Seek and Ye Shall Find-Finished

 Our art quilters group 4 Common Corners has an upcoming exhibition call called Milagros.  Milagros means miracle in Spanish, and Milagros are also religious folk charms usually used for healing purposes, like small votives.  Often they're tiny silver charms like hearts or arms or other body parts.

I started thinking about miracles and tiny things and it made me think of model organisms.  Model organisms are organisms we use in the lab to study various aspects of human biology and human health.  So much of our understanding human physiology that has led to significant advancements in treatments disease cures has come from studies done using model organisms.  

It was tied in my brain to this central idea that God has given us all brains and it is our duty to use them (as well as the rest of our talents ) to serve him.  I'm committed to the idea that scientific exploration and research can bring us closer to God, by helping us serve others and learn more about his world.

So for this quilt I decided that model organisms were my miracle, teeny tiny things that can teach us so much about ourselves.  I made the design in Adobe Illustrator as always, and cut out all the initial shapes while I was at our 4 Common Corners retreat.

The central mandala features three model organisms arragned like an old school model of an atom, with mice, zebrafish, and chlamydomonas. Zebrafish are a widely used model organism for studying development- they develop outside the mother and the embryo is clear so you can watch them develop in real time.  Chlamydomonas is a single celled algae and its two flagella are very much like the primary and motile cilia that are on many of our cells and critical for sensory signaling.

In preparation for this quilt I wrote a collect for scientists.  Collects are a form of highly organized prayer and we use them in our Episcopal worship every week.  There are hundreds of them, for the seasons of the year, for special occasions, for holy days.  Anyway, the text on the quilt is a line from my collect for scientists.  The little orange starfish shaped things are actually bundles of C. elegans, a type of tiny worm, and another model organism we use in the lab to study brain function, aging biology, and cellular development.

The original design was just what you see above, but it just didn't feel finished to me so I added another round of border.  I always keep all the little bits that are leftover after I do my digital cutting and I used a bunch of them here.  The pink doodads are tetrahymena, single-celled eukaryotes.  Studies using them have led to critical advancements in our understanding of fundamental principles of cell biology, including ciliary assembly and function, the existence and role of telomeres (one of the cellular features that contributes to aging), and the ability of RNA to act as enzymes.  The actual applique pieces in the tetrahymena are the leftover innards from making the rose rocks on the border of this quilt.  The gold hilly border is the leftovers from cutting out the interlaced borders in the Revelation quilt I just shared last week.  I love being able to use up the precision cut pieces in new ways.  Nestled in the valleys of the gold borders you'll also see budding yeast, another model organism that has provide significant insight in the biology of the cell cycle and eukaryotic genetics.  

Seek and Ye Shall Find, 42"x42" x. 2026, Shannon Conley

I had a lot of fun quilting this, unfortunately some of my washable marker didn't wash out quite as easily as I'd hoped and the edges of some of my fused applique pieces got a little rough so I had to go back in at the end and couch down some yarn and gold edging.  

Here's the artist statement:

As a scientist, I find purpose in using my intellect to explore, explain, and learn about God's wonderful creation. This piece features model organisms, including tetrahymena, chlamydomonas, C. elegans, budding yeast, zebrafish, and mice. All of these organisms are used to help us learn more about human biology and human health as we pursue research designed to find new treatments to improve human health. The text is from a collect I wrote for scientists.

 

Heavenly Father, origin of all life and author of the universe, we are grateful for your gifts of intellect and curiosity. We ask that you guide and direct all scientists, that we may use our brains and hands for your glory in the service of humanity and all life. Through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you across all time and all space. Amen.