hepatic journey – foods to genes

For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. — H.L. Mencken

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My study on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease continues. In an earlier post, I introduce you to Johanna where I also note she currently follows a FODMAP* diet.
I’m interested to see how you integrate not only food but also genetics, Johanna says to me. More and more, I think that there is a link between genetic variation and modern food. I have an interesting story I inadvertently discovered about my genome last week. About 18-24 months ago, my skin took on a definitely orange yellow hue. Understandably, my PCP thought I might have jaundice, but my bilirubin levels were within normal range. I asked her to check my beta-carotene levels and reluctantly she did, and those came back sky high. Being a vegan, I ate lots of vegetable and I took a multivitamin but those things didn’t really explain beta-carotene. The PCP didn’t speculate at all and to be honest, wasn’t even concerned. Last week I was reviewing a manuscript where I learned about a gene that metabolizes beta-carotene to vitamin A. There are variants in the gene that render it inefficient or useless and out of curiosity, I checked my DNA sequence on 23andme, and was perhaps not surprised to discover that I had all of the mutations. So not only was beta-carotene building up in my body because of the significant vegetable consumption but it also meant that I was deficient in vitamin A, which has been associated with liver disease. I think that there are a lot of factors that on their own might not be sufficient to cause liver disease, but in combination, are deleterious. For me, the combination of genetic  susceptibility affecting multiple biological pathways and a strictly vegan diet for decades contributed to a host of factors (chronic choline deficiency, vitamin A deficiency, gut dysbiosis)  that made me susceptible to storing fat in my liver.

Beta Carotene (horizontal) and Vitamin A (vertical)  molecules.

I ask Johanna to tell me what she used to eat before the FODMAP diet and what she currently eats.  I make a list and begin to consider placing the foods into the composition. I cannot help but think this is like a game of Chess where each move is strategic. I settle on a basic black and white Chess board-like grounding. White squares hold food Johanna eats while black squares are the food she is not eating (at this time). I have my own feelings about some of the foods and place a few onto both squares. Now, as I write this post, I wish I had not done this.

Foods:

Curious, I say, I don’t understand why you gave up cashews and almonds. And why green bananas and not ones almost ripe? Why give up grains?

Johanna responds, ...cashews and almonds have compounds in them (FODMAPs) that create inflammation in the large intestine. Same with the apple, but I won’t mind if you leave the apple on a white square because it looks pretty there.

The apple is in the no foods column in my notes. Still, I assume the apple goes onto a white square. (…an apple a day keeps…you know the rest…) The act of taking out the apple makes something clear; I’d be bummed if I had to erase apples out of my diet. I feel for Johanna. #Choices #CostsBenefits

Johanna explains: I have been on a low FODMAP diet (prescribed by a gastroenterologist) since February and for the most part, it has mitigated a lot of the IBS symptoms. The low FODMAP diet is supposed to be a three-part process: 1) elimination of high FODMAP foods, 2) reintroduction of these foods one at a time, and 3) maintenance. Sadly, every time I try to introduce a high FODMAP food back into my diet, the IBS symptoms come roaring back. I am trying garbanzo beans today. Wish me luck!

I replace the apple (in this white area) with a cabbage.

As I paint, I think about a true whole food, a food that has not been processed. I am reminded  of how sugar and salt come into the picture and how they eventually may contribute to chronic disease.

Johanna does eat eggs. Here is one of those times I put the food into both areas (though mostly black). Right now, I wish I’d placed it in a white zone.

I bring in walnuts (white), cabbage (white), pasta (black), lettuce (white), salmon (white), wine (black), grains (black), tomatoes (white), berries (white), oatmeal (white) and soy (black). I forget how much I enjoy drawing and painting food.

Genes:
I introduce images referencing genetics: human cell, chromosomes, DNA, mDNA and pedigree chart.

Johanna ends our conversation with good news,  I just had blood work done in March and all my values are within normal range for the first time since I started this hepatic journey!

#It’sComplicated #WeAreUniqueCreatures

*I explain FODMAPs and IBS complications in → introduction post.

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©2023 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

a concoction of small life

organizing pathogens

In the studio, I think about how to group this series of small works. Arranging and rearranging, until maybe, I am satisfied. 

Eventually I pull out all (all!) of my under the microscope studies from the last year and recall a conversation with Tapoka.

Me: I can’t call a whipworm a microbe, can I?
Tapoka: I think it is a microorganism as it is small but it has many cells. I believe microbes are usually single celled like a bacteria would be.

According to my handy-dandy Medical Meanings, second edition glossary:

Micro– is a combining form, usually used as a prefix, that is a near borrowing of the Greek mikros, “small, petty, trivial”.
And…
Microbe– is a concoction of micro- + the Greek bios, “life”, proposed in the late 19th century to designate any minute, living organism; useful as a generic term for the gamut from viruses to protozoa.

Based on everything I’ve learned and considering the last year we’ve had, I have no appreciation for the meaning of mikros including words like petty or trivial. 

I tack all my work up. It appears I have a concoction of small life on the studio wall.

I know human body as ecosystem with diverse population living within. Some of those organisms cooperate, others (most?) compete with each other and with host. Microbes manipulate. Survival…
#cooperation #competition #life #NothingInStasis 

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FYI: UPPERCASE (50th edition) published a few of my pathogens. Magazine out in July!
Click on image to see expanded version.

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©2021 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

aaron in profile

Michelle enjoys describing Aaron (Re: Aaronisms), sharing the good and fun, the solid and creative.
I take a highlighter, pulling some details to compose this portrait/brain study.

Manager at SRP / Load research. 
Aaron loves statistics, numbers and spread sheets.
(I think: [Electrical] Power. Structure. Coordinate. Organizing the disorganized.)

Mellow and methodical. Business and economics.
Sarcastic, patient and loving.
Fantastic dad!
Baseball and basketball. Golfer and jogger.
(I think: Balanced)

Loves classic rock. Remembers song lyrics, band info and music trivia (like no one else!) He learned to play guitar and base guitar as an adult and was in a garage band.
(Ahhh, music!! Creativity connecting numbers and structure.)

I isolate numbers, music, movement and the electrical…

 

I make connections to detail and color another beautiful brain.

• Prefrontal cortex – expectation and fulfillment ( in work and in play).
• Motor Cortex – Tap, tap tap, bring on the dancing and support of athletic nature.
• Sensory Cortex – Tactile. Feedback. Feel and know those guitar strings (And maybe the band members and audience – but I speculate).
• Auditory Cortex – Perception and analysis. Processing tone, sound, chords and maybe all those numbers!
• Visual Cortex  – Look, see, read the music. Observation in general includes physical movement and working a spread sheet.
• Cerebellum –  E-motion/music/movement.  Activity!

Portrait of Aaron, Mixed media collage on paper

Aaron, I also hear you’re a hard worker who is dedicated to your family.
#BeautifulBrain #GoodMan #Music #Numbers

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#NoWomanIsAnIsland
Thank you Michelle! Thank you Aaron!

→ Portrait of Michelle

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©2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

trichuris trichiura

Trichuris comes from the Greek tricho, meaning hair and oura, meaning tail. Trichuris trichiura (T. trichiura), common name, whipworm. I gather the name refers to the shape of its hair-like anterior.

My quick note:
Trichuris trichiura (T. trichiura), aka, whipworm.
Trichuriasis, aka, whipworm infection aka a neglected tropical disease.

I particularly enjoy drawing the linear, yet sinuous T. trichiura. ↓

The whipworm has a thicker rear end (posterior) and thinner front end (anterior).  Female is larger (35-50mm) than  male (30-45mm).

I’ve introduced you to Dr. María Adelaida Duque, who enjoys her work with the biological pathogen. The focus of my current research is on understanding the interactions between the parasitic nematode Trichuris trichiura and the intestinal epithelia, their host cells. T. trichiura is an animal from the phylum nematoda. Maria reminds me, we can get infected with this parasite when we ingest eggs present in contaminated food or water.

My rendition of whipworms in the intestine.

Two questions direct Maria’s current work:
How does the larvae reach the bottom of the crypt and invade the epithelia?
What are the interactions between larvae and cells promoting this process?

When the larva is liberated, it infects the bottom of the crypts of the intestinal epithelia and creates tunnels inside them: it is a multi-intracellular parasite! One L1 larva (100um) infects about 40-50 cells in one tunnel.

In the tunnels, the larva moults 4 times, growing and shedding their cuticle with each moult, until they become adult worms, either female and male (about 3-5cm), which mate and produce eggs that are liberated in the faeces, thus completing the life cycle.

Unembryonated whipworm eggs

cross section- cecum inflamed with worms

Eggs hatch in the cecum/proximal colon and larvae immediately infect the cells of the epithelium in there.

My questions:
Do they move through any other organs in the body before heading back to the lumen?
How do they make there way and know where to land? What directs them? Is it chemistry? temperature? (I think this might be Maria’s question too.)

Cross section of cecum based on Maria’s photo. I wished I’d worked larger.

About the art: I especially like the active mark-making this cross section ↑ of the cecum allows.

You are looking at contents in the area where the large intestine begin. The center space is called the lumen (Latin for light). It appears like empty space but it is not. Use your imagination…the lumen holds/transports all sort of interesting things. (Is this chyme?)

Close up.Can you see both whipworms and eggs (in the light)?

My notes and stuff that goes on in my head as I paint:
Intra-multicellular parasite (influences black background and palette), you live and reproduce in/and/or outside of host cells. You produce and liberate 5000 eggs per day (yikes!) into the lumen of your host’s gut which eventually exit and drop into a new environment (soil). With support of warmth, moisture and week’s time, your eggs embryonate.
Ingestion of your now developing eggs leads to infection/s as they enter a new gut where a new generation of you burrow in fresh gut lining, molt x4, mature and if allowed, repeat the cycle of the parasites that came before them and you.
(I know this is a long run-on sentenced paragraph. Like I said… it’s the way my brain works when I paint.)

Soil-transmitted helminths (T. trichiura)
uninvited guest
you cause disease (Trichuriasis).

Is there is treatment for this worm infection? Yes, Maria says, but it is not efficient and often we cannot eradicate the infection. That is why we need new drugs and to find a vaccine.

Continued success in your research and public engagement work  → Dr. María Adelaida Duque.

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©2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

under the microscope – unembryonated whipworm eggs

It is late 2018, when Maria brings the idea of a public engagement project to my drawing table.

In the early part of our conversation and planning (before we zoomed…we skyped? or something to that effect).

I could not have imagined then I would be connecting with a number of scientist from different countries, discussing various pathogens and diseases….uh…much less, during a pandemic.

And consequently creating a series of small studies. I call the work studies because as I learn, I draw and paint. I also want to note I find a new circular format, work on a different surface, experiment with new brushes… #ChangeIsGood

Today I talk to Dr. María Adelaida Duque, the scientist and her work.

Maria: I am a Colombian immunologist with a passion to understand host-pathogen interactions, she explains, that underlie infectious diseases endemic in low and middle-income countries such as Colombia.

During my career I have studied different infectious diseases including Chagas disease caused by the infection with Trypanosoma cruzi (a protist), tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (bacteria infecting the lung), and currently trichuriasis, a neglected tropical disease caused by Trichuris trichiura (alias Whipworm).  

While in studio I focus on the whipworm and it’s eggs but I want to know more about neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

Maria: They are a group of 17-20 different diseases affecting more than 1 billion people in low and middle-income countries mainly in the tropics and subtropics of Latin America, Asia and Africa (https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/ntd/diseases/index.html, https://www.who.int/teams/control-of-neglected-tropical-diseases). These diseases are related to poverty and the lack of proper sanitation. Some of them were actually present in USA and European countries but the introduction of sanitation put them under control. Because they do not affect wealthy countries, there is not much investment in research and development of drugs and vaccines to control them.

She asks me to imagine teaching children about sanitation and hand-washing, in an area where water is not easily accessible.

We get infected with this parasite when we ingest eggs present in contaminated food or water, she says.

Her image is labeled Worm in the cecum. Because I spend last summer drawing cross sections of the intestine (and enjoyed it!), I recognize some things.

My sensibility pulls to the small circular detailed areas (not typical of the cecum) which are unembryontaed eggs inside a female whipworm (transverse cut).  While the visual appeals to my eyes, I don’t forget the female T. trichiura produces 2,000–10,000 single-celled eggs a day!

I admire how microscopic images are laid out usually showing changes occurring in organ/organism. I decide for a similar layout to show the evolution of my study, layout to completion.

line, color, shape, form, space, texture, scale

Note thick, oval-shape shell with plugs at both end, that protect the egg. The whole thing is covered by vitelline membrane. #stable
I could probably do a whole series on the egg development. #stages

Ww Eggs in Cecum (working title), Casein and ink on wood panel, 8.5″ diameter

Do eggs hatch in the intestine?  And is hatch the correct word to use?

All unembryonated eggs need moisture and temperature to embryonate, Maria explains, which in nature they find in the soil, that is why whipwomrs are soil-transmitted helminths.

Unembryonated eggs travel through the intestine, exit the body in the stool and eventually become embryonated eggs.  They can be present in contaminated food and water. Consider they may end up in the little hands of children playing with soil, ingested and eventually arrive to the intestine and hatch.

Questions:
Can human whipworm eggs be seen in the soil? With or without microscope? (I’d guess you need a microscope.)
In particular locations, could/would soil be sequenced? 

Trichuris muris – Parasite eggs on my drawing table

I ask Maria about her research and its results: I foresee the results of my research will help us to develop new drugs and a vaccine (currently there is not one), to fight trichuriasis, but also to understand how the infection with whipworms can promote the resolution of inflammatory diseases such as IBD and allergies.

Thank you Maria, for initiating this public engagement and for sharing your work with me.
Muchas Gracias!

For more about work and publications → Dr. María Adelaida Duque

Next post, I plan to take you into the cecum and tell you more about Trichuris trichiura (aka whipwrom). And I need to decide if I’ll be drawing more whipworms (I did once- look). I bet I will!

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©2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

yersinia pestis, insidious you are

Where to start, bacteria? Or plague?

In this post, I hope to focus mostly on the insidious bio-agent, Yersinia Pestis aka, Y. pestis, bringer of plagues. I stray but I come back (you’ll know by my tone).

Pathogen infection blocks flea’s esophagus. Unable to feed, it jumps from animal to animal in attempt to get nourishment. During this process it regurgitates infection into each bite wound until it dies of starvation.

Plague derives from the Greek, plēgē, meaning a blow or stroke. Latin plungere, meaning to beat or strike and also to bewail or lament.

I want to indicate idea of pandemic in some way. I mention to Dr. Sandra Reuter, I am considering collaging a world map into my study of Y. pestis.

She responds: I like the idea of the world map and spreading of disease. That is very much what I am interested in now, and it does also apply to the plague, as it has travelled the world several times, too! Especially in the middle ages, it spread along the trade routes. Even today, it survives in some places like Madagascar, China, Russia, and even in remote parts of the US.

Some bugs are like that, they like to travel and make use of how people move. Compared to the middle ages, the spread nowadays is much quicker, though, because of air travel! That’s why this corona virus pandemic has hit the whole world within a couple of months, whereas the plague travelled much slower, and the big pandemic of the Black Death took several years to spread around Europe.

At start of composition, I know I want to indicate the plague and it’s history so I collage onto my surface, a global map. I want to add a phylogenetic tree but I fill the space with symbolic fingerprints instead. This detail eventually goes.

Plague, infectious disease, zoonotic in nature meaning it’s transmitted between animals and humans. The main vector, a small flea, passes causative agent, Y. pestis to another living creature, in this case, a rat, aka, the reservoir host.

Can I refer to this as one cycle? Because we also have another cycle that involves the human.

Flea is vector, rat is reservoir host (first victim), and the bacteria being passed is non-motile, rod shaped, bipolar staining (looks like a closed safety pin). I especially enjoy drawing the rat. Felt a little bad for flea. Safety pins were nearby…fun photo op.

Humans are contaminated in various ways:  flea bite (blood meal / flea throw-up),  direct contact with infected animal or tissue, or by inhalation of droplets coughed by infected human or animal.

While the disease is important, I get so caught up in it (fyi, it’s fascinating and there’s a lot on it, look it up).  And in the case of this study of Y. pestis, I wander into genome sequencing too (and also get lost).

Trying to understand a complicated set up, I eventually have to return to the focus for my visual…the pathogenic bug. 

As I look at and draw in the  bacteria, I recall Sandra telling me most look fairly similar and are small. She’s right, they do and they are.

Y. pestis, Gram-negative, nonmotile, rod shaped bacterium, I’ve decided I have an aversion to you. I can’t think straight to write about you.

You are facultative anaerobic which basically means you grow (survive) with or without oxygen (with or without oxygen!). You are held by some sort of slime layer that prevents you from being destroyed by king of the phagocytes (→macrophage).

Enter neutrophil, lymph node and macrophage.(replacing fingerprints)

You manage to colonize macrophages, reaching lymph nodes, and because the immune system doesn’t take you down you can enter the blood stream and organs leading to bubonic plague, septicemic plague or pneumonic plague. And if you’re inclined, you take people down quick!

The history of the plague and the details of the various transmissions are out there to read about. And genome sequencing helps to tie up the story as it passes through time.

Though unlike my last study where I manage to pull it all together (at least in my head and on my painting surface) – this pathogen and its disease has me going from one complexity to another. I keep wishing I was painting on a large sheet of paper that I can erase and rework instead of circular, 11.5″ form. Oh well.

Questions I have as I learn about Y. pestis and its disease:

Who is the victim in the end? Every life form that comes into contact with Y. pestis, is my guess.
And who survives? (I sort of asked this question in the last post) My best guess is, it all depends on who, what and when. There are lots of fleas and rats, after all, and maybe many humans too (in other words overpopulation).
Will the bacteria be destroyed completely? Does it serve a purpose?
Does the bacteria’s nonmotile quality benefit it in some way? It seems to me it would want to move.

Any comments or questions? Please share them!

Thank you Sandra, for introducing me to your work, past and present. And helping me along as I organize my thoughts. I will say this study and how I moved through it, in some weird way, activated my imagination and maybe at times even each of my senses.
#LotsOfActivity

I especially enjoyed our conversation about DNA (and RNA) and the common thread (strands) that connects us all. I’ll hope to come back to this one day.

More → Dr Sandra Reuter and her work.

Postscript: It was hard for me to keep this information organized so I could understand. Maybe because I quit drinking coffee this last month…who knows. Anyway, it’s interesting to be looking at this topic in the context of this last year. It moves me into looking forward. All life seeks to survive.

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©2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

aspergillus hyphae

Hyphae (plural) are the branching filaments that make up the structure of a fungus.

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Friday, I have questions for scientist, Ana Alastruey-Izquierdo. Saturday, she has answers for me.

Sunday morning, out for a run, I wonder how to approach a second study of aspergillus. Looking around, I know the fungus is all around me. I come across a dead tree and have the idea to gather twigs for drawing texture and interesting mark-making.

Drawing implement or Aspergillus/Fugus carrier?

Though I don’t want to simplify Ana’s work, I do want to get a general sense of the bug.

Where in the body does aspergillus end up? (I think breathing pathways…nose, lungs. How about the liver?) How and what sort of damage does it cause? On a scale from 1-10  how bad/problematic to a person – is this fungus? (I hope she doesn’t cringe at the latter.)

It can go almost anywhere, Ana explains. We daily breath thousands of Aspergillus spores. It is in our lungs. People with a healthy inmune system usually clear it up and it does not go further. There are some persons in which an allergic response is developed and this causes allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA).

The other important group are people that have problems with the immune system (cancer, transplants, HIV, people under corticosteroids, diabetic…etc). In these patients Aspergillus enters into the lungs and if it is not cleared by their immune system it further develops infections and can lead to invasive aspergilosis that if not treated has 100% mortality. Mainly Aspergillus causes respiratory infections but as I said, it can diseminate in people with impaired immune systems.

Ana continues… How bad/problematic for a person with Aspergillus depends on the immune system. Mortality is arround 40% but can reach 80% if we are dealing with strains that are resistant to antifungals. 

The problem with antifungal resistance is that it is not frequently screened. There aren’t many commercially available methods to test for it.  Often it is only performed in developed countries and sometimes restricted to reference or very specialized labs.

And regarding the rate from 1 to 10, if you are immunosuppressed or have an underlying disease it can be very problematic, like an 8 or 9. People that are at high risk for developing invasive fungal infections, like hematological patients, receive antifungal prophylaxis by default. But if you are healthy, no problem.

I work and consider her words and the value of this education.

textured substrate

work in progress

Aspergillus Hyphae, Mixed media on wood, 8″ round

Please feel free to leave questions and/or comments.

More about the work of → Ana Alastruey Izquierdo

#artistmeetsscientist #artmeetsscience #publicengagement

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One of the best parts of this particular Public Engagement Project is that I connect with scientists in other parts of the world.

It’s a pleasure to meet you Ana, albeit virtually. Thank you for teaching me about this beautiful but potentially nasty fungus.

Mucho gusto en conocerte Ana!

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©2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED BY MONICA AISSA MARTINEZ

aspergillus / filamentous fungi

Not exactly certain how to begin the art part of the art and science Public Engagement Project with Maria Duque (remember we’re in a pandemic), I decide to send an introduction email to the group of scientists she’s gathered.
#1Engage

I’m excited when the first response comes in from → Ana Alastruey-Izquierdo, who is from the Mycology Reference Laboratory of Spain (Madrid). She works in the diagnosis, treatment and management of fungal infections and resistance.

She sends some information and explains other things I’ve asked for might not be available immediately (website maintenance), and she also tells me other info is in Spanish. I should have expected the latter. I smile because for me reading science research is challenging to understand in English and could probably be even more complicated to read and understand, in Spanish. It’s fine, if necessary, we can talk.
#2Will!

I open up images she sends…and oh!!!!

How can fungus and mold have such beautiful form? Shouldn’t I have an aversion to it?  Did I mention Ana researches Aspergillus?

Aspergillus acquired its name from the fact that its structure resembles an aspergillum (cool word I recall from Catholic school days). The small brush (aka liturgical implement) used by a priest to sprinkle holy water is called an aspergillum and derives from the Latin verb aspergere, which means to sprinkle or spray.

Does Aspergillius actually spray…anything? Does it produce fungi spores that release into the atmosphere? Or is the name only related to its form/shape? (And can I really refer to it as a bug? – because we’ve been referring to the microbes and worms as bugs and this feels more like plant.)
#3Relate!

I’m curious about the structure of these pathogenic, opportunistic organism (found indoors and outdoors). In particular I am drawn to the long branching filamentous extensions. What is hyphae?  Hypha(e), from the greek, meaning web are thread-like to my eyes. I studied this fungus once before; I have so much more to learn.
#4Curiousity

The excitement to draw the wonderful (playful) details I see in the various hi-resolution images…well, it sends me to the art store. I start to consider variety (something different) in materials, shapes and sizes.

I look at paper, canvas and panels and none of it pulls at my attention. On the drive home, I decide I want a flat, rich surfaced, circular form. My husband offers to help, we take a trip to the hardware store, and out come the power tools. As the weekend draws to a close, I have circular panels in various sizes, to paint.
#5Support!

Final note (and one of the reasons for the education):
The most important part of my research, says Ana, is that antifungal resistance rates are increasing so this can be a problem in the near future as it is with bacteria.

There are not many antifungal drugs available to treat these infections and the rise of drug resistance in the last years is very worriesome. 

Aspergillus, Mixed media on wood, 12″ round

Come back for more on the work of Ana Alastruey-Izquierdo. 

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©2020 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

see one do one teach one

This week I learn about the methodology See One, Do One, Teach One, especially used in the medical world for teaching and/or learning through direct observation. The process can be applied to most any form of education. It feels particularly natural to the Fine Arts and reminds me of an apprenticeship.

While I did go to art school, some of my best teachers were the ones who let me work in the studio with them.

I was introduced to printmaking by artist Kurt Kemp. Kurt began his teaching career in my last year at UTEP. I needed one final Drawing class and an elective, day and time were issues for me. As luck (and kindness) would have it, he allowed me to sign up for his advanced independant studio classes. I was drawing in the early morning, and ending the evening with printmaking. I’d never printed at that point, though it melded naturally with drawing. Kurt loan me tools. He taught me to get rich black, printed marks using a hand-made mezzotint rocker on a sheet of copper. I can still hear him say Don’t drop it! This one is my own personal rocker. I’ve had it for years (yikes!).

I fell in love with drawing, copper plates, BFK paper, ripped edges, the smell of ink and all things drawing and printmaking (yes, art-making heightens all the senses). And I redirected my studies, 3D to 2D. Eventually attending NMSU for graduate school, I continued printmaking with Spencer Fiddler, whom like Kurt, had at one time worked under the great Mauricio Lasansky.  I watched both of these men make their ink from raw material, both were sensitive to the tarlatan clothe, the inking and the final printing of their copper plates.

But I digress…
I sure didn’t expect to take this trip down memory lane today, nor while creating a quick video on drawing a neuron, a few days back.

Back to drawing…
I rip a piece of heavy duty black drawing paper (deckled edges) and video tape about 34 seconds of the process as I lay in my subject, a neuron. I turn the video off to work freely, hoping to move easy and steady.
(Note: The video, I use as a means to practice focus, quick-decision mark-making, and  loosen up.)

I’m looking to balance the study with both play and accuracy by its final stage.

I stop moving quickly. I fuss with materials, edges and lines. I probably work a little more than an hour to get the first layout. A few more to get the second set up. The next day I work the composition to a final stage (btw…this drawing of a neuron is small!)

I decide the image expresses a control balanced by a loose and playful quality.

Which is probably why I think about Kurt and Spencer today.

My first study above, is a neuron. My smaller, second composition below, done in similar process, is the neuron’s supporting cell called a glial cell.

#BackInTheStudio #It’sBeenAToughSummer #UrBeautifulBrain #LiveAndLearn #SeeOneDoOneTeachOne

gut. brain.

What do you visualize when you read the phrase Gut-Brain Axis? Or Brain-Gut Connection?

I picture very active brains communicating with very active intestines. Or is it the other way around? Both. It’s a two-way, busy connect especially when you consider the wandering nerve, aka, the vagus nerve. Think: 2-way, information highway. The vagus nerves are paired cranial nerves (CN X) and happen to be my favorite of all the nerves.  Because it is the longest nerve in the body it moves alongside heart and lungs and goes through all the organs of the digestive tract, connecting brain to gut.

I enjoy the challenge of capturing Veronica’s likeness while I work her profile.  I organize and sketch in the brain. The small area of my drawing is detailed into a collaged map of El Paso,TX,  where my cousin lives.

I have fun with the photo ↑ and strategically place color pencils to direct attention to the brainstem, the area of the brain I am working to understand.  I imagine the space to be like a facility loaded with chemicals and chemical messengers / hormones and neurotransmitters. Think: Food intake. Signals and controls. Many and complex. (FYI – purple pencil points to vagus nerve start.)

Some of the hormones involved include adipoectin (a protein hormone that modulates glucose regulation and fatty acid oxidation), and leptin (made by fat cells and decreases appetite).

Veronica, during our initial conversation, noted ghrelin. Ghrelin is a hormone that stimulates appetite. If I understand correctly, it is primarily released in the stomach and signals hunger to the brain. It also plays a role in determining how quickly hunger returns after a meal. And it promotes fat storage. After my surgery, she says, no more ghrelin. No more! What does this mean?  Forever? I ask.  I don’t know, she answers. And now you eat because??
I must live! Ah…survival!

Side note: The hormones that play a role in obesity, do they also play a role in anorexia?

I haven’t brought the microbiome in yet. But I will. Now when I hear gut-brain, I also think of microbes.  FYI…they can influence hunger and satiety.

Anyway…I’m still laying ground work…which is both complicated to figure out and complicated to draw. Both my brain and my hands are keeping busy.

One more thing…
In early posts I highlight the brown adipose tissue (BAT) and the white adipose tissue (WAT). Now I study and set in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) located under the skin and visceral adipose tissue (VAT).

In the image above, ↑ I enhance (darker area) the greater omentum (cool name! for an organ) , an example of VAT. It looks like lace, doesn’t it?  This apron of fatty tissue, connective tissue and lymphatics,  comes down from the stomach and stretches over the intestines. The greater omentum, aka, Policeman of the abdomen, might just be the first line of defense against toxins or infections (microbes).

BTW…yes, there is also a lesser omentum…

Meanwhile… drawing circles/making connections.

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Keeping a note:
Amylin is a hormone, co-stored and co-secreted with insulin in response to nutrients. It promotes satiety by mediating brain function, including appetite inhibition.

Amylin also plays a role in neural regeneration. It helps regulate glucose metabolism and modulates inflammation. I pull it aside and note it here because of a possible link to Alzheimer’s Disease (Type II Diabetes).

¿rata o ratón?

The best laid schemes of mice and men
Often go awry.     – John Steinbeck

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I was not comfortable with the research phase of this composition. And now that I am almost done, I wish I’d painted an alive looking rodent (as opposed to a dead looking one). I loved discovering the small clavicles, the little shoulder blades. and the delicate rib cage.

Every summer I make time, usually 5 consecutive days, to complete one small composition a day. I work from morning to evening.  I like the intense practice that gives way to  creative solutions. I never know how things will turn out, but I determine to complete a composition that balances and appeals to my eye – and to do so rather quickly. By the end of the week, I have a series of little artworks.

In summer’s past I’ve printed, drawn, and done collage. This time I paint. It’s not a week of work though, it’s going on over a month at this point. I will have 6 small paintings on paper instead of 5. I am working steady and quick but this particular time the process requires a different pace.

It’s varies because I am working a bit larger than usual. I work the front and back of a prepared sheet of paper.  The images on each side connect, and I’ve decided material and color have to compliment. I make the egg tempera palette a little different for each panel. Drying time is part of every step. The running themes are the cat (or connection to a cat) and anatomy study, the latter requires research. Consequently I need more than a day to complete an image.

Today I’ve completed a rodent. Never confident the composition would work, I decide today I like the direction it’s taking.  The image at the top of the post is the casein under-painting. I finish below – with egg tempera. I planned to only make 6, I need the other side of this paper to complete that intention. But it’s possible I may continue and finish a few more, the challenge appeals to me.

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Common House Mouse (Mus Musculus)
Black Rat (Rattus Rattus)
Brown Rat (Rattus Norvegicus)

FYI – Rodents get their name from the Latin – rodere – to gnaw …

his – nothing in stasis

I’ve completed a set of His and Hers pelvic girdles. The works are studies, abstracted and detailed, 13″ x 13″,  casein on canvas paintings.

The composition begins very simple and then gets very complex…. there’s a lesson in here somewhere.

I hope these works in some small way cause you to take care – of yourself and our world. We are so intricately connected.

Below is a very short video I put together showing various process steps in of the making of His. It’s less than 2 minutes long, and it shows the work in its accurate color. I posted these black and whites, because I really like the detail that shows up. And because I am considering something to display them this way as well.

To see read about Hers and access the video link → click here.

days of drawing – the back body

A sheet of fine drawing paper on the easel,
graphite, water, brushes, and tubes of paint,
two slow days on the sketch.
Process.

Even – spaced, repetitive- ribs are,
shoulder blades, pelvis bones, kidneys  – mirror,
though not exactly symmetrical, nothing is.
Process.

Days leave marks – many,
erase, move, add and subtract,
pushing and pulling, drawing in and drawing out.
Process.

bones, art, and other things interesting

My work allows me many opportunities. Take these photos for instance …

On my last dental visit I conversed (albeit awkward) with Melissa, the dental hygienist who cleans my teeth. She asked what I did for a living. What sort of subject-matter do you draw? When I told her, she wondered if I might like a copy of my x-rays.
Well….yeah.
She pulled them up again,  identified details, gave me extra info about teeth, nerves, and pointed out the sinuses.  The string-like shapes fascinate me. The head and neck areas are really interesting, she noted.

When the dentist came in he told me about the varying structure of the tissues of the body. He expressed the value in drawing for the purpose of learning.  He’s correct, I know.

A few years back, I was invited to the Barrows Neurological Institute, here in Phoenix.
It was a turning point for my work.  I saw slides of fluid and body … stuff. Things appeared as solid black ground, with bright shapes and strings floating through it.  I learned that the bright colors were not natural. They were injected ink, so one could see the matter: cells, both good and bad, and yes … cancer. They appeared as worlds of silence and wonder, what I might imagine outer space like.

While there I ran into someone else I knew. She invited me into her lab and showed me DNA sequence.

Since then I’ve purchased many anatomy books and taken anatomy classes. I’ve really looked at and studied the body and it’s parts (both eastern and western studies).  It’s not a machine which I sometimes liken it to…it’s soft, vulnerable, intricate working and so perfect in its design.

Who created this? – I still wonder.

Today I am in Dr. Richard Shindell’s office. He is a leading valley Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon. He’s married to artist Mary Shindell.  To say Rick’s an interesting guy, is an understatement. They met in art school of all places. I can tell you about furniture he’s built for the Roosevelt Row galleries. My husband can tell you about the hot rod cars Rick builds.  Here – go to his website bio –  and read about him yourself. His talents are many. He’s a fine surgeon and quite respected.

I’m here to see x-ray light boxes he has available for sale.

Mary takes me through the office.  The rooms are full of art.  The waiting room has a
Roy Wasson Valle print (you know…Fuzzy Balls) in it. A Shindell in the background. Patient rooms are brightly colored and filled with original works.

I need to focus. And I sort of do – in what appears to be the x-ray room.

I’ve considered painting the back body.  I’m not certain it’s visually all that interesting. Mary disagrees. She shows me these framed x-rays. They catch my attention. The spinal column holds great visual rhythm.  The kidneys show up from behind, quiet and subtle.

Rick’s office holds extraordinary things.  Though, not so extraordinary if you work with the bones of the body.

I see the feet and I think of being grounded and having support.  I want to do a drawing focusing on that stuff.

How many people do you know, that have a pelvic girdle sitting on their desk?  I want it.  The pelvis has such elegant contour, and holds beautiful form.

After all the visual stimulation…we get to the light boxes.  That’s why I’m here after-all. They’re cool. I’ll plan to have a bit more of that part of the visit in our [Creature, Man and Nature] blog.  Right now…I have to file this afternoon into my brain. It’s too valuable.

In the midst of all this, Mary and I see a collaborative opportunity. We need to see what Carolyn thinks.

Thanks Mary.  Thanks Rick.

a sketch

Sketch ( from Greek σχέδιος – schedios, “done extempore”) is a rapidly executed free-hand drawing that is not intended as a finished work.

Studio visit.  Curator drew out this sketch.
Will revisit this photo in September to see how close to the real thing we got.