Bees & Stars: Opening, Book Launch and Album Cover

The 'Bees of Toronto' and the page featuring my bee art

It's been a busy week! Yesterday I had the unusual experience of a book launch in the afternoon followed by an art opening in the evening. Quite coincidentally, it was a bee-themed day. The City of Toronto hosted their official launch of their the latest titles in the biodiversity series, including the 'Bees of Toronto' at City Hall. In the evening, 'Bees (& the Birds)' opened at Graven Feather gallery. I've also been busy with meetings with Etsy and our Etsy: Made in Canada venue as well as copious behind-the-scenes planning. And, much to my surprise, I licensed my Taurus constellation linocut image as the album art to a Hungarian indie band!

I might not have gone to City Hall, but I was tickled by the idea of having a day where I could swan around from book launch to art opening, and was intrigued to meet some of the others involved in this great series of books. I think the City does have reason to be proud that they have manage to bring together a this collaboration with natural historians at the Royal Ontario Museum, as well as local academic scientists (particularly from York University for the bee book), the Toronto Public Library and the TDSB, as well as artists, writers and other contributors. I got a chance to meet some of the researchers involved, as well as artist Charmaine Lurch. When we got to talking, I figured out that I have seen her bee sculptures at Nuit Blanche. Because the world is very small, we also figured out that we have a couple of friends in common in Sarah Peebles (who got me involved in this book in the first place) and Christine Pensa (who curated the bee show as well as being part of our TEST & Made in Canada team). Charmaine ended up walking with me from City Hall to Graven Feather and we talked about balancing family life with working in the arts, whether my experience avoiding corrosion at the bottom of the ocean could help her make more weather-proof wire sculptures and some of the great projects she's working on including an illustrated historical novel set in Toronto, and bring STEAM teaching into the schools using both her bee works and knowledge and also talking about Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells.

Some of the biologists who were at City Hall also came to the art show and I heard that Prof. Packer (who leads the bee lab at York) approved of the message of my piece. It was very crowded so while I managed to speak with his wife (a bird researcher) he actually gave a friendly thumbs up from across the room.

Some of the 'Bee (& the Birds)' show including Japneet Kaur (or Story of a Seed)'s ceramic plates and my mixed media 'Solitary bees don't dance'. If you aren't following Japneet's instagram you are missing out - and I don't say that lightly! Her drawings and ceramics are magic and her feed is filled with whimsical stop-motion animations.

Some more favourites: at the bottom left is my friend Michelle Reaney's recognizable bold, graphic style and the four tiny paintings on the right look like trails made by bees by bookbinder Carolyn of Sprout's Press Designs. Oh... and the one which looks like a black and white photo is in fact drawn in ballpoint! I must find the artist's name because it's the most amazing thing. There were many others I didn't get a chance to photograph well. Don't miss Christine's own work, all the fabulous prints (relief prints, serigraph and etchings), and clever textile works by Michelle and Katie Sorrel.  

My Taurus constellation linocut in the album art for 'Lay Low Butterfly' by Anton Vezuv

Last week I was contacted by singer Gyulai István of the Hungarian indie band Anton Vezuv. They wanted to use my Taurus constellation for their cover art for the new album Lay Low Butterfly. We had quite a lot of conversation back and forth, because they were working on a very short time line and sometimes international wire transfers can be more complicated than you would imagine. Anyway, I checked out their music (some of which is in English and is perhaps what you would imagine) and liked what he had to say about my art, including

yes, well, bull is usually visualized with head down. like your artwork. because bulls are fightin like this. BUT, with heads down they look kinda sad and vulnerable also. so for me this figure show strength and sensitivity. that's why I wanted a bull figure, and our producer found your artwork somehow, and it has a cool style, kinda handmade-vintage-illustration stuff which fits to the art concept.

so I'm pleased to be involved, and I love the idea of my art making its way out into the world and into unexpected places, like schools in Toronto, or albums in Budapest.

the constellation Virgo

11th in the Western Zodiac series is Virgo. Only have one left to make!

The silver stars and silhouette of Virgo are illustrated in this handmade block print. The Greeks and Romans associated Virgo with their goddess of wheat/agriculture, Demeter, who is the mother of Persephone and often shown like this with a palm frond and a sheath of wheat. Parts of the constellations of Bootes, Libra, Corvus and Crater and the dashed line of the ecliptic are also shown. If you imagined all celestial bodies we see in the night sky as mapped onto a sphere (the Celestial Sphere) around our Earth, the ecliptic would be the line you would draw to map the apparent path of the Sun through the various constellations. The word Virgo and symbol ♍ appear at the top of the image. The lines linking the constellation appear in silver-on-blue or blue-on-silver as appropriate. There are a few bright galaxies or star clusters shown as circles. I printed an edition of ten prints, 10 inches by 7.5 inches (25.4 cm by 19 cm) on lovely, deep blue, handmade, Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper with silk fibres.

Libra

The silver stars and silhouette of Libra the scales are illustrated in this handmade block print. If you imagined all celestial bodies we see in the night sky as mapped onto a sphere (the Celestial Sphere) around our Earth, the ecliptic would be the line you would draw to map the apparent path of the Sun through the various constellations. The ecliptic appears as the dashed line across the print. The word Libra and symbol ♎ appear at the top of the image. The lines linking the constellation appear in silver-on-blue or blue-on-silver as appropriate. Parts of the Scorpius, Hydra and Serpens Caput constellations are visible surrounding Libra. I printed an edition of 15 prints, 9 inches by 7 inches (22.9 cm by 17.8 cm) on lovely, deep blue, handmade, Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper with silk fibres.

I'm down to two Zodiac constellations. I carved all the animals (or composite creatures) first, the this one (inanimate object) and left the people for last. As RJH is always saying, there is no such thing as a generic person. I managed Aquarius, but considering the underlying myth, to figure out how to make a specific water bearer. I hope this approach works for Virgo and Gemini too.

Aquarius and JRT

The silver stars and silhouette of Aquarius the water bearer are illustrated in this handmade block print. The water flows right down to Piscis Austrinus, the fish. Parts of the constellations of Capricornus, Pisces and Sculptor and the dashed line of the ecliptic are also shown. If you imagined all celestial bodies we see in the night sky as mapped onto a sphere (the Celestial Sphere) around our Earth, the ecliptic would be the line you would draw to map the apparent path of the Sun through the various constellations. The word Aquarius and symbol ♒ appear at the top of the image. The lines linking the constellation appear in silver-on-blue or blue-on-silver as appropriate. There are a couple of bright galaxies or star clusters shown as circles. I printed an edition of eight prints, 9 inches by 7.5 inches (22.9 cm by 19 cm) on lovely, deep blue, handmade, Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper with silk fibres.

The Babylonians identified this constellation with their god Enki (or Ea). Enki was the deity of crafts (gašam); mischief; water, seawater, lakewater (a, aba, ab), intelligence (gestú, literally "ear") and creation (Nudimmud: nu, likeness, dim mud, make bear). As a marine geophysicist and a maker, this sounds like my sort of myth.

Also today, I printed a second edition of my portrait of Orbit, a.k.a. Lady Giggleswick (after receiving an anxious enquiry from that there would be a seconde édition, non?). Here she is, back by popular demand:

Pisces Constellation

The silver stars and silhouette of Pisces the two fish are illustrated in this handmade block print. Pisces (♓) is the twelfth astrological sign in the Zodiac. I printed an edition of 8 prints, 7.5 inches by 10 inches (19 cm by 24.8 cm) on lovely, handmade, Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper with a deckle edge. Since the paper is handmade, there is some small variation in size and the edge of each sheet. The word Pisces and symbol ♓ appear at the bottom of the image. The lines linking the constellation appear in black-on-silver or silver-on-black as appropriate. There's a star cluster, shown as a circle, and the lines for the constellations of Pegasus, Triangulum and Aries.

If you imagined all celestial bodies we see in the night sky as mapped onto a sphere (the Celestial Sphere) around our Earth, the ecliptic would be the line you would draw to map the apparent path of the Sun through the various constellations. The ecliptic is marked as the dashed line in this print.



As I was putting this in my shop I noticed that I now have 1600 hearts! I do love seeing all those hearts and thank every single person whose added my shop to their favorites. While I'm at it, thanks to the 543 Etsy followers (who can see all new things in my shop or favorites), 506 FB fans, and 665 twitter followers.

Aries Constellation

The white stars and silhouette of Aries the ram are illustrated in this handmade block print. I printed an edition of six prints, 8.75 inches by 7.5 inches (22 cm by 19 cm) on lovely, deep blue, handmade, Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper. The word Aries and symbol ♈ appear at the base of the image, with an actual star at the apparent dot on the 'i'. The lines linking the constellation appear in white-on-blue or blue-on-white as appropriate.



Aries has been identified as a ram since Babylonian times. It later became associated with the ram whose fleece became the Golden Fleece in Ancient Greece. If you imagined all celestial bodies we see in the night sky as mapped onto a sphere (the Celestial Sphere) around our Earth, the ecliptic would be the line you would draw to map the apparent path of the Sun through the various constellations. The ecliptic is marked as the dashed line in this print. Since the constellation of Aries straddles the ecliptic, its stars were incorporated into different constellations in different cultures, including twin inspectors in China and a porpoise in the Marshall Islands. The modern International Astronomical Union includes all the surrounding stars shown in this print as part of the Aries constellation.

Taurus constellation linocut

Since I finished my Chinese Zodiac series I've been thinking of making a Western Zodiac series. I'm interested in how the myths and stories we told ourselves evolved into observational science (and thus how astrology, though it may irk my astronomer friends, was a progenitor of astronomy, as alchemy lead to chemistry and some physics). I started with my own 'sun sign', Taurus.

The silver stars and silhouette of Taurus the bull are illustrated in this handmade block print. I printed an edition of eight prints, 7.5 inches by 10 inches (19 cm by 24.8 cm) on lovely, handmade, Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper with a deckle edge. The word Taurus and symbol ♉ appear at the top of the image. The lines linking the constellation appear in black-on-silver or silver-on-black as appropriate.

Taurus is one of the oldest constellation. It contains the bright clusters Hyades (on the face of the bull) and the Pleiades (on its shoulder), as well as the red giant star, Aldebaran (the bull's right eye), all of which can be clearly seen with the naked eye. This grouping of stars has been recognized and interpreted as a bull since the Bronze Age, in the mythologies of Ancient Greece, Egypt and Babylon. It is one of 48 constellations recognized by Ptolemy. Since Taurus is one of the prominent constellations which crosses the ecliptic, it is one of the signs of the Western zodiac. If you imagined all celestial bodies we see in the night sky as mapped onto a sphere (the Celestial Sphere) around our Earth, the ecliptic would be the line you would draw to map the apparent path of the Sun through the various constellations. The ecliptic is marked as the dashed line in this print.