Carolyn Bartlett Gast

Carolyn Bartlett Gast (April 30, 1929 – c. September 2015 ) was an American scientific illustrator. She is most known for her illustration is of the loriciferan phylum Pliciloricus enigmatus.

Early life and education Gast was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. from 1954 to 1985. She was a scientific illustrator who used a stereoscopic microscope to make two-dimensional drawings of specimens.

Her most well known and reproduced illustration is of the loriciferan phylum Pliciloricus enigmatus,

Gast was founder of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators in 1968, She invented an ultra mini-vacuum cleaner that could be held in one hand for taking excess carbon dust from the illustration board.

In 1984, the National Museum of Natural History held an exhibition of 80 of Gast's works, including illustrations of fossils, fish, insects and invertebrates. She retired a year later, in 1985.

Outside of her scientific work, Gast was also interested in medieval illuminated manuscripts and created a three-dimensional alphabet in this style.

She died in 2015.