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.

Immortal Jellyfish

Immortal Jellyfish, Ele Willoughby (c) 2015, 11" x 14" (27.9 cm x 35.6 cm)

This hand-printed linocut of the Turritopsis dohrnii is the only known animal to be able to revert to its younger colonial stage after having reached maturity - that is the full-grown T. dohrnii jellyfish medusa, if it gets stressed, or old and sick, can revert back to the polyp stage, form a new polyp colony and start all over. So in theory, the jellyfish can bypass death and this cycle can go on forever. The jellyfish is "biologically immortal"! In the real world, there are diseases and predators which interfere with the T. dohrnii's plans of immortality, of course... but unlike the rest of us, it's not an impossible jellyfish dream.

T. dohrnii are hydrozoans which begin life as a sort of free floating fertilized egg known as planula larvae, a sort of plankton. These settle on the seafloor and a colony of polyps, or hydroids, attached to the seafloor like a little garden of multi-branched soon-to-be-jellyfish. The jellyfish, or medusae, bud off these polyps, each a genetically identical clone to the next. The medusae swim freely until sexual maturity. After that, should the T. dohrnii face environmental stress, assault or simply age and illness, it can revert to the polyp form, found a new colony and begin again! This cycle can, in theory, repeat ad infinitum.

The "immortal jellyfish" was formerly classified as T. nutricula, which had also been confused with the similar T. rubra. It turns out that it's quite the challenge to tell one Turritopsis from another. Currently only one scientist, Shin Kubota from Kyoto University, has managed to sustain a group of these jellyfish for a prolonged period of time in captivity; in two years, his colony rebirthed itself 11 times! Wanting to avoid the mistake of confusing one Turritopsis for another, I was glad to read the New York Times Magazine profile of Shin Kubota and the Turritopsis dohrnii - so I could be confident their images were of the right animal!

Incidentally, googling "immortal jellyfish" turns up a lot of strange things, including harebrained anti-aging schemes and vampire fans.

Love, art and cinnamon hearts

Finding just the right Valentine's gift can be a challenge. I know I'm always trying to invent something new every year.

If you're seeking a one of a kind, hand-printed, colour-changing, thermochromic Valentine, or the chemistry of attraction in linocut form, or art for dog and cat lovers and more, I can help with that.

Apart from cinnamon hearts, I would definitely love a $500 Etsy shopping spree. Check out the #etsymatch question here, answer on twitter with the #etsymatch tag for a chance to win a $500 Etsy gift card.

And remember, I'm not kidding about the cinnamon hearts. You can send all you unwanted cinnamon hearts to me!

Blog hop

I haven't been blogging as much as I am usually wont to do these days. It's hard to find time for everything, with busy Mr. Monkeytoes around. But, I've been given a little nudge by the lovely and hilarious Michelle of thunderpeep. She asked me if I would take part in a Blog Hop. It's like a round robin, but with blog posts. No, that's not quite it... we don't make people battle it out. Um... it's like a spread the love to your fellow creatives pyramid scheme... or something. So each participant writes about their nominator, answers some questions and then tags two more people to keep the whole thing moving along. She tagged me here.

I first 'met' Michelle online through Etsy and then later in person. She was moving from Vancouver to Toronto and she wanted to find the local Etsians and join the Toronto Etsy Street Team right away. It wasn't always easy to find people who would participate, especially when we were a smaller team. This, clearly, was someone who was engaged in the Etsy and arts community. She was itching to join while still four provinces away. Plus, we had the transplanted Ontario girl moves to BC for a few years only to return to Toronto thing in common. So we cleverly welcomed her and quickly recruited her to team leadership, in one of our smartest moves ever. Michelle is a graphic designer with a newspaper background, growing her online business to be her full-time gig. She also knows everything you need to know about printing artwork. I love how we managed to get a leadership team for TEST with all these complimentary skillsets, serendipitously. I confess there was no master plan... but our instincts were right. We not only got a great leader for our team, Michelle does all the graphic design for TEST.  You'll recognize her distinctive style from the TEST blog.

Often, what I most admire, are things that I couldn't or wouldn't create myself. So while I often go for colour and patern in a big way, and have a style which is fairly naturalistic with a lot of lines and texture, I really admire artists who have mastered symplicity and economy of line. And, I don't know if it's obvious to others or not, but I'm completely obsessed with typography. I have dozens of books on the subject. So I really enjoy her work, from the somehow magical Arctic animals (Scandinavia is what you might call her spiritual home, an inspiration from folklore, to flora and fauna to design - hence, the trolls) to the typography of cards with her trademark humour, sass and pop culture references.

Arctic animals illustrated card set by thunderpeep

Happy Halloween card Gimme all your candy ax murderer by thunderpeep

Family Christmas wally wagon card by thunderpeep

And now, the questions.

1.What are you writing/working on?

We're both working on making the flagship show of the inaugural trans-Canadian Etsy: Made In Canada pop-up market extravaganza a show to remember - which runs smoothly. It's only 10 days away now and you should all come join us at MaRS, or your nearest show on September 27th. It should be a great show! That's been keeping me pretty busy. I'm also working to prepare for the Christmas One of a Kind Show! RJH has been building prototypes of parts of my booth. We're planning hard, plywood walls, framed in wood and debating the merits of different shelving, lighting and flooring solutions. He even built me a wee diorama at 1/12th scale. He thinks it's hilarious that I printed out scale models of my framed prints.

I've also got several print series on the go, including: scientists, my biology imaginary creatures mini prints, the collaged block prints with multiple Japanese paper and other ephemera, my terms of venery series and more.

2.How does your work differ from others in your genre?

Somewhere along the line I think I developed a distinctive style. I often have a subject which sort of floats against a blank field. This comes, I think, from absorbing a lot of Japanese art at a formative age. I recall pooring over an encyclopedia of Japanese art, which I could barely lift, when my father brought it home from Japan when I was three. On the other end of the complexity scale I have prints with elaborate inking schemes. The whole idea of inking à la poupée where different areas of a single block are inked in different inks (as if you were a tiny doll with tiny brayers, I guess) is very freeing for me. It allows me to make multi-colour prints without having to make reduction prints or carving multiple blocks. Likewise using chine collé (which comes from the French expression for glued Chinese paper... and means using small pieces of delicate added papers to add colour and texture to regions of a print). Also, there are the more multimedia collaged block prints, where I print onto and collage printed papers. This satisfies my desire to just luxuriate in a sort of bohemian clash of paterns, and excuses my fantastic hoard of paper and ephemera (ahem). But, in any case, I think you can recognize the prints as mine: having my lines, shapes and textures. I'm getting quite good at fur, if I do say so myself. Perhaps most telling is the choice of subject matter. I do really think of my work as a wunderkammer. I am trying to gather exotic natural specimen, in print form. The terms of venery are about taxonomy as well as a love of words and type. I do think that one should make art of one's own time... so I am interested in depicting things which haven't been depicted before, including say, previously unknown microscopic, prehistoric, or underappreciated creatures. Last, but not least, I am making my own, opinionated, history of science. My own knowledge of and love for science makes my work unique.

3. Why do you create?

Not creating is not an option. I really am driven to create. It's a need and I don't ever recall a time it was any different.

4.How does your creative process work?

I always have ideas on the go. I do make a lot of series of things, which I think works well for prints. I use a lot of photographic references. So, when I choose a subject, I do some research and look at a lot of images. Sometimes I work on the images - very badly and inexpertly - in Photoshop. Then, I draw the image in reverse on to lino and plan how it would work as a print (what is positive, negative space and how it will be coloured). I like the soft artist's lino. I carve away the negative space, pulling the odd proof as I go. Sometimes, when removing material, less is more, so it's important to know when to stop. So proofing is important, cause you can't go back. When the block is done, I cut Japanese paper for an edition. I ink the block and place my paper on top. I burnish my prints using a baren, as one would with a traditional Japanese moku hanga woodblock print. Using Japanese papers and a baren means I can work in my own home, without a press. It also means I can use beautiful Japanese papers.


Now, let me introduce two creatives who inspire me with their work.


Carolyn Eady of Sprouts Press Designs is another local on our team. She's a bookbinder and printmaker. You probably can guess how I feel about books. As well as literature, I love books - the physical books themselves. I've made some of my own, and even took one of Carolyn's workshops (which she graciously offered to her team mates, in our first art/craft skills-based workshop). She is one of the artists I know who does come out and share her knowledge and help others. She makes objects of beauty, simplicity and honest craftsmanship, with real playfulness with the medium. Her entry in last year's 'In the Round' show at Graven Feather, was one of the most original... a sort of deconstructed circular book.

I love the idea of wearing your books:

Mini Book Necklace - Leather Journal pendant from Sprouts Press Designs

You can find all sorts of different types of books in her shop:

Montreal Embroidered Coptic Bound Travel Journal from Sprouts Press Designs

Japanese Stab Bound Journal, Hemp Leaf Binding, Painted Cover, Journeys in Winter Browns by Sprouts Press Designs

I wanted to also profile someone who isn't a Torontonian, whom locals may not know. My friend Tanis is awesome. I first met Tanis Alexis Laird online, on Craftster, years ago, when I lived on Vancouver Island and she lived in Vancouver. She was an artist seeking to learn more about physics, since she was working on a series of paintings about particle physics. I was a scientist needing to make more art. We became friends... though it was harder to manage to meet up in person than you might imagine. I didn't meet her in real life until I'd moved back to Toronto, and came to Vancouver for my job. (She's since moved with her family to the Island.) Tanis is an immensely talented fibre artist, painter, multimedia artist, artisan and all around good person. When I joined Etsy she was Captain of the Trans Canada Etsy Team, and I thought how lucky I was to know someone who was important for Canadian sellers (and I'm sure she'll get a hoot from that). She's not only someone who rallied and organized Canadian Etsy sellers, she's the sort who maintains an international network of artist friends and is more engaged in trying to make the world a better place for all than pretty much anyone I know. She makes all sorts of different beautiful things. You can find her work on flickr,  her blog and on society6. I love having her art in my home!

Tanis Alexis Laird, 2012. soft sculpture.
wired ears, handmade felt fabric, needle felted tail, vintage button eye.

mini nuno wraps and felted fascinators by Tanis Alexis Laird

I love the multimedia combining drawing, painting and sewing.

We Shall Live Here #6, by Tanis Alexis Laird

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.

Did you say park?

I made a custom order pillow for the husband of a lovely customer, of their delightful looking dog. He really did appear to have the sweetest nature in all the photos. So, I wanted to use the block with the dog's portrait, and I could only imagine I'd captured that moment the dog heard the word, "park".

Lately, I've been printing second editions of popular prints, if I've run out of stock. Like my Vixen in the Snow, Aurora Borealis with the polar bear, and screech owl. Next, I plan some quail and maybe portraits of Minouette, herself.

Nearing the end of the alphabet

These letters are all available in at least 5 colours or patterns. Each sheet is only 14.8 cm or 5⅞ inches square.


S is for snail


R is for rooster


W is for (humpback) whale


V is for (turkey) vulture


X is for Xenopus, the African clawed frog or platanna


Only two letters left to go: Y and Z. I'm almost finished my quilt too. I went and bought the batting and fabric I needed so I really want to complete the alphabet and the quilt both.

Today, however, I must go bake a birthday cake for my father.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

more letters

I've also been working away at the alphabet of monograms. Just R,S, V, W, X, Y, and Z left! I've made h for hippo, k for koala and p for parrot.

g for giraffe

G is for Giraffe of course!

This 'g' monogram linocut features an elegant giraffe. It's standing on the tail and peeking through the loop of the 'g'. This is an open edition print in brown ink on Japanese paper, known as washi. It is available in a variety of colours! Each sheet is 14.8 cm or 5⅞ inches square.

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!

D is for dragonfly

I made another monogram yesterday: d is for dragonfly. I had been thinking maybe I should do a dragon - after all, I already have a mermaid and a unicorn, so this collection isn't strictly natural history, but then again, I could make a kimodo dragon. Then, it hit me that a dragonfly would be just the thing. Since my ulterior motive is the baby quilt, I like to include things which quietly allude to the parents, and RJH has long used one of his macro shots of a dragonfly as his laptop background image. Plus, I'm gathering insect prints at the moment, so it works for that project too.



I also made a wee baby kimono, cause now I have an excuse to buy the cutest fabric (though, I seemed to have other excuses previously and have a bit of a fabric hoarding habit). I used this somewhat too succinct tutorial, which I thought would be easier, but it was deceptive. The kimono was more challenging than the coat, which seems backwards. I think I'll make some easier things next. I gather from seeing what is truly useful for my nephew, that what parents really need is a whole bunch of fabric rectangles (receiving blankets, burp cloths, changing mats, play mats and so forth) and rectangles are about as easy as sewing gets. I bought terry cloth and I have the aforementioned cute fabrics, and figure that one cannot have too many burp cloths, so rectangles it is.