The Bow River in Fish Creek Provincial Park, Calgary, Alberta. Wide, moraine blue waters, with tree-lined banks. Photo taken on Eric Harvie Bridge where I stopped to scoff a bar and catch my breath on #longride training day.
The holotype specimen, Borealopelta markmitchelli (aka the Suncor nodosaur) is pictured in a glass case, and is now back on show in the “Breakthroughs” display at The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. The rear portion of Borealopelta markmitchelli (aka the Suncor nodosaur) is a steel wire-work sculpture by @jeffdeboer.bsky.social, designed to illustrate what the back end of the animal would have looked like. The rear end of the fossil was shovelled out during construction work, before realizing that there was a massive intact fossil. The fossil was featured in depth in National Geographic magazine, the June 2017.
@jeffdeboer.bsky.social welding the steel wire tail section for the nodosaur Borealopelta markmitchelli fossil sculpture. The sculpture was commissioned by the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, and it was carefully installed around the fossil. I was so lucky to apprentice with Jeff on this project of a lifetime, learning to weld big metal 🙏
One Becomes Many: a necklace made up of many swirling egg-shaped, linked units, was cast in a traditional bronze alloy of copper and tin, and set with amethysts. It is pictured on a white background. This necklace was inspired growing up in Cornwall amongst all the copper and tin mines, with a childhood spent rock-hunting—finding quartz crystals, and occasional beautiful amethysts and garnets in the gravel spoil created by Cornish china clay (kaolinite) mining. This gravel showed up by the truckload as my grandparents built a new house, and caused me endless grief that I couldn’t sort through it all fast enough before it was buried again. The theme and title of the necklace reference my scientific training, and the gift of replicating molecules. It was such a joy as an adult learner to go back to art school, and unite science and art in so many projects; this is the necklace I always turn to for special occasions--it is bold, and strong, and despite all that metal, it doesn’t feel heavy to wear. Does make me feel like Boudica awaiting her chariot 💪❣️
Unbelievably we scored front row seats--I’ll be plundering my hoard and wearing “One Becomes Many”, a Cornwall-inspired, traditional bronze and amethyst necklace. Made here in Calgary, though sadly I don’t know where the tin originated…
#artinscience #scienceinart #palaeontology #bronze #necklace