Ayatana Residency of Biophilia: An Intersection of Scientists and Artists in Wolfville, Halifax

At the very end of this summer, I had the pleasure of joining a group of artists and scientists for the Biophilia residency through the Ayatana Program, lead by Ayatana Director Alexis Williams.




I loved the chance to see Nova Scotia again, this time up close and personally with nature!

I found some pirate ship remnants on nearby shorelines.

 

This very angry buoy

We were a diverse group of artists from Montreal, Winnipeg, Ottawa, and Oregon USA, and worked with a marine biologist, an academic ecologist, and geological expert and more.

At the conclusion of the residency, each artist created an artist book inspired by their experiences. Mine is a photographic clock that captures fleeting objects - each only existing itself for a very short time-frame, representing each day I spent in Nova Scotia.

To read more about the ongoing Ayatana Residencies, visit:

http://www.artayatana.com/

And if you want to look through the entire library of artist books and accompanying catalogue, check out Alexis William's IndieGogo campaign at:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-research-artist-s-book-collection

Cheese Matchbooks - a Triptych

 Living in Quebec, a province of endless tiny cheese-makers, I think about cheese a certain amount. It's been on my mind lately!

Working away on drawing my favourite cheese!

So I made a trilogy of cheese matchbooks for on-the-go cheese appreciation!

If you need some of your own, you can find them at my Etsy Shop:

Cheese Matchbooks at Etsy.com/shop/printmonkeygirl

Wisdom Teeth!

A book of wisdom from your teeth!!

Getting put together in the mini book press.

Wisdom Teeth books can be found at my Etsy shop!

Wisdom Teeth at etsy.com/shop/printmonkeygirl

Welding Electric Towers

I finally tried out several days of welding, with some very helpful metal shop technicians to help me out.

My electric tower design required a serious organization system!

The end result of three towers ranging from 3-5 feet tall has given me some great small-scale electric towers to play with!

'Sky Lines' Star Book & DIY Kit

I've been working on a DIY kit so that anyone can create their own copy of my 'Sky Lines' star book. Each kit comes with everything: even markers to color it in!

Send in a photo of your completed star book and I'll create an album of all the different possibilities!

Grab a kit of your own at:

etsy.com/shop/printmonkeygirl

'Horny' Zine

Working on a zine about lonely taxidermied animals - sole occupants of their apartments, searching online for that special someone!! The parallels between the museum diorama's carefully drawn faux backgrounds and the crafted virtual presence we curate online struck a chord with me when visiting a museum lately - as did the solo lives of each room's occupants.

Available at my Etsy shop - check it out!

www.etsy.com/shop/printmonkeygirl

Visiting Turnhout's Playing Card Museum

The rich tradition of playing card production in the northern region of Belgium inspired the format of our collaborative 'Just Print Play' residency at the Frans Masereel Centrum - which meant we all had to visit Turnhout's Playing Card Museum!

The museum has an enormous variety of presses, as well as wood engravings and lithographic stones with original playing card designs still ready to be printed!

This massive camera was responsible for photographing designs in order to make them into cards!

After working for 10 days on our own playing cards, it was amazing to see an entire production space devoted to printing cards, cutting them and trimming the edges, and even a die-cutter to fold the protective box!

Then back to the Centrum to work on some of my own plates as well before heading back to Canada.

and last of all

PONY TIME!

'Just Print Play' continued

For the 'Just Print Play' playing card deck, my three cards to design and print were the Queen of Hearts, the Two of Diamonds and the Two of Hearts - perfect for my love of anatomy and duality!

The screenprinting stations and exposure unit are each housed in these igloos - very appropriate for the Canadian team to print in igloos even when in Belgium!

Getting work done!

Feeling very inspired by our A-frame houses.

One of the many chocolate items available in the grocery store - life-size chocolate chickens!!

All blue gnomes point to home - these little guys guided us home.