I'm not an artist. I'm not even a bad artist. I just don't quite understand how the picture inside someone's head gets projected on to a canvas, a piece of paper, the back of a napkin, or a digital screen or tablet.
Words are another matter. I've spent most of my life working with words to take what is tucked into the folds and pathways of my mindseye and giving it some life outside my head. Which means I'm directing those skills into a couple of challenges over the next few weeks. The first is our Annual Report and I certainly won't dwell on that one or you'll stop reading right now.
The other challenge is using words to motivate you to create a piece of digital art for us.
I'll start by using someone else's words. Pablo Picasso no less, who said, " Everything you can imagine is real” .

He took what was splashing around inside his head and gave it to the world around him. He was a pacifist and later in his career he used his art to express his disdain for war and his desire for peace. His art made him a more political creature and his fame probably protected him from the Nazis during the war. His personal life did not hold up well to public scrutiny and it often showed in his art. The line between what he imagined and what was real was like a double helix crossing back and forth.

You may not be a Picasso but we're asking you to imagine biotechnology and then make it real in a digital work of art. 
Maybe you think biotechnology will result in a Gattaca like future. Maybe you appreciate the fact that Canada led the world in sequencing the SARS virus genome. Maybe you feel that agricultural biotechnology will help feed the world - providing we get it right.

Whatever you can imagine we want you to put it into a digital work of art.
We have a first prize of $300.00 and lessor cash prizes for second and third. We'll display your work online and we'll try to find just the right place for your creation in our print publications.
Words will help you get started but how about a picture that is worth well over a thousand words to really provide some inspiration:

Chris Calf is a digital artist at http://www.chrisscalf.com/ who created a digital image in 3 hours but compressed the process into a  5 minute video. Seeing him move from outlines, to shading and detail in black and white, and finally into a full colour image is amazing. Watch the video and I hope it inspires you to create your bit of biotech art and enter it in our contest. Full details in a previous blog post and contest rules at http://www.genomealberta.ca/contestrules.aspx
In the meantime enjoy this: