Successful Tour

July 27, 2014lpierce276

Advertising was problematic. Thunderstorms were forecast. One of the Paleontologist guides was in a cast.

However, the tour to find fossils within a local reclaimed quarry was well-attended, untouched by rain and was a pleasant (if not somewhat muddy) day for all.

Kevin Seymour at illustrative signage showing quarry face photo source : Lorie Pierce

Dave Rudkin showing strata layers from rocks and bricks washed down from cliff face photo source : Lorie Pierce

Fossil site with poison ivy along edges photo source : Lorie Pierce

Pleistocene beaver tooth reproduction photo source : Lorie Pierce

Night Heron watching proceedings photo source : Lorie Pierce

Remembering Tom Tierney

July 23, 2014lpierce276

Tom Tierney photo source : Dith Pran, NY Times

Paper Doll Author Tom Tierney 1928 – 2014

Artist Tom Tierney wrote and illustrated Dover books for over 30 years. His best-known and most popular creations are paper dolls of historical figures, movie stars, and fictional characters that model the fashions of bygone eras. Dover publishes over 150 of his paper doll collections, plus coloring books and other works that he has authored.

paper doll outfits photo source : Dover Publications

Reviving the art of paper dolls, Tierney was responsible for giving museums a wonderful legacy of period costume illustrations in a fun and practical format.

In particular are the books of his Legacy Series.

You can find out more about Tom’s life and art on his website. http://www.tomtierney.com/index.htm

Pic Stitch app

July 16, 2014lpierce276

Since getting an iPhone, I have been investigating worthwhile apps to download and use. Pic Stitch was recommended in a newspaper article so I downloaded a free version from the App store. And I’ve been fooling around with it ever since.

Pic Stitch gives dozens of formats for the user to combine and frame different photos. I especially enjoy using it for images to accompany tweets – the combination of pictures often explains more thoroughly what I am trying to get across.

And it allowed me to get both creative and silly. Hence, the creation of #CatVisitsMuseum. I have a particularly photogenic cat named Twinkle who has never visited the museum I work at. However, her alter-ego is having many small adventures in the galleries. (they have to be short so as not to interfere with her naps)

What a face – no wonder they call him Triceratops Horridus photo source : Lorie Pierce

Even without muscles, that Komodo Dragon is scary photo source : Lorie Pierce

Dreaming of marshmallows. What do you mean it’s a rock? cat and gogotte sandstone concretion photo source : Lorie Pierce

the circle of life – birdies, fish, resting, repeat – cat and penguin, fossil fish photo source : Lorie Pierce

The juxtaposition of images allows for a humourous approach to museum collections. Perhaps cats have been overdone in terms of cute messages. However, I personally feel that #CatVisitsMuseum has great potential.

Trial Run

July 7, 2014lpierce276

There is a special tour scheduled in three weeks time so I set about to doublecheck the venue in advance. It’s a beautiful urban park that used to be a quarry and brickworks. Now it is home to a farmer’s market, nature trails, ponds, pottery workshops, and a children’s garden. The feature that attracts our museum group to this area is access to fossils of life from an ancient lake.

former brick works building photo source : Lorie Pierce

pond with fossil cliff face in background photo source : Lorie Pierce

map of service buildings photo source : Lorie Pierce

My intention during the pre-visit was to investigate the best place to congregate for the start of the tour, location of washrooms, public transit stops, any impediments to walking on the trails, and identifying covered areas if the weather should turn inclement.

Creative Baking

July 4, 2014lpierce276

I recently came across a Twitter site called #bakeyourstudyspecies , that immortalized scientific pursuits into (no doubt, temporary) confections.

Then I came across this historic record of a cake created at the time of the 60th anniversary of the founding of our museum (the building was opened in 1914).