24" x 24", mixed media on canvas (was, collage, glues, oil, acrylic, ink). 2004. Bacteria are the most important and overlooked creatures on the planet. Cyanobateria, the first aquatic organisms of their kind, are approximately 3.5 billion years and are believed to be some of the earliest forms of life. These microbes developed the ability to exploit the suns energy through a process called photosynthesis to produce oxygen as a by-product. It is because of this miniscule organism that the earth was able to create and sustain an oxygenated atmosphere, conducive to all higher forms of respiring life, including human beings. Cyanobacteria are also attributed to inventing modern plants, having taken residence inside through a process called endosymbiosis. To capture all of this in a painting, I utilized an image of a single bacterial cell embedded into the earth much like a seed. Inside this "seed", a human fetus is growing. Small roots stretch out from the seed, and above the earth, a fertile sky provides the backdrop for our modern landscape. This painting actually inspired and initiated the Beginnings series.