OFF HOURS: Marjorie Thompson -- Making cells that sell

The associate dean of biological sciences makes and sells clocks and pins shaped like cells, complete with vital details such as nucleus, mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum. She recently sold seven timekeepers and is working on a new batch.

"Biological form has a lot to teach us ... the inspiration artists get from nature is something that's been true from time immemorial," said Thompson. "This is just a twist on that idea."

Thompson began making cell pins as gifts in 1993, then started to sell them at an annual crafts fair. A few years later, she approached the Brown Bookstore about stocking the jewelry, and the store is now the exclusive carrier.

After selling hundreds of the colorful and detailed pins, Thompson added the biological clocks to her repertoire this summer.

What she calls "biologically correct jewelry" includes nerve cells, white blood cells, ovarian follicles, macrophages and plant cells. Each is sculpted of clay, baked, painted and varnished. The final task is initialing and dating the back of each pin. The clocks, which unlike the pins have general characteristics of any cell, are made of wood.

The idea for her art may have developed through her observations in the classroom. Three-dimensional structures help students learn the function of the cells, said Thompson. "It is immeasurable help to students ... that is really the key to understanding the form," she said.

Thompson carves time to work on her art between teaching at Brown as adjunct associate biology professor and raising seven children ages 4 through 18. Creating the line of jewelry and clocks is something she could not give up, she said.

"It's just such a charge," said Thompson. "I love it - I couldn't live without it. You have to listen to the voice in your brain that balances the left and right sides."

The left side of her brain drives the science, and the right her artistic abilities, she said. If that is true, Thompson has cultivated both. She attained her bachelor of science degree from Brown in 1974, and her doctorate in 1979. She also received a certificate of scientific illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design and works as a freelance illustrator.

Although many people ask her, Thompson's children are not involved in crafting the items. However, they do sometimes find the pins to be good gifts. "They're very good for science teachers ... and a great gift item for a hematology friend," said Thompson. - Kristen Lans