Nothern Skies Gallery
The skies in Alaska are very rich in contrast and can be breathtaking. Winter gives the air a crisp clarity, perfect for viewing the dramatic Northern Lights. Sommer brings the never-ending light of the midnight sun.
The skies in Alaska are very rich in contrast and can be breathtaking. Winter gives the air a crisp clarity, perfect for viewing the dramatic Northern Lights. Sommer brings the never-ending light of the midnight sun.
12″ x 16″ x 2″
local aspen wood, fire-blackened plywood, acrylic paint
As houseflies and their larvae feed, they consume nutrients in rotting organic matter. They leave behind picked-over remains that other organisms, bacteria and enzymes can further break down, fulfilling an important environmental role as scavengers.
28″ x 28″ x 2″
local aspen wood, fire-blackened, 24k gold leaf
Nearly 50% of the 700 species of birds that regularly occur in the US and Canada rely on the boreal for their survival.
6″ x 6″ x 1″
local aspen wood, fire-blackened, plywood, acrylic paint
Being much lighter than seeds, the microscopic spores of fungi can hitch a ride with the wind far beyond the boreal forest, into the globally-encircling jet streams.
12″ x 24″ x 1.5″
local aspen wood, plywood, acrylic paint
In the cold, nutrient-poor environment of the boreal forest, trees can grow taller along rivers, the riparian zone, due to greater nutrient levels, added moisture, and greater soil temperatures provided by the river.
28″ x 28″ x 2″
local aspen wood, fire-blackened, plywood, 24k gold leaf
Spruce trees don’t shed their needles in winter, and often support a covering of snow, creating a more favorable microclimate for ravens and chickadees to roost at night, increasing their survival at extremely low temperatures.
8.5″ x 27″ x 2″
local aspen wood, plywood, fire-blackened
Adaptation is a key to survival in northern climates. Black-capped chickadees are a quarter larger than their southern cousins, allowing bigger body mass relative to surface area for better heat retention.
18″x 13″ x2″
repurposed local spalted spruce wood, plywood, fire-blackened
Carpenter Ants perform a valuable recycling service in the boreal forest, where decomposing is slow.
They shred wood, leaving piles of sawdust and tunnels behind, creating more surface area for organisms that actually digest wood, such as fungi and bacteria.
Some of the decomposed material will be washed into a pond and replenish much needed nutrients.
21″ x 9.5″ x 1.5″
local aspen wood, acrylic paint
AT YOUR SERVICE
Willows are able to clean water, including our drinking water. They can filter out the finest dirt particles with their dense, fast-growing roots while stabilizing the soil. They are also capable of detoxifying water and soils by absorbing toxins like cyanides and arsenic and modifying them chemically into non-toxic forms. In addition, willows encourage survival and growth of their neighbor plants by contributing immune-boosting chemicals and growth-boosting nitrogen fertilizer fixed in their bark.
12″ x 17.5″ x 2″
local aspen wood, fire-blackened plywood, acrylic paint
Carrion Beetles bury small carcasses in the forest soil to feed their young. This activity greatly speeds up the release of nutrients into the soil compared to if the carcasses were left to decay on their own.
12″ x 16″ x 2″
Fire-blackened local aspen wood and plywood, acrylic paint
House flies are able to process what they see and react accordingly at amazing speeds. Human brains process around 60 images a second, whereas a fly can process around 250 in a single second.
17″ x 18″ x 2″
local Aspen wood, plywood, acrylic paint
Stink bugs overwinter in the litter of the boreal forest floor as adults. In fall they produce an antifreeze-like compound that prevents the formation of ice crystals in their bodies, hence they can withstand temperatures down to -25 degrees Celsius.
16.5″ x 16.5″ x 2″
local aspen wood, fire-blackened plywood, acrylic paint
The peak abundance of mosquitos in the boreal forest is in sync with most of the baby birds hatching, creating a direct relationship between mosquito density an
16″ x 16″ x 1.5″
Local aspen wood, plywood, acrylic paint
They are ubiquitous in nearly all freshwater habitats of every continent except Antarctica.
Some mosquito species have been found to be parasitized by larval water mites, which can reduce the survival and reproductive success of mosquitoes.
11″ x 7″ x 2″
repurposed local spruce, wire, fire-blackened, acrylic paint
Phosphorus to algae is like white sugar to humans. Its natural occurrence is scarce, limiting over-indulgence. Mining phosphorus brings an unnatural amount of phosphorus into the biosphere. Phosphorus is used, for example, in fertilizer for agriculture, lawns and garden, and in detergent. A pond fed with phosphorus-rich run-off from fields or failing septic systems increases algal growth. This proliferation can lead to algae blooms and ultimately dead zones.
18″ x 9.5″ x 1.75″
repurposed spalted bug-eaten local spruce wood, cotton yarn, fire-blackened
During the last two decades, viruses have been identified as the most abundant member of the web of life on Earth, with a global estimate of 1031. They are recognized as an important biological component in the functioning of aquatic ecosystems: Viruses are major players in nutrient recycling, community structure (including algal bloom termination), gene transfer, and the evolution of aquatic organisms.
local aspen wood, plywood, bamboo skewers, fire-blackened
18″ x 10.5″ x 1.5″
Mayflies spend their youth in water. The external gills on mayfly nymphs beat to control water flow through the body, which also controls the amount of oxygen and salt that flows through the body. Nymphs in still water generally have larger gills, and those in running water have smaller gills. This strategy allows the nymphs of each habitat to optimize their flow of water.
20″x16″x 2″
local spruce wood, plywood, fire-blackened, acrylic paint
Though water is their preferred element and diving is their main mode of locomotion, diving beetles are able fliers. They use reflectance off surfaces to identify landing spots, which often leads to errors — landing on wet pavement or shiny cars. When this happens they are stuck because they can only take flight from the water.
20″x 8″ x 1″
repurposed local spruce wood, acrylic paint, plywood, fire-blackened
Ponds of all sizes provide important stopover sites for migratory birds to rest and refuel. Each wetland ecosystem is a link in a chain of stopover sites creating what is known as a flyway. An example is the Pacific Flyway which spans south-north from South America to Northern Alaska. Ponds along the flyway are like gas stations along a highway. If enough stations are closed, it breaks the chain.
7″ x 14″ x 1.25″
repurposed local spruce, local aspen wood, plywood, fire-blackened, acrylic paint
Cattails are among the first wetland plants to colonize areas of newly exposed wet mud. A stand of cattails can provide cover for waterfowl. The roots are food for wetland mammals such as muskrats, who also use leaves and stalks to construct feeding platforms and dens. This further offers nesting and resting places for waterfowl
16.5″ x 14.5″ x 1.5″
local aspen wood, plywood, acrylic paint, pyrographed
Continual exposure to noise can cause stress, anxiety, depression, high blood pressure, or heart disease. If one takes the time to listen, one service a pond can contribute to our lives is to provide a soothing soundscape. This can counterbalance the ill-health effects of noise pollution in our modern life.
18″ x 10″ x 1″
repurposed local spruce, fire-blackened, plywood, acrylic paint
Every pond is connected to Earth’s hydrological system, the global movement of water. Human modifications of ground and surface water, like rerouting drainages for road building, withdrawal of water for domestic and agricultural use, or draining water to create housing, alter water flow. These changes can lead to disruption in connectivity and a decrease in habitat and diversity. Worst case scenario: a dry pond.
18.5″ x 10.5″ x 2″
repurposed local spruce, fire-blackened, acrylic paint, 24k gold leaf, wire
A pond does not stop at its shores. It is connected to the Earth’s recycling system or biogeochemical cycles. Geologic processes form the landscape, and climate affects water flow, which, in turn, impacts the delivery of minerals and nutrients from the surroundings. The availability of nutrients in a pond influences the community that will thrive and disperse from there. Technological advances allow humans to manipulate these cycles and affect pond life.
11″ x 8″ x 1″
recycled local spruce, fire-blackened and acrylic paint
CROWDED HOME
Wetlands are important bird habitats. Birds use them for breeding, nesting, and rearing young. More than half of the original wetlands in North America have been lost since the 1950s. As wetlands continue to shrink even in Alaska, bird species such as shorebirds and waterfowl are crammed into tighter spaces causing reduced breeding and proliferation of avian diseases. Over 50% of bird populations dependent on wetlands have declined.
9″x 12″ x 2″
recycled local spruce wood, plexiglass mirror
Microorganisms in a pond create a fizzy cocktail of gasses, including carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor, and more, each pond creating its own, personal mix. Changes to the components of the pond, natural or man-made, alter its flatulent emissions.
17″ x 22″ x 2″
repurposed local spalted spruce wood, plywood, fire-blackened, acrylic paint
Balance is not a state, but a dynamic equilibrium, like a teeter-totter. Cycles in a pond, like everywhere in nature, can last a day, several thousand years, or longer. Things change, some disappear, and some get replaced. Science gives us something akin to a black and white glimpse into the colorful dynamics of nature.
15″ x 5″ x 0.75″
local aspen wood, plywood, wire, fire-blackened
In Tree Swallows, chicks that have been fed aquatic insects have much greater fledging success than those fed a diet of terrestrial insects. This success has been linked to the consumption of highly unsaturated omega-3 fatty acids (HUFA), present in aquatic insects. Algae, the original producer of HUFA, gets eaten by microorganisms, and HUFA works its way up the food chain into aquatic insects. Land plants do not produce as much HUFA as algae.
11″ x 16″ x 4″
repurposed local spruce wood, alder branches, 24k goald leafe, acrylic paint
Cyanobacteria, formerly known as blue-green algae, are microscopic organisms found naturally in all types of water. These ‘primitive’ bacteria produce oxygen during photosynthesis. They were among the earliest organisms on earth and helped create the atmosphere of today. For 2.45 million years, they have been producing oxygen that we breathe
42″ x 25″ x 3″
repurposed local spalted spruce wood, plywood, fire-blackened, acrylic paint
YOUR INNER CILIATE
Ciliates, microorganisms with many fast-moving hairlike appendages called cilia, can be found among pond scum. A connection with our bacterial ancestor might be seen in the fine hairs that line our bronchi, used to clear mucus from our lungs
11″ x 34″ x 3″
repurposed spalted local spruce, plywood, acrylic paint<p> 24k gold leaf
Our life is based on water and powered by the sun.
22″ x 17″ x 3″
local spruce branches, fire-blackened, acrylic pain, repurposed fiber
KEY TO SUCCESS
Bacteria are key to the functioning of ponds and lakes. Their numbers in a drop of pond water can range in the millions. They power the bulk of nutrient cycles and most nutrients would be inaccessible without them. But their significance goes far beyond the pond. These microorganisms make up the majority of life on Earth and play vital roles in food chains, nutrient cycles, health, and industry. We know comparatively little about microbial diversity, behavior, and ecology because we cannot see them.
5″ x 15″ x 1″
repurposed wood, plywood and plastic
The frozen soil that underlie much of the boreal forest are thawing as the Arctic warms. That releases greenhouse gases as organic carbon from plants and animals, once locked away in the ice, melts and decomposes.
19″ x 9.5″ x 1
recycled spruce wood, fire-blackened, acrylic paint
Ravens have a third eyelid to keep their eyes protected from freezing and drying while they commute from their roost in the forest to their feeding places in town at -40 degrees Celsius.
11″ x 18″ x 2″
spruce wood, fire-blackened
Due to lower oil prices for heating oil, the personal-use firewood sales in the Tanana Valley State Forest declined in 2019 to a total of 758 cords.
18″ x 18″ x 2″
local aspen wood, plywood, recycled cardboard, pop cans, bottle caps
Every year Canada clear-cuts a million acres of the boreal forest, much of which gets turned into paper and paper products, including toilet paper.
8″ x 19.5″ x 2″
local aspen wood, plywood, fire-blackened
The extreme climate in the boreal forest, coupled with the strong soil acidity means that the turnover of organic matter and mineral nutrients, facilitated by billions of organisms, is slow, maybe as little as 1 cm of thickness accumulated in 500 years.
8″x 17″x1″
local aspen wood, plywood, fire-blackened
The mutualistic relationship between soil fungi and the roots of most forest plants is critical for their success in the nutrient poor soil of the boreal forest.
7.5″ x 10″ x 0.75″
local aspen wood, plywood, fire -blackened
The accumulating leaf litter on the forest floor can offer a home, a food source, a caching site, sheltering, or over-wintering cover for many boreal insects, small mammals, and our northern wood frogs
7.5″ x 18″ x 2″
local aspen wood, fire-blackened, acrylic paint
Without the atmosphere no water, without water no plants, without plants no humans.
10″ x 13″ x 1″
local aspen wood, fire blackened plywood
Do we need scientific evidence to know that the connection between humans and nature is real?
12″ x 7″ x 3″
local aspen and spruce wood, fire-blackened, 24k gold leaf
Boreal chickadees store birch seeds and other food for winter by gathering spiderwebs in the fall, mixing them with their saliva and creating a glue to paste food caches to the underside of spruce limbs.
7.5″ x 23″ x 0.5″
local aspen wood, fire-blackened, acrylic paint
A full-grown tree has tens of thousands of leaves, every single one requiring valuable nutrients to carry out photosynthesis. In the fall, the tree transfers these nutrients from the leaves into the root and trunk for winter storage, then discharges the leaves.
8″ x 8″ x 1″
local aspen wood, fire-blackened, acrylic paint
The parachute-like tuft of silky hairs at the end of each fireweed seed can transport them far from the parent plant. A reason why fireweed can be one of the first plants to colonize a disturbed area.
