Heart Cockles and Fuchsia Flatworm

 

Heart Cockles, 6.5" x 8" linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2024

 

Was thinking of both the #PrinterSolstice prompt monochromatic and the upcoming #InsertAnInvert2024 prompt infauna for March (shell month) when I made this print... and of course, Valentine's Day.

Corculum cardissa, the heart cockle, is a species of marine bivalve mollusc in the family Cardiidae found in the Indo-Pacific. If viewed from the side, it looks like a heart. There is a lot of colour variation in shells, but they often have patterns in coral pink like those in my print. Interestingly, the shells are translucent in places, allowing light in which benefits its symbiotic relationship with  photosynthesizing  dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae), which live within its tissues. The cockle takes in the dinoflagellates by its mouth. Their presence causes a tertiary series of tubules develop from the walls of the cockle's digestive system which are a safe environment for them to live and photosynthesize, producing metabolites which help the cockle.

The next #PrinterSolstice prompt was split complimentary and it lead me to another #InsertAnInvert2024 prompt. To make a split complimentary colour, choose two complimentary colours, like yellow and purple, and replace the second colour by the two colours adjacent to it on the colour wheel - fuchsia and indigo.

Fuchsia Flatworm, linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2024

One of the suggested #InsertAnInvert2024 organisms is the strange and beautiful fuchsia flatworm (Pseudoceros ferrugineus) with its gorgeous aposematic colours, a warning to predators that it's not worth the trouble to try and eat. A flexible ruffled oval creature it is a little hard to capture but it does indeed have a split complementary colour scheme. It crawls around eating on the reefs of the Indo-Pacific without any fear of predators.

Love, art and cinnamon hearts

Finding just the right Valentine's gift can be a challenge. I know I'm always trying to invent something new every year.

If you're seeking a one of a kind, hand-printed, colour-changing, thermochromic Valentine, or the chemistry of attraction in linocut form, or art for dog and cat lovers and more, I can help with that.

Apart from cinnamon hearts, I would definitely love a $500 Etsy shopping spree. Check out the #etsymatch question here, answer on twitter with the #etsymatch tag for a chance to win a $500 Etsy gift card.

And remember, I'm not kidding about the cinnamon hearts. You can send all you unwanted cinnamon hearts to me!

Heat-sensitive Valentine

I wasn't sure if I should post this. I mean what if RJH reads my blog? But you see, after I invented the thermochromic Valentine ...just for you sweetheart! Surprise!.... I thought other people might want one for their sweethearts. That's the beauty of printmaking after all! It naturally produces multiples. So, if I was going to share the thermochromic Valentine with the world, I would need to do so long before Valentine's Day... so RJH, if you're reading this, this is really for you. Just act surprised on Valentine's Day. I invented you an interactive Valentine, with love. :D

This hand-printed thermochromic Valentine will respond to your loved one's warmth! If you place your hand as directed, over the pink hand, printed in thermochromic ink, your body heat will cause the ink to change colour! It turns colourless to reveal the message printed below, "you warm my heart". The image shows two prints side by side: a cold and a hot one.

Thermochromic ink changes colour with temperature. If you heat the print above about 30°C ( 86 °F) the ink is colourless; below 30°C ( 86 °F) the ink is pink. Body temperature is 37°C (98.6 °F) so body heat alone should be enough to reveal the hidden message. If it's particularly cold day, or your loved one is has poor circulation, you can always heat the print gently with a hair dryer; that always works!

The print is made on beautiful Japanese cream-coloured paper with silky inclusions. Each print is 27 cm by 15.2 cm (10.75" by 6"). Each print is made in red, pink and rose thermochromic ink, and printed in an open edition.

Break out the cinnamon hearts...

I hope you have a good Valentine's Day - the annual celebration of eating a frightening number of cinnamon hearts. This is a holiday I enjoyed as a child; my mother always had a heart-shaped box full of cinnamon hearts and other goodies for my brothers and I. As an adult, it seems to me like Valentine's Day has become a way to pressure couples to spend money, and to make singles feel abnormal. So I'm all for reclaiming Valentine's Day. Love is a good thing; endulge yourself (the person you should remember to love), and remember all your loved ones (friends, family, pets, whomever). If you do get to spend your day with a sweetheart, have fun, and don't let anyone tell you what symbols are necessary to show that your love is true. There's more to love than romantic love, and there's more than one way to express any sort of love. Do whatever you want to do.

I like to make (slightly irreverent) Valentines myself. I am very happy to have received a beautiful bouquet this morning. I think I was as impressed that he managed to surprise me; I have no idea where he could have hidden the flowers. RJH said Minouette helped (by agreeing not to eat said flowers). I love my little family.