Botanical Beauty: Plant paintings and illustrations 2020
With the United Nations declaring 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health I have revisited many of my university and travel memories exploring the plant kingdom. From algae, ferns and conifers to flowering plants, herbs and fruits. The artwork consists of grahite and ink sketches, watercolour and gouache paintings and diagrammatic visuals.
Star Heroes: Designing space science educational resources 2019
For most of 2019 I was absorbed in space science – the inspiration came about from working as an educator at Space Place, Carter Observatory. I delivered a number of workshops and planetarium shows, which consequently inspired me to design a number of resources based on credible New Zealanders. The themes varied from astronomical cycles and space technologies to the solar system and beyond. Nighttime storytelling about stars clusters and constellations would endlessly inspire young imaginations, and also my designs uniting both science and art for a starry sky.
Locked in Ice: Augmenting Antartica children’s book 2018
I wrote and illustrated a non-fiction book about prehistoric Antarctica for my master’s thesis. Rocks and fossils tell an ancient story of how plants and animals have evolved as climate and sea levels have changed over millions of years. The children’s book explored the use of augmented reality as an educational tool. Fossils were augmented and bought to life in the book with a range of multi-media, including film, animation and 3D models.
To unify my research efforts, I designed a poster to present at the Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference in 2018. An added feature was viewers could interact with the poster by augmenting the selected fossil icons to bring to life 3D models and 2D films.
Galapagos National Park: Discovering Darwin’s Islands eBook 2017
From my travels around South America, I was fortunate enough to visit the Galápagos Islands. With my background as a biology teacher, I was inspired to write and illustrate an interactive eBook about the Galápagos with Charles Darwin as the protagonist. The Charles Darwin’s Research Centre continues to play a vital role in scientific research and conservation. The islands are a living laboratory, with the birds and beasts living in harmony. As Darwin had written in his journal:“Extreme tameness … is common to all the terrestrial species”.
Internship: CORE Education 2017
As part of an internship programme with CORE Education, I designed an interactive multi-media educational resource for both 2D and 3D viewing. The LEARNZ project was to create a virtual field trip to Antarctica to explore scientific research in the Ross Island region and historic huts from early explorers. One hundred short stories were researched and written and produced into audio stories with dialogue and narration to complement the illustrations and film footage. The virtual field trip offered different levels of immersion and a sense of presence in Antarctica.
In addition to completing my internship at CORE education, I also was involved with the design and illustration of visitor panels for the Department of Conservation. The panels were designed with a climate change theme for Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers.
Well Balanced exhibition: Otago Museum 2016-17
The Well Balanced interactive exhibition showcased the importance of maintaining strength and balance of the human body at any age. The Centre for Science Communication at Otago University and the Ageing Well National Science Challenge co-developed the exhibition in collaboration with the Otago Museum. I designed the building bones component of the exhibit to increase people’s awareness of conditioning bone strength for life.
Art Futures exhibition: Dunedin Art School 2016
Not only is my artistic style devoted to technical detail but also to the creation of visual stories. My first art exhibition was at the Dunedin Art School, for Art Futures. Aotearoa was a series of watercolour paintings that integrated energy, culture and climate change. Visual storytelling was portrayed through New Zealand native birds and their changing environment. Maori symbolism signified New Zealand’s cultural identity within the landscape and respect for the land.
Stone and Bones exhibition: Vogel Street Festival, Dunedin 2016
Stones and Bones was a group exhibit for the Vogel Street Festival in Dunedin. It represented climate change from a geological and palaeontological perspective. Stories of rocks and fossils were displayed through visuals, 3D printed fossils, and a fossil and rock lab. I illustrated a colouring-in sheet of modern-day penguins and a pastel painting of the Waimanu, the world’s oldest fossil penguin (60-62 million years old) discovered in New Zealand.
Rebecca John 