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Hey, remember long ago when Ferrebeekeeper was obsessed with the many-eyed Greek mythological monster Argus? We need to get back to some dark mythology this winter…but before we do that, lets take a look at the creature which reminded me of Hera’s loyal monster (one of many, actually, but this guy somehow escaped my first post about speckled animals named for the dead guardian). This is Mangina Argus aka “the crotalaria podborer” (blech! since when are common names even harder to say then scientific nomenclature?), a hungry moth which lives from the South China Sea all the way through the Himalayas and down into Southern India. The crotalaria podborer is known for, um, boring into crotalaria pods which make it a minor agricultural pest, since a few species of crotalaria (a sort of legume) are used as green manure to fix nitrogen into overextended croplands. We aren’t really here to talk about the moth though, but instead to admire its pinkish vermilion wings and beguiling spots! What a beautiful little lepidopteran!
Wildlife Quilt (Patricia Ferrebee, 2019), mixed cotton textiles
By accident, this week ended up being parti-color snake week. I am very much ok with this outcome–especially since the brilliant reptiles brighten up a dull and depressing part of the year while at the same time they are still safely in brumation and we don’t have to worry about accidentally stepping on them (at least here in Brooklyn). Anyway, to wrap up the week, I thought I would show you this exceedingly lovely quilt which my mother made for me. It is a wildlife quilt which features penguins, lions, bears, prairie dogs, orangutans, ostriches, llamas, and so many snakes. The creatures are pieced together out of little carefully cut pieces of cloth which are lovingly embroidered onto the larger quilt.
Alas, my photography skills are indifferent and I cannot show you the gorgeous glistening colors of the quilt. Because my parents have a quilt/knitting store (which you should visit if you are in Parkersburg, West Virginia), mom has a huge variety of magnificent new cotton print fabrics. I like the way all of the animals came out, but I am especially fond of the snakes which truly capture the brilliantly colored scales.
Something that always strikes me at the zoo is how a brightly colored snake (which is a shape humans instinctively recognize and react to!) lying on a bed of completely differently colored twigs and leaves is difficult to see. This quilt conveys something of that real-world effect (although my photographs do not capture the subtle scintillating colors of the fabrics and thus do not fully duplicate the verisimilitude).
It is lovely to lie on this quilt and read. It is like being on the veld or in the northwoods…yet without harsh temperature extremes or biting insects (or, you know, lions).
Mom’s quilts become more beguiling by the year (I will have to show you some of her nighttime garden quilts someday), but this animal quilt is a particular winner because it has animals! I think we can all agree that, one way or another, animals are pretty much the best aspect of life (even if not everyone is quite as fond of snakes and fish as I am). Look at the decorative stitching on that little snake in the early autumn forest!
These amazing quilted reptiles (including this purse lizard from an earlier post) are a reminder that imagination, artistry, and craft can endow our lives with some of the beauty and meaning of the natural world if we work at it. This is an important theme, which we need to return to, because it seems like the way we live and work in the industrialized automated world is not working as well for everyone as philosophers, economists, and social theorists of the late twentieth century envisioned. The beauty of the snakes are also a reminder that I need to collaborate with my mother to make another animal quilt at some point–perhaps the Australian outback or the deep sea!
Thanks again mom, for this magical blanket (which is as warm and functional as it is lovely). Right now though I had better go throw a lesser blanket over it. There are some real (domestic) animals clambering up onto my wild animal quilt and although I love them with all of my heart but I don’t trust them for a moment with my cherished quilt.
![20200226_220257[1]](https://ferrebeekeeper.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/20200226_2202571.jpg)
Halloween this year featured scary clowns…but I just realized that I forgot to include one of the best posts on this subject before October ended. This is Balistoides conspicillum, the clown triggerfish, one of the most beloved of all aquarium fishes because of its wild white spots and bright orange greasepaint mouth (along with sundry yellow/white stipples, squiggles, stripes and some translucent cornflower fins). I promised I would showcase some Tetraodontiformes (my favorite order of fish), and there could hardly be a showier fish in the ocean!
Don’t let this fish’s comic good looks deceive you though: it is not some oceangoing fop. Clown triggerfish live on coral reefs throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific (and maybe in the Caribbean part of Atlantic, during these days of irresponsible hobbyists) and the adult fish prefer a solitary life at the edge of the reef where it drops off into the endless blue of the ocean. The top of deep underwater cliffs is their favorite home, presumably so they can stare forbodingly into the depths like a melancholic hero from Romantic art. This means that clown triggerfish must cope with all of the denizens of the reef…and with pelagic outsiders who live by different standards than those of the bustling underwater “cities”.
Clown triggerfish stand up to other fish, even much larger ones, with an arsenal that includes strong muscles, nimble maneuverability, cleverness (they are reputed to be some of the smartest fish in the ocean), a locking “trigger” bone to make them hard to pry out of caves, and, oh yeah, a terrifying mouth filled with sharp rock-like teeth. Their diet of tunicates, spiny sea urchins, large arthropods (crabs and lobsters), and bivalve mollusks such as clams necessitates formidably strong jaw muscles. Apparently clown triggerfish can just bite right through lobster armor and clamshells. True to their common name, these fish sometimes become prankish with their owners and, at feeding time, they have been known to grunt comically and squirt water onto their favorite humans. If they like a person they can be fed by hand or even caressed, but it is a risky venture since, obviously, they can use their mouths for more than biting through clams.
Adult clown triggerfish grow to be half a meter in size and they can live for up to 20 years in captivity. When they spawn, the triggerfish dig a shallow nest in the coral rubble and lay eggs in it. Together the couple fiercely guards the eggs until the babies hatch, then all parties go their own ways. Juvenile clown triggerfish have a diamond shape and are completely covered in white spots (their other markings appear as they mature).
Tiger Flounder (Wayne Ferrebee, 2019) Wood and Mixed Media
Here is another flounder artwork which I just completed. A majestic Amur Tiger is “hiding” on the pink, purple, and green stripes of a lurking flatfish. Something which has forcefully struck me about the popular understanding of flatfish is how many people are surprised at what successful predators flatfish are (I guess perhaps people unconsciously thought they were carrion eaters because they live on the ocean bottom?). Anyway, like tigers, flounders lurk in wait, blending in with their surroundings until the perfect moment and then “snap!” they grab up their unsuspecting prey. Tigers are of course a beloved super charismatic animal which people think about all of the time (although flatfish make up an entire taxonomical order, I get the sense that people who aren’t anglers or ichthyologists don’t think about them quite so much). Frankly our fascination and love haven’t helped the big cats all that much though: they are rapidly going extinct in the wild due to habitat loss and poaching (mostly for moronic traditional nostrums). This juxtaposed flounder sculpture hints at the sad fate facing the world’s brilliant animal predators. It is also a study in the dazzling color and form of stripes!
This week is World Ocean’s Week and I feel like I have somewhat dropped the ball this year (although the plight of the planetary oceans is the principal ongoing theme of my artwork). At any rate, for tonight’s post, I am not going to write a comprehensive essay about the watery realms which make up the majority of our planet’s surface (although we will get back to that theme). Instead of a complex analysis of how we could help the oceans, here is a cameo appearance by another amazing Tetraodontiforme fish.
This is Aluterus scriptus, commonly known as the scrawled filefish, a master generalist of warm tropical oceans worldwide. The scrawled filefish lives in the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean. Its habitats are limited to warm seas, but within those seas it does not have a particular favorite niche: the scrawled filefish can be found swimming through coral reefs, seaweed forests, seamounts, rock fields, shipwrecks, sandy seabeds, or just out in the open water. From close up the fish looks like crazy 1980s abstract art with a wild pattern of olive dabs, aqua crazy stripes and black stipples. Yet seen from a distance it blends into the water or the seafloor with shocking success. The scrawled filefish makes use of some of the same impressionistic properties of light, color, and shape which are used in dazzle camouflage. It is hard to find the edges of its oval (partly transparent) body because of the chaos of its patterns. Also, like flounders and cephalopods, the filefish is capable of quickly altering its color patterns such that certain colors fade back or flare into prominence depending on the situation.
The scrawled filefish is also omnivorous and eats all sorts of algae, small invertebrates, corals, mollusks, worms, jellyfish, tunicates, small fish, et cetera et cetera. The fish is diurnal and makes prime use of its yellow eye to see the world, however it is also shy and solitary. Although they are generally spotted alone, filefish are attentive parents. A male will fertilize the eggs of 2 to 5 females who live in his territory. The parents look after the eggs and then watch other the fry when they hatch.
In addition to camouflage, filefish make use of the same trick as their near relatives the triggerfish: they have locking spines at the top and bottom of their body. If attacked, they wedge themselves into tight crevices or holes and lock these spines in place. this is also how they sleep secure at night in an ocean filled with hungry predators.
Longtime readers of this blog probably think that my favorite order of fish are the catfish (siluriformes), a vast order of fascinating freshwater fish which have based their success on mastering sensory perception, or possibly the flatfish (pleuronectiformes) whose predator/prey dichotomy and tragicomic frowns are featured heavily in my elegiac artwork about the decline of the oceans. Readers who have really read closely might suspect the lungfish or the ghost knife fish. Yet, actually, I haven’t written a great deal about my personal favorite order of fishes because they are so eclectic and eccentric that they are hard to write about. The Tetraodontiformes are an ancient order of teleosts (rayfin fish) which apparently originated on the reefs of the mid to late Cretaceous (during the age of dinosaurs). There are currently 10 extant families in the order, but the Tetradontiformes are not closely related to other bony fish.
So what are these ten families of exciting weirdo fish? Wikipedia lists them alphabetically for us!
- Aracanidae — deepwater boxfishes
- Balistidae — triggerfishes
- Diodontidae — porcupinefishes
- Molidae — ocean sunfishes
- Monacanthidae — filefishes
- Ostraciidae — boxfishes
- Tetraodontidae — pufferfishes
- Triacanthidae — triplespines
- Triacanthodidae — spikefishes
- Triodontidae — Threetooth puffer
Triggerfish, pufferfish, boxfish, filefish, cowfish, enormous weird sunfish…there is such a realm of wonder, beauty, and ichthyological fascination among these groups that it is hard to know where to start (although the Mola mola, which I have written about, is a pretty good headliner). The intelligent, colorful, and truculent triggerfish (Balistidae), in particular, are the source of endless delight.
I will write more about all of these in turn, but, before we get into that, it is worth highlighting some shared features of the Tetraodontiformes. These fish tend to have extremely rigid bodies which means they move differently from the quicksilver darting which other fish employ. They rely on fluttering their pectoral, dorsal, anal, and caudal fins to move (comparatively) slowly, albeit with extreme precision. Most Tetraodontiformes are masters of armor or other defensive mechanisms (toxins, spines, pop-up bone locks, and, um, self-inflation). Because of their tropical reef lifestyle and the nature of their defenses these fish often tend to be extraordinarily colorful.
Now is not the time to get into the details of all of these fish. Today’s post is mostly a teaser of things to come…but believe me, it will be worth it. The Tetraodontiformes are truly astonishing. Their colors and patterns do not just put most artists to shame, they put most 1980s artists to shame. And their vivid beauty and astonishing appearance isn’t even the most amazing thing about them. Stay tuned!
I have been working on a personal animation project (more news to follow) which involves the mysterious color-changing master of the muddy ocean bottom–the flounder. Regular readers will know that the pleuronectiformes have been my leitmotif for the last couple of years, and sadly, the whole order is woefully under-represented in cartoons: the only flounder anyone knows is Ariel’s annoying sidekick “Flounder” and he was a sergeant-major fish (Abudefduf saxatilis). What a bait-and-switch!
Unfortunately this test gif isn’t quite what I was aiming for. Animation turns out to be ridiculously hard: how on earth did anyone ever make “Snow White” or “Spirited Away”? Yet despite the deficiencies, I think the work conveys some of the great flatfish’s unfathomable grasp of the secrets of the deep. Kindly let me know what you think. I desperately need everyone’s help on this project.
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, but, oof, the Monday after Thanksgiving is always a rough day. The holiday season has just started—but hasn’t gotten fun yet (my tree is badly assembled with no lights or ornaments—the cats have been climbing through it like gibbons in a hatrack and have knocked it over once already). Additionally, the quotidian dictates of work combine with the gray bleakness of November to create a feeling of malaise which makes blogging difficult. Also, it is 11:30 PM already. What the jazz?
To combat these problems and get something down on paper (and to kick off the holiday season?) here is a visual post—a gallery of incredible vibrant cuttlefish from the world’s warm seas. Hopefully there color will bring some pizzazz to your day. Finding them online actually helped me get back in the groove.
The flamboyant cuttlefish—the purple and yellow master of poison–rightfully has pride of place at the very top of the post, however there are some cuttlefish which I haven’t written about here too. As soon as I have a bit more time I will come back and write about them. As we get into December we will have more exciting and thoughtful posts which aren’t a placeholder like this one.
Also, I am still working on the thrilling project which I teased earlier (although, like everything, it is taking longer than I planned). For now, enjoy this little rainbow of sorbet tentacles and w-shaped eyes. It’s going to be a merry holiday season and there are wonders ahead of us. First we have to get a bit further into the workweek though….
It has been a while since I posted any of my flounder drawings on this blog, but don’t worry, ever since my art show back in August I have been working as harder than ever at drawing and sculpting allegorical flatfish. Indeed, I am working on a new show with some spectacular projects…but more about that later. For right now here are two small fish drawings. The first, above, is titled “Haywain Flatfish” and is meant to evoke the splendor of harvest season. A bewhiskered yokel carries off a sack of millet as the pumpkins ripen in the golden fields. An industrious beaver has been similarly productive and sits beaming beside his perfectly constructed dam. Although the scene conveys bucolic tranquility, the hollow black eyes of the fulsome flounder (and the circling vulture) speak of the coming austerity and darkness of winter.
This second image “AlienHeartSole” shows a flounder/sole with what looks like a big-hearted alien tentacle monster flying upon it in a personalized saucer. Although the alien seems benign, the imbecilic sphinx with a javelin, the bomb, and the tattered angel throwing a dart all suggest that this is an amoral and perplexing galaxy. Only the laid-back rooster offers a modicum of sanguine confidence…and it is unclear whether the gormless bird understands what is going on. If you enjoy these little tragi-comic images, you should follow me on Instagram (where Ferrebeekeeper goes by the sobriquet “GreatFlounder”). There you will find a great trove of colorful and enigmatic flatfish art. As part of the project which I mentioned above, I am trying to bring my various digital /web content into a more tightly networked gestalt, so I would be super appreciative for any Instagram follows!
I have fallen in love with these colorful fabric sculptures by the great contemporary Chilean sculptor,Serena Garcia Dalla Venezia. Her works are simple conglomerations of little hand-sewn fabric balls and yet look at them: they are dazzling alien landscapes which also evoke the world of cell biology or coral reefs.
Each work also combines color with visionary bravura. It is strange how the most simple ideas can expand into a world of captivating otherworldly beauty. Bravo to Serena Garcia Dalla Venezia. I look forward to seeing more of her gorgeous works and finding out more about her oeuvres.
ferrebeekeeper 