Seeing Pteropods
The paintings, studies, reference texts and images for Mariposas Marinas.
Pteropods Realized is the title of Samm's full collection of work related to Pteam Pteropod. It includes images different from those in the book and other sea critters studied in Bermuda.
Art is a practice and a process. This gallery includes some of the photographs, drawings, studies, and final works that were part of the process associated with creating Mariposas Marinas.
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Samm's visual, historical, and scientific references are drawn primarily from her, Amy's, and David's research. A list of additional resources can be found below.
Select Historical Resources
Many of these texts are in French or German. However, you may find the images within the texts useful.
From Histoire naturelle des mollusques ptéropodes. Plate X.
"Pteropod Ooze as seen by reflected light"
From Deep Sea Deposits Plate XI, Figure 6 ​​
Spitzbergische oder Groenlandische Reise-Beschreibung (1675)
Friderich Martens
John Carter Brown Library, German Collection
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Le règne animal distribué d’après son organisation, pour servir de base à l’histoire naturelle des animaux et d’introduction à l’anatomie comparée (1836)
Georges Cuvier, Jean Victor Audouin, et al.
Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library
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Sander Rang and Louis François Auguste Souleyet
Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library
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Report on Deep Sea Deposits based on the specimens collected during the voyage of the H.M.S. Challenger in the years 1872 to 1876 (1891)
John Murray and A. F. Renard
Natural History Museum Library, London
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Die Pteropoden der Plankton-Expedition (1906)
Paulus Schiemenz
Smithsonian Libraries and Archives​​​
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Useful Online Resources:
Select Visual and Media Resources
Below are many of the artists and photographers that inspire us.
Sea Butterfly Upwelling (Limacina Antarctica), 2016. Oil and Acrylic on Canvas. Collection, Midnight Sun
Russell Hopcroft (Oceanographer and Photography)
​​Russ Hopcroft is a Professor at the University of Alaska's Institute of Marine Science in Fairbanks, AK. See also: Five Questions with Russ Hopcroft.
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Cornelia Kubler Kavanagh (Sculpture)
Cornelia Kubler Kavanagh is a self taught artist teaching herself to carve stone in the Modernist tradition.
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David Liittschwager (Photography)
David is a contributing photographer for National Geographic and other magazines specializing in natural history subjects.
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Nancy Lord (Writing)
From her many years of commercial salmon fishing and, later, work as a naturalist and historian on adventure cruise ships, Nancy’s explored in both fiction and nonfiction the myths and realities of life in the north.
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Steve Ringman (Photography)
Steve Ringman has been a photographer for The Seattle Times for over 25 years. His passion is for stories involving environmental issues. See also: Sea Change.
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Lily Simonson works in tandem with researchers at remote field sites to create larger-than-life paintings of extraordinary organisms and extreme environments–from the deep sea to Antarctica. See also: Painting the Deep.​​​​
The cover of Nancy Lord's novel, featuring the photography of Steve Ringman. ​​