Using a microscope and an underwater camera, Chantal has been documenting the flora and fauna of her hometown of San Clemente--the bees and butterflies in her garden, and the strange creatures who live in the tidepools and shallow waters of San Clemente beach.
Chantal is not a trained scientist. She is an artist. But she possesses those qualities that both professions share: curiosity, and a desire to look very carefully, to find beauty and meaning amid the minutiae that others might overlook.
Some of the pieces in the show were blown-up pages from her field notebook/sketchbook, an essential tool of any naturalist, artist, or writer.
Chantal introduced me to something called micrography, which involves taking pictures using a microscope, to see the beauty that is hidden from the naked human eye. Chantal's work reminds us that there are beautiful dramas happening in nature all the time, often unnoticed by humans.
Chantal is a very prolific Orange County artist, and she is a contributor to OC Artist's Republic, an awesome new site devoted to building bridges among the emerging OC art scene. To see more of Chantal's work, check out her web site HERE.