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."

wearing minouette prints

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I love how my customers sometimes tell me their really interesting reasons for purchasing my prints. I've had people tell me about how all their grandparents worked on the Manhattan project, or how they consult for NASA, are scientists, are beekeepers, or have an arts background and find my prints a great gift for the budding scientists in their lives. Recently, a customer told me that she thought my Raccoon Greetings would be just the thing for her urban environmental history class; I love that a more whimsical print could be used to inspire students, rather than say, a history of science or strictly natural history print. Anyway, she wrote back to say she'd placed the print at the front of the class and they're adopting it as a mascot, which is awesome. She wanted to know if there was a way students could get the image printed on tee shirts.

I've been asked before about clothing. I'm really pleased to be working with a company to license some artwork for them to print on tees, but I've shied away from printing my own tee shirts; I feel that's a whole other business, and it isn't easy to screenprint in your home. I don't think my water pressure is up for cleaning screens! I can use a group printmaking studio, like Open Studio, but right now, I'm avoiding exposure to any unnecessary chemicals (think photochemicals, VOCs in some inks and the solvents used to clean them). So, the idea was the impetus I needed to open a minouette shop on society6. They make quality reproduction Giclée prints, tee shirts, hoodies and other things like laptop skins on demand. They handle the printing and shipping, and pay the artists directly. The artists retain the rights to the artwork. I like their model and have been impressed with the products.

Previously, I only let my friend Fuzz (the raccoon whisperer) get a raccoon tee printed, cause he asked nicely. But, now you can have one too in a variety of colours- or a hoodie, tote, or Giclée print. I'll list some other prints too; let me know if you've always wanted to wear a certain work!

Raccoon pillows and soft blocks

I made a couple of raccoon pillows yesterday. Actual pillows featuring my raccoon linocut, not raccoon-shaped pillows. I got a custom order (now shipped off to Australia). Sadly, as soon as I got started, my sewing machine promptly stopped working! Luckily, my mother was able to help me lug it across town for servicing and I was able to use a machine at The Workroom to complete the order. I thought I might as well make two, so there's a new raccoon pillow available in my shop.


The other thing I've been working on are a collection of soft (foam-filled) fabric blocks for babies, featuring my linocut letters. These are on hold until I get the sewing machine repaired (*fingers crossed*), but here's a sneak peak:



Each block has three linocut letters and three other fabrics (assorted printed cottons, including vintage and new prints and the digitally printed NASA imagery I ordered). I want to complete the alphabet of linocut letters make other combinations of letters.

High Five Day

Apparently, it's National High Five Day in the US, which is a good excuse to raise money for cancer research. If you'd like to follow suit on this side of the border, the Canadian Cancer Society is here.

Things for which I have earned a high five this week include successfully making machines talk to me, figuring out how to get the water account switched to our names at the new house without sliping into a coma while on hold, and convincing financial institutions to shift my money around (to make the downpayment) without having my BC driver's license (since that was confiscated when I returned to Ontario and requested an Ontario driver's license). Catch-22 avoided, red tape defeated, digital insubordination outfoxed - yay!

In totally unrelated news, I am amused that The Olympics Daily (which must use a bot to gather tweets and be an aggregator) has mistaken my mentioning the The Handmade Olympics for a 'top story' about the 2012 London Games.

You still have some time to vote, by the way, and you can find Event 2 here and Event 6 here.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Since I have yet to make any sort of groundhog art, I hope you will accept this other urban animal greetings instead. Actually, I keep envisioning a comic with three squares. In the first square there is a groundhog which comes out in broad daylight and sees no shadow with the legend 'sees no shadow, winter is over!' In the second square is an intimidated groundhog running from its shadow and the legend 'sees shadow: 6 more weeks of winter.' In the third panel is frozen mound of of vaguely groundhog-shaped snow with the legend 'see no groundhog: ....'

So yes, we have snow, but really, it strikes me as neither disasterous, nor monstrous, nor surprising, but I guess it gives the media an excuse for melodrama. I hope you are having a snow day, should you be in the wake of this storm, and that all the melodrama is on your television, not in your life.

Chinese Dragon & Skinny Raccoon

New in the shop: 1) artist's proof of 'Long: The Dragon' on red Chinese paper with gold blossoms (and a deckle edge)



& 2) a skinny grey racoon named Radcliff




I also made another raccoon, but it's going to New Brunswick.

High Five Raccoon Pillow... with aeroplanes!

Cause that's what it wanted.





This is a second pillow pillow (~38 cm by 41 cm or 15 inches by 16 inches) featuring my neighbour, a raccoon and "HIGH FIVE" text (hand-carved in reverse) block printed on striped silk in a patchwork with other fabric. It is different dimensions and different fabrics than the previous raccoon pillow - so each is unique. The reverse features a print fabric with gray and black patterns or aeroplanes, dots and stripes in a patchwork with a burgundy wool and red pin-striped, block-printed minouette label.

I like having some fabric which is fun, but not too feminine:

The raccoon is the ultimate urban animal. It thrives in cities. Urban animals like typography.

Ok, more raccoons

p.s. Check it! 3D printing on a tabletop? Why not buildings?
p.p.s. Happy Spring Equinox (or Fall, if you're in the southern hemisphere).
p.p.p.s. Wednesday will be Ada Lovelace Day.

more raccoons

It's official: must make a 2nd edition of High Five.

Urban Animal About Town

The raccoon is the ultimate urban animal, who thrives in cities. Here, my former neighbour, the raccoon and the text "HIGH FIVE" are block printed on striped silk - cause he's an urban sophisticate. This is in a patchwork with wool herringbone and fuchsia fabric. The reverse is a cotton print with an urban scene, with a strip of pin-striped burgundy wool and green block printed minouette tentacles and flowers label. Urban animals dig typography.

High Five for the Groundhog

A big shout out to the working animals today, even if they saw their shadows, because it must be hard to be a celebrity rodent, awoken once a year for prognostication. Even the raccoons agree.

This is a first edition lino block print on Japanese kozo (mulberry) paper 15" by 8 3/8" (38 cm by 21.3 cm) - one of six. Perhaps you recall my former neighbour? The svelte, young, inexperienced raccoon? (We have some raccoons in this town easily twice his size.)

Some details: