Barczak and Lindberg - Storming Norman 2017

Micelles in Evarun!The last several years I head to Norman Oklahoma to attend the annual Institute for Applied Surfactant Research (IASR) meeting. What else is in Norman? My friend and author Tom Barczak, a fellow Perseid Press contributor with a poetic, dark style.  Barczak is an artist & architect who has a beautiful ability to capture angelic warfare with drawing pencil and keyboard. 
Before the seminars started, I squeezed in another Starbuck's meeting.  This time I got a glimpse into Tom's sketches for his Hands of the Dragon book...and  was allowed to share a bit with you (see below)!  And what out! I think creepy surfactant assemblies are inspiring him!
Tom Barczak holding Helen's Daimones : S E Lindberg with Mouth of The Dragon Tom Barczak & his notebook

The notes read: "A suitable sacrifice .... A cenotaph of blood..."
[click to expand image]

Barczak's Notebook: Hands of the Dragon

Eh gad, is that a micelle?Of course my mind is focused on surfactants, and what do I see has Tom's notebook? A micelle? That's a spherical assembly of soap molecules, a key technology for detergency. Well he claims his sketch is his visualization of an epic assembly of people as they execute a divine ritual.  Anyway, I adore micelle formations, having illustrated them for Prof. Steven Abbott's Surfactant Science: Principles and Practice ... with the app Practical Surfactants (available for free).  But they also creepy me out (surfactants can form some scary "living" structures, such as myelins). 
So the moral of this story is: Obey your muse... and be wary of self-assembled structures!
Micelle Illustrations By S.E. for Steven Abbott
Surfactant Packing Illustrations - S.E. for Steven Abbott


Previous Barczak Coffee Runs:2016: Drawing Evarun Dragons & Dyscrasia Skeletons 2015 : Heroika #1: Dragon Eaters 2014 : "Soap, disease, and dragons"Interviews and ReviewsBarczak Interview by SE - 2014  Evarun #1: Veil of the Dragon ReviewEvarun #2: Mouth of Dragon Review