Lake Stevens student’s doodle a finalist in Google contest

LAKE STEVENS — Isabel Marsh spent four days searching for inspiration.

She free-handed in Photoshop. The computer program is one of her favorite ways to create art. The Lake Stevens High School senior entered the Doodle 4 Google contest this year. The theme was “What I see for the future.”

She tried to doodle something about outer space. Marsh figured technology giant Google might appreciate a vision beyond our world.

It didn’t click, though. She found herself thinking that it was too soon to go to space.

“We can’t leave Earth until we’ve cleaned up Earth,” she said.

So the 17-year-old drew something that captured her desire to help the environment. She decided to focus her message on saving the bees.

In her doodle, bees swirl through the air in the shape of the letter G. A bouquet of yellow flowers and a golden sun form two o’s. The branches of a tree curve into a second g. A windmill stands in place of the letter l, and more bees swarm in the shape of an e.

Marsh’s piece was selected as the state winner for the contest. She’s one of 53 finalists, out of more than 100,000 entries. One finalist is picked from each state and from Puerto Rico, Guam and Washington, D.C.

All of the finalists’ pieces are online and people can vote for their favorites at doodles.google.com/d4g/vote.html. Voting closes March 6 and the winner is expected to be announced by the end of March.

The winning doodle spends a day on the Google homepage, where the search engine’s logo transforms daily with new designs. The winner also gets a $30,000 college scholarship and his or her school receives a $50,000 grant for technology, Google marketing manager Laura Nichol said.

Nichol and Charlene Tassinari, also from Google, came to Lake Stevens High School on Thursday afternoon to surprise Marsh during an assembly. When Marsh saw the Google team there, handing out T-shirts and getting ready for a presentation, she suspected her doodle might be the reason behind the event. The soft-spoken teen got nervous, knowing she would be called on stage.

Tassinari and Nichol have worked for Google in San Francisco for 10 years. They’ve seen the company change, coming up with new ideas they call “moonshots” — far-reaching efforts that once seemed impossible and are geared toward solving worldwide problems.

They talked to students about the company’s work to provide internet access around the world and to develop virtual reality tools for artists and innovators. They also talked about Google’s focus on creativity and the desire to blend technology and artistic beauty.

The first Google Doodle was a Burning Man figure behind one of the o’s on the search engine’s home page. It was a playful out-of-office notice from the founders of the company, who planned to be gone for a few days to go to the festival. Since then, the concept has evolved and the company now has a team of professional doodlers who create daily designs honoring holidays, historical events, people and modern milestones.

“Anybody who goes to Google.com is probably very familiar with our Google doodles,” Tassinari said. “That’s kind of Google’s expression of creativity.”

About a decade ago, the company started the Doodle 4 Google contest. It’s open to kindergartners through high school seniors.

Marsh said she was encouraged to submit her artwork to Google by her literature teacher, Michael Newton. Her friends supported her and helped inspire her along the way.

Marsh always has been interested in finding simple, personal ways to help the environment, she said. One thing she thinks people could easily change is the way they treat bees, which play a critical role in the environment as pollinators. Some people tend to fear or dislike bees without understanding how important they are.

On stage at the assembly, Marsh urged her classmates to change their attitude toward bees and, the next time they see one, don’t run away or squash it. Just leave the bee be, she suggested, winning laughter from her peers.

At the center of Marsh’s doodle, with the bees buzzing on either side, is a character she and a close friend came up with a while ago. She calls him Dingo and she often draws the cute, big-eared creature. She hopes to someday have a children’s show with Dingo as the star.

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com.