Æeolian Jellyfish

Æeolian Jellyfish, linocut with chine collé and glow-in-the dark in, 18 cm x 18 cm, by Ele Willoughby, 2014

This is a whimsical mini lino block print of the Æeolian Jellyfish, a widely unknown, and quite possibly, completely imaginary creature. Unlike other jellies, the Aeolian Jellyfish floats in the upper ocean of air, which blankets our planet.

The printed area is only 10 cm (3.9 inches) squared. The jellies have collaged or chine collé fine translucent white Japanese paper with visible fibres. The jellies are printed in UV-activated glow-in-the-dark ink. If exposed to ultraviolet light, including direct sunlight, the jellies glow. Each sheet is 18 cm (7.1 inches) squared and printed on white Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper. There are 15 prints in this first edition.

The Aeolian jellyfish (Æolia noctiluca) looks much like its sea-borne cousin Pelagia noctiluca (where "Pelagia" means of the sea, "nocti-" refers to night and "luca" to light). Similarly "Æolia" and Aeolian come from the Greek Æolus, the keeper of the winds, and refers to its air- or wind-borne nature. Also, both jellies are bioluminescent. That is, they have the ability to glow in the dark. There are some important differences between the two, including, of course, habitat. While both animals have radial symmetry, the Pelagia noctiluca has a single body cavity, called the gastrovascular cavity. In contrast, the Aeolian jellyfish has both an outer gastrovascular cavity and an inner air bladder. This latter organ performs analogously to the swim bladder found in some variety of fish (though more closely related to the swim bladder found in Siphonophore colonies like the Portuguese man o' war). It is essentially an enclosed, impermeable, gas balloon, which can expand and contract to allow the Aeolian jellyfish to rise or fall in the air column by adjusting its shape such that the pressure in the air bladder matches that of ambient pressure. The Aeolian jellyfish also has a special adaptation to evade predators like birds; it can rapidly metabolize any food to produce a flash of heat in the gastrovascular cavity wall, lining the swim bladder. This allows the trapped air balloon to be heated, causing it to rapidly expand and the Aeolian jellyfish to rise. To move laterally, the Aeolian jellyfish employs its tentacles to ride the winds.

Æeolian Jellyfish, glowing in the dark

As you might expect for a bioluminescent animal, the Aeolian jellyfish is noctunal. During the day the jelly passive rises as it warms in the sun and its air bladder heats and expands. Thus it spends the heat of the day in the stratosphere, out of reach of predators. As temperature falls at sunset, so does the Aeolian jellyfish, disguised as a twinkling star to the flying insects who are its prey. Hence, while lulled to complacency by this lovely light display, it's death from above for these unsuspecting insects.

Like many jellyfish (but not the Pelagia noctiluca), the Aeolian jellyfish begins its life as a bottom-dwelling polyp - where "bottom" refers not to the seafloor, but the ocean-air interface. They have been found on certain recently-discovered very shallow seamounts in the Pacific. Thus the polyps rest with their holdfast on these plateau-like features, bathed in seawater, while their "mouths" reach out into the air. When they metamorphose into the medusa form, the jellies float up into the sky.

Cloud Dragon

This version of my dragon linocut is printed on sky blue Chinese paper with gray screenprinted cloud pattern and a deckle edge, 27 cm by 51 cm or 10.5 inches by 20 inches. (The irregular deckle edge is a sign that this is handmade paper). The dragon itself also has chine collé (or collaged) silvery blue non-woven silk paper.

More Hot Air Balloons

Carved in linoleum, and printed on variety of Japanese washi paper (kozo, or mulberry and chiyogami and katazome-shi patterned paper), Thai paper, screenprinted faux-bois and actual thin wood paper is a collection of hot air balloons in a cloudy sky in the afternoon. This piece employs the techniques of printmaking and collage. I am making a series of these multimedia; each one is unique. This is the third in the series. Dimensions are approximately 12.5 inches by 15.5 inches (32 cm by 39 cm).

The balloons are inspired by some of the wonderfully elaborate balloons by pioneers of flight (or, floating, at least) like the Montgolfier brothers in the late 18th and early 19th century. These beautiful and romantic vehicles were carefully decorated and often included baskets like sea-going ships, to sail the skies.

Meet the artists

Check out Etsy Canada's Lookbook for the 40 artists and artisans who will be exhibiting in the Etsy Section at the One of a Kind Spring show ... next week! I'm really pleased to see my Grey and White Cat Pillow included. The portrait of this cat will be available at the show. If you mouse-over my pillow you see the by-line "grumpy cat love", which is hilarious. I actually thought this cat looked almost lascivious, rather than grumpy, but I, like many, do love that Grumpy Cat. Etsy also featured my 'Cloud Classification pillow' in their newsletter. The same print on paper, and other cloud prints, will be at minouette's table (L-04-29). Come by and see me (at the Direct Energy Centre on the Canadian National Exhibition grounds) from March 27 to 31!

clouds and unicorns

The OB asked for a unicorn for his birthday, so I've been making more.

Carved in linoleum, and printed on variety of Japanese washi paper (kozo, or mulberry and chiyogami and katazome-shi) and European patterned paper is a unicorn, strangely amongst a welter of lovely umbrellas. This piece employs the techniques of printmaking and collage. I am making a series of these multimedia; each one is unique. These are the 11th to 14th in the series.
Dimensions are approximately 12.5 inches by 18.5 inches (32 cm by 47 cm).

Also, I made a third edition of my cloud classification linocut, because the 2^nd edition sold out. I found some lovely brilliant sky blue paper from Nepal, but sadly, it was not fun to work with. It do not accept ink well, and sometimes fibres would be stuck to the block. So much for the idea of more affordable coloured paper.

that deep blue, late afternoon sky

I'm really happy to have a proper place for my paper now. RJH found me an antique map cabinet, so I can store my large sheets of Japanese washi. I have smaller file folders for small pieces of washi (chiyogami, katazome-shi, unryu and so forth) and other papers. I also have some Thai and Nepali screenprinted and batik papers, some Chinese screenprinted papers, French and Italian patterned papers, a little bit of Brazilian marbled papers, and some beautiful paper I brought home from Amsterdam (whose provenance I don't know, since I don't read Dutch) and a collection of ephemera. This piece, for instance, uses vintage sheet music given to me, years ago, by Lady Redjeep and a bit of a vintage book illustration, which was part of a thoughtful welcome package by vintagepaperparade for 'A Spring Handmade Market' a couple of years ago.

Balloons

This is my first artwork of 2012. I wanted to continue the series of prints with collaged papers, like the 'Unicorn amongst umbrellas' and the sailing ships, and I had the idea of hot air balloons. So, I sought out images, paricularly of vintage balloons in the late 18th and early 19th century. Some of the pioneers like the Montgolfier brothers, built the most spectacular and astounding vehicles. I love that they deemed it necessary to produce elaborately decorated balloons. Many of the early ones had sails and baskets shaped like ships, in order to sail the skies.



I inked my lino block in a gradient of colours to produce the 'key' print of he sky at sunset on Japanese kozo (or mulberry paper) approximately 12 inches by 13 inches (30.5 cm by 33 cm). I printed the balloons within the block on variety of Japanese washi paper (kozo, chiyogami and katazome-shi patterned paper) and vintage sheet music, and collaged them. I am making a series of these multimedia; each one is unique. This is first in the series.

Shang Yang, the Bird that Makes the Rain

This linocut shows how I imagine Shang Yang, 'The Bird that Makes the Rain'. I found a description of this marvellous creature in Jorge Luis Borges' (and poor, forgotten Margarita Guerrero's) 'The Book of Imaginary Beings'. It explains that Chinese farmers called upon Shang Yang to bring the rain:

It had but a single leg; in ancient times children would hop on one leg, wrinkle their foreheads, and shout, "It will soon rain, for Shang Yang is frolicking in the yard!" It was said that the bird drank water from the rivers and dropped it on the land.

In ancient times, a wise man domesticated this fowl, and he would walk about with it on upon his sleeve. Historians say that one day the Shang Yang, flapping its wings and hoping on its one leg, passed before the throne of Prince Ch'i, who, alarmed, send one of his ministers to the court of Lu, to consult with Confucius about the event. Confucius predicted that the Shang Yang would cause floods in the principality and in the lands nearby, and he advised that dikes and canals be built. The prince followed Confucius' advice, and thereby avoided great disasters.

Interesting, isn't it, that even the lengend explains that water rose from rivers, to the sky, to produce rain, as it does according to more modern understanding of the water cycle. Apart from hopping about on his single leg, and bringing the rain, Borges provides little clue as to Shang Yang's appearance, so I was free to imagine this strange creature myself. RJH says he looks like a cross between a stork and a turkey; perhaps he's right. I wanted to make sure the single leg looked sturdy; it is much to thick for a stork, with a solid knee and strong thigh for more springy and comical bouncing. I couldn't resist the the stylized, Chinese Buddhist sort of swirling cloud.

Shang Yang is printed in Payne's gray, a bluish, dark gray like rain, on Japanese kozo, or mulberry paper. Each sheet is 6 inches by 12.5 inches (15.2 cm by 31.8 cm). There are 12 prints in this edition.

Cloud Classification

My Cloud Classification print was on the front page of Etsy on Saturday, and immediately sold. There are several left though, if you'd like one.

Also, I'm pretty sure that having an item on the front page helped my shop exceed 1100 hearts! I really do love those shop hearts; thanks to everyone who has listed my shop in their favorites.

Unicorns & Umbrellas

So, the first three Unicorns Amongst Umbrellas are either sold, or framed on my wall... thus, I decided to continue with a fourth.

Carved in linoleum, and printed on variety of Japanese washi paper (kozo, or mulberry and chiyogami and katazome-shi patterned paper) is a unicorn, strangely amongst a welter of lovely umbrellas. This piece employs the techniques of printmaking and collage. I am making a series of these multimedia; each one is unique. This is forth in the series.
Dimensions are approximately 12.5 inches by 18.5 inches (32 cm by 47 cm).

Also, I've been making some bookplates!



My previous bookplates were all octopus-and-books, for some reason.

Cloud Classification Pillow

I took my cloud classification block and made a pillow!

A who's who of the clouds in the sky are handprinted in a cloud-like mass of circular diagrams on blue-indigo cotton, in this one of a kind pillow. The clouds represented are shown as they would appear in the sky; the lower altitude clouds are lowest, the mid-altitude clouds in the middle and the high altitude clouds at the top. We have cumulonimbus, stratocumulus and cumulus at the bottom. There are three types of altocumulus and one altostratus in the middle. The top level contains cirrocumulus and two types of cirrus clouds. Each is denoted by its own symbol. The reverse is a cloud-patterned print fabric. The pillow itself is cloud-shaped.

The pillow is roughly 38 cm across, 30 cm high and 7 cm deep (15" x 11" x 3").

Clouds & Hearts

I reprinted my cloud classification linocut on some paler sky blue paper (handmade Moriki Kozo paper from Japan). The clouds represented are shown as they would appear in the sky; the lower altitude clouds are lowest, the mid-altitude clouds in the middle and the high altitude clouds at the top. We have cumulonimbus, stratocumulus and cumulus at the bottom. There are three types of altocumulus and one altostratus in the middle. The top level contains cirrocumulus and two types of cirrus clouds. Each is denoted by its own symbol. I love symbols and the cloud symbols are like some sort of modern, rounder runes of the atmosphere.



The sheets are 17.5 inches wide by 12.6 inches tall (44.4 cm by 32 cm). The second edition contains 4 prints.

Also, I made it to 900 hearts on etsy today! Yay! I love hearts. I really do. Thanks to everyone who has 'favorited' my shop.

Cloud Chamber II

The Mad Scientists of Etsy Challenge for January 2011 is 'Particle Physics' so I listed another of the screenprints I made last spring: Cloud Chamber II.




This is a two colour screenprint I made of clouds and ionization tracks in a cloud chamber.

A Wilson cloud chamber is basically a tank of condensed, supercooled water (or alcohol) vapour. It is used to detect high energy particles - ionizing radiation. The radiation, say from cosmic rays, or radioactivity, or particle accelerators and so forth, leave their distinctive trails in the "clouds". Because of conservation laws (conservation of angular momentum, and conservation of charge, in particular) you get these wonderful spiralling trails. If you look carefully, there's a whole lot of symmetries in the image. In fact, if you look really carefully and measure angles, it's possible to get the mass to charge ratio of the particle in question. It's really a magic piece of 20th century science instrumentation.



I printed the sky in pale blue, using a digitally manipulated photograph of the sky, and the ionization trails in sunny yellow. This is an artist's proof.

Classification of Clouds

A who's who of the clouds in the sky are handprinted in a cloud-like mass of circular diagrams on teal unryu ("Cloud Dragon paper" from Japan) in this first edition linoleum block print. The clouds represented are shown as they would appear in the sky; the lower altitude clouds are lowest, the mid-altitude clouds in the middle and the high altitude clouds at the top. We have cumulonimbus, stratocumulus and cumulus at the bottom. There are three types of altocumulus and one altostratus in the middle. The top level contains cirrocumulus and two types of cirrus clouds. Each is denoted by its own symbol.

The sheets are 12.5 inches tall by 18.5 iches tall (31.8 cm by 47.0 cm). The first edition contains 4 prints.

The fibres in the paper interplay with the clouds themselves.



I read a great biography of Luke Howard, who first classified the clouds in 1802. Some science is more obvious than others. His ability to see order where others see dragons, giraffes, faces and maps of foreign lands darting randomly and lazily above them is quite astounding. Whenever one goes to say, the American Geophysical Union meeting, one can count on good loot from NASA. I picked up the free cloud charts.

cloud chamber

Yesterday, I had a screenprinting class at Open Studio. I've done a lot of screenprinting (also known as silk-screening, but these days, the screens needn't be silk) in the past, but always with a paper stencil (or, a fern leaf). I had never previously tried using a photoemulsion. This lets you make a stencil using photo-chemistry - you basically "burn" a photographic image right onto the screen. It can be of basically anything, but I choose something that would be particularly hard to represent with other printmaking techniques (because of the fine lines and the fluffly texture). I call this two-colour screenprint "Cloud Chamber".



A Wilson cloud chamber is basically a tank of condensed, supercooled water (or alcohol) vapour. It is used to detect high energy particles - ionizing radiation. The radiation, say from cosmic rays, or radioactivity, or particle accelerators and so forth, leave their distinctive trails in the "clouds". Because of conservation laws (conservation of angular momentum, and conservation of charge, in particular) you get these wonderful spiralling trails. If you look carefully, there's a whole lot of symmetries in the image. In fact, if you look really carefully and measure angles, it's possible to get the mass to charge ratio of the particle in question. It's really a magic piece of 20th century science instrumentation.



The image is made in two parts. First I found a nice photograph of clouds and I manipulated it in Corel Draw. I likewise came prepared with an image of ionization tracks from a cloud chamber found online. I "burned" these onto the photoemulsion-coated screen. First I printed the cloud-image in periwinkle-sky blue on several sheets of paper. We only had three hours, so the idea was to see what could be acheived, more than to produce a multi-coloured precision print. I did manage to also print the ionization tracks in golden-yellow on top of the sky. I was thinking of the sun, the source of most of our cosmic radiation.

My registration reflects the rushed nature of a single three-hour class; it isn't always what was intended, but I thought ahead a planned this image to be flexible. In fact, this is "Cloud Chamber II", with the ionization tracks printed 180 degrees out of phase:



I like that too. :)

Our teacher was Genevieve, whom , I think, knows. There were five in the class and in typical Toronto fashion they were from Toronto (me), Thailand, Trinidad, Pakistan and undisclosed (sounded like Southern Ontario to me). It was a good little group, which is great because we share resources. My partner's English was a bit limited, but she's clearly extremely bright, exudes competence, and is really considerate. We were using the screen as a coordinated team almost without using words, which was pretty impressive to me.

Book of Hope 2009

So alteredmommy raffled off the Book of Hope collaboration and a cross stitch piece and raised $630 for cancer research! Check out the whole book here.

Book of Hope 2009

So I wanted to make my 4 inch by 4 inch (10 cm by 10 cm) chunky page for alteredmommy’s collaboration, the Book of Hope 2009, but I wanted to figure out how to symbolize hope without being... well, twee. You need some contrast for meaning, some darkness with a hint of light. Last year I went for hope as strength with the phoenix rising from the flames. This year I came up with a break in the clouds.


The thick clouds are sponges a few millimeters (say, a quarter inch) thick which I have painted with acrylic. (The sponge was part of the packaging of the pineapple cake from our visiting student from Taiwan: reduce, reuse, recycle!) The other clouds are layers of translucent Japanese hand-made washi paper, as is the rainbow. The word hope is stamped in silver ink.






Because the clouds have depth, they cast shadows, depending on the direction of the light source (sunlight in this case).

In other news: it is spring out there! Let’s hope that in traditional Toronto fashion, the weather does not revert to winter again. I am ready to scale back from my heavy winter coat. and I took Sukie to High Park, which was veritably infested with thankful Torontonians, soaking up the sunlight and looking at swans, ducks, geese and woodpeckers. It seems my friends are scheming about housing right now. Change is afoot.

I had kind of planned to go to the craft swap at Freedom Clothing... but I think I might try to tackle Project Darwin instead. Though I feel like I should be outside.