Glenda Lee Mahoney is an artist and illustrator who lives on the coast in Half Moon Bay, California, and works for the nonprofit scientific journal Annual Reviews. She has always loved living by the ocean and been intrigued by its creatures and mysteries. She studied marine science in California, Australia, Tahiti, and Florida before transitioning to art as a way to communicate her passion for the ocean to others. After reading early research on the plastic pollution crisis, she went looking for it on her local beach and was surprised at how much she found. Now she collects plastic from the ocean in many locations and transforms it into images of wildlife to help inspire environmental conservation. Glenda has a B.S. in Aquatic Biology from UC Santa Barbara, a graduate certificate in scientific illustration from UC Santa Cruz, and has interned at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
Specialties:
Fine art plastic pollution collages
Information graphics & digital illustrations
Watercolor, acrylic, & mixed media paintings
Marine science and conservation
Publications:
Coming soon: The Visual Elements: Design, by Felice Frankel
Visual Strategies, by Felice Frankel and Angela H. DePace
InSTEDD Citizen’s Guide to Pandemic Influenza
Exhibitions:
Beyond Illustrating Nature, Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, Pacific Grove, CA, 2024.
Earth month solo show, Pinterest headquarters, San Francisco, CA, 2023.
Ecocide | Ecosave, Fellows of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, 2022. Curated by Koan Jeff Baysa.
Grey mangrove mural installation, Wadhwani AI lobby, Mumbai, India 2020.
World Oceans Day, virtual exhibition of international marine debris artists, 2020. Curated by Monika Mira.
Springtime Gray and Bright, Coastal Arts League in Half Moon Bay, CA, 2020.
Rendering Science: Clarity and Concepts, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia, 2019.
From Ocean Trash to Ocean Inspiration, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center in Santa Cruz, CA 2019. Curated by Chelsea Prindle.
Sea Change: the Politics of Plastic, S.C.R.A.P. gallery in Cathedral City, CA, 2018.
Visualize: Art Revealing Science, AAAS Art Gallery in Washington DC, 2018.
The Art of Nature, Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, Santa Cruz, CA, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023.
California Coast, Coastal Arts League in Half Moon Bay, CA, honorable mention, 2017.
Message in a Bottle, Busvan, San Francisco, CA, 2017.
Sandhill Crane Festival Art Show, Sandhill Crane Festival, Lodi, CA, 2016.
California Jewels, Tilden Environmental Education Center, Berkeley, CA, 201.3
Coastside Land Trust Art Gallery Fall Festival Show, Half Moon Bay, CA, 2012.
Coastside Land Trust Art Gallery Summer Show, Half Moon Bay, CA, 2012.
Solo show, Café Limelight in Santa Cruz, CA, 2007.
Illustrating Nature, Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, Santa Cruz, CA, 2006.
Awards:
Winner of the Surfrider Foundation Found Objects art contest, 2022
Finalist in the Vizzies, a science and engineering visualization challenge sponsored by the National Science Foundation and Popular Science Magazine, 2018