Fossils

Well this is my first try at doing my blog entirely on my own! My web site has been passed off to me so that I can control what and when things/fibre/paintings get posted! What a responsibility! I hope I can remember everything I have been taught – though my son is only a service call away.

I have been fairly busy lately – finally sent my Dinomischus off to Alberta. This fibre piece is for an exhibition that has been organized by SAQA Western Canada which is a Canadian branch of Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. The exhibition is an on going one to introduce the fossils of the Burgess Shale to young children.
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Dinomischus isolatus is one of the rarest fossils of the Middle Cambrian Period found in the Burgess Shale of British Columbia. There have only been three of them found - although a similar Dinomischus has been found in China.
The Dinomischus was a flower like cup held clear above the sediment by a long stem or stalk which was in turn anchored to the sea floor by a bulbous swelling. There were 18 to 20 petals which were two thirds of the size of the calyx. It is thought that it fed by filtering particles of food out of the water through fine hairs on the petals. It had a U shaped gut and both the mouth and the anus sat next to each other.
The Dinomischus was very small having a maximum size of only 28 mm -less than the size of your thumb.
The name Dinomischus comes from the Greek word dinos for goblet and michos for stalk or stem as the first people to find them thought they had the shape of a wine glass.
The other piece of news is that I have had two of my paintings accepted into the Manitoba Society of Manitoba’s 81st Open Juried Show. The paintings are a watercolour one of the Berries of the Virginia Creeper and the second one is gouache and called Fall Carpet.

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