony Martin. Both of these artworks relate to Tony’s fossil discoveries
from Cretaceous Period rocks in Montana. The sales of these prints will be used
to support travel expenses for Tony and Ruth to go to Montana and work at the
Egg Mountain dinosaur-nest site near Choteau, Montana, this July (2014). Tony
will be working as an ichnologist with David Varricchio (Montana State
University) and a group of other scientists and university volunteers. Ruth
will document some of the science happenings at the site through photographs
and blogging, and will be looking for inspirations for future art projects.
Each signed giclée print is $200 individually, but both purchased
together are $350 plus $10 for shipping and handling. The word, “giclée,” is a fine art term
which describes a printing process to reproduce an original piece of art work.
Printed on high-quality watercolor paper, these giclée reproductions are made
with fade-resistant archival inks, which will last 200 years (but not as long as
the dinosaur bones and insect cocoons). Contact us via Facebook (Tony or Ruth) in a private message if you are interested in purchasing these colorful interpretations about the Cretaceous.
MOTHER EARTH, MOTHER DINOSAUR, by RuthTruth, aka Hallelujah Truth, Ruth Schowalter |
About “Mother Earth, Mother Dinosaur”: This
image has appeared in international paleontological presentations, having been printed
on commemorative t-shirts for the 2008 “Dinosaur Dreaming” dig-season in Victoria,
Australia, and published in the 2010 book, Dinosaur Dreaming: Exploring the Bass Coast of Victoria. “Mother
Earth, Mother Dinosaur” also graced the front cover of a book published in
Spain, A
Burrowing Dinosaur, a bilingual text published by Fundacion Conjunto
Paleotologico de Teruel- Dinopolis. In 2011, it was exhibited in
Atlanta, Georgia, USA, at Fernbank Museum of
Natural History and was selected for and shown at the Science Online 2012
conference at Duke University, North Carolina.
“Mother
Earth, Mother Dinosaur” reflects Ruth Schowalter’s interpretation of a new
species of dinosaur reported in the March 2007 Proceedingsof the Royal Society of London B. An adult dinosaur was found with
two juveniles in their burrow, where they had remained for 95 million years.
Scientists had thought that some dinosaurs should have burrowed in the
Cretaceous; however, until Oryctodromeus
cubicularis (which means "digging runner of the lair")—the scientific name assigned to
this burrowing “mother” dinosaur—no evidence had been found to support that
hypothesis.
As
a painter, she was given special insights into this animal and its burrow with
young because her husband, Anthony Martin of Emory University, was a co-discoverer of the new
species with David Varricchio of Montana State
University
and Yoshihiro Katsura of the Gifu Prefecture Museum of Japan. Interpreting
behavior from the fossil record is challenging, yet these findings indicate
that mothers stayed with their young and maintained some kind of family
structure. The findings also show evidence that mammals and insects co-existed
with the dinosaurs. Small structures suggesting insect burrows and a small mammal
burrow were found off the main burrow of the digging runner’s.
In
painting this image of “Mother Earth, Mother Dinosaur,” Ruth wanted to convey
both a “womb,” where the dinosaurs were more than likely born, and a “tomb,”
where they died when it appears the burrow was flooded. She also wanted to give
the feeling of the “mother earth” holding these creatures for all this time to
be given a new birth during our life times.
This giclée reproduction of “Mother Earth, Mother Dinosaur” is smaller (15” x 17.5”) than the original painting (18” x 22”). The original “Mother Earth, Mother Dinosaur” was done in acrylic on wood. These reproductions, which are printed on high-quality watercolor paper, are signed and dated by artist RuthTruth (aka Ruth Schowalter) and her husband, paleontologist Anthony Martin (one of the three co-discoverers of Oryctodromeus cubicularis).
This giclée reproduction of “Mother Earth, Mother Dinosaur” is smaller (15” x 17.5”) than the original painting (18” x 22”). The original “Mother Earth, Mother Dinosaur” was done in acrylic on wood. These reproductions, which are printed on high-quality watercolor paper, are signed and dated by artist RuthTruth (aka Ruth Schowalter) and her husband, paleontologist Anthony Martin (one of the three co-discoverers of Oryctodromeus cubicularis).
Parasitoid: In Rocks, No One Can Hear You Scream, by Anthony Martin, author of Dinosaurs Without Bones. |
About “Parasitoid: In Rocks, No One Can Hear You
Scream,” by Anthony Martin. Darwin once said, “I cannot persuade myself that a
beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created parasitic wasps
with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of
caterpillars.” With that quotation in mind, this artwork is inspired by fossil
insect cocoons from 75-million-year-old rocks in Montana (USA) associated with
dinosaur nests that hold evidence of parasitoid behavior. This behavior is
typically expressed by a smaller insect – such as a wasp – preying on the egg,
larvae, pupae, or adults of another species of insect. The figures depicted in
this artwork show the stages of parasitoid behavior represented by the fossils
(from left to right): pupa --> exit hole --> exit burrow in a larger host pupa. These fossils
thus give us insights into how long ago this behavior had evolved in insects.
The artwork and title are meant to evoke memories
of the Alien movies, which featured
an antagonist creature that used a parasitoid-like strategy to prey on its
human victims. The artwork and the science behind it are also meant to echo
Darwin’s struggle to reconcile his spiritual beliefs with the factual basis of
natural selection.
The giclée print of “Parasitoid: In Rocks, No One Can Hear
You Scream,” is 14.5” x 19,” based on the original size of 18” x 24”, which was
drawn on black construction paper using watercolor crayon and colored pencil.
MISTAKEN POINT, NEWFOUNDLAND 2012. Looking at Ediacaran fossils on a foggy day made it difficult to see these amazing life forms from so many millions of years ago. Here Tony Martin (with Paleontologist Barbie in his pocket) and Ruth Schowalter (aka RuthTruth, Hallelujah Truth) stop for a photo while international ichnologists clamor overhead to discuss their findings. Ruth writes about her experiences on an ichnology field trip in these blogs: here, here, and here. These blog entries serve as an example of what sort of blogs might come out of the Montana trip. |
Dear Ruth and Tony...I would love to purchase a print of each to hang on my walls but alas...my retirement budget will not allow anything so lovely and original and by artists I actually know...even if it is a virtual friendship...I wish you both so much luck in your artistic marketing endeavor...I know it will happen...Just have faith...many hugs to both
ReplyDeleteHey y'all, I'm like Darlene, getting by on social security poverty. If I had $200 I'd buy some groceries. The second $200 I'd pay bills with that I'm falling behind in. To send you $360, which I'd love to do, I couldn't buy groceries for the next two months, couldn't buy gas to drive the car, couldn't keep my Ethiopian coffee fix going. Were it not for these limitations, plus I could never afford to frame them either and would have to thumbtack the corners to the wall if I were to choose to go on hunger strike for sixty days. As I'm not sure I could make it through two months without eating, there's not much point in having them. I would like to be able to help support your trip, but am not of the means it takes. Y'all are now the Christo and Jean-Claude of Atlanta.
ReplyDeleteTJ, I truly understand your situation. I am trusting in the universe and practicing asking for what I need. Tony and I appreciate your thoughts of support. They mean a lot to us.
DeleteThank you so much for your wishes for our success in raising enough money to go to Montana Darlene! They mean a lot to both Tony and me.
ReplyDelete