PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE’S RAISON D’ETRE: SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION AND A PASSION FOR ART!

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: READY FOR SCIENCE AND ART

ARTISTIC ASSISTANT: Paleontologist Barbie has a strong aesthetic sense and helps Hallelujah Truth in her studio when she is not out on the road finding her next fossil.

HALLELUJAH for unexpected relationships! HALLELUJAH once again for SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION and ART united that brings CURIOUS SOULS together! As recent as last December, my Chiboogamoo and I had a new curiosity move into our lives in the form of PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE! Since then both my Chiboogamoo and I have been happily collaborating with her in our respective CREATIVE areas. Upon her return to Decatur, Georgia, USA, from the east coast of Australia with my Chiboogamoo, she delighted me in agreeing to do this interview.

OAXCAN DINOSAUR WOOD CARVING: Paleontologist Barbie suggested I use this wood carving of a dinosaur from Mexico. Here she is explaining the way theropods threaten their prey.

HALLELUJAH: Why paleontology? Specifically ichnology?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Sure I’m an ichnologist but that is part of being a good paleontologist.

HALLELUJAH: Okay, but then why paleontology?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Paleontology is probably the most awesome science ever. You don’t need a lot of equipment, a lot of research money, or a lot of research assistants. You can just go out there and do it.

HALLELUJAH: But you do have a fascination with the past?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Of course I do. Who wouldn’t be fascinated with a 4.0 billion year history of life and how it evolved over time!

HALLELUJAH: I admire your SPIRIT and ENTHUSIASM. What drives you? What is at the SOURCE of your PASSION?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: CURIOSITY. Every day when I go into the field to look at fossils I WONDER what I am going to find.

LEADING THE WAY ON THE ROAD: Paleontologist Barbie, filled with excitement, stares out the road south of Winton, to the world-famous dinosaur tracksite at Lark Quarry. She has been looking forward to seeing these dinosaur tracks for a long time! (Photo and Caption by Chiboogamoo) See Chiboogamoo's blog entry about Lark Quarry. I also wrote about Lark Quarry in a previous blog entry about how scientists need to "re-envision" the stories they tell about the past.

 

HALLELUJAH: Can you give me an example?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Well, as you know, I just got back from a trip to Australia and I thought that the fossils there were wonderful because some were similar to what I had seen in North America but some were different. For example, the Cretaceous rocks formed in marine environments of Australia and North America both had a clam named Inoceramus and many ammonites. But these same rocks hold the remains of very different marine reptiles, such as Kronosaurus in Australia, but Mosasaurus in North America. Isn’t that cool?!

HALLELUJAH: So you are from the United States?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: I like to think of myself as a citizen of the world.

HALLELUJAH: What do you mean by that?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE:  I think paleontology is a universal science that crosses all boundaries of gender, ethnicity, and nationality. Anyone can do paleontology if they have the passion for it, which I do.

HALLELUJAH: What is the most exciting thing you’ve done in your paleontological career so far?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Unlike math, that question is hard.

HALLELUJAH: Why?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Because right now, everything paleontological is exciting to me, and I don’t see that excitement going away very soon. Each fossil is interesting. Each fossil is a potential discovery. I believe every fossil should engage us.

HALLELUJAH: Can you share with my readers of my blog, COFFEE WITH HALLELUJAH, when you started collaborating with Chiboogamoo and subsequently fell in love with ART as well?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Chiboogamoo had been a long time admirer of my work and the research I’ve done in various parts of the world. He and Andy Rindsberg invited me to northwest Georgia to look at Ordovician and Silurian rocks because they wanted to get an outside perspective on the rocks and fossils they had studied there for a long time.

TRILOBITES AND BARBIE: Paleontologist Barbie measures the width of Trichophycus, a trilobite burrow preserved in Ordovician rocks (440 million years old) of northwest Georgia.

SERVING AS SCALE FOR GEOLOGICAL PERIODS: Paleontologist Barbie correctly identifies the Ordovician-Silurian boundary here, an unconformity dated at about 443 million years ago. Silurian sandstone above, Ordovician shale below. (Photos and Captions by Chiboogamoo)

HALLELUJAH: Did you contribute anything to the work they did in the field that day?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Yes! We had an in-depth discussion about trilobites, which are only evident there through their trace fossils. We also found a trace fossil of a starfish that was resting on the sea bottom about 440 million years ago.

HALLELUJAH: Wow! And it really looked like a starfish, didn’t it! Now, can you explain how you were assisting Chiboogamoo in Australia?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: I was invited to go on the field trip to the outback of Queensland to assist him and his students from Emory University. It was thrilling to be there with such enthusiastic young, potential paleontologists! But I was also aware of how I was serving as a role model for them.

HALLELUJAH: I saw the photo of you gripped in the jaws of an ancient whale. Do you think that was being a good role model?

SERVING AS A ROLE MODEL: While in Melbourne, Victoria, it was time for Paleontologist Barbie to examine some fossils and fossil replicas in Museum Victoria. “Looks like a skull cast of Dorudon, an early whale from the Eocene Epoch!” Here she looks at the spacing between the teeth toward the front of the skull. “This is the sort of functional morphology that can provide more than a few insights on its diet,” she assures us. Who could dispute her? Paleontologist Barbie, while investigating bite forces in Dorudon, demonstrates yet again why she is the honey badger of paleontologists, totally fearless and unstoppable in her pursuit of scientific knowledge. (Photo and Caption by Chiboogamoo)

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: I wanted to show them that I was fearless about learning paleontology, and that I’m willing to go to the extreme to find out the truth of evolution.

HALLELUJAH: How do you do that in the jaws of a fossil whale?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Sometimes you have to put yourself in the place of ancient prey, then you will understand how those extinct animals behaved.

HALLELUJAH: What does the future of paleontology hold for you?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: I see more travel to see more rocks and fossils from many places and many ages.

HALLELUJAH: What are your tips for successful fieldwork?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Attire is extremely important. Notice I have a field hat that I wear at all times to keep the weather off my head. But I also wear light, loose-fitting clothing, and of course, proper boots.

HALLEUJAH: I notice that you are barefoot in some of Chiboogamoo’s field photographs.

TRACKING TURKEYS ON CUMBERLAND: Here, Paleontologist Barbie spots tracks made in dune sands by a wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), which serve as excellent analogues for small theropod dinosaur tracks that were also made in dune environments during the Mesozoic Era. (Photo and Caption by Chiboogamoo)

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Oh yes! Those were taken on Cumberland Island along the coast of Georgia, when Chiboogamoo and I were tracking wild turkeys, using them as analogs for dinosaurs. I found it easier to track these animals in the sand without needing to take the sand out of my boots. It also felt really good on my feet, but I don’t recommend it for amateurs.

HALLEUJAH: You are aware that Chiboogamoo uses you for geological scale in his photographs. If you could use any person, animal, or thing for geological scale in your photographs of fossils in situ, what would you like to use?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Probably a Brunton compass. Every geologist knows the size of one. For laughs, I would like to use a GI Joe—they’re cute dolls. For all my scientific proclivities, I’m still a regular gal.

HALLELUJAH: I would like to ask you a few SPIRITUAL ART questions—about your JOURNEY. How would you describe your JOURNEY?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Early in my life, I felt boxed in. But once liberated from that box confining me in my abilities, I felt I could travel anywhere. Stow away in someone’s luggage and be somewhere at once instantly. Like the way I’ve accompanied your Chiboogamoo.

HALLELUJAH: How do you define AUTHENTICITY?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: People have often accused me of being too artificial. Maybe even plastic, but I like to think that I have a real place in the world and can contribute in a more real way then those people who say I am inanimate. REAL is a desire to learn and share that knowledge. Like the way I have collaborated with your husband Chiboogamoo.

HALLELUJAH: How would you define SPIRITUALITY?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Every fossil has a spirit of the living animal or plant, and I feel like it is my job as a paleontologist to divine that spirit.

PERSISTENT CURIOSITY DIVINING THE SPIRIT: The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Centre has a large fossil-preparation lab, so Paleontologist Barbie took full advantage of this by learning more about bone preparation from one of their expert preparators, Freddy Hill. Heeding all warnings from Australia’s Occupational Health & Safety, Paleontologist Barbie gets up close and personal with this dinosaur bone while it’s being prepared. (Photo and Caption by Chiboogamoo)

HALLELUJAH: How does SPIRITUALITY relate or impact your understanding of paleontology?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE: Knowing that life is all connected through evolutionary heritage gives me great insight into the spirit that runs through all living things.

HALLELUJAH: Do you have a SOUL?

PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE:  That’s a really tough question to answer. Most people say I do not. But I like to think my soul is based on a quest for knowledge while having fun. I do think it’s important to keep smiling no matter what.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Hallelujah to forward thinking DOLLS and the PALEONTOLOGISTS who collaborate with them and understand their significant contributions! It is with immense love and appreciation that I acknowledge my husband Chiboogamoo for his work with PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE and for documenting their work together. I recognize PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE for spending time with me, HALLELUJAH TRUTH, and for delving into drawing, painting, and observing ART with the same enthusiasm that she has expressed towards her fossil work.

THE ARTIST AND THE SCIENTISTS: After her Queensland fieldwork is finished, Paleontologist Barbie goes to Victoria, Australia. Here she is thrilled to meet paleontologists Patricia Vickers-Rich and Tom Rich, as well as famed paleontological artist Peter Trusler. Likewise impressed with her, they give her an autographed copy of their new book, “The Artist and the Scientists” (Cambridge University Press). (Photo and Caption by Chiboogamoo)

MODELING FOR SKETCH CRAWL: Paleontologist Barbie participated in the international Sketchcrawl along with  the Women's Caucus for Arts of Georgia on July 23, 2011 at the Atlanta Water Gardens. (Photo by Chiboogamoo)

That’s it for COFFEE WITH HALLELUJAH! Soul blog with me about your experiences with PALEONTOLOGY, PALEONTOLOGIST BARBIE, and ART.

IMPERMANENCE—ART AND PALEONTOLOGY: THE NATURE OF REALITY

Owl Watercolors by Hallelujah Truth inspired by Blue Fire's 3-dimensional clay owls.

Hallelujah for the SPIRITUAL and the PHYSICAL! Hallelujah for the INFINITE and TEMPORAL! Hallelujah for my FELLOW ART PILGRIMS who CREATE deeply meaningful ART without the FEAR of its fragile brevity on this BEAUTIFUL EARTH. Hallelujah for the SCIENTISTS for their understanding of DEEP TIME.

One such artist is BLUE FIRE MACMAHON, a ceramic artist I have loved and admired for many years.  Many of her hand-built clay GODDESSES peak out from the corners of my home, including the ONE who presides over birds in the garden.  As the years have passed, I have lost two of her works to unexpected household happenings—a nail came out of the wall, and a dancing GODDESS slid to the floor in pieces. On another occasion my wonderful well-meaning Chiboogamoo was mopping and the mop handle lifted a GODDESS off the wall. SHE exploded into unglue-able fragments when she hit the ground! Another FEMININE figure sits on my nightstand with a chipped blue shoulder revealing the white clay beneath.

“Even fossils erode,” my brilliant companion Chiboogamoo says, trying to comfort me when a piece of ART passes away. And I am comforted by my household PALEONTOLOGIST! Hallelujah for husband PALEONTOLOGISTS!  Chiboogamoo is the first to remind me of geological time when we are running late for some engagement.   “What do a few minutes here or there matter in the course of GEOLOGIC TIME?” he utters soothingly. As a PALEONTOLOGIST, he reminds me of the scramble to study or collect fossils that erode into our human sight and then degrade in a few days, weeks, months or years—after being preserved for MILLIONS of YEARS!

IMPERMANENCE is a relative term, isn’t it? Whether we are talking about EPHEMERAL ART, such as BLUE FIRE’S clay works that embody elements of the human SOUL or evidence of ancient EXISTENCE preserved in the fossil record, EVERYTHING is CHANGING ALL the TIME. Our LIVES are in the CONSTANT STATE of FLUX. Impermanence is the nature of reality!

Recently, I purchased two more of BLUE FIRE’S sculptures: OWLS! She no longer lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where I met her, but lives in the mountains of North Carolina, where she is deepening in her SPIRITUAL JOURNEY (of which OWLS have emerged as a real and symbolic animal for her). Therefore, I purchased my OWL totems from Etsy, an online world marketplace for ARTISTS. In the “Note from Buyer,” I wrote to her that “I love the mortality inherent in these pieces as much as their vitality. IMPERMANENCE!”

BLUE FIRE'S OWL PERSON SINGING HER TRUTH TO THE NIGHT! She writes: "Her truth is the song of her heart pouring through her from the Dream of LOVE all around and within. We are all one. ALL is Love." See Blue Fire's fantastic work on her blog.

In response to my note, I received a gift from BLUE FIRE to “observe” IMPERMANENCE! Along with my purchases, I was given a small bundle wrapped in red cloth and tied with blue yarn! Inside was a hand-sized unfired earthen OWL totem! BLUE FIRE’S note read as follows:

Dear RuthTruth, this whole thing about impermanence fascinates me! Here is a little unfired owl…impermanent…if it is placed in the rain it will melt back into the Mother. BF

HALLELUJAH! HOW EXCITING! I immediately placed the small earthen owl outside with seashells from the Georgia coast, other artifacts of passing time (see my blog on the life-cycle of moonsnails)! Below are the first photos in my observation of IMPERMANENCE as given to me by ARTIST BLUE FIRE.

Ready for Rain!

After Rain One!

After Rain Two and Sun!

After Rain Three, Fourth of July

As I watch my little owl with its heart in the center dissolve, I think about my PRECIOUS PRECIOUS LIFE, and of YOURS TOO. What we will we do on our JOURNEY here PILGRIMS? Before our TIME is up, and our PHYSICAL bodies erode, what will we make of our SPIRIT?

SOUL BLOG with me at my blog, COFFEE WITH HALLELUJAH. Share with me your ideas about the reality of life! Do you experience the FLUX of the UNIVERSE? Write ME about YOU!

OWL on the WHEEL of LIFE, Hallelujah Truth!

REVERB10: THE MEME STUDIO—A COMMITMENT TO THE EVOLUTION OF OUR MARRIAGE

Hallelujah for moments that are meaningful to one’s life and that serve as “MARKERS” to SIGNIFY CHANGE! In September 2010, my husband Chiboogamoo and I rented an art studio space TOGETHER at Sycamore Place Gallery in Decatur, Georgia, with a sincere desire to COLLABORATE using our distinctively different creativities. Length of Leaseà12 months!

We christened our studio space, “THE MEME STUDIO” as an experiment in our marriage. Because we forgot to have children and will not be passing on our “genes,” we are remembering ourselves in MEMES! That is, we are PROPAGATING OURSELVES by making art TOGETHER—the paleontologist and visionary artist! Here we ARE two strong bold individuals (HALLEUJAHTRUTH and CHIBOOGAMOO) in the equation: ME + ME = MEMEà to perpetuate units of cultural information in drawings, paintings and words!

Four months have already passed since the “defining moment” of signing the lease and moving in our lights, tables, and art supplies. In the EVOLUTION of our MARRIAGE in the MEME STUDIO we are still in the Precambrian! We are gleefully anticipating evolving in 2011!

Thank you REVERB10 for today’s prompt! Hallelujah for MEMEs and GOOD COMPANIONSHIP on the PILGRIMAGE! Dear Pilgrims SOUL BLOG with me by responding to the REVERB10 PROMPT for December 29^th: Defining moment. Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year.

(This yellow trilobite with its trail is an example of one of our first collaborations! To make ourselves more comfy in our studio, we made a stencil of both a body fossil and trace fossil and spray painted numerous images in blue and yellow!)

HALLELUJAH’S PILGRIMAGE: I Belong to this Earth!

Dear PILGRIMS what is a PILGRIMAGE? Hallelujah describes her own PILGRIMAGE as a willing JOURNEY into the unknown with the explicit purpose of learning more about ARTFUL LIVING. Often, there is some disquieting but reasonable apprehension involved, so courage must be employed.

Recently, during my visit to the coast of Victoria, Australia, to join my dear Chiboogamoo, I became entangled and enmeshed with the EARTH, SEA, and SKY in a unique way that caused me to learn more about myself and the enigmatic world surrounding me. I truly was a PILGRIM in alien territory.

(Top photo: Hallelujah peeks out from the vegetation. Left photo: The tower we hiked to on Milanesia Beach. Right photo: Geologists conferring about how to get to Rotten Point!)

Chiboogamoo’s paleontological research brought us to the cliffs hovering above the sea and jutting out into the cloudy coastal sky. Each day we had a destination with wonderful sounding names like Skene’s Creek, Milanesia Beach, Rotten Point, Dinosaur Cove, and Wreck Beach. For news of my husband’s engaging scientific work at these exciting sites along the Victorian coast, visit his blog--The Great Cretaceous Walk.

(Photo right: Greg Denney with my Chibogamoo at Dinosaur Cove. You can see where the geologists drilled for cores behind them.)

Hallelujah sighs! If our work had only been to go to the cliffs along the Great Ocean Road and stare out at the white fluffy clouds lingering in cobalt blue skies above a gray winter ocean, I would not have had the PROFOUND PILGRIM EXPERIENCE, nor the resulting story to tell. Our fieldwork crew had to descend to the rocky shore to search for fossil traces—evidence of living creatures burrowing and moving about on this earth 100 million years ago.

(Photo left: Mike Hall, retired geologist from Monash University. Photo right: Greg and Mike have disappeared into the bush. I am to follow.)

Reaching Rotten Point stands out as the most memorable day of my fieldwork with the “boys.” From our 4-wheel drive vehicle, we walked along an overgrown road sprinkled with white quartz from the Tertiary, a period dating back from about 40 million years ago (This kind of insightful information is offered by my Chiboogamoo—thank you Honey!). The flat sloping road was fairly easy to navigate. Echidnas, creatures that resemble porcupines, had been digging for ants and had left the ground heavily turbated--uneven, which made us concentrate ever so slightly so as not to trip. I learned from Greg Denney, the owner of the property we were traversing and a member of our fieldwork crew, that the delicate red tube shaped flowers dotting the quartz road was heather, the state flower of Victoria. Oh HALLELUJAH! Life is GOOD—echidnas, quartz, Victorian heather, sky, sea, and excellent companionship.

Rather abruptly our 20-minute road walk ended at a wall of thickly grown bushes. We stared at the wildly powerful ocean pounding the rocks about 600 feet below. The force of the water hitting the earth created oodles and oodles of white froth, floating everywhere and seeming to fly across expanses of rolling waves.

Imagine Hallelujah’s surprise when Greg Denney found a way into the bushes. Like magic, the branches and leaves opened up and our guide vanished! Mike Hall, a retired geologist from Monash University followed. Then my dear Chiboogamoo dove in. Tom Rich, the paleontologist from the Museum of Victoria, told me to go next. Gulp…Me? I inhaled and ducked my head, crouching into the darkness created by the arbor of branches. The Australian boys call this “bush bashing.”

(Photo Right: Tom Rich from the Museum of Victoria, Mike Hall, and I pose for a picture by the rock tower that we hiked up to from the beach below at Milanesia Beach.)

As I moved down the vertical face of the cliff, I held onto the branches, asking them not to bite my ungloved hands, not to catch and hold my clothes, not to tear the flesh on my arms and legs. I was thankful when my feet wedged between the hardened wooden bases of the bushes. To my surprise, I discovered we were following a wallaby trail—the fresh scat alerting me to their most recent presence along this very small trail. I was moving through the shrub at wallaby height—about three and half feet high!

At spots without the wallaby trail and the wedging created by their small and well-used trail, I was much less secure. My feet were slipping on the rain soaked soil, and I felt myself falling down the incline, only to have a branch offer itself to me until I found sure footing once again. I held hands with these shrubs, I hugged them, I fell to their feet and became covered with mud on hands and backside. Hallelujah for MOTHER NATURE. Hallelujah!

(Photo left: Mike and Tom look down on Dinosaur Cove. We will walk around to this cove after getting down to Rotten Point first.)

During this descent to the shore, MOTHER EARTH embraced all of me. How intimate to be next to HER and SHE so generous, supportive, and alive! I was enclosed in HER scent, HER soil, and HER vegetation. SHE heaved me down to HER rocky shores with my heart beating strongly. I felt the pounding of HER waves in my bones. I felt PRESENT.

Meanwhile, the geologists conferred. Standing on the gray shale platform extending out into the sea, they decided we could not get to Rotten Point from here. We would have to ascend the 600 feet we had just travelled down and take a different route back to the shore.

Once again we submerged ourselves in the miniature forest of shrubs along the coast. My day proceeded in continued intimacy with the GREAT MOTHER. SHE did not disappoint me once as I walked along HER surfaces, climbed beneath HER branches, slid down HER hillsides, and balanced on the rocks that had eroded from HER cliffs.

(Photo left: Crashing waves showing the energy of this Southern Sea! Photo right: My Chiboogamoo working on exciting fossil traces at Milanesia Beach. Notice Hallelujah's boots on the bottom right half of the photo.)

This PILGRIMAGE stopped time for Hallelujah. The knowledge I gained was EMOTIONAL—VISCERAL: I BELONG TO THIS EARTH. I am part of INFINITE TIME. Where there appeared to be no path, there was one. It was not a human path but a trail made by a much smaller animal living right there. We are part of a HUGE LIVING WEB in the VASTNESS of TIME.

Hallelujah loves all of you. We are all connected, and each one of us is precious. Tell Hallelujah about your BELONGING, your EARTH EXPERIENCES, and what you have learned on your pilgrimage today.