my feet on the dash

My professional website portfolio's had a face lift! Huzzah!

Wow - I can't believe I did it! I FINALLY sorted out my portfolios over at www.megalo-media.com (my professional art/medical illustration website, as they say).

I've been searching and searching for a clean, readily update-able, gallery app or bit of code and I finally found it! Pictobrowser was the answer to my prayers! They make such a clean and functional (free!) flash gallery app. There's a nice option for a disappearing thumbnail gallery that can overlay the viewing area with a space for a title. And a useful 'notes' link for each piece where you can add more information; I used it for additional facts, media used, and the date the piece was created. Lastly, I like the fact that, with the 'link'... er... link, you can click through to the Flickr page of the image and leave a comment, if you so desire.

It was a SNAP to set up AND since it takes your images from Flickr sets, as you update those sets, it AUTOMATICALLY updates the relevant website gallery! I cannot begin to relate how awesome that is. My online portfolio will be SO much more up-to-date now.

And, the MOST EXCITING bit-o-news, the 'mine' section of my megalo-media portfolio is now open! It's only taken me something like 3 years to get it up and running ;)  I like having the portfolio split into 'mine' and 'yours' so that I can have both sides of my artistic repertoire showcased on the same site without it confusing the viewer.

Feedback is always welcome, so, let me know what you think!

IN PHD-LAND, next week is my last week with my current lab before I start my next rotation. I'm going to miss them so much. From this perspective, I really hope I can make it my permanent home for the next 3 years.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

My brand new life & are you on Facebook too?

Befriend me, won't you?
http://www.facebook.com/megan.e.foldenauer

(FB just began a feature where you can actually have your name in your URL on their site - awesome idea!)

Oh, and if you missed the news awhile back, my Drawing-A-Day project also has a page where you can become a 'fan', if you're into that sort of thing: CLICK HERE.

Let's see... life is pretty good at the moment, I must admit. I love the lab wherein I'm doing my 2nd rotation. I'm still required to do a 3rd (which I will do from 7/11-8/29), but, I'd be amazed if it could top my current lab. The people are GREAT and the work is very very interesting (corneal wound healing).

I'm learning lab techniques that I've wanted to learn for years and I'm finding out that I'm not a total slob at them. :)

Taking the leap I did to return to Wayne State, from this vantage point, was the right decision. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but, I don't regret it at all. I bet I'll eat those words when I'm in the thick of disseration writing, you know? ;)

Coming up are classes in the fall in Molecular Bio and perhaps Anatomy of the Eye... I'll have my big 'qualifying exams' in about a year. After that? I write and do lab stuff and write some more.

Ah, science. I think I... I... llll... love... you.

I'm back in PhD-land and the forecast is sunny with a chance of clouds

Was that a cheesy title? ;p

So, hello! I know I've been quiet a bunch the last few months. My daily routine has COMPLETELY changed - from an undergrad with a fairly relaxed schedule, no commute, and lots of homework to a graduate student with a 9-5 lab job, a 40-minute (each way) commute to Detroit, and no homework (yet).

It's all very exciting... not leaving me too much time for art, but, I'm sure that'll change as I settle in.

First impressions thus far? Being in a lab is very disorienting. You feel like you're doing important work, but, you have to be supervised (for now) until you master techniques. Despite this being my second rotation, I feel like a grown-up and a newbie all in one. You read and read and read. You wait and wait and wait (for experiments, meetings, lunch). You listen and listen and listen.

When I was in graduate school before (not Hopkins, but my 1st stint at Wayne St.) it wasn't like this. I was a ball of stress and gut-wrenching anxiety wrapped up in a blanket of uncertainty. It was god awful. Calm and true contemplation of the science I was attempting to master was not part of my life.

What has become plain is that I was NOT ready to be in a science-based PhD program back then. I have grown so much and now I feel utterly on the right path. Will it last? Well, I know this will be anything but easy... I'm in hope-mode.

These revelations are coming to me and I've only been at this for a little under 3 weeks. Amazing.

Anyway, I'd love to chronicle this journey I'll be immersed in for the next 3 years (that's all the time I have to finish my PhD - um, yeah)... hopefully I'll be able to manage my time to make it happen.

Oh, and did I mention I'm running my first 5K this coming weekend? I feel very unlike myself, but so me... very bizarre.

Yay! Drawing-A-Day book #5 has arrived!

Yay! Book #5 has arrived!, originally uploaded by redmeg8.

Wee! If you've been following my Drawing-A-Day project, you might recognize this :)

Blurb is responsible for these awesome things. I have no complaints with the quality or working with them. Please consider snagging one for yourself or a friend! I'll sign it when I see you :)

See here: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/669559

MORSEL paintings now on Etsy!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade redmeg8.etsy.com

These plus 11 others are now featured in my Etsy shop. Please stop by! :)

Testing, testing...

Hello from my new iPod touch! Weeee!

It's been too long! What to report? Hmm... Well, I'm graduating with my 2nd Bachelors in two days :) That's pretty sweet, if I do say so myself.

Also, I've started a watercolor for the first time in forever. I'll post it soon!

Lastly, I start my lab rotation at Wayne State in a few weeks. I hope to blog about that a lot. It's gonna be intense, methinks.

These doilies took my breath away

(the Herpes virus)

Laura Splan amazes me. I mean, I'm at once speechless when I look at her work and supremely jealous that I never thought of this (as usual) being the crafty science illustrator that I am! She's approached 'anatomical art' in a way I've never seen before and it's subtlety just floors me. My favourite sort of blend: deadly and gorgeous. Mega-kudos to you, Laura. Seriously.

I'm learning Scanning Electron Microscopy!

Dual screen of a leg joint & a blow-up of it (SEM), originally uploaded by redmeg8.

And it is COOL! Could you imagine the potential for subject matter? Think of the drawings I could do! The detail is simply incredible.

Here's a set of the rest of the images I've done so far. Enjoy!

Download free Neko Case and help the animals!

http://www.anti.com/media/download/708

"Celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2009, Best Friends Animal Society is one of America’s foremost animal rescue organizations. Founded in 1984, Best Friends advances nationwide animal welfare initiatives by working with shelter and rescue groups around the country. On any given day Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the nation’s largest facility for abused, abandoned and special needs companion animals located in southwestern Utah, is home to approximately 2,000 dogs, cats, horses, rabbits, birds, and other animals. The society also publishes Best Friends magazine, the nation’s largest general interest, pet-related magazine with approximately 300,000 subscribers. For more information, visit www.bestfriends.org."

You CAN go home again...

I gotta admit... a few years back, hell, even a year ago, I'm not sure I would've been able to see what the future had in store for me. Now I know. It's pretty amazing.

I've been working on my Bachelor of Science degree in Biology & Chemistry for 2 years now at Eastern Mich. University (actually, it's a 2nd Bachelors) and am going to graduate in April... well, as of last October, I have been in contact with my "old" department at Wayne State School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy.

Old? Yes. I began my graduate studies there in 2005 and left after a year filled with guilt, confusion, and regret... mostly confusion. I had never left anything in that manner before. It left me floating in uncertainty for a few years as I considered medical school, graduate school in a different discipline, being done with academia, etc.

Well, all of the sudden last fall, at 2 in the morning one night, it hit me. I admitted to myself what my pie-in-the-sky goals are and I swallowed hard realizing that I needed to go back to Wayne State, hat in hand, and ask to be reinstated in my former program.

So, I did just that and have been working on it ever since. Let me just tell you that I am a firm believer in not only 'everything happens for a reason', but that if you are honest with yourself and take chances related to what you're meant to do in life, the 'fates' will conspire to open doors and make the way for you.

I'm back into Wayne State as of this summer/fall! I'll be a second year and will need to work my butt off, but, that's ok. I can see my goals firmly and they are so exciting, scary, and revolutionary, that I can see this through now.

I'll tell you more about them sometime. For now, I think I'll keep them under my hat. Of course, if we meet up in person, I might spill it ;p 

Wish me luck!

(now if I can just do well this last semester and graduate... sigh)

Beyond Labcoats and Goggles... Science Shopping

 

I've created another new off-shoot from this here blog: http://redmeg8.typepad.com/meganderings/beyond-labcoats-and-goggles-science-wearables.html

I'm collecting awesome science-related goods from around the web... all for you and those geeky types you need to buy things for. :)

It's in its infancy, so, please check back often for more stuff (there's a permanent link under 'pages' there in the left column) - it might get its own site some day, even. Dream big!

Enjoy!

I'm a runner up in the #Art category!

Yay! I'm listed as a 'runner-up" in the Short Award's #art category! Hooray! :D The Shorty's were created to honor "the best producers of short* content in 2008 (*140 characters or less, on Twitter)".

Jeni Fairman profiled me on her awesome blog!

I heart Jeniiiiii, I heart her, I heart her, I HEART HER!!!!!  (that's a gush, girl!)

So, my dear medical illustration colleague and friend, Jennifer Fairman, profiled my work on her blog, Willow Street Creative. I am SO full of pride and donning a huge grin! Thank you SO much, my friend. Good lord, I don't know where I'd start if I blogged about you, you're such an inspiration to me. :)

So yes, my readers, head on over to her blog - you will love every ounce of it!

Here's a jumping off page for ALL of her outstanding gifts to the rest of us. I warn you! It'll knock your proverbial socks off!

0% of the people who've taken the quiz are like me... really?

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm an Extroverted Self-Improving Builder

Thanks to Supah for the link to this on the 43things.com website. :)

We ♥ It

I forgot about this website that I use called We ♥ It ... it's a lot of fun. It's a place to store images that you like and find folks to share your likes. Lots of really cool stuff. Here are some of mine: