Happy Groundhog Day!

Thermochromic Groundhog Day linocut, with and without shadow

May the weather prognosticating rodents be kind to you!

This is January

The Stork linocut, 28 cm by 21.6 cm or 11" by 8.5"
on creamy Japanese kozo paper with colourful confetti-like inclusions

I wanted to wish you all a happy new year, as we are well into January. I'm afraid I haven't been around very much, because baby, as they say. He's doing well, keeping me very busy and changing every day. He now walks or runs everywhere - badly, like a drunken sailor, but on his own two feet... until he isn't. It's hard to let him fall, but I think I have to, at least sometimes. For one thing, he's fast. For another, learning does involve trying, failing and trying again. He says a lot of things, though there's still some interpretation going on. He definitely says Daddy... though, much to my amusement, he kept gleefully pointing to the Christmas tree and saying, "Daddy!" RJH likes to believe he was trying to indicate that he (RJH) carried our tiny tree into the house, or that he set it up, or that he was excited... not that the tree was his father. But, in fairness, Little Monkeytoes does know who Daddy is. Likewise, he's clearly indicated that I am... Wubwub. I believe he's trying to say Mama. If you watch, the way his lips move is almost right, but the 'm' sound is more of a 'w'. Sometimes it's more like Wawub. Anyhow, he know what people mean by Mama or Mommy. Clearly, they mean Wubwub. He's even said "Cat" now and again. Minouette is much kinder to him than to anyone else, despite the fact that he has yet to master gentleness. He even - I think - is saying a couple of simple sentences. He says, what sounds like, "Lookit! What dat?" and points. This is all very good for a 13-month old wee person. It is currently quiet time, which is his vaguely naplike time. He's not big on napping, but enforcing quiet time has changed our lifes for the better. I was extremely skeptical that forced naps could lead to better sleeping at night; I was wrong. It may be illogical, but it's working. Unfortunately, he's spent most of quiet time doing laps of his crib and stopping only to 'read' his baby books (probably upside down, but adorable nonetheless).

Cinders McLeod, for The Walrus magazine online gallery

I'm afraid 2015 in the larger world has not had a lot to recommend for itself. I don't have anything articulate to say about senselessness, but I did like my friend Cinders' cartoon. I have very strong opinions about the importance of freedom of expression, to be honest, which extend to art and opinions I don't like. Many have been misquoting Voltaire. As his biographer, Beatrice Evelyn Hall using the pseudonym S. G. Tallentyre wrote of Voltaire (in 1906), summarizing his sympathy for a fellow author, whose books had been burned, ‘I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.’

Locally, here in Toronto, winter has come, complete with some frigid temperatures and cold weather alerts. Two homeless men have died of exposure. When faced with senselessness, I am most impressed when someone imagines something positive they can do to counteract. A handmaker I know, Nathalie-Roze & Co. takes donated knits and polar fleece to make hats and neck warmers for the homeless. I recently succumbed to the peer-pressure and joined Instagram, where I was reading about The Lennie Project. In an example of when social media can work well, I suggested we post about it to the Toronto Etsy Street Team blog - when our mutual friend Adrienne, captain of the 416Hustlers made a further (better!) suggestion of getting together to help. Now, the two biggest Toronto Etsy teams the Toronto Etsy Team and 416Hustlers are going to co-host a sewing bee to help, January 24! We're still finalizing details, but have managed to put this together very quickly. If you're in Toronto you can take part or find somewhere to donate your cozy knits at this link.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Groundhog votes are in: Shubenacadie Sam: shadow; Wiarton Willie: no shadow; Punxsutawney Phil no shadow, minouette's linocut thermochromic groundhog print: shadow. I bet my print is more accurate than some of those celebrity rodents. False positives (which would occur if it's above 30C or 86 F on February 2nd in Toronto) are unlikely. Happy Groundhog Day!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Well, it's that time of year again, midway between Solstice and Equinox, when we turn to the weather prognosticating rodents to assess of chances of better weather. Since this part of Ontario has been spared much winter at all, it may not surprise you to learn that Wiarton Willie (technically, Wee Willie, as the original, or at least, most recent albino Wiaton Willie is desceased) and his Nova Scotia cohort Shubenacadie Sam both did not see their shadows this morning. If you believe the (wildly inaccurate*) weather prognostication of rodents, readers south of the border may be dismayed that Pennsylvania’s Punxsutawney Phil disagrees, having observed his own shadow. However, this year, thanks to the positive phase of the Arctic Oscillation much of North America has had low snow cover and warmer-than-average temperatures. So, for once, I think that there has not been much winter to speak of, and the Canadian groundhogs may actually be right.

The photo, of course, is of two copies of my a groundhog and his thermochromic shadow linocut - on Japanese kozo paper 11" by 12.5" (28 cm by 31.8 cm). The shadow on the left has been heated, and thus it disappeared. So the print itself serves as a prognosticating groundhog for Groundhog Day! If the shadow is heated above 30°C (86 F) then it turns colourless. And let's face it; if it's February 2, and your artwork is > 30°C (86 F) you either a) live in the tropics north of the equator b) live in the Southern Hemisphere or c) need to turn the thermostat down ASAP. So, there's a pretty good chance that this print can accurately predict that there will not be 6 more weeks of winter (to a degree of accuracy at least comparable to any celebrity rodent).

*Estimated at 37% accuracy

Groundhog

Ah yes, September. When the nights get cooler and thoughts naturally turn to ... Groundhog Day. That's right. This might seem an unseasonable offering (winter is coming), but, you see, I like Groundhog Day because it's perfectly absurd. Here we are in our allegedly modern country, prognosticating weather by harassing celebrity rodents (Wiarton Willie, Shubenacadie Sam,...). Further, this is Canada. Unless you live in Victoria (and possibly Vancouver), if it's February 2, you don't need a groundhog to tell you there will be 6 more weeks of winter.* If you live south of the border, anywhere near the most famous American prognosticating groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, the same is true. Shadow or no shadow, winter ain't over on the 2^nd of February.



Every year, I write something for Groundhog Day. Every year, I think I should make a print for the occasion, but I never do in time. Well, I got the jump on 2012. These are two copies of a block print of a groundhog - and his shadow - on Japanese kozo paper 11" by 12.5" (28 cm by 31.8 cm). The shadow is printed with thermochromic ink, so when heated it disappears! Whether the groundhog can see his shadow is determined by temperature. The cool blue state and hot colourless state are both shown. So the print itself serves as a prognosticating groundhog for Groundhog Day! If the shadow is heated above 30^oC (86 F) then it turns colourless. And let's face it; if it's February 2, and your artwork is > 30^oC (86 F) you either a) live in the tropics north of the equator b) live in the Southern Hemisphere or c) need to turn the thermostat down ASAP. So, there's a pretty good chance that this print can accurately predict that there will not be 6 more weeks of winter (to a degree of accuracy at least comparable to any celebrity rodent).



I bet you thought I would try to sneak in the word 'prognosticating' again.

*Conversely, if you live on the left coast, and there are crocuses coming up in your garden, you do not need a celebrity rodent's shadow to give you leave to laugh at the blizzards to the east of you.