For the last day of 2024, #InverteFest, #InsertAnInvert2024 wildcard: This linocut shows three fireflies (Photinus pyralis, the common eastern firefly or big dipper firefly) in a field against the night sky. These bioluminescent insects are the most common firefly in North America and they use the light organ on their abdomen to 🧵1/2

#linocut #printmaking #washi #collage #fireflies #bioluminescence #sciart #insect #glowInTheDark #InverteFest2024 #MastoArt

A 2024 invertebrate print for #invertefest: made for the deepest prompt of #InsertAnInvert2024, hadal - which refers to the deepest ocean trenches 6 km or more, it’s the headless chicken monster!

This is a lino block print of a strange-looking sea cucumber called Enypniastes eximia, the swimming sea cucumber, the pink see-through fantasia or the headless chicken monster!🧵

#linocut #sciart #printmaking #Enypniastes #headlessChickenMonster #seaCucumber #invertebrate #hadal #invertefest2024

Another invertebrate for #invertefest2024: made for the coastal #InsertAnInvert2024 prompt “sand” - an anemone who can move over sand. This is a wandering sea anemone (Phlyctenactis tuberculosa) or swimming anemone, is a species of venomous sea anemone in the family Actiniidae native to sheltered reefs of shallow seas around Australia and New Zealand/Aotearoa. 🧵1/n

#linocut #printmaking #sciart #anemone #wildlifeArt #oceanLife #invertebrate #InverteFest #MastoArt

More new work in advance of #ArtAdventCalendar2024, my blue mussel print for #InverteFest2024 & repeat pattern I made with it. This year I made several patterns using my natural history prints.

The blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), or common mussel, is a medium-sized edible marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae. They are aptly called common mussels and are found on temperate beaches worldwide.

https://minouette.etsy.com/listing/1671612100

#linocut #printmaking #sciart #mussels #blueMussels #MastoArt

A Canadian folktale associated with May Day is the Mermaid of the Magdalenes. I liked the idea that this fairytale is about something as prosaic as finding tinned sardines - and is also about ecology and stars a black lobster as we finish #InverteFest2024.

The rugged east coast Magdalene Islands are all but barren of grass & trees, but the waters are rich in fish and people called it the “Kingdom of Fishes”. 🧵1/n
#folktale #printmaking #linocut #mermaid #Canada #MayDay #InverteFest

I’ve been playing with using some natural history prints to make repeat patterns. So for #InverteFest2024 I thought I would share some #invertebrate patterns like this one from my blue mussel #linocut.

The blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), or common mussel, is a medium-sized edible marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae. They are aptly called common mussels and are found on temperate beaches worldwide.

#linocut #printmaking #sciart #mussels #blueMussels #MastoArt #InverteFest

My lino print with collaged Japanese washi papers on a white mulberry leaf paper with bark inclusions shows blossoming cherry branches & two of our wild, native bees: the bumblebee (Bombus impatiens) and the Blue Orchard Mason Bee (Osmia lignaria). I printed it by hand on Japanese kozo (or mulberry paper), 16” x 20” with various collaged Japanese washi papers for the blossoms, bee bodies and wings.🧵

#linocut #printmaking #cherryBlossom #nativeBees #Osmia #bumblebee #masonBee #InverteFest2024