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!
![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B17q9WfMjuY/WgTrv1MZKYI/AAAAAAAAsWE/Pp3DCywNoKgAPU4G7R9yD_KT3IoLUzOFgCLcBGAs/s400/tom-seth-2017.png) |
Tom Barczak holding Helen's Daimones : S E Lindberg with Mouth of The Dragon |
![](https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a9878TyX62Y/WgTruJ9bgJI/AAAAAAAAsWA/C2m70bImLLwEsq5OCQX2NtjoKctmCpONQCLcBGAs/s400/TomBarczak2017.jpg) |
Tom Barczak & his notebook |
The notes read: "A suitable sacrifice .... A cenotaph of blood..."
[click to expand image]
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ns6GhgIuXR0/WgTrt639CaI/AAAAAAAAsWI/-ZlrOBc8Q78SPC6y5TSX78NB3yDzMJokwCPcBGAYYCw/s400/Barczak%2BNotebook.jpg) |
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!
![](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fws5HVdW2vc/WgTrt_EDPpI/AAAAAAAAsWI/u5uQzsx1Lr0uGh4h94GCHMNAvJq_ZRfOgCPcBGAYYCw/s320/Abbott-Lindberg%2B1.jpg) |
Micelle Illustrations By S.E. for Steven Abbott |
![](https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SnldDtvbItM/WgTrtcwHIFI/AAAAAAAAsWI/jZBLFj45Q9YZoSDvF7ieQhlKRR1ESpSCACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Abbott-Lindberg%2B2.jpg) |
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 Reviews