Freedom of the Press, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Creative Blocks and Animal Prints

 I have been working away, when I could, while we've been trying to do remote school for the first couple months of the year. I actually managed to keep up with the Printer Solstice prompt and made a new print a week. Now that schools have reopened here, I have a chance to share some of my latest prints. 

Freedom of the Press, linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2021

I wasn't quite sure where to go with the theme "freedom of the press". I went with a winged Gutenberg press, thinking of the initial freedom it represented after its invention. (By the way, it's often presented as the first press, moveable type and paper were invented in China). I made a several different prints with this block, rather than a single edition.

The next theme was Blood, Sweat and Tears:

Blood, Sweat and Tears, linocut by Ele Willoughby, 2021

This "Blood, Sweat and Tears" lino block print is about how we as people reflect our origines in the ocean. Printed from 8 hand-carved blocks it shows blood cells racing through an artery, a cross-section of our skin with a sweat gland, an eye with a tear and a section of ocean seawater.

There's a well-known quotation from Isak Dinesen (the pen-name of Karen Blixen);

“‘Why, yes,’ he said, ‘I know of a cure for everything: salt water.’

‘Salt water?’ I asked him.

‘Yes,’ he said, ‘in one way or the other. Sweat, or tears, or the salt sea.’"

This oft-given advice that hardwork, releasing your emotions or visiting the sea is the answer to any problem plays on the fact that sweat and tears are just salty water. But, in fact, we ourselves are predominently water, and we preserve the salinity of the environment of our earliest ancestors, from even before the first lobe-finned fish decided to seek refuge on land, in the Devonian (about 360 million years ago).

Next up was Creative Blocks. I opted for carving a collection of kid's wooden building blocks and then printing them on assorted beautiful patterned papers (both Japanese washi and European papers), so that some of them were "creative". I have made a whole series of these prints, each unique.

Creative Blocks, series of linocuts by Ele Willoughby, 20201

The next prompt was Animal Prints. So much of what I do is animal prints I wasn't sure what to do. It occurred to me that choosing insects might be a less common choice. Then I discovered that a group of moths is called an eclipse and I knew I had to add to my terms of venery series for groups of animals.

An Eclipse of Moths, linocut by Ele Willoughby 2021

This hand-printed lino block print shows five of the noctural moths of Ontario in front of the moon at a lunar eclipse. The five moths are: the gorgeous green Luna moth (Actias luna), the yellow and purplish-pink Imperial moth (Eacles imperialis), the Five-spotted Hawk Moth in brown with orange spots (Manduca quinquemaculata), the red-orange, black and cream Virgin Tiger Moth (Apantesis virgo), and the black and white White Underwing (Catocala relicta).

I designed the typefaces to suggest the meaning of the words. "Eclipse" is full of crescent moon shapes. "Moths" is written in moth shapes.

Art The Science Profile

Wunderkammer, multimedia (93 cm x 63 cm x 8 cm), wood, paper, ink, conductive ink and thread, string, electronics, by Ele Willoughby, 2017

Art the Science, is a Canadian registered nonprofit SciArt organization which provides a platform for creators working within this emerging genre to share their practice with a global audience. They recently contacted me about my work and have just posted their profile of me here! Check it out, and all the blog as a whole - it's a wonderful collection of some of my favourite things at the place that art meets science.

Contemporary Renaissance Woman

Yesterday I gave a talk about my experience as an astronaut candidate for the Canadian Space Agency at Albert Campbell Library in Scarborough. Today, I'm in the Star. Online, it's 'Would-be astronaut is artist on the side, and one of a million Canadians with a side hustle.' In the print edition, it's in the Life section and called 'What drives the side hustle?' Here's what they had to say about me:

Ele Willoughby is a marine geophysicist who has a burgeoning art print business called Minouette on Etsy Canada. It’s a combination that suits her, and one she’s flexible to changing up. At the moment she is focusing on her art and is working on a book of portraits of female scientists and the stories behind their work.

“I was actually one of the astronaut candidates for the Canadian Space Agency in their recent search for an astronaut,” says Willoughby. “I’m still open to switching the balance, and being more of a scientist, and doing art on the side.”

If you're one of the people who attended my talk, thank you very much for coming out! It was lovely to speak with you and great to see there was interest from such a range of different ages of people. If you're interested in hearing my talk, you can catch it next at:

Tuesday April 2 at 6:30  pm
Coxwell/Danforth Branch
1675 Danforth Avenue
Toronto, ON M4C 5P2 

I continue to pursue the weirdest business card title combination, but basically I want to do the things that I love best and fill the world with more art and more science.

Etsy: Made in Canada Toronto III

It's me at the minouette table (photo: Peter Power)

Central atrium with suspended
critters by LoveLetteringToronto (photo: Peter Power)

So we made it through our third year of Etsy: Made in Canada Toronto at MaRS! We had a great turn-out, and despite some signage snafus and unplanned early morning musical tables (like musical chairs, but with craft show locations and no music), it went really well and together with my fellow organizers we pulled this feat off once again! This takes months of work and planning to make an event like this happen and really I just want to sleep for a week. You can read my post about the show here - but let me reiterate my thanks especially to my team of organizers, our volunteers, staff, workshop teachers and everyone who came out to see the show!

I put my marine geophysicist's skills of "how to lower things on ropes" and tie proper knots to work suspending our decor with fishing line from catwalks on the second and third floor of the soaring MaRS atrium (pro tip: don't look down or get yourself locked in an elevator) on the Thursaday evening prior to Etsy's Press Preview on Friday. Etsy wanted me to meet their new COO, who visited the show on Saturday and bought a 'Raccoon Greetings' print for her office, which was pretty nifty.

My parliament of 150 owl linocuts I made for swag bags!

Preparing for this show is why I've been pretty quiet here; in recent months it's really taken all of my time not spent caring for Gabriel. Our team had some bad luck this year, with members and their loved ones having a variety of health problems, which meant that we had fewer people doing more work. It's really imperative that people do put their own health first, and I'm glad that those who needed to do so stepped back. But, that's left me with the unenviable role of finding and picking up the slack and taking on a bit too much. I need a better approach in the future. I got off easy with one minor trip to Emerg, having cut right through a fingernail chopping onions (because I was over tired). They glued me back together, gave me a tetanus shot and sent me home. Others had far more serious issues to contend with... but all of the above are the signal that things will need to change as we go forward.

Being interviewed by What She Said about Etsy: Made in Canada

In the lead-up to the show I did get some exciting press. I was interviewed on What She Said (which has a large listenership here in Ontario) about Etsy: Made in Canada (and you can watch the whole thing on YouTube at the link). I was also on CBC radio's Here and Now. They did a great little feature not just about the show, but since their Arts reporter was intrigued by the idea of a geophysicist/printmaker, about me and what I do!

In less MIC-related press, I was interviewed by the CBC for the local newscast earlier this summer about the impending (and mercifully avoided) postal strike and its potential impact on small businesses like mine. They also took a clip of that - and to our surprise - played it on the national radio news the next morning. I've been so busy, I didn't even mention that here.

Also, early this summer, I had the pleasure of meeting Gloria and Caroline of RogueStories, a series about people who have made unexpected bends in their career path, especially women entrepreneurs. Check out the great article they published about me.

Now... I'm going to go take it easy for a while! Happy autumn all!

High Five Elle!

A friend emailed last week and said, "You may already know this but I just saw it in the August issue of Elle Canada :) Just wanted to share with you in case!" I did not know and was very excited! She included a pic from her iPhone so I got a peek... but I've been wanting to scan it and share it.

I walked several kilometers with the baby in the stroller, visiting multiple stores, but every one was still stocking the July issue. Finally, I got a hold of one. It's fabulous. It's in with an article called 'Elle Radar Canadian Special' about the 'next generation of artists, musicians and social-medial stars who are redefining Canadiana cool'. It's on a page with what's hip in Canadian whiskey (apparently), and facing Shad's music picks. It's the beginning of their 'Art & Design' section. So it's the perfect place to direct Canadians to come visit their nearest Etsy: Made in Canada this September 26th. Also, it's amazing to be singled out amongst that talented crew! I like their succinct review, "colourful block prints that are equal parts history lesson and tongue-in-cheek vintage Canadiana."

minouette on Etsy & the Etsy: Made in Canada community!

Carving a lino block in my studio during the Etsy Canada photoshoot!
(photo by Nicole Breanne Hudson)

A few weeks ago, we had a little photoshoot in my studio! As the captain of one of the largest teams in Canada, and someone actively involved in planning Etsy: Made in Canada, Etsy asked if they could profile me as a member of the made in Canada handmade community. The photographer Nicole, Tanya from Etsy, and my fellow Toronto Etsy Street Team leader, Candice joined me in my studio with the baby (who thought this was a riot!) and, Minouette the cat. Though she (Minouette) can often be shy, she seemed to have decided that this was clearly all about her, and she should be the centre of attention. She stole the show. I guess that makes sense, since I named my shop after her. Anyway, I'm honoured to get to represent so much amazing talent involved in Etsy: Made in Canada, and excited to be profiled on Etsy. You can find the main landing page for Etsy: Made in Canada at the link and read the profile, complete with a peak inside my studio on the community page here!

In my studio, Minouette stations herself on my desk, so she can be sure to be in the shot (photo by Nicole Breanne Hudson)

I was also flattered to see that BlogTO listed me as one of  The top 20 Etsy sellers in Toronto by category in 'Art' writing, 

"Minouette
Minouette's prints and cards feature woodcut illustrations of historical figures, zodiac signs, and fluffy animals. Relevant to Torontonian interests: this high-fiving raccoon ($35)."

It's been a good week for press for the shop!

Women of Science bringing Science to the Public on Twitter

#SciArt Linocut cloud classification http://t.co/sxJ1Xhz92b Diagrams themselves make larger cloud shape #meteorology pic.twitter.com/YC7BqSNn8Z
— Ele Willoughby (@minouette) March 4, 2015

I was really flattered to be included in the io9 article by geophysicist and science writer Mika McKinnon's round up of all sorts of scientific women who are actively communicating science, in all sorts of ways, on twitter! She mentioned my science and history of science linocuts (including the tweet above), and listed roughly 40 others, both well-known and not. Just recently, I was asked by a couple of my mother's friends about twitter: why would one be interested and how can it take up one's time. It was one of those, "Why would you want to read, 'I ate a sandwich for lunch!'?" type questions. I gave a fairly standard reply that if that is in fact the only sort of thing a person tweets, you simply don't follow them; instead, you can follow @NASA. This round-up is a better answer; you can follow - and actively engage with - some of the most creative, knowledgeable and interesting, entertaining people out there. You can stay abreast of your own interests and follow those who work in radically different areas and are excited about topics which you might not even have known existed. If you're looking for great people to follow, and kick-ass women in STEM to boot, this is a good place to start, as well as the other lists she links to.

The #SciArt tweetstorm did put my work in front of new eyeballs and I'm also flattered to have gained new followers. Thank you to all 1258 twitter followers, 667 FB fanpage followers, 960 Etsy followers, 2700 Etsy ♥, 3861 Pinterest followers, and 83 Instagram followers. I had to correct the numbers in the previous sentence twice, in the time it took me to type it (and I type quickly). It was quite amazing to find my work spreading so quickly and get so much feedback that I could barely keep up. If I failed to reply to you, my apologies; please try again. I usually do reply promptly and don't usually feel that popular. ;)

Chinese Zodiac in Good Health

About a month ago, I was contacted about licensing my series of Chinese zodiac linocuts for publication in one, and the a second German language magazine. In the end, they only appeared in the second of the two: Good Health magazine. Despite the English title, the magazine, the magazine is all in German. It looks like an interesting mix: women's lifestyle mag, complete with health articles of a rather scientific bent, and other odd things, like well, a large Chinese zodiac spread. I love the illustrations where they've opted for art rather than photos. In addition to my linocuts, they've used the paper quilling anatomical illustrations of Sarah Yakawonis. They asked if they could add colour and they also have rearranged a few prints to suit their layout. It's hard to scan and show illustrations which straddle the gutter but let me show you what they printed!

Not my goat - but all the Chinese characters come from my prints!

Rat, Ox and Tiger

Rabbit, Dragon and Snake

Horse and Sheep

Sheep and Monkey

Rooster, Dog and Pig

Caroline Herschel at EAST

Check out my portrait of Caroline Herschel, representing Art.Science.Gallery in the EAST Austin Studio Tour!

In other news, it's all OOAK prep frenzy here. RJH has made oak, maple and pine frames. I'm becoming pretty good at cutting mats (an aquired skill, let me tell you) and packaging and pricing of prints continues apace!

Oh, and if you are in a German-speaking European nation, look out for my Chinese Zodiac prints in both Happinez and Good Health magazines this December!

Data as art: X Marks the Spot

Hayley Gillespie at Art.Science.Gallery in Austin noticed that some of my prints submitted for previous shows would also fit for their latest: X Marks the Spot. She describes the show thus:

Quantitative or categorical, discrete or continuous, dependent or independent, variables allow scientists to measure and describe properties of the world around us. They are common to every scientific discipline and assume a wide range of possible values. With gravity and humor, precision and abstraction, record-keeping and experimentation, variables are made visible through the works of eight contemporary artists.

So, from October 25 to November 23, 2014, you can find my portraits of Niels Bohr, Caroline Herschel and Florence Nightingale, on exhibit. The show features eight artists, many of whom are 'data artists' and the images online look fascinating.

It's particularly interesting to me, since I haven't really thought of my work as illustrating data or variables, per se, so much as illustrating the scientists themselves, since their work is integral to a full portrait. I believe mine are the only portraits and other works are more abstract, less figurative.

Each of these portraits does actually, now that I think about it, contain some precise representations of variable data. Niels Bohr's portrait contains the Balmer series of spectral lines given off by excited hydrogen gas. Caroline Herschel's portrait contains her own diagrams of the night sky and her observation of one of the several comets she discovered (hence, a mapping of position over time). Florence Nightingale's portrait shows her own statistical investigation of the causes of mortality amongst British troops during the Crimean War, shown plotted as a polar area diagram – her own statistical and data visualization innovation, sometimes called a Nightingale Rose Diagram.

The other artists involved in the show have taken data -both their own personal life data, they have gathered themselves and freely available datasets and created artworks where they have developped their own methodologies for representing the data. They are working with everything from an artist's own personal experience of cancer care, the weather (where storms themselves are involved in the mark making), using algorithms to turn winds into drawing, to the instances where H.G. Wells specifies colour in his novels!

One of the artists involved had been turning her own data into art - things like walks she takes, daily activities and nightly EEG sleep data - and then recognized that she is doing something algorithmically which could be translated into a phone app which would allow anyone to make art from their own daily lives. If you're in Austin, check out the artist's talk by Laurie Frick on November 8. She'll explain her process and her smartphone app FRICKBits, and how you can use it to make art of your daily life too. How cool is that?! The app is for iPhone, and I have an Android, so I might have to ask RJH if I can play with his phone.






In other news, if you happen to be in Europe and read German, check out the Christmas/New Year issue of Happinez magazine, which will be featuring my Chinese Zodiac series!

Etsy: Made in Canada wrap-up

I feel like I'm still recovering from Etsy: Made In Canada. Our show was a great success! We think we had 8000 visitors - Etsy fans all.

The Toronto Standard interviewed me about the show, the team, and life as a geophysicist/printmaker.

Minouette Live!

Tomorrow morning, at around 8:25 am, I'm going to be interviewed live on CBC Radio's Metro Morning. They are very interested in how people with different careers are selling on Etsy, so they love the idea of a geophysicist/printmaker. Apparently, they have some journalist-Etsians, including a very senior journalist who sells her knitware on Etsy. We're also going to talk about Etsy: Made in Canada! If you're a local, I hope you'll listen in and I hope we'll see you Saturday at MaRS!

I'm very excited.

We listen to Metro Morning every morning, as do more Torontonians than do any other radio show.

Eek!

Wish me luck!

Inspired by Science on The Etsy Blog

The Etsy blog just posted Karen Brown's article featuring 5 Etsy artists who are inspired by science, including me!

Lise Meitner and Nuclear Fission Linocut History of Physics by minouette

 

“I think the idea that art and science are separate is unfounded,” says print maker Ele Willoughby of minouette. “It takes creativity to be a good scientist and experimentation to be a good artist.” In her Etsy shop, Ele explores art and science through a series of portraits of scientists inspired by the bi-monthly challenges of the Mad Scientists of Etsy team. “I love hearing from parents who want to inspire young children with portraits of scientific heroes or heroines,” she says.

There are some fabulous artists in that inspiring intersection of art and science, and several of my prints included.

Cosmos on the Etsy Blog

I was reading the Etsy blog this morning and enjoying their collection inspired by the reboot of Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage - Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey hosted by  Neil Degrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History. I was busily adding items to my favorites lists (not just my collection of science-themed items, but my collection of things I want myself, for the befuddled gift-buyers in my life), when I scrolled down and saw my own portrait of Jocelyn Bell Burnell! I'm flattered to be in this company. And yes, you should buy me the Mars globe and the screenprinted moon pillowcases with glow-in-the-dark constellations cause they would go perfectly with my own quilt with NASA imagery and glow-in-the-dark stitching. I mean really.

Women Scientist Portraits on Scientific American.com

Inge Lehmann and the Earth's Inner Core linocut on Japanese kozo paper, 2011, 20.5 cm x 20.5 cm

Just in time for International Women's Day, Scientific American has published Maia Weinstock's photo essay about female scientists portrayed in art: 15 Works of Art Depicting Women in Science; Visualizing notable women in the STEM fields through the lens of fine art. There are some really wonderful portraits of great scientists. She writes about each artist and their inspiration. I'm flattered to be included, along with my portrait of the great Danish pioneer of whole Earth seismology, Inge Lehmann. Lehmann is an apt selection; not only did she make the revolutionary discovery of the Earth's inner core (and find the evidence in what others had mistaken for noise), but she wasn't shy about frankly discussing how women's contributions to science were all too often overlooked.

I love also how she points out that the idea that science and art are divorced is only recent, and the contemporary move to go from STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) back to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math). If you read carefully, you'll also glean the inspiration for my most recent portraits of female scientists: Maia will be curating a women-in-STEM art exhibit at the Art.Science.Gallery. in Austin, Texas, from September 13 through October 15, 2014, which will include some of the works and artists from her article, like me!

A little press for IMPRESSI

I was really gratified to see Art.Science.Gallery share a link to The Austin Chronicle's review of some of the many shows that are part of PrintAustin.

"Next door at Art.Science.Gallery., among a wealth of science-oriented prints, Jenn Schmitt's Periodic Table Printmaking Project draws the most interest. In this collection of 118 prints, 97 artists have used a wide variety of mediums – woodcut, linocut, monotype, etching, lithograph, and more – to depict the periodic table of elements. These tight ranks of small works, filling one wall, are an exhibition in themselves; but don't miss Ele Willoughby's thermochromatic linocuts (in which sections of the ink, when heated, disappear; which makes the Schrödinger's Cat print, in particular, a hoot) and, looming overhead, the life-sized gyotaku print of a full-grown turkey vulture by Adam Cohen and Ben Labay of Inked Animal." - via The Austin Chronicle

Do yourself a favour, and check out the great work being shown, including the full Periodic Table. My little contribution to the Project, is Silicon, below. I think of it as an earth scientist, making up so much of our planet's crust, in quartz, or common in seafloor sediments, including radiolarian skeletons, as well as the crystal form of pure silicon... rather than simply as something which goes into computer chips.

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!

Tips for Craft Sale Season - in Today's Parent, November issue

Today's Parent interviewed me recently about my tips for making a successful craft show display. The resulting article appears in the November issue, page 140, in the Toronto News About Town: shopping, tips & bright ideas section! You can see it electronically and download the issue here. They selected my Frog and Lily linocut (and a tiny head shot by RJH). I'm flattered to see they've identified me as an 'expert'.

On page 144, they have 'to market, to market', a guide to Toronto seasonal craft markets and more, including the Shopcats Pop-Up Winter Show at Scadding Court, which runs through to December. This nifty shipping-container housed shop is one of very few places I'll be showing my prints this season.

Chien-Shiung Wu, Courageous Hero of Physics

Check out this Ada Lovelace Day post on the Scientific American Guest Blog by Maia Weinstock.

It's an engaging biography of the 'First Lady of Physics', sometimes called the 'Chinese Marie Curie', the incomparable experimentalist Chien-Shiung Wu. It features my linocut 'Madame Wu and the Violation of Parity'! I'm a fan of Wu's and have read other biographies, but I learned some new details, particularly about her early life and career, and about the theoretical debates prior to her experiment. I hadn't realized that Feynmann first floated the idea that perhaps parity was not conserved, before the theorists Lee and Yang delved in, and then sought Wu's advice in the hopes she could design and execute an experiment corroborating their theory. 

Art for Kids

I had a pleasant surprise this morning. I often check the Etsy blog every day, but this last week RJH took a vacation and we've been taking some time to make sure we're prepared for the baby. He's done a huge amount of work building furniture, and we made some purchases. Somehow it seems more real, now that we have a car seat and stroller. Decorating and preparing the nursery is an on-going project, of course. So, this morning I was particularly interested to see the Etsy blog article Art Scouting: Picks for Kids thinking I could gather some more ideas. I love that cover shot and spent some time contemplating how the T.Rex image was made. I scrolled down and was delighted to see my own 'Sailing Ship IV' featured! It and another in the series are already packaged to go to the post office this morning, since they sold yesterday (though I didn't clue in that my print had been mentioned till this morning). I do love the idea that art for kids can serve as a starting point for bedtime stories. RJH has been advocating bold, simple works for babies and that maybe the multimedia work will be better a little later (once the baby's vision is more fully developped.... after all, they can barely focus more than a foot away when they arrive). He might have a point, but I confess, I'm looking forward to the magic of imaginative bedtime story telling - and more complex art too!

There's still several ships in the series, by the way, and reproductions of a couple of the sold one of kind prints in the series are available too. There's some fabulous prints by fellow Printsy members; Cecca's Crocodile Tea Time has been in my favorites for a long time and I love Natalia the Winged Lion's prints as much as her imaginative handcrafted jewellery, as well as some artists who are new to me.