Unicorn Amonst Umbrellas

For my 'U' panel of the alphabet quilt, I decided to carve a new block, which harkens back to my ATC for the Alphabet ATC swap. I need to get some double-sized interfacing. In the meanwhile, I am having some serious fun printing my block on paper. See:










This is the first way I interpreted this idea, for my ATC swap in 2006:


It's going to look awesome in my quilt. It looks like stained glass. :)


The first unicorn is here, the second unicorn is here and the third unicorn is here.

Enchantress of Numbers

This is the on-going saga of my block print of Ada Lovelace (previously mentioned here and here). So, after drawing her on paper, and deciding that the equations did not look right on the gears, I re-drew her on lino with the equations around the circumference of the gears. Yes. Carving three equations with super- and subscripts is a new level of insanity in my printmaking. Enjoy!


My first move was to print several proofs on sketchbook paper. Then I moved to Japanese kozo (mulberry) (11" x 14") paper. I printed the single block into two colours: silver and turquoise. I found that this was pretty, but not quite what I wanted; the colours were insufficiently saturated and the detail was not as visible as I wished.

So, I did a run on mauve Japanese gampi paper (10.5" x 15.25"). This time, I used gold for the gears and face with a mix of purple and turquoise for her dress.

The equations depicted around the gears relate how to calculate Bernouilli Numbers. This is not only because Ada published how to do this MECHANICALLY, but because she foresaw that machines would one day be able to work with SYMBOLS (like those used, for instance) and not just numbers!

Fly Agaric

When I lived on Vancouver Island, I was amazed at the incredible variety, size and abundance of mushrooms. I know it is a temperate rainforest, really, but there were mushrooms which I had previously thought only occurred in fairytales, like some peculiar European convention: this is how you illustrate gnome houses. Also, mushrooms are known, of course, for their tendancy of producing neurotoxins... since these fungi were so unfamiliar, I had no idea how dangerous they might be. Was I tracking poisons around on my shoes after walking home from work?



The MSOE challenge for February is mycology, the study of mushrooms. They are quite remarkable life forms. I have chosen to add fly agaric to my cabinet of curiosities. There are great variations in texture in this fungus.

Amanita muscaria is the quintessential toadstool, the large, deep read, white-gilled, white-spotted mushroom we see in popular culture, from illustrations in children's literature to Super Mario. It is commonly known as the fly agaric or fly Amanita. It is a poisonous and psychoactive basidiomycete fungus, native throughout the temperate and boreal regions of the Northern Hemisphere, found in association with various deciduous and coniferous trees. It also plays a role in the religions of Siberia and possibly also in ancient Scandinavian culture. The name Fly Agaric likely comes from its use in Europe as an insecticide, when sprinkled in milk. Alternatively it may be that the term fly- refers not to insects as such but rather the delirium resulting from its consumption. This is based on the medieval belief that flies could enter a person's head and cause mental illness. Seriously! The things you can learn on wikipedia! Actually, I recommend this extry: it has everything from science, to Smurfs, to beserk Vikings, to the ancient Rig Veda texts of India, to Santa Clause and reindeers on shrooms, to ethnomycology. I did not even know one could study ethnomycology.

This is an original lino block print in red with a hint of brown on Japanese kozo paper. The sheets are 5 inches by 7 inches or 12.7 cm by 17.8 cm. Basically, these are life-sized. The edition is limited to 16 prints.


In other news, if the freaky weather gets any warmer, I am going to need a raft to retrieve my laundry from the basement!

Nautilus print

Nautilus print
Originally uploaded by the.minouette

The nautilus is a very unusual looking creature; a cephalopod like the squid or octopus, which grows its own shell. They are known as "living fossils," having survived relatively unchanged for millions of years.

This is one of a series of 15 prints in a variable colour mix (somewhere between sand and burgundy and violet) on creamy Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper.

Minouette's Home For Unloved Chairs

Yesterday, I joined and for PROJECT OTTOMAN, which entailed a Dark Horse coffee-fueled treck from the east end antique shops to the west end antique shops, looking for raw material. We failed to find a single ottoman. Where have they gone, I wonder. Instead, I got a $20 damaged antique chair (as shown, complete with spring bursting out from underneath), three lamp shades and yellow stocking (haha!). Apparently, I now adopt unwanted and unloved chairs. I have yet to finish the previous set, because I want to replace the one missing wooden bar before re-finishing... but I did re-upholster them in woven silk (salvaged from the designers who work below R & F's loft).


After a lovely day with the girls, I re-wired an antique lamp, placed the lamp shades on said lamp and the wall sconces in the back room and then attacked the broken chair seat. The seat contained a lot of burlap, horsehair and an astronomical number of nails, which I painstakingly removed.



Slowly, the back room is progressing.

In other news, i is for iguana. Thought you might like to know... Here is a short run of iguana lino block prints on mustard-yellow Japanese gampi paper in olive green water-based ink, drying on the lines. I will put the iguanas on gampi in the shop and use an iguana on fabric for the interminable alpahbet quilt project.