Looking back at 2017: science, art and life

Wunderkammer, interactive multimedia: linocut, collage, wooden box, electronics, sound files, 2017 by Ele Willoughby

With the new year, like many, I often like to look back. I find sometimes you don't see things accumulate or note acheivements. So, briefly, on a personal front, 2017 was a very interesting year. It was challenging, but over all, I'm quite proud. On one hand it's funny to start off talking about the acheivement of being in the running for a job I didn't get, but astronaut is no ordinary job. I was proud that I even had the guts to submit my application in the summer of 2016 for the Canadian Space Agency's job search. Each step of the year-long search, as I continued to advance I was a strange mixture of astonished yet confident that after all, it was something I could learn to do if selected. So I was very proud to be  one of the top 72 people selected from 3772 initial applicants, who were invited to the Astronaut Recruitment Assessment Centre! It was a unique experience; 3 and half days of gruelling mental, psychological and physical assessment, along with a very impressive and fascinating cohort of fellow applicants (only a third of whom were women). I've had so many questions and comments from people since this experience that I didn't expect. People I just met told me they were proud. Parents told me that they followed my progress with their kids, or asked me advice about how to encourage the next generation of potential astronauts. I wouldn't have imagined that even making it that far in their job search could impact people, but I'm humbled that it did and thank you all for your kindness, encouragement and support.

Another new experience this year was running an art gallery! I'm so glad that Emma talked me into taking on the Toronto Etsy Street Team Gallery, because truth is, I think I would have shied away from the financial risk. But it was a great experience and I'm proud of what we pulled off. I curated my first show, Wunderkammer, with a wonderful collection - a cabinet of curiosity in fact, of science art from some favourite and new-to-me artists. I went on to curate and organize shows about Canada, help foster Rebecca Vaughan curate and participate in Love Your Body, curate and participate in a Mesozoic themed the Dinovember show. I was also really pleased to take part in Tosca Terran's UnNatural History show at the gallery, where I showed my entire unnatural print collection.

2017 also some some great collaborations. WWEST's Phylo Women in STEM trading cards came out this spring. Definitely my favourite commission of 2016, was making and submitting five of my portraits of women. I have previously submitted some art for UBC's Dave Ng's earlier project to use trading cards as a natural historian's version of Pokemon. This latest set brings attention to women in science and technology, throughout history, and the hurdles facing women and under-represented groups. He told me he had seen my blog post about the death of physicist, material scientist and archeometry pioneer Ursula Franklin and it encouraged him to include her, as a great scientist, role model and Canadian. As you can see (above), I've also illustrated marine geologist Marie Tharp, physicist Lise Meitner, seismologist Inge Lehmann and proto-computer scientist Ada Lovelace. The sets are available from Phylo and you are even free to download and print your own! 

Because life is odd, the day after I learned that I did not advance to the top 32 astronaut candidates, Anthropologie approached me about collaborating on tee shirts. They loved my 'terms of venery' series of group nouns for animals.  They licensed two of my existing prints, 'An Ostentation of Peacocks' and 'A Kaleidoscope of Butterflies' and commissioned a third work. They wanted my portrait of my beloved, late, great Minouette the cat, but wanted it to fit in the venery series. While a group of cats is often known as a clowder, I remembered that it can also be called a glaring, and I thought that was a perfect combination for her fierce "Stop carving lino and feed me now!" look. I was very excited to work with one of my favourite clothing stores and it was a lovely experience to work with them. I was gratified that they wanted artwork that I had made simply because I wanted to.

 2017 also saw my home, studio and peculiar combination of jobs and interests as the subject of this Toronto Star article. I participated in another Bees (& the Birds) show. I did all the Toronto Etsy Street Team craft shows: the Midsummer Market, Etsy Made in Canada (where I enjoyed playing second fiddle for the first time) and the Christmas Maket. I sold at the One of a Kind Christmas show once again. I had artwork selected for the Leftovers VI Silent Auction, in Boise, Idaho, and 'Life as we knew it' and 'LUNAR' art shows at Art.Science.Gallery in Austin, Texas.

On the home front, our son turned four at the end of November, which means that he was able to start kindergarten in September. This is a big shift and I'm still getting used to it. He's now at school 6 hours a day, which frees me up to have much more freedom and control of my time and schedule and he loves it and is flourishing!

I love most of all that this list is very mixed: art, science, family life, and I'm keeping people guessing. When I was young I thought I had to choose, but I think in 2017 I did a good job of not choosing and being as much of a Renaissance woman as I can. I'm rather enjoying not having to define myself one way. This year once again promises new things and I'm looking forward to seeing what it brings.

Playing catch-up: Shows, SciArtist at home, Gallery & Astronaut recruitment

Life has been extremely busy of late and I haven't had any time to update my blog, so I'm planning to make a big post about everything. You've been warned. I've opted for chronological, rather than any other sort of ranking, since I know how to do that.

Find my #naturalhistory #SciArt #mapart of #Canada #linocuts and block printed animals in minouette 's booth F🐸13 at #ooakx16

A photo posted by Ele Willoughby (@the.minouette) on Nov 24, 2016 at 8:32am PST

I did the full One of a Kind show this year. It was a busy, exhausting time! Thank you very much to everyone who stopped by to see me, purchased art and my fabulous friends and colleagues for all your great company and support! I have the greatest customers. I love that I sold art to the parents of burgeoning scientists, neuroscientists, geologists, paleontologists, historians, and all sorts of other fascinating people. And an extra special thank you to those who allowed it to happen; my husband and Dad the booth builder and installation team, my mom the chief babysitter, my trusty assistants Becca and Karla, volunteer sales help and excellent company Peggy and Carrie, carpooling friends Leslie and Queenie, entertainment and bingo queen Emma.

We had a nice Christmas here in Toronto with family.

Big @torontoetsystreet announcement this New Year's Day! We're launching a year long Pop Up gallery in the Queen West @gravenfeather complete with art shows, pop up markets, workshops, our #Etsy Newbie Bootcamp in real life and more! We've got the keys and are getting ready for our launch party opening January 28! #printmaking cc: @etsyca #Toronto #artshow #craftshow #popupshop #workshops See our team blog for more.

A photo posted by Ele Willoughby (@the.minouette) on Jan 1, 2017 at 2:32pm PST

First big announcement of 2017: the Toronto Etsy Street Team has a brick and mortar incarnation for the year. While our team mate, printmaker and friend Pam of Graven Feather gallery takes mat leave, we will be subleasing her gallery for the year! We'll be hosting art shows, pop-up markets, trunk shows, workshops and more all year long. We started with a launch paerty and mini show from team leaders on January 28th. You can still find my art at our 906 Queen St W location and stay tuned for more of our exciting plans (including my plans to curate a SciArt show this spring)! My friend Emma is taking the lead on this project and I'm glad that she has the gumption to convince me that we should do it!

That's me in my #studio in the #Toronto Star, Homes section talking about my #art, #science, #sciart and working from home. I'm holding my #honeybee #linocut #printmaking

A photo posted by Ele Willoughby (@the.minouette) on Jan 14, 2017 at 10:15am PST

My home, studio and peculiar combination of jobs and interests were the subject of this Toronto Star article. It's part of their series on people who work from home. It was pleasure speaking with them about my blend of art and science. Roger's rocking horse and hand built furniture for Gabriel were also a hit. (Geoscientists will recognize that 'general physics' should read geophysics, but it's a nice little article).

Reflections by Ele Willoughby. Linoleum block print with chine collé / 2017 / 8 x 15 in. / $180 (SOLD). On view in our LUNAR exhibit for @Printaustin through February 18th. This print stems from my experience of working at sea, where in the absence of light pollution, celestial bodies like our moon and even planets, cast bright reflections as far as the eye can see. Moonlight in turn, consists of reflections of sunlight (with some starlight and some earthlight reflected back at us). So the light on the ocean is reflections upon reflections. #art #science #sciart #exhibition #gallery #instadaily #science #artoftheday #graphic #fineart #instaart #atx #texas #art #artwork #moon #artistic #design #artnews #artshow #blockprint #instagood #illustrator #artist #creative #astronomy #visual #austin #printmaking #printaustin

A photo posted by Art.Science.Gallery. (@artsciencegallery) on Feb 2, 2017 at 11:09am PST

I am very happy to have a print in Art.Science.Gallery's show LUNAR, their official entry in PRINT Austin for 2017. If you're in Austin, you can still catch the show until February 18th. I'm also very happy to learn that their crowdfunding efforts were successful and the gallery will remain open for 2017.

Last, but definitely not least, a few of you will know, but last summer I applied to be an astronaut! Selecting Canada's next two astronauts is a year long process. I'm very proud to say that I am one of 72 people still in the running from 3772 initial applicants! There's a lot of testing still to go before they make their selections by August but it's very cool to be part of this amazing group of people. From this incredible talent pool they will have to narrow it down to two new astronauts.

If you want to find out what I'm up to in closer to real-time, I recommend following me on twitter and instagram.

Minouette

This is my cat Minouette (1996-2016) with her tiny likeness. She was my first real pet and was with me for almost two decades, which is a good, long, life for a cat. She moved from Toronto to BC and back with me and made friends along the way. RJH says he knew he had to pass muster with her if he had any hope with me, and his lap became her favourite place to sit. I was amazed at her patience with Gabriel (as babies are sometimes not as gentle as they intend, or think cat tails are for pulling), but she loved him too. Saturday was a hard day; she let us know it was her time and we had to say goodbye. She was tiny, and fearsome, and clever. I loved her very much. If you've ever wondered, I named everything I do online after her. We miss her already.

Dave Pillow

The one and only Neigh Horse

Last night, wishing to spare our neighbours from the yowling and comfort our seemingly scared but actually sly, beloved tiny tyrant, we let the baby into our bed at 2 am, where he proceeded to squirm and flail, hitting each parent in the face. He insisted on going to the bathroom. He amused himself at length by tickling his ticklish father. He requisitioned my pillow, and named it "Dave". Why Dave? I have no idea. Sadly, Dave was not needed for sleeping, but in order to examine his pocket (i.e. the pillow case). Also, we were offered a running commentary on his all too audible flattulance. BIG toot! I'm hopeful tonight will be less eventful, though he asked for Dave Pillow before bed.

I've been meaning to tell you all about how he learns language, but this anecdote sort of tells you why my blogging has decreased. Some days you just drink coffee until you are able to make it to nap or bedtime.

He's quite the little talker. He's been learning to speak over the last year. At his last appointment with the pediatrician they forgot to ask me to fill in a survey about development. The doctor said she really wasn't worried; they wanted to know if your two year old could string together three words and Gabriel had not ceased talking since she had arrived. I loved signs of extrapolation, when last summer, for instance, he would say things that were logical, but wrong, so he clearly had inferred words, rather than heard them (like "mans" insted of men). Now, I am particularly enjoying seeing him invent and name things. Many toys had utilitarian names, because his parents had to be able to identify and describe them (like Puppy, Monkey and Dinosaur). Lately though, he's named his own toys. A stuffed rabbit at his birthday was instantly Peter Rabbit. A Christmas monster is now Smelly Fred (after the Denis Lee poem). The rocking horse his father built him is Neigh Horse. Amazingly, a blue shark from blythechild was named Rocky Go Shark. But Dave Pillow is the first named, random, inanimate object. I didn't give it to him. You gotta draw the line somewhere. Dave is mine.

Koi Tattoo

my brother's koi tattoo inspired by my linocut

My brother got my koi linocut tattooed on his arm! He has several tattoos. The only other print inspired one is 'The Great Wave off Kanagawa" by Hokusai, so I'm in good company. I always think it's a great compliment. I like how the tattoo artist has reinterpreted he image to suit the medium. My mother will not be happy with either of us, but he's a grown up and I'm flattered.

OOAK Prep - Multimedia

My next big adventure is the Christmas One of a Kind Show! I have a piece in the upcoming 'X Marks the Spot' show at Art.Science.Gallery and I need to complete my 'In the Round' artworks for the Graven Feather show, but the big thing on the horizon is OOAK. RJH has been building parts of my booth. We're planning hard walls on which I can hang framed artwork, with an overhead lighting system affixed to it, and some hopefully simple flooring. He's also planning to build me frames for my artwork. I've been researching where I can get glass, and we've ordered a proper mat cutter and we hope to have this scheme underway shortly.



Right now, I want to stock up. I've been making more of my multimedia series: unicorns, ships and balloons. Soon I'll move on to two-headed turtles! I've also been printing second editions of popular prints. I'm almost out of poppies so I made a new edition with thicker scarlet kozo paper. I want to list it before Remembrance Day.



On the home front it's been a challenging week. When I was doing laundry, soapy water started flooring up from the basement floor drain. It turns out that the roots from the neighbour's tree have crushed our clay drain pipe underneath our front lawn. While the water appeared soapy it had gone down the drain until it couldn't proceed and then came back - which means it had been where our sewage goes. This needs an immediate and expensive fix. I also did some emergency gardening as I suspect plumbers might destroy my garden if I didn't transplant any fragile plants before they did up and replace the pipe. Meanwhile, I think the baby must be getting another tooth because it's been some pretty sleepless nights. I'm not always sure when I can get some studio time; he's not much of a napper, and if I try to work after he goes to bed the cat stages a vocal protest*, which risks waking him up (and another sleepless night). So, I am now trying to make art when there is a quieter moment during the day and working at the computer after baby's bedtime, whilst keeping our cantankerous elder cat company.

So it's 8:40 pm and I'm going to bed. G'night!

*she makes this cry which would be useful if you were producing sound effects for horror movies, which means "I'm bored and lonely, come downstaits". It's horrible.

Go Ahead and Do It

'Florence Nightingale', 2nd ed., 12" x 12" on Japanese kozo paper with chine collé, by Ele Willoughby, 2014

I made a second edition of my portrait of Florence Nightingale. I wanted a simpler, darker colour scheme and to print it on larger sheets to allow more negative space around her. I'm gathering up and framing my female scientists you see, for 'Go Ahead and Do It: Portraits of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics', a group exhibit at Art.Science.Gallery in Austin, September 13 through October 14! This is the perfect exhibit topic for me and I'm pretty excited about it. I only wish I could be there. If you're in Austin, there's an Opening September 13, and a party on October 14th, which will be Ada Lovelace Day. The show is curated by science writer and photographer Maia Weinstock, who will be hosting a Wikipedia edit-a-thon for images of women in STEM on October 13, as well as gallery owner, scientist and artist Hayley Gillespie. Maia, Hayley and about 10 other artists will also be showing their scientist portraits in all sorts of media. The title of the show is a quotation from computing pioneer Grace Hopper, whom I've yet to portray, but who is on the to do list.

Speaking of going ahead and doing it, I'm also preparing for the Hunt & Gather pop-up market at Huntclub gallery in Little Italy, August 22nd to 24th, and the In the Round show at Graven Feather on Queen West this November. Not to mention the big one: I'll be doing the One of a Kind Show from December 2 to 7th! I have a 5 foot by 10 foot booth, which we have to design and build as well as all the preparations of things to sell. But, before that, there's Etsy:Made in Canada Toronto Edition at MaRS, which I'm organizing with my trusty TESTy & 416Hustler leaders, and where I'll also be selling. Cause nothing says "taking a year off for mat leave" like organizing a show for 120 vendors after a successful 30-vendor show, doing 4 art shows in two countries, 3 pop-ups,  giving a couple of invited public lectures, running a small art business, creating art, writing, blogging, and teaching on-line. Basically, I'm almost as busy as I was previously, but now with less sleep and greater likelihood that I have a baby-related stain somewhere on my person. <sup>1


1</sup> When the baby was first born we watched all of Kingdom on Netflicks, cause other than baby care and attempting to feed ourselves, watching a gentle English TV series was about all we could muster. Basically it's Stephen Fry as tiny market-town solicitor being charming, and assorted English character actors trying to upstage him. Phyllida Law succeeds. Anyhow, there's one season with a baby where I heard the best approach to these issues. Young articling solicitor tells his boss Kingdom (Fry) that he has baby-sick on his suit. Fry's response? "Yes."

A message from Baby Monkeytoes, for Father's Day

'Baby Power' by Ele Willoughby (aka minouette), 9.5" by 12.5" (24.5 cm by 32 cm)
three colour linocut on Japanese kozo paper

The sentiment is our son's, though I helped him express it in linocut form. I'm afraid I haven't quite done him justice. He's much cuter in person. His uncle asked whether he was a 'sock nudist', and yes, like most tiny people I've met, he's no fan of socks. He really does hold his fist up like that and always has, from when he was only days old. I've always joked it's his 'baby power' salute, as he cries 'freedom for the babies!' Perhaps I should not be surprised, knowing his parentage, that our son is the sort of baby who thinks he should be in charge, and free to make decisions. Thus, was inspired RJH's father's day gift. We looked at a lot of propaganda posters from the thirties, and the Anti-Fascist Songbook, cause that's the way this baby rolls. He's grown up (to his now advanced age of 6.5 months) seeing his father's photo of Nelson Mandela every day. Apart from snapshots, the only photo of a person we have hanging in our home is RJH's first front page news photo. When he was very young, he got himself an internship at our national newspaper, and took this photo of Nelson Mandela, during his first trip to Canada after being released from prison. It's a great photo of a great man, and it hangs in our dining room. My image of the framed photo doesn't do it justice either. (I wanted to write about this image when Mandela died, but Monkeytoes was only days old and I never found the time.) I hung the photo kittycorner from my 'Raccoon Greetings' linocut, with the raccoon giving a high five, so that the two images would connect to one another. One of our neighbours came by and said, "Ah, yes, I see, the raccoon is high fiving Mandela" and I was surprised that someone else saw it the way I secretly did. Regardless of whether it's the images he sees, or the music he's heard prior to and since birth, or innate, our little Monkeytoes strikes me as a baby freedom fighter and resolutely anti-socks. So I thought this might make an apt first Father's Day gift.

RJH also got a tie pin stamped 'Gabriel's Dad', though he rarely wears ties, I thought he might need to brag about this role at speacial occasions which call for ties from now on. We had bacon, eggs and pancakes for brunch. I helped Gabriel with that too. Then we went out for a nice long walk before RJH had to go to work.

So happy Father's Day to all the Dads and honourary Dads out there. I hope you're enjoying nurturing the next generation, sockless rebellion and all.

p.s. I made 12 prints in the edition, so there will be other sockfree rebels available soon.

June so far

It's been a busy week for us so far. On Saturday, it was the TEST 5th Annual Spring Marketplace. RJH dropped me off at the show and then took the baby for some men's only time. There were all sorts of garage sales on the Danforth, so they wandered around and got some loot. Our neighbour found a free second-hand ExerSaucer (it's a little baby gym, in which he can stand, supported... something my sister-in-law likes to jokingly call the 'circle of neglect' because it keeps babies occupied long enough to try and do something) which she kindly hauled home for little Mr. Monkeytoes.

Sunday was our first wedding anniversary. Though it was a bit cool and overcast, we all went to Ward's Island. We showed the baby where we were married and had a lovely picnic. It was a great day!

Since then, RJH has been spending his week of vacation busily working on replacing the horrid insulbrick on the back of the house. He went and bought some cedar shingles (from the maritimes of course). There were some discoveries: the wood beneath my studio window was completely rotted, and has now been replaced. Dad came by yesterday to help stain the shingles - on both sides- before installing them. We have a rain warning today, so RJH is staining shingles in the garage. He hopes to be able to complete this project by the end of the week.

On Monday, I sent off a large package of prints, and a couple of handprinted pillows, to Ambergris Gallery, on Block Island (also known as New Shoreham), Rhode Island. They're hosting a show called 'From the Depths' this summer, so my sea creatures will be exhibited by the oceanside!

I did get to take a bit of a walk with the baby Monday too. We spotted that lovely swallowtail butterfly on a large lilac while we were out.

We just finished our Spring show, but our Toronto Etsy Street Team never sleeps. We're already working on preparing for the fall show. Etsy: Made in Canada Day will be September 27, at MaRS, at College and University streets, here in Toronto. There will be simultaneous shows in at least 30 other Canadian towns and cities and we're planning on a national promotion campaign. Our own show will be a big one: we're thinking of hosting 100 vendors!

Biggest news personally on the artistic front: I'm going to be selling at the One of a Kind Christmas show this year! I'm going to have a 5' by 10' booth from December 2 to December 7. This is a huge show. I did their spring show last year, but wasn't up for either the Christmas or spring show since. Little Mr. Monkeytoes was born during the Christmas show last year, and was too small and in need of too much attention during the 2014 Spring show, but he'll be one (one!) by December, so I'll be able to get some help with the childcare. In the meanwhile, I have to plan and build my booth and gather a lot of stock. There are tens of thousands of visitors, so I'll need a lot of items. This is a big investment too, but I think it will definitely be worth it. Wish me luck! I'll let you know how my preparations are going.

Right, nose back to the grindstone. ;)

Cat woes

I haven't posted much lately, because baby - and now cat. Our beloved, if persnickety cat Minouette is getting to be a certain age for a cat. She is 17.5 years old. She started demanding a lot of water. Then we noticed puddles of clear, odorless liquid in the kitchen, which we did not immediately recognize.  We thought she had spat up, as cats do. It turns out that these are common symptom in older cats: peeing on things, especially cool, flat, surfaces like kitchen tiles, and drinking excessively. The odorlessness confused us. After a couple of trips to the vet, we've discovered she is diabetic. This is serious, but it is a liveable disease, and there is no sign she's in distress. It could have been worse. We were scared we would get a diagnosis of kidney failure, and it was stressful waiting for her test results. Cause, we love that damn cat. So, she's now on a high-protein diet and gets insulin twice a day, subcutaneously. I'm happy to report that I am able to administer the insulin, despite my anxiety about needles. I can't even watch someone get an injection in a movie, but luckily these needles are so small that I can handle it.

On the flip side, she decided to pee directly into the air vent in the kitchen, which is bad news for us. 'Odorless' is a relative term. RJH turned the heat on the other day (it's been that sort of spring) and guess what? Even watered down cat pee sure stinks when heated. We have done all we can to clean the vent, but we may have to tear down the ceiling in the basement and replace the vent altogether. Worst of all, while she is adjusting to the diet, and barely notices the injections, she has kept up the wayward peeing.

Also RJH and I got some terrible cold, from my nephew I think. RJH actually took some time off and he never does that... so that tells you how dreadful it's been. I just hope the baby doesn't get it!

To top it off, our internet was down for the better part of 2 days, which may be a mere 'first world problem' but it is a bother.

That's an older photo of Minouette, above, by RJH, but it's one of my favorites.

Etsy Summit

It was a busy week! Monday and Tuesday, along with Etsy admin, sponsors and team captains & leaders from across Canada, I took part in the Etsy Summit at MaRS. In fact, Etsy invited me to give a short talk about how to grow your team, and lead some break-out group discussions too. I started my talk by apologizing for not sticking around for extra meals and maybe being a little distracted, since this is the first time I left Gabriel with a sitter (Mom) and logical or no, it's part of the job description of a mother to worry. (I joked Tuesday that I wasn't sure if I should be relieved or hurt to find him happy and relaxed when I got home.) I got a lot of positive feedback, so I think I managed to give a good talk despite any concerns or distractions. The meeting was a success - we have some exciting plans. We're working on a pan-Canadian extravaganza! September 27, there will be simultaneous marketplaces in 30+ cities from coast to coast, called 'Etsy: Made in Canada'. You can read more on the TEST blog. I think it's a great idea to actually gain some national attention.

The rest of the week was filled with some doctors appointments for baby (who is healthy and "robust", thank you, it turns out). Apart from that, I had another birthday, so there was sushi and multiple chocolate cakes. There was some actual sunshine on Mayday, so we managed to go outside, which is great, because most years it rains. RJH has been busy photographing (and playing in) a charity hockey tournament, and the baby and I are just taking it easy.  I think we'll just eat cake and giraffe toes, respectively, and maybe take some photos with my exciting new camera. If it stops raining, we might go watch the bonfire down the street, but it's nice some days to have no bigger ambitions than cuddling.

Koi

I printed my koi block on this lovely, handmade, deep orange kozo paper I found, with a deckle edge.

I also made a new print of a JRT (Jack Russel Terrier, for those who aren't into dogs). Since it's based on a custom order, I'm going to keep it under wraps for a little while. It seems unlikely, but I would hate to spoil the surprise, should the gift recipient see the image before he receives his gift.

I've been doing some research and making notes on planned future prints.

Other than that, Gabriel has been keeping me pretty busy. His grandmother popped by unannounced today during Canada's men's hockey game, which she watched with her grandson on her knee. She's a raving tennis fan, so during the second period when she was unsure if the puck had gone in she asked whether Canada had in fact scored. Then she said, "So, it's 2-love Canada? Er.. well... in my language?"

Creative small online businesses, and babies

I was invited to write a short article about selling on Etsy, Etsy teams and being a new mom for SavvyMom.ca. You can read it here:

Why Community is Crucial to Your Success

Minouette news

It's been a little quiet here on the blog.... because I've been trying to take a little semi-maternity leave! That's right - our son Gabriel was born November 28th at 6:49 am, at 3720 g or 8 lbs. 3 oz. We're both happy and healthy, if very tired.

But, I wanted to make a little post to say that I was very happy and flattered to see that my shop, along with several friends from the Toronto Etsy Street Team were featured today by Toronto Life as their 10 local shops to know.

TEST is well represented! Toronto Life included in their list: Cinders McLeod, Alison Gledhill of Grace Design, minouette, Marissa of Sea Flower Studios, Michelle of thunderpeep, Anthony of Route401, and Casey Von Esteban.


Check out Toronto Life's complete list here!

Change Table

RJH built a change table! Isn't it awesome? He's pretty handy, but he basically taught himself to make furniture. The drawers have dovetail joints and the piece holding the change pad has box joints. There are magazines about woodworking scattered thoughout the house. He found instructions inspired by a piece you could purchase for an outrageous sum from Restoration Hardware, and then made all sorts of changes where he thought they were cutting corners (why use screws if you can use dowels!). Then when he was finishing he found the original which had inspired the plans and realized that he actually built something far more sturdy and complex.

I had a good laugh when Portlandia did a skit about a local monthly newspaper's "Man Issue" about a well, basically a hipster douche who decides to become a (as it turns out, very bad) furniture maker and the women swoon and say things like how he could make a crib for their baby. RJH said defensively that he was only making a change table... and that I was laughing a little too hard. But of course, he did an amazing job, is very unhipsterish and did this on top of working very long hours at work.

Making things for the little one

So, we're also busily making things for the expected addition to our family. Here's a sneak peek at our progress. RJH is under the weather, so these less than impressive photos are my responsibility. I'll get him to take some proper ones when we're finished. I've taken a suitably terrible "before" photo. The room was RJH's office. He had a desk with computers (yes plural), an old single bed, an ironing board and in the photo, it would appear that laundry was in progress. I confess, it didn't generally look this bad. There were white walls, and forest green curtains. His office has been moved to the basement, which now has a proper floor, rather than carpet on cement. This house is about 85 years old, and was built before people decided that precision might be important in construction, or that people really like closets. So, there are no truly right angles and the rooms were not designed with closet space in mind. Luckily, it's been owned by people who really like closets, since it was built, so all the bedrooms have a closet and there is a linen closet, but these are closets built for very small people. So, I confess, I have claimed the entire closet of the master bedroom, and RJH has been using the linen closet and the office closet. For now, we've cleverly installed a new lengthwise rod in the master bedroom closet (previously, the presumably tiny people who wanted a closet but had little to hang, had a rod which was short and widthwise, blocking access to half the space). Also the closet is under the sloping part of the roof, so much of it would actually be too low to allow RJH to stand which bolsters the imperial closet claims of his less-than-tall wife doesn't bother me much. He also built me a stand for my shoes. He thinks I have too many shoes, but clearly has never lived with a real shoe lover, because I really don't have that many by the standards of most women I know (who also do not need to use valuable closet space for steel-toed boots, but, I digress). Our immediate solution is that for now, RJH will continue to use the closet and ironing board in the soon-to-be completed nursery room.

First we painted it yellow. By "we" I mean I gathered dozens and dozens of paint samples, we negotiated and then he painted the room with (allegedly) zero VOC paint, which is safest for expectant mothers and babies. I actually don't mind painting and am pretty efficient, but generally, the received wisdom seems to be if you can avoid exposure to any chemicals you probably should. Also, to be honest, I've never been accused of gracefulness, and was a bit accident-prone before my centre-of-mass changed, so I am humouring my husband and have agreed not to climb chairs or ladders until after the baby is born. So, he got painting duty. For "zero VOC" paint, it certainly smelled. I wondered what I was smelling if it wasn't volatiles - volatile inorganic chemicals? I don't know. I'm not a chemist. Perhaps it was for the best I didn't spend hours painting the room.

I actually drew up several different mural plans. The room has one south-facing window, but it faces our neighbour's house, so it's not actually very bright. We both agreed we wanted something cheerful and colourful. So while my sky mural was the winner, we avoided sky blue because it would be too dim and shadowy. So, after RJH had painted the yellow, I started planning and thinking about how clouds would look. I actually tapped mock-up paper clouds to the wall, before I painted the clouds in white (much less smelly) zero VOC paint. Then, I added my block printed stork in turquoise.

We went to Ikea, and much to our surprise, bought a crib. Their higher end crib was greatly reduced in price, so we just bought it. It feels very solid, gets good reviews and safety ratings and can convert into a toddler bed. We also got some cheerful fabric and a new light fixture (decorated with clouds). We're not entirely convinced we've succeeded with the light as it casts a harsh and surprisingly focused beam, which was not our goal. If we lower it, so that adults are too tall to see the light directly, RJH will hit his head. We're still considering options. I bought some blackout fabric and made curtains. I decided not to be too insistent on a theme and try to have everything match; that just seemed a little too controlled. What was I going to do? Tell people who might want to give gifts to the baby they had to be yellow or turquoise and relate to a cloud-filled sky? But, I did choose fabrics which contained yellow, white and turquoise, as well as other colours.

I'm also working on a baby quilt, of course. Its main colours are yellow, turquoise and grey, but it has different patterns and my block printed animals. RJH meanwhile, is working on a wooden rocking horse and building a change table!  When I was a toddler, my Uncle Bob made me a rocking horse, and I love that our baby will also have a handmade rocking horse. (Uncle Bob is in his eighties now, and no longer putting his woodworking skills to use supplying furniture to the youngest members of his extended family. He took up woodworking after having a massive heart attack, days before I was born. He was actually sent hundreds of kilometers to Toronto General for surgery, so coincidentally, he was one of the first people to meet me and pretty well the only member of my extended family who could reliably remember the day, since I guess my birth was tied in his mind to a life-changing near-death experience. I gather now it would be unlikely he would remember me at all, let alone my birthday. My own rocking horse was inherited by my uncle's first grandson, so I no longer have it. So, for me, this handmade rocking horse seems particularly special).

I am also gathering a box of things for the baby, including the bibs, block printed camera and soft alphabet blocks I've made. Yesterday, I added a small woolen coat, lined with a map print cotton, fit for a wee explorer (based on this tutorial). I have more projects in mind. If you happen to be interested you can follow my thoughts on decorating rooms for wee people or my growing collection of tutorials for DIYs for babies and small children.



I guess this baby will be growing up in a family where it seems normal that if you want something, you can make it with your own two hands. That seems to me to be a good place to be.

Exciting news!

This linocut shows how I imagine the great white stork of European folklore, who carries babies to new parents. The stork is printed in teal ink on Japanese kozo (or mulberry) paper, 32 cm by 17.5 cm or 12.5" by 7". There are 4 prints in the edition.

The ancient stork-the-baby-bringer legend was made popular by Hans Christian Anderson's story called 'The Storks'. The stork is quite stylized, inspired by ancient Chinese art, and not an attempt to accurately portray Ciconia ciconia, the white stork, because - spoiler alert! - storks are not actually where babies come from. (The baby is a little more naturalistic and has very cute toes, if I do say so myself). This print definitely goes in the 'UnNatural History' category, with other mythical creatures.

As some of you know and some may have deduced, I'm printing the baby-carrying stork because I'm thinking about how to decorate a nursery. RJH and I are expecting a baby this winter!* I've been debating when to tell people, but I think it should be clear now, should you happen to see me, that something is afoot**, and am far enough along that risk has decreased a fair bit, so it seems like the right time. I'm doing pretty well. I haven't had morning sickness. My doctor is wonderfully relaxed and says the right things to put people at ease. (She told me half her patients are my age or older. She lets me have one large coffee a day, saying there's been no rigorous study showing any harm. She blamed my swollen feet on the weather, rather than my suspicion it was from eating salty Triskets and sun-dried tomatoes, saying, "The truth is, in this heat and humidity all pregnant women have swollen feet." So, I think she's great.) I confuse sonographers with my technical imaging questions, cause it's fascinating and the physics of ultrasounds is basically the physics of seismology, so I get it. I've had some discomfort from other symptoms. Why does no one every warn you about the leg cramps? It's always "weird food cravings" and never "violently awoken by Charley horse at 4 am". Also, I am thirsty all of the time  which is weird for a girl whose mother called her 'the camel' who was rarely thirsty (or needed to pee). I was keeping a glass of water by my bedside until I realized Minouette thought this was a new, convenient bedtime cat watering station, so now I have a cat-proof bedside water bottle. Sleeping is a bit of a challenge and I'm finding the 'extreme heat alert' weather unpleasant. Me and the cat are hiding in the cool basement right now. Mainly, I feel like I've swallowed a large and unruly water balloon, which is flattening all the things I normally keep in my belly.



As you might imagine, I've responded by making things! So far, I've made 7 reversible fabric bibs (whales, mermaids, fortune cats, psychedelic blue squirrels, an urban scene, mushrooms, vintage cameras, constellations, flowers, numbers, cupcakes and elephants) and a block printed camera toy (because baby will want to be like Daddy I figure). I'm planning some fabric, block printed alphabet blocks too. I'll make duplicates for my shop, should you want any for your favorite wee one. I have other plans too, of course, but this is a good start.




* I'm pretty sure if he reads this he'll tell me I've buried the lede, but I'm not a newspaper man and like a little suspense. 

**Though, luckily for me, all the summer clothing is light, and airy and not fitted, so it seems not everyone figures it out on sight.

Wedding!

I've been busy lately, and haven't posted much, but I have a good excuse. We got married June 8th! Beforehand, there was a lot of preparations to be made. Afterwards, we took a little mini Honeymoon staycation. I made almost all of the decorations (hundreds of paper flowers, faux Mercury glass vases, a giant blue paper rose bouquet, a curtain of sparkly heart garlands with fancy Japanese and Thai papers, paper flower garlards), the invitation (I made a large linocut in silver on dark blue washi paper and did the type design in PhotoShop, with advice and printing help from my friend Michelle of thunderpeep), I used my invite print to make a large hand-bound guestbook, RJH and I assembled little favour boxes of gladiolus bulbs (to which I also added a small reproduction of my hand-printed invitation heart). I recruited some flower-making help from Mom and my bride's maids Reynardin and Faunalia. R&F also made us a 'Ele & Roger Are Getting Married' bunting, with handcut paper letters in silver and blues, suspended from a fine silver ribbon - and, most spectacularly F baked and decorated the wedding cake (and topper) with help from R. There were three tiers and flavours and blue ombre icing. The handmade theme extended to gifts (at least on my side) with a necklace from Navahaus, rude cross-stitch by Crass Stitches and custom cuff-links with a vintage map of Woodstock, New Brunswick for the groom by Emma of Landfill Designs. I also made my own fascinator (well, embellished barret with silk and silk flowers).




We got married on Ward's Island, at the old Ward's Island Association Clubhouse. Built in the 1930s, the building has a lot of character. The bridal party showed up early on Saturday morning to decorate. After a bit, the groom suggested that the bride and bride's maids return to the mainland to get dressed up. I think he didn't want me to fret watching him on the ladder. Luckily after we left, the 2nd groom's man and his wife showed up and they were able to finish and get dressed up themselves (minus the best man's shoes... he was in red Converse sneakers until his wife arrived later!) The women rode back on the ferry to our nearby hotel to get changed. My mother stopped by to bring us all hankercheifs. When we were ready, we walked down to the ferry, where we met a lot of the guests - some of his family for the first time. One of the things we really like about the Island is that it feels like the country, and the ferry gives you a sense of travelling to a destination, yet it is only 15 minutes from downtown. Also, since the groom stayed on the Island, I got to surprise him when we arrived and he got the first glimpse of me in my dress.



I found this vintage-reproduction dress at Cabaret with F. It wasn't the one which caught my eye, but the nicest salesman in the world convinced me to try it on; it fit like a glove. The rest of what I wore was inspired by the dress; something-blue shoes with a sort of vintage look, the flowers in my hair, a pin at my waist from my paternal grandmother and a necklace from my maternal grandmother (borrowed from Mom) of a similar vintage to the look of the dress.



We both got to greet and mingle with guests before the ceremony. The groom's men and my brothers were assigned to gather people to take their seats - but I realized my bouquet was inside... so I poked my head in the window and whispered to the groom, much to the amusement of nearby guests. I walked the aisle with both of my parents (though Mom almost forgot). Roger hired Sandy MacIntyre, a well-known Cape Breton fiddler who played with his son on guitar (cause you can take the boy out of the the Maritimes, but you can't take the Maritimes out of the boy). We wrote our vows together, and shared a single cue card (which also seemed to entertain people). A pair of swallows swooped around the barrel ceiling, prompting the Officiant to call them love birds. I loved the relaxed feel, which was what we had been hoping for. We managed to forget the cake topper in the hotel room, but prevailed upon Blythechild's trusty husband Synap to speed back in a water taxi to recover it. He was back before we even finished out photos after the ceremony (and before the reception).



I love that we had a wedding where the kids could run around on the neighbouring bowling green, do cartwheels, catch a toad and spell our names out in popped balloons. It was small and intimate. We were very happy that so many people came from so far and we thought about those who were unable to be there. It was a beautiful day.

The gate-crashers:



[Our photographer was Dave Chan, who was amazing. Most of these photos are his. All photos have credits if you click on them and in the meta-data.]

Mayday

Fellow printmaker Martha Knox featured my woodblock print 'Little Boat, Big Ocean' on her blog today and wrote a really insightful commentary.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. I've been blessed with a beautiful day. It was wintry in the past week, but today is early summer. Usually it rains on Mayday.

I got up, cleaned the new floor, that my crazy RJH has been frantically installing in our basement. Dealt with a whole bunch of logistical problems (ranging consulting on calibrating instruments, tracking down addresses for wedding invites, to alerting craft show applicants of their acceptance or rejection from our show). It was another odd geophysicist/printmaker morning. Then my father showed up to take me out for a late lunch, which stretched on for some time. We went to Playa Cabana, a really good Mexican place which you wouldn't expect on a residential street near his new home. He gave me all sorts of books. He said the bookseller said, "Whoever these are for, this is not light reading." It should keep me busy for a while. I eventually returned home and moaned on the couch for a while, having eaten a stupid amount of food. My mother showed up with more gifts (kitchen stuff). My sister-in-law sent me a photo of my nephew with his birthday wishes, which was adorable. I've been fielding calls and messages. Thank you very much everyone. I feel old, but it's a really lovely day.

We're putting off celebrating till next week. We really want to complete the basement, so it'll be more work this evening. I hope you're having a beautiful day too. If you live around here GO OUTSIDE. Right now.