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.

2011 in review, Part 2

July


We flew to England on Canada Day. RJH got very sick, but was a very good sport. We spent a few days in London, where we did a lot of exploring on foot. We managed to meet one of RJH's old high school friends for dinner, and the lovely, multi-talented for brunch, both of whom were coincidentally in London, though they live elsewhere in England. I dragged poor ailing RJH all over the Tate Modern. We added The Tower to the UNESCO tally. We went to see The Monument, because Robert Hooke was a lot more than Christopher Wren's sidekick. We continued south to Southampton. My exhausting interview went well. My brave, feverish RJH drove a rented, stick-shift tin can car, and drove on the wrong left side of narrow, round-about-ridden roads, without a proper map. I think this was a cultural clash; North Americans get in the car and drive places, for hours, with the idea that they'll find a hotel at the end of the day, where ever they end up. We buy road maps at any gas station. Not having a hotel reservation, a map and a plan, seemed to bewilder people we met. However, we found Stonehenge, and a nice place to stay in Salisbury. The Cathedral was incredible, and even contained one of the handful of surviving original copies of the Magna Carta. We continued to Bath, on the recommendation of every single English person with whom we spoke. (I hadn't recognized that my sister-in-law still has family there). Sure enough, Bath was beautiful, though RJH teased me about being on the Jane Austen tour. We visited the Roman Baths, the Cathedral and enjoyed the architecture, and some surprisingly good Thai food. Though we made the mistake of arriving on graduation day, which meant traffic jams, low hotel vancancy, and some well-lubricated student celebrations. We drove south through Dorset, where the roads are narrow like Canadian logging roads; while there are mercifully no logging trucks, I confess I found lorries and hedges scared me. We stoped at Poole, and then went through Bournemouth to the New Forest, were we walked with the semi-feral ponies. We flew home and I packed and flew to Vancouver Island for our research cruise. It was beautiful, tough, with partial experimental success, and luckily, some answers to our questions. I was contacted at sea with the news about the job. We spent our time in the Stuart Channel and the Georgia Straight. Afterward, I had a chance to show our volunteers around Victoria, and visit with friends.

August


My Mercator print was requested by the Mercator Museum in Sint-Nicolaas, Belgium who will be celebrating the 500th anniversary of his birth in 2012. I gave a Euoplocephalus to theDADproject to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society. RJH and I explored the Humber River by kayak, and the Brickwords on foot. I started experimenting making and using thermochromic ink. RJH and I went to my step-mother's cottage, and visited with Dad&K, my aunt and uncle, and K's mother. I made a bunch of tea cozies, chipmunks and dinosuars. I was featured on the Trans-Canada Etsy Team blog.

September


I became underemployed, for the first time ever. I made a lot of art, sold more than I'm used to, started gathering Canadian myths, and studying up on 'smart' materials. RJH and I explored the Scarborough Bluffs. I began a quilting course and made my second quilt. We watched the salmon run in the Humber.

October


We began October with Nuit Blanche, always an experience. My 'Cloud Classification' was on Etsy's front page and I reached 1100 hearts. I had strange negotiations about a non-job and did not go to China. My brother and his wife bought a house a few doors down from the other brother. I made more unicorns. My screech owl was on Etsy's front page. I shared my portrait of Mme Wu in time for Ada Lovelace Day. I made some mini-prints and entered the Mini Print International Asian Pacific competition. RJH, the DJ&K all ran the half-marathon. I cheered. I started a screenprinting course. I started making tapirs. We visited with Dad&K. We had a low-key Hallowe'en.

November


There was some nonsense in our building about garbage, and some garbage at work about nonsense of the BS variety. Bohemian Hellhole profiled my shop, prints, and blogs. I tried to learn Photoshop. I pursued my own projects, including some non-fiction. I submitted my Dragon to the Year of the Dragon show, and re-vamped my shop. I made some complicated, multi-colour and glow-in-the-dark screenprints. Our ceiling started leaking. I did some engineering type work in the lab.

December


I celebrated 1200 Etsy hearts and took part in the Designwali giveaway. I made more tapirs. I made a lantern and took part in the Solstice parade with F&R. They (F&R) once again hosted a beautiful solstice feast. I was able to introduce RJH to the tradition and spend time with friends, including those we rarely see (Lady Redjeep&husband and Baby E). Since K was not well, there was no Polish Christmas Eve feast, and Dad joined us at my brothers for Christmas with Mom. It went surprisingly well. RJH made a beautiful oak top to the antique map cabinet he found me. We had a cozy New Year's Eve.

2011 in review, Part 1

I have friend who always reviews his year on his blog, and it seems to me a good idea.

January


I submitted a linocut once again to the international print exhibit and exchange in celebration of Chinese New Year (this time for the Year of the Rabbit). I flew off to Victoria, do deal with some BigScience things, but I took the chance to visit with some great friends, though I was foiled in my quest to brunch at the Blue Fox. Craftster kindly awarded my 'Bumblebee' with their 'Best of 2010' in the printmaking category. I was interviewed by the lovely print and textile desing blog Okyo Love.

February


I went to the opening of the 'Year of the Rabbit' show at PROOF in the Distillery district (which involved much less alcohol than that sentence seems to imply). My 'Mercator' portrait got some press. RJH spoiled me on Valentine's Day, though I don't think he realized I would have been satisfied with cinnamon hearts. I survived a FIVE HOUR teleconference/planned mutiny (moral: never piss off large groups of scientists). I celebrated 900 Etsy arts, made a bunch of art, and did quite reasonably well, for my least favorite month.

March


In March, a magnitude 8.9 earthquake hit offshore Japan, triggering a devastating tsunami. The consequences were dire. To my knowledge, no one I know was injured or killed. Though I did spend some time thinking about how my research can or cannot be usefully employed in early warning systems. I also took a second job, looking into some land-based artic seismic work. I was invited to fly back to Victoria for a job interview. We went to Brampton to look at a boat, in the snow. My boss gave an interesting public lecture, at which no one was hurt despite the combination of cryogenics, flames and methane.

April


My job status was unclear. I helped organize a craft show. I was invited to go to Halifax in the summer. Despite being asked to apply for the job in Victoria, no one bothered to tell me anything post-interview. I applied for a job in England. We really started to think about job opportunities, or lack thereof, for both marine geophysicists and photojournalists in any single spot, anywhere on the planet. The state of the apartment was pitiful, what with the leak to the tenants' downstairs and the storm gutters hanging like the sword of Damacles. RJH had a birthday. I read some books which made me so cranky I gave some serious thought to doing scientific visualization as a bigger part of my career. The Toronto Etsy Street Team had a craft show at the Gladstone, self-proclaimed centre of the universe.

May


I had a birthday. We had a very depressing federal election, though at least the surprising results for Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition suggested that there is some appetite for change. I had a bad cold. The war against the moths got more colourful when I started printing broadsides. I also made a portrait of Ernst Haeckel and Laplace's Demon. We celebrated Victoria Day, and I had 1000 Etsy hearts. My travel schedule was suddenly packed. RJH and I went to Ottawa, where I explored the Museum of Civilization and he played hockey for charity.

June


I went to a very inter-disciplinary ocean science meeting in Halifax (wherin I learned about cannibalism in fish, that "crazy" people 5000 years ago, who made the megaliths stopped doing so coincident in time with the end of warm water circulation in the North Atlantic, that the Labrador Sea is a major carbon sink though there's a price to pay in terms of acidification and assorted other things). The UNESCO World Heritage Site summer tour began, after my conference in Halifax, when RJH and I drove around Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. We visited Peggy's Cove and Lunenberg, then drove to Digby to take the ferry to Saint John, NB. We then drove to Fredericton, where we stayed with RJH's lovely friends, visited his grandparents' farm and I met his parents. We returned to Saint John to visit one of RJH's longest standing friends, then spent the night in Sussex. I was charmed by the murals, but not by the stroller-punks. The Bay of Fundy and Hopewell Rocks, and back in NS, the fossiliferous Joggins Cliffs were added to our UNESCO World Heritage site tally. I got badly sunburnt. We drove from Truro to Lunenberg (again), stopping to photograph a cheesy, fake mastodon at the world's least educational paleontology park. Then we flew home.

I was invited to interview for a university lectureship in England!

I went to New York city for a few days with my mother. We stayed in Queen's but explored Manhattan daily, saw two Broadway shoes, did some shopping (including a suit for my interview) and spent the day with an old friend I hadn't seen since grade 9. I dragged my mother to the amazing Alexander McQueen exhibit.

I returned to frantically prepare for our research cruise, which would immediately follow our trip to England. RJH and I were rear-ended when on his motorcycle. Neither of us, nor the bike were badly hurt, but it was scary.