Tea Pots and Other Recent Prints

 

                                            Green Tea Chemistry linocut by Ele Willoughby

I thought I should add a tea chemistry linocut to go with the coffee linocut, which includes the caffeine molecule. Of course, tea chemistry is quite complex! I asked on Twitter, thinking I might have some tea loving scientist followers with good suggestions and I wasn't disappointed. Not only was I given some good feedback about which chemicals to feature, but also the suggestion of including the chromotography, as a means of telling the fuller chemical story.

There's a tea pot, two cups of tea and a tea plant (Camellia sinensis) on a tray, and in the steam, you can see some of the organic chemicals found in green tea. Up to 27% of the composition of green tea can be a member of the flavonoids called catechins like the molecule illustrated on the right. The stimulating effect of green tea is of course related to caffeine (the molecule in the middle) but, unlike say coffee, green tea also has an amino acid in tea called L-Theanine (the molecule on within the tea pot handle). L-Theanine has a direct effect on the brain, relaxing it without making you drowsy and can help with focus and mood; it's also largely responsible for taste. Since the chemistry of green tea is complex, and I can't show all the molecules involved, at the base of the tray is a chromatogram to illustate the L-Theanine (largest peak) and other amino acids in the green tea. 

With tea and teapots on the brain, I started thinking about a suggestion for another "imaginary friend" of science (my collection of charismatic thought experiments like Maxwell's Demon or Schroedinger's cat): Russell's Teapot. 

 Russell's Teapot by Ele Willoughby

The alledged china teapot, in orbit between Earth and Mars is an analogy by philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) to make the case that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon a person making unfalsifiable claims, rather than shifting the burden of disproof to others. The print is made by hand on lovely 8" x 9" (20.3 cm x 22.9 cm) Japanese Obonai paper with a feathery sheen.

The Earth appears in blue in the corner. The China teapot itself has a blue flower pattern, and is shown magnified. Mars is in red with two tiny moons. At the bottom are the symbols for the solar system: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and the extra teapot, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

 

I also made a couple of Snowy Owl light boxes, which include my snowy owl linocut and colour changing LEDs to simulate the aurora.

While, we've been on a lockdown here in Toronto, and the schools are closed, so I'm spending a lot of time every day fascillitating online school for my 7 year old, I have also been trying to do all of the Printer Solstice prompts (one a week since the winter solstice).

Humpback linocut for prompt "under pressure".

 

A New Hope linocut schematically shows how mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, train the body to make spike protein, which our immune system then learns to combat.

 

Blep linocut, for "in good taste" is thinking creatively about taste and tongues. 

Europa Express linocut for the prompt "passport"

tiger tea time

This is a tea cozy I made. The image is of a multimedia artwork I made called 'Darjeeling' of a tiger enjoying a cuppa tea (painted in ink with collaged Japanese washi, in an ornate, vintage frame) which I had printed onto fabric (by Spoonflower). Then I combined new and vintage fabrics (cotton, wool, ribbon and quilting batting) and hand-block-printed fabric to make this one of a kind cozy.







For those who prefer coffee...

army of mini-cupcakes

Sunday was a good day. faunalia does not believe in moderation in baked goods. Oh no. We think that Lady Redjeep would have enjoyed this event; tea, mis-matched china, cupcakes, music, small children building mountains of pillows, art and craft for sale, for the hibiscus and rosehips tea party.





See, they would not even fit in a single photo!

tea party reminder

hope and rosehips

Last night I went and saw Coraline in 3D with Reynardin and Faunalia which we all really enjoyed. I remarked that a lot of love went into making that movie.

Faunalia claimed that thoughts of spring are wrong, my maple tree is falsely optimistic to be budding- it will snow again, and lo, this morning there is snow. I'm blaming Faunalia. ;)

So "hope" as a theme has been theme co-opted by all and sundry of late. However it has come up twice recently in invitations to me to donate art to raise funds for cancer research and associated charities - one place where hope is precisely the right theme.

Last year I made a 4" x 4" (10 cm by 10 cm) 'chunky page' for alteredmommy's collaboration on the theme of hope. Initially she intended to auction the book to raise funds for the cancer society. She decided to feature the book at the auction but donate it directly to a cancer survivor. This year she has invited people to contribute a chunky page once again. She will make a wall hanging to auction to raise funds for the Cancer Society. She herself is a cancer survivor.


Yesterday, I got a lovely (& lengthy) message on etsy from local musician Erin Lang. She is involved in raising funds for a lymphatic cancer charity called the Hibiscus Fund For Hope. In her words, "they do really amazing things for people going through cancer treatment in terms of helping to have their families with them if they can't afford to be there and paying for drugs that are not covered by OHIP and things like paying for daycare when a low income or single parent family suddenly find they have to be at the hospital everyday.. and so many more things.." She decided to start an associated music and arts group called Hibiscus and Rosehips to do a series of fund-raising events. She's lined up a long list of musicians* and bands (local "quirky original artsy folksy" indie bands from Toronto and Montreal and some international) who are donating songs for a CD. There will be Folk Tea Party/Bake sale with live music and the CD release and local crafts, on Sunday April 19th in the afternoon. 100% of all says will go to the charity.

So, I will be donating some art for this event. I appreciate that they help the families of those with lymphoma. Money for research is important, but until we learn how to grapple with these diseases, it is the families who need immediate help. I thought some of you might be interested in also participating, or donating, or baking, or giving art. It's a very pleasurable way of giving (through creating).

*Some of the musicians involved:
Ohbijou
Snailhouse
Timber Timbre
Castlemusic
Luxury Pond
Snowblink
The Youngest
Owl Eyes
Kite Hill
Jesse Smith
Roger O'Donnell
Lettie