Since I was a little girl I’ve been fascinated in equal measure by anatomy and art. I remember dissecting hawk pellets found in my front yard, carefully cleaning each tiny squirrel femur and metatarsal before sorting them into compartments in a display box. If I wasn’t bleaching bones or scrubbing seashells, I was drawing and painting.
I auditioned for a place at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts in Houston TX and was accepted to the Studio Art department, where I spent four hours a day for the next four years working in every medium from printmaking and photography to sculpture and painting. The rest of the school day was spent in academic classes that balanced and informed my artistic efforts.
I continued my interdisciplinary education as a double major at the University of Texas at Austin. I was accepted to the Plan II Honors Program, which offers a broad education in the humanities and sciences to 180 students out of a student body of 60,000. In my Studio Art major I built on my classical art training with advanced courses in painting and drawing, photography, and video art. In my spare time I indulged my naturalist impulses working at Martinez Brothers Taxidermists,where I thinned deer hides for mounting and skinned dozens of ducks, turkeys, a Canada goose, a rabbit, and even a Chihuahua. I got closer to these animals than most people ever do, and had the thrill and privilege of learning how they are constructed inside and out.
After graduating from UT with a Bachelors degree in Studio Art and a minor in Biology I was awarded a scholarship to attend the UT Dallas Biomedical Communications program, the oldest of the four accredited Medical Illustration programs in the country. There, medical school courses in Anatomy, Pathology, Histology, and Neurology complemented training in 2D animation programs like After Effects, Premier and Flash, 3D modeling and animation in Maya and 3D Studio Max, and graphic design and web design using InDesign, DreamWeaver, and Fireworks, as well as illustration techniques in both traditional media (such as pen and ink, graphite) and in computer programs like Photoshop and Illustrator.
My graduate thesis was a scientific animation built entirely within Microsoft PowerPoint. The project took advantage of PowerPoint's improved animation tools to provide scientists access to attractive, research-specific animation that can be edited and adjusted by researchers themselves without time-consuming training or expensive software. In the fast moving world of research where expensive visuals can become obsolete in a matter of weeks it is an entirely original solution.
I feel so lucky to have found this profession. I love the combination of academic rigor, biology and art, and relish the opportunity to bring life and clarity to such a diverse range of fascinating subjects.
My graduate thesis was a scientific animation built entirely within Microsoft PowerPoint. The project took advantage of PowerPoint's improved animation tools to provide scientists access to attractive, research-specific animation that can be edited and adjusted by researchers themselves without time-consuming training or expensive software. In the fast moving world of research where expensive visuals can become obsolete in a matter of weeks it is an entirely original solution.
I feel so lucky to have found this profession. I love the combination of academic rigor, biology and art, and relish the opportunity to bring life and clarity to such a diverse range of fascinating subjects.
