Kathryn Garner
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kathryngarner.co.uk
Kathryn Garner
@kathryngarner.co.uk
750 followers 530 following 510 posts
Artist. I make Cell Paintings, and I write too - mostly about cells, bacteria and/or engineering biology. https://kathryngarner.co.uk
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kathryngarner.co.uk
Second day of handing out my #Organoid and #OrganOnAChip stickers at WORD+2025 World Organoid Research Day in Cambridge!

Part of me misses being in the lab but the other part thinks what I do now is way cooler 😎

#sciart #scicomm
The artist wearing a black top and purple cardigan. There is an Organoid and an Organ-On-A-Chip sticker on her top. White lanyard around her neck reads Hub Organoids.
February 5, 2026 at 6:10 AM
kathryngarner.co.uk
What if a bacterium was as big as a castle?

All the Engulfed Castle designs have been added as stickers.

Check out the campaign
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/k...

#sciart #scicomm #illustration #artsky #painting #biosky #bacteria #mutants
4 Engulfed Castle designs (bacteria X castle hybrids): Morax-kidw-ell-y (Moraxella catarrhalis X Kidwelly Castle) S. ep-aydon-idis (Staphylococcus epidermidis X Aydon Castle) S. tintag-enes (Streptococcus pyogenes X Tntagel Castle) E. coli-narfon (Escherichia coli X Caenarfon Castle)
February 4, 2026 at 6:05 AM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
kathryngarner.co.uk
Not managed to check out my crazy bacteria vs castles #sciart project yet? Well let me tell you about it
#biosky #artsky

I like drawing #bacteria, but I wanted to add texture to make the drawing more EXCITING! So I added a map of the village I grew up in.

This is a Mycoplasma. (We call her Mimi.)
Mycoplasma bacterial cell partly painted as a diagram, partly from a microscope image, and partly as a mash-up with a map of the village I grew up in. Blue, brown and yellow ocre acrylic on paper.
January 31, 2026 at 6:47 AM
kathryngarner.co.uk
Not managed to check out my crazy bacteria vs castles #sciart project yet? Well let me tell you about it
#biosky #artsky

I like drawing #bacteria, but I wanted to add texture to make the drawing more EXCITING! So I added a map of the village I grew up in.

This is a Mycoplasma. (We call her Mimi.)
Mycoplasma bacterial cell partly painted as a diagram, partly from a microscope image, and partly as a mash-up with a map of the village I grew up in. Blue, brown and yellow ocre acrylic on paper.
January 31, 2026 at 6:47 AM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
loadofolbobbins.bsky.social
If you love unique and colourful #SciArt might I recommend checking out the fabulous @kathryngarner.co.uk Backerkit campaign.....

www.backerkit.com/c/projects/k...

#CellArt #Backerkit #ArtSky #Pintopia2026 #Pins #SciComm #ScienceArt
Attack of the Crenelated Mutants
You've heard about the origins of animal and plant cells? When one big single-celled organism engulfed a smaller one? Well this is like that, only it involves a castle and a bacterium and a whole truc...
www.backerkit.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
smartalyk.bsky.social
DAY 234
SPECIES 234 - Methanococcus voltae
STAGE: Archaea
MEDIUM: Arches Paper. Chromatek watercolor, Sakura pen, Derwent color pencil

M. voltae is a gram-negative, coccoid-shaped, mesophilic, and strictly anaerobic archaeon commonly found in marine and estuarine sediments

#sciart #archaea #art
January 25, 2026 at 7:22 AM
kathryngarner.co.uk
It's been an incredible first day for Pintopia! $1 million pledged across 228 projects in the first 12 hours!!

If you haven't had a look yet, here is the link to my project. You can explore the other projects from there

#sciart #artsky #illustration #scicomm

www.backerkit.com/c/projects/k...
Attack of the Crenelated Mutants
You've heard about the origins of animal and plant cells? When one big single-celled organism engulfed a smaller one? Well this is like that, only it involves a castle and a bacterium and a whole truc...
www.backerkit.com
January 23, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
loadofolbobbins.bsky.social
Proud to be the 1st backer 😎 on @BackerKit Crowdfunding for Attack of the Crenelated Mutants by @kathryngarner.co.uk ! www.backerkit.com/c/projects/k...

#SciArt #CellArt #Backerkit #Illustration
Attack of the Crenelated Mutants
You've heard about the origins of animal and plant cells? When one big single-celled organism engulfed a smaller one? Well this is like that, only it involves a castle and a bacterium and a whole truc...
www.backerkit.com
January 22, 2026 at 6:13 PM
kathryngarner.co.uk
It's official, the Crenelated Mutants are coming!

Only a few hours until launch but it's not too late to click 'follow' for an exclusive pre-launch follower bonus (a Green Tent Sticker!) when you back the project.

Bacteria & castles: what's not to love? 🐡

www.backerkit.com/c/projects/k...
Drawings of 4 different colonies of bacteria on a teal background. Each has one cell which looks more like an aerial view of a castle. The text gives hybrid, made-up names to the bacteria. Text: Engulfed Castle Pins (title) Morax-kidw-ell-y (Moraxella catarrhalis X Kidwelly Castle) S. ep-aydon-idis (Staphylococcus epidermidis X Aydon Castle) S. tintag-enes (Streptococcus pyogenes X Tntagel Castle) E. coli-narfon (Escherichia coli X Caenarfon Castle)
January 22, 2026 at 12:23 PM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
A THREAD. Which I have decided to call 'Reasons Why Owls Are Excellent'.

1. They are always putting the needs of others before their own.
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · Dec 13
Almost certainly the best thing I was ever told about owls was when I met an owl handler at an owl sanctuary and he told me that the wild owls who lived near the sanctuary worried about the tame show owls there and sometimes stopped by to leave them shrews and mice as presents.
The fabulous owl, Lady Jane Grey, with her handler, Pete, in Totnes, Devon.
January 21, 2026 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
Also, if you borrow an author's book from a library in the UK, that author gets more than 12 pence per loan in Public Lending Rights. Any author can earn up to £6,600 per year this way.

For context: I published my 15th book last year. The advance I received for it was considerably less than £6,600.
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social Tom Cox @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social · 16d
Someone said to me, "I'm sorry but I got your book from a library." Nobody should ever apologise for that. You read my book! That's brilliant! I grew up hanging out in libraries and the idea of a world without them fills me with dread. Without libraries, authors, like readers, will only suffer.
January 20, 2026 at 5:01 PM
kathryngarner.co.uk
@loadofolbobbins.bsky.social more moths?
dinalab.bsky.social Digital Naturalism Laboratories @dinalab.bsky.social · 19d
Remember how I said it is YEAR OF THE MOTH!?

PL Weng put together an awesome list of Moths that you can celebrate each week from February until Moth Week! Think of it as a fun #SciArt Challenge!

Get ready to make this year Mothy!

#moth #teamMoth #YearOfTheMoth
6 months of moths for 2026 Celebrate the Yer of the Moth by Creating Mothy Art every week from Febraury until Moth Week! 0. February 2 - The White Witch (Thysania agrippina) 1. February 9 - Bella Moth (Utetheisa ornatrix) *2. February 16 - Cryptoses choloepi (lives in sloth) 3. February 23 - Luna moth (Actias luna) 4. March 2 - Vampire moth (Calyptra thalictra) 5. March 9 - Hemiceratoides hieroglyphica 6. March 16 - Morgan’s sphinx moth (X. morganii) 7. March 23 - Death’s-head hawkmoth (Acherontia Atropos) 8. March 30 - Heterogynis penella 9. April 6 - The Nonconformist (Lithophane lamda) 10. April 13 - Water veneer (Acentria ephemerella) 11. April 20 - Monopis moth (Monopis laevigella) 12. April 27 - Astronomer Moth (Olethreutes astrologana) 13. May 4 - Police car moth (Gnophaela vermiculata) 14. May 11 - Discrete Chaperon (Cymbalophora pudica) 15. May 18 - Neighbor Moth (Haploa contigua) 16. May 25 - Green Marvel (Acronicta fallax) 17. June 1 - Four o'Clock Moth (Dysphania numana) 18. June 8 - Brahmin Moth, Indonesian owl moth (Brahmaea hearsyi) 19. June 15 - Atlas moth (Attacus atlas) 20. June 22 - Hornet moth (Sesia apiformis) 21. June 29 - Comet moth (Argema mittrei) 22. July 6 - Io moth (Automeris io) 23. July 13 - Rosy maple moth (Dryocampa rubicunda) 24. July 20 (Start of Moth Week) - Plutodes cyclaria 25. July 21 - Musical mandolin moth (Rileyiana fovea) 26. July 22 - the Somber Carpet (Disclisioprocta stellata) 27. July 23 - Agreeable Tiger Moth (Spilosoma congrua) 28. July 24 - the Dubious Tiger Moth (Spilosoma dubia) 29. July 25 - the Scorched Carpet (Ligdia adustata) 30. July 26 (End of Moth Week) - the Drinker (Euthrix potatoria)
January 20, 2026 at 7:36 PM
kathryngarner.co.uk
#sciart
kathryngarner.co.uk Kathryn Garner @kathryngarner.co.uk · 21d
Interesting or weird? I can't get out of my own head for these pin designs.

This is moraxella catarrhalis X kidwelly castle.

Also, whose idiotic idea was this 😭

www.backerkit.com/c/projects/k...
Diplococci bacteria Moraxella catarrhalis on a blood red background. Two cells, almost kidney-shaped, joined at their flatter sides. The texture in the right-hand cell resembles a castle, aerial view (Kidwelly Castle, Wales, UK).
January 15, 2026 at 3:28 PM
kathryngarner.co.uk
Interesting or weird? I can't get out of my own head for these pin designs.

This is moraxella catarrhalis X kidwelly castle.

Also, whose idiotic idea was this 😭

www.backerkit.com/c/projects/k...
Diplococci bacteria Moraxella catarrhalis on a blood red background. Two cells, almost kidney-shaped, joined at their flatter sides. The texture in the right-hand cell resembles a castle, aerial view (Kidwelly Castle, Wales, UK).
January 15, 2026 at 3:27 PM
kathryngarner.co.uk
I've published my first RPG-style update with a poll!

There's a mysterious illness spreading through the towns and cities. Where are you headed? 🐡

Take a look and follow to vote and be notified of new updates!
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/k...
Attack of the Crenelated Mutants Project Update: Where are you headed?
I've published my first RPG-style update with a poll! I'll be posting two updates a week until the project launch on 22nd January. It's the Summer of 2024 and you're in the ...
www.backerkit.com
January 1, 2026 at 11:52 AM
kathryngarner.co.uk
This was a fun one to draw! Bacterium or castle? 🐡

Just 2 more drawings and I'll be ready to start posting my RPG-style updates...

Follow along here
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/k...
Plan of Clifford's Tower in York, UK. Thick grey walls like a four-leaf clover only with the individual leaves less well defined. 4 spiral staircases like curled millipedes in the walls. Walkways and staircases criss-cross through the tower.
December 30, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social
Thread.

Something nice happened to me yesterday: the conclusion - or maybe not - of a story of interconnectedness, that made the world feel momentarily very small and intertwined.

The story begins on April 21 2024 on a walk I'd taken along the Jurassic Coast for research for a book I was writing.
Bluebells beginning to bloom, with the Jurassic coast in the background
December 22, 2025 at 10:34 AM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
ankemarsh.bsky.social
For folks on the #SciArt feed, #EastCoastKin, #BlueSkyArtShow, anyone else, interesting collab here 👇👇
mrillig.bsky.social Matthias C. Rillig @mrillig.bsky.social · Dec 28
I am interested in working with an artist on a graphic novel on soil and/ or global environmental change. The lab would have money to fund this.

Do you know of any graphic artists that would be interested?
December 28, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
vojtahybl.com
This painting is a cross-section through a blanket bog: Sphagnum mosses carpet the dark peat below, which rests on metamorphic rock. It’s an archive of time: from minutes to billions of years.

#sciart #natureillustration #illustration #gouache
A gouache and coloured pencil illustration showing a cross-section view of a blanket bog. On top are living green and red Sphagnum mosses; in the muddle a dark brown layer of peat; the bottom shows a stripy grey and light layer of folded metamorphic gneiss.
December 28, 2025 at 9:57 AM
kathryngarner.co.uk
Mycoplasma galli-tent-icum 🐡

Once a menace in poultry, now preys on wild campers in the Lake District 🤣
Mini-pin design, watercolour on paper

Follow along
www.backerkit.com/c/projects/k...

I just need to do some more castle pics then I will start RPG-style updates. Ah fun times 😂
Green lobed bacterial cell with fins like a heating grill along its edges. Inside are orange and brown shapes resembling an eye, a small tent and a sleeping bag.
December 28, 2025 at 10:19 AM
kathryngarner.co.uk
Delighted to have contributed to this book and to see my work amongst such fantastic art! It looks amazing!! 🦟 🐡

You've done a stellar job of putting it all together @franzanth.bsky.social & @saimihanma.bsky.social. Loving the cover art too!
franzanth.bsky.social franz @franzanth.bsky.social · Dec 28
We present: The Art of #InverteFest - December 2025 Edition
A digital art book showcasing the work of 100 artists from around the world, in celebration of overlooked invertebrate fauna.

Thank you to the artists who contributed to our book!

Download: drive.google.com/file/d/1JCXz...

#Art #SciArt
a promo image showing various pages from the book, each page showcasing different animals like an opabinia, a leaf insect, close up of a starfish, and so on. the art featured shows a range of different medium, including digital, pixel art, ceramic, fursuit, post it, and so on.
December 28, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
matteofarinella.bsky.social
My top illustrations of 2025 were a bit of a surprise.

For the 1st time my more personal/political work eclipsed scientific commissions. Starting with my explainer of NIH cuts, protest fliers, NoKings comics and art for Science for the People: www.instagram.com/p/DSxLMu4DUB...

#sciart #scicomm
Top 2025 illustrations by Matteo Farinella
December 27, 2025 at 1:44 PM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
jeffontherock.bsky.social
Caloplaca cluster. A beautiful seaside #lichen at #Newfoundland, Canada. #fungi #fungifriends
Photo of a number of bright yellow lichens growing together in a cluster or mat on seaside cliff rock. The lichens are more or less round.
December 24, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
jeffontherock.bsky.social
Elegant Orange Sunburst Lichen. Northwest Territories, Canada.
#Lichen #fungi #fungifriends
Photo of a bright orange lichen on light grey rock. The lichen is growing flat on the rock. It’s round in shape with many tiny round apothecia in the centre, and branching arms growing from the centre, outward.
December 24, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Reposted by Kathryn Garner
franzanth.bsky.social
Pack your bags, charge your batteries, #InverteFest begins at midnight your time.

If you're going out to spot critters, join our community science project here: www.inaturalist.org/projects/inv...
December 24, 2025 at 10:53 AM