Among the other community functions that the Port Townsend Marine Science Center participates in, it’s also part of the local art scene, exhibiting regional artists and taking part in the monthly art walks downtown.

After displaying an interactive exhibit on the history of the orca from July through October of last year, the center’s Flagship Landing Gallery is currently displaying the fiber art of Carla Stehr, “Inspired by Sea & Science,” through Feb. 2.

Stehr’s fiber art is influenced by her career as a marine biologist, which grew out of her upbringing in Olympia, combing Puget Sound beaches to find “cool” things like shells with delicate patterns.

Stehr’s scientific studies of the cells and tissues of marine organisms included examining fish and plankton with a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and discovering complex microscopic patterns, which held an artistic beauty for her.

While Stehr’s scanning electron microscope photos have been published and exhibited in scientific and educational venues, her explorations of quilting opened her eyes to the possibilities of fabric as a medium.

Stehr’s fiber art has been juried into several national and international exhibits, and has been inspired by the colors and textures of marine life that are often not easily seen.

“Carla’s work reminds us to look for and savor Salish Sea details,” said Brian Kay, marketing and development coordinator for the center.

Stehr began working as a scientist for the National Marine Fisheries Service in 1976, and after finishing her master’s degree in fisheries in 1982, she enrolled in evening art classes and experimented with drawing and scientific illustration using colored pencil and watercolors.

Stehr made her first quilt for a newborn niece in 1996, and after realizing that the sewing machine “could be used to draw,” she’s since come to incorporate paints, dyes and colored pencils into her fiber art.

In 2009, Stehr began compiling a book of microscopic images that she and other scientists had photographed over the course of 30 years of scientific research. The Seattle Aquarium liked it so much that they displayed her photographs in a “Sea Unseen” exhibit.

This led to Stehr using her microscopic images as inspiration for her fiber art. The book, “Sea Unseen: Scanning Electron Microscopy Images from Puget Sound and Beyond,” was published by the U.S. Government Printing Office in 2012.

Stehr retired from science in 2011, but continues to use stitching and surface design techniques to create fiber art based on the often tiny patterns in nature.

She has said that she remains inspired by the beauty of marine life, and her desire is to “learn more about creatures that are often out of sight.”

The Flagship Landing Gallery is also taking part in the First Saturday Art Walk on Feb. 1 from 5-8 p.m.