New Natural History Prints

Every September I take part in #SciArtSeptember and post art on the daily prompts. You can see my picks and new prints on my socials  (Bluesky or Instagram or Cara). I'm going to share my new prints, including sneak peeks here.

First up, for the prompt islet, I made a mono print on my gel plate using pencil and acrylics. 

Islet monoprint, 11" x 14" by Ele Willoughby, 2015

I was thinking about the tiny islands in the lake in New Brunswick. Islets, too small for human habitation can be a refuge for wildlife.

For the prompt jewel, I made a linocut ebony jewelwing damselfly. The forests of southeastern Canada and the eastern US are home to these metallic blue-green beauties known as ebony jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata) or black-winged damselflies. The males, like the one in my hand-carved and hand-printed linocut are turquoise with elegant black wings. The females are a duller brown with a white spot on their wings. Each print is on handmade khaki green paper with fibre inclusions and a deckle edge. I designed my linocut based on a photo I took in the Rouge National Park. Each print is 8" x 10".

my photo of an ebony jewelwing from earlier this summer 

Ebony Jewelwing, 8" x 10", by Ele Willoughby, 2025

For mimic, I shared the flower fly from my last post. The prompt trawl was also one which needed something new.

The Glass Sponge Reef, linocut print, 11" x 14", by Ele Willoughby, 2025

Glass sponges are fragile, brittle, living animals with skeletons made of silica, the same material we use to make glass. Reefs, widespread during the age of dinosaurs, are now quite rare, and in fact, were long believed to have gone extinct 40 million years ago. Then in 1987, scientists discovered 9,000 year glass sponge reefs or bioherms offshore northern British Columbia. All known glass sponge reefs today are found offshore BC, and its neighbours Alaska and Washington state. These important and beautiful biomes filter bacteria out of water, provide habitat for several species like spot prawns, halibut, squat lobsters and the rockfish in my print, store carbon and fertilize the ocean. These reefs in Canadian waters are now in marine protected areas as they can be destroyed, literally shattered, by pawn and crab traps, fishing lines, anchors and bottom trawling. Ocean warming and acidification are also damaging to these unique, vital ecosystems and natural wonders.

My 11" x 14" limited edition linocut print is made in watercolour paper and illustrates different glass sponges and a rock fish at the seafloor. The edition is limited to 8 prints.