Kathryn Farnsworth is known among her colleagues as one to always raise the bar.

A biology professor in SCC’s Natural Sciences Department for nearly 25 years, Farnsworth uses her own biological paintings to teach her classes, infusing a hobby with academia.

The wall opposite Farnsworth’s office is decorated by her paintings, which range from cacti to frogs to jellyfish. One painting on the outside of her office’s wall depicts the outer part of bacteria and shows how it releases virus to spread the disease. Another painting is a portrait of a jellyfish floating in water. Bright colors and sophisticated brush strokes make the paintings stand out.

“I am not a professional artist,” Farnsworth said. “I usually paint what I want to paint. I usually paint related to biology. My works hold different categories of life.”

About a decade ago, Farnsworth was looking to purchase biology-related paintings, and the search frustrated her.

“Ten years ago, I was looking for paintings to buy related to biology – particularly species without backbone,” she said. “But I could not find them, and it occurred to me that I have to paint my own.”

She decided to go to her sister’s house to seek her help. It was there where she was taught the basics of painting.

“Later, I also took a drawing class at SCC to sharpen my skills,” she said. “Then once, a faculty member asked me to does some danger species paintings for the Center for Native and Urban Wildlife and I did it.”

Farnsworth said she thinks everyone wants to create something and painting is a good way to create something.

“When I start painting, first the images come to my head, but at a certain point of painting, painting says forget the thing in your head and paint me and usually it turned out to be different and better,” she explained.

Student Juliett Zeidas finds Farnsworth’s works to be very helpful tools in the classroom.

“It helps to understand about species because Farnsworth brings her all knowledge in the painting,” Zeidas said. “She is really able to capture all things of species in her work beautifully. All her works are vibrant. She uses bright colors, which grabs spectator attention.”