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Ceramicist
I am a mixed media artist who enjoys drawing, painting, printmaking and ceramics. I teach art to children and am a member of the Oamaru Life Drawing Group and Pottery on Tyne.
I completed a diploma of art at Aoraki (now Ara) Polytechnic a few years ago.
In my younger days I studied and worked as a scientist, so I now enjoy the challenge of linking art and science.
Interest in the geology and palaeontology of the Waitaki district has led me to my current foray into a diatomaceous underworld.
Get in touch with me:
or by phone: 027 200 6873
Oamaru Diatoms
Oamaru Diatoms
Diatoms are a type of single celled algae.
Oamaru is world famous for its fossilised diatoms because of the fantastic diversity found in the Oamaru diatomite beds.
Beds that date back to the Late Eocene Early Oligocene (about 32-35 million years ago).
The algae leave behind their glass (silica) skeleton which when viewed under a microscope at 40x + magnification, can be seen in a great variety of shapes and patterns... circles, triangles, hexagons, squares, stars...
Approximately 700 species in about 115 genera have been found here, including species unique to Oamaru.
The Victorians used rats whiskers to arrange diatoms on glass slides to create microscopic art.
Diatomaceous Series by Karen Aitken.
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