Breezy Hill Turning

Turned Wood Art by Michael Foster

Radiolarians

Rad Spiral
A radiolarian (Cyrtophormis spiralis) inspired by the work of Ernst Haeckel.

Rad Spiral
Birch, bleach, Fixatiff 4” x 7”

Rad Box
A radiolarian of unknown species inspired by a scanning electron image.
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Rad Box
Bubinga, Box elder burl, Bleach, Fixatiff, Waterlox, 4”D x 3”H

Radiolarian V
A piece based on one (Astrocyclia solaster) of the many radiolarians that Ernst Haeckel described and illustrated.
Available

Radiolarian V
Black Agate wood, Waterlox 3”H x 5” D

Radiolarian IV
A turned piece inspired by the work of Ernst Haeckel and the radiolarian Cenosphæra perforata that he illustrated.
Available

Radiolarian IV
Box Elder Burl, stain, Waterlox, 3.25” D

Radiolarian III
Inspiration for this piece came from a scanning electron micrograph of a radiolarian’s silica skeleton, (cyrtopera laguncula).
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Radiolarian III
Maple, Acrylics, 12.5”H x 5” D

Radiolarian II
A turned work inspired by the illustrations that Ernst Haeckel completed while documenting and describing radiolaria. This is base on the radiolarian Dictyophimus hertwigii.
Available

Radiolarian II
Box Elder Burl, bleach, Krylon, 3.5” H x 4.75" D

Radiolarian
A piece loosely based on a couple of different radiolarian species.
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Radiolarian
Macassar ebony, 3.75" x 6", tung oil/varnish mix

Radiolarians

Radiolarians are microscopic unicellular protozoa that live in the worlds oceans. There are an astounding variety of the life forms that was first documented by the German naturalist Ernst Haeckel. He was also an artist, and produced a great collection of art in the form of drawings and illustrations inspired by microscopic and macroscopic life forms. Radiolarians, similar to diatoms, produce a silica skeleton which is preserved after the organism dies. Like the life form, there is an incredible array of these intricate structures that have been captured by light microscopes and scanning electron microscopes. This is a growing body of work inspired by radiolarians. I found a great resource on radiolarians online and the folks that maintain the site were very kind to feature some of my work on their site. Check out the organization Radiolaria.org.