By Heather Moncrief-Cox
Who doesn’t love art?! It can help improve nearly any mood, whether you’re viewing art or creating it. We’ve gathered together information on some wonderful women artists to showcase their amazing talents and contributions to marine science. I’ll be adding a few of their pieces to my collection, hopefully you see something that peaks your interest, as well! These artists are grouped into historical artists, established artists, and emerging artists. There are so many more out there, so send us suggestions of artists to highlight in future posts!
A Legendary Historical Artist
Margaret Mary Smith
Margaret Mary Smith (1916-1987) was a South African ichthyologist and illustrator, and she illustrated many historical fish species identification guides in the region, co-authored by her husband, J.L.B. Smith. She and her husband discovered hundreds of species of fish, and published approximately 500 papers. Margaret painted thousands of images for these publications, and advanced throughout her 49-year ichthyology career, retiring as the director of the J.L.B Smith Institute of Ichthyology. She is still considered a leading pioneer in southern African fish identification.
Image Source: Biodiversity Heritage Library
Noteworthy Leading Artists
Val Kells
Val Kells Illustration website: www.valkellsillustration.com
Illustrated field guides: www.vafreshwaterfishes.com, www.tunasandbillfishes.com, www.chesapeakefishes.com
If you have ever seen intricate, anatomically accurate fish illustrations, especially in recent identification guides to fishes, you have likely admired the work of Val Kells. Val is a Marine Science Illustrator, who has specialized in illustrating marine life for educational exhibits created for aquariums, museums, and nature centers. To date, her art is featured in over 30 public institutions across the United States and abroad. During her decades-long career, she has also beautifully illustrated six field guides to fishes of the United States––both marine and freshwater––and she is currently working on her seventh field guide. In addition to providing thousands of illustrations, she has also designed and co-authored most of these go-to guides.
Illustration by (c) Val Kells. All rights reserved.
Diane Rome Peebles
Diane Peebles’ art website: www.dianepeebles.com
Another incredible scientific illustrator is Diane Rome Peebles, an oil painter who has focused on marine fish and landscapes for over 30 years. Diane is an amazing artist whose art has appeared on marine conservation stamps, prints and educational materials for state governments, is responsible for many marine fish field guide illustrations, and even designed a license plate in Florida. Her art has been featured on the cover of sport-fishing periodicals and scientific publications, including Fisheries and Science. She has donated many prints to the American Fisheries Society over the years to benefit student travel to conferences.
Where can you find this print? Diane Peeples’ Official Website
Andrea Dingeldein
Andrea Dingeldein webshop: www.thelocalnaturalist.com
Twitter: @localnaturalist
Instagram: @thelocalnaturalist
Andrea Dingeldein has a Master of Science in Marine Biology. She is an instructor of scientific illustration at California State University Monterey Bay, where she trains students in scientific art, field sketching, and graphic design. Her landscape, lighthouse and vessel paintings are absolutely stunning, while her educational posters bring life to learning.
Where can you find this print? Andrea Dingeldein’s Official Website
New Artists Making Waves
Rene Martin
Rene Martin website: lampichthys.com
Twitter: @Lampichthys, #SundayFishSketch
If you’re active on Twitter, you likely have come across #SundayFishSketch, which was started by Rene Martin, a PhD candidate at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute, where she studies the biodiversity of deep-sea fishes. Every week, she suggests a topic for everyone to draw their interpretation of. The results are great, with pros and novices alike contributing every Sunday from across the globe.
Where can you find this print? Rene Martin’s Art Prints
Alejandra Enriquez
marinebioartist website/shop: www.marinebioartist.com
Twitter: @marinebioartist
Alejandra Enriquez is a science communicator and artist with a Master of Science in Marine Biology. Alejandra does phenomenal colorful paintings on dictionary pages, ink illustrations and more using different media. Her website states that she “focuses on 3 concepts: Sustainability, Creativity, and Science.”
Where can you find this print? marinebioartist Website
Michelle C. Gilbert
Michelle Gilbert website: michellemorphometrics.com
Twitter: @Pterycombus
A frequent contributor to #SundayFishSketch, Michelle C. Gilbert is a PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, where she uses different imaging techniques combined with staining to study fish anatomy and morphology. Combining her interests of art and science results in some phenomenal images of the intricacies of fish skeletons.
Where can you find this print? DiaphonizedDecor Etsy Shop
Sarah Baird
Sarah Baird website: scutes-n-barbels.weebly.com
Twitter: @scutesNbarbels
Sarah Baird studies sturgeon as a Staff Research Associate at UC Davis, where she graduated with her Ecology M.S. Sarah is very talented in watercolor painting and graphic illustrations, and she especially likes to focus on species of concern. She is also currently raising green sturgeon fry that are the absolute cutest!
Where can you find this print? Sarah Baird’s Art Prints
References
Individual artists’ web pages and social media, linked above, as well as: