Flying Trilobite on Facebook Pages & Poll!

If you are a fan of The Flying Trilobite and my artwork, now you can add The Flying Trilobite to your Facebook page. Just click below the image in my sidebar, the image below, or right here, and it will whisk you off into that magical Facebook land of zombies, creatures hatching from eggs, and sage prophet-programs telling you which superhero you most resemble.

If you are unfamiliar with Facebook pages, it adds a tiny icon in your Facebook profile declaring you are a fan - of celebrities, scientists, organisations, museums, artists obsessed with mythical flying trilobite fossils, television shows, video games, and more. It's another way for me to get some news out to people who frequent my blog, or communicate about issues not directly tied to my posts.

And hey, you get a teeny-tiny flying trilobite fossil sitting on your Facebook page, next to Carl Sagan, Super Mario, and Nelly Furtado.

--
Poll!

I've added a poll in my sidebar that will stay open the next two weeks. Some of my favourite blog features are themed-posts on regular days. Of Two Minds has their Sunday Funnies; A Blog Around the Clock features ClockQuotes throughout the week, as well as picks from science news stories; Page 3.14 has photos from ScienceBlogs every week, Life Before Death has photos every Friday; you see where I'm going?

Would it be helpful to my readers of this blog to know that a certain day is a good time to stop in to see the art? I would likely be posting at least one original, fully new piece per month. I am considering putting up details or up-close shots of paintings the rest of the time.

You can click more than one option, if you like. Depending on which ones you pick, you have an opportunity to confuse me.

Please take a moment to do the poll! It closes on April 9th, appallingly early in the morning, eastern standard time.

All original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow. The contents of this blog are under a Creative Commons Licence. See sidebar for details.

D.N.A. Candle - Vanitas II

This oil painting was done for my good friends A & K for their wedding.

I have blogged previously about the symbology behind this image. It is a concept I use sometimes mixed with other elements, as in my Symbolist-era-inspired, gigantic, thematic, magnum opus The Forever Painting. I attempt to make each D.N.A. Candle Vanitas a little different from the others, and some colours seem to suit certain couples, or perhaps my mood while painting.

They are a joy to do, and I hope the happy couple enjoys this one.

All original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow. The contents of this blog are under a Creative Commons Licence. See sidebar for details.

Myers, Dawkins and Popcorn...& LOLTrilobites!

It's rare that I post simply to direct my readers to another blog. I like to make sure I have something original and hopefully insightful to say.

If you need a good laugh though, you have to check these out.

The brief background: Noted biologists and atheists PZ Myers and Richard Dawkins were both interviewed for a movie featuring Ben Stein, under false pretenses. The movie is called Expelled, and both professors were told it would be about the false claims of creationists. In fact it seems to be shaping up to be a propaganda film trying to persuade the public that pseudo-scientists who support the theological idea of intelligent design (ick) are being 'expelled' from scientific academia by mean old biologists who understand Darwin's theory of natural selection. Got all that? Good. Ready for an I-can't-breathe laugh? Good.

Read PZ Myers' post from inside the mall where he went to finally see the movie.

You're back? Excellent. Want more?

Brian Switek over at Laelaps (one of my new favourite places) has commentary on the Expelled story and....LOLTrilobites! I'll be chuckling myself to sleep tonight.



All original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow. The contents of this blog are under a Creative Commons Licence. See sidebar for details.

Albino Squirrel of Trinity-Bellwoods

The last few years a tiny surprise has hopped and bobbed its jaunty tail through Trinity-Bellwoods Park here in Toronto's downtown. My wife saw this resident for the first time last week, and this morning I was lucky enough to snap a couple of photos.
Trinity-Bellwoods is not the largest or most wooded park in Toronto, but I pass through it to and from work every day. The little albino squirrel, going about its squirrely business with its grey and black squirrelerific friends, is something of a local celebrity. Nearby boutiques on the hipster-filled Queen St. West scene will occasionally have messages in their window, or on their sidewalk signs. One store even had a plush one in the window.
This second pic is horribly blurry. I'd like to blame that on my kindness in not pursuing the squirrel too closely, as I'm sure it is followed by paparazzi hoping to catch a glimpse of a wardrobe malfunction more often than the other squirrels. But I think the picture may be blurry due to the icy ground, and the amount of coffee I had this morning. Blurred like this though, doesn't it look a bit like it's going to pelt an acorn at my head? It's eyeing me, like I'm just another shutterbug.

I love this park. Lots of "refuge-points" in the landscape, trees dotted here and there, trees that rustle in the breeze. Walking through there is one of the best parts of my day.

(For more great posts on albinism in animals, check out Zooillogix.)

All original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow. The contents of this blog are under a Creative Commons Licence. See sidebar for details.

1st Blogiversary of The Flying Trilobite

...and this time, instead of paintings, I have photos.

The Flying Trilobite began as a way to promote my artwork and find new commissions and collaborations. It has also turned out to be a terrific outlet for my intellectual growth and artistic development; I am constantly engaged by new ideas I read from the scientific, Bright and arts communities. As I mentioned in my year-end round up, I also discovered a welcoming community of creative and shiny people online.

So, let's celebrate with cake, shall we?!

Uh-oh. The Mythical Flying Trilobite Fossil found it first. Yummy!

Thanks again to everyone who has made it such a great 1st year. If you keep viewing and commenting, (and commissioning!), I'll keep painting. Deal?

Let's eat cake.

- -

(No monarch butterflies were harmed in the making of this blog post. At least - not harmed by me. What you are seeing are wings found lying in a park last summer with some ants on the sticky bits. Perhaps a bird or dragonfly was responsible, but it was mainly only the wings left. Scouts' honour.)


All original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow. The contents of this blog are under a Creative Commons Licence.
See sidebar for details. Please contact me before reproducing elsewhere.

Darwin meets Blue Guy

The oil painting I produced for The Eloquent Atheist, entitled Darwin Took Steps, has found another champion today, in the form of Mike H. of the prolific Tangled Up in Blue Guy blog.

You can see the Tangled Up in Blue Guy post about Darwin Took Steps here.

And hey- he's also pointed at the banner that I produced for Of Two Minds! Any chance you're moonlighting as a scientific illustration talent scout, Mike? Perhaps if I need an agent one day...

With both of these pieces being worked on throughout February, it's been a busy month. Thanks Mike, for the comments. Feedback on my artwork is always welcome. (Thrown vegetables or muttering "derivative" are less welcome, but interesting.) In addition to the link in my gallery, you can also see my popular pencil drawing, or read the 'making of' post.

- -

By the way, this Friday will mark one year since The Flying Trilobite began. Look for a misty-eyed reminisce-a-thon on Friday. And cake! Maybe pie!

--

(Edit: March 8 2008: Darwin Took Steps also featured on The Dispersal of Darwin ! )