T.E.S.T. Interview: Art That Moves

We hope to introduce you to all the great Etsy sellers to be found right here in Toronto. Here at the T.E.S.T. blog, we plan to interview them all. This is the 35^th in our series with Christine of ArtThatMoves.

Celebrating art, creating and joy everyday

Exploring the energy that happens when images and words or poems connect - Art That Moves - is one of my favourite ways to create. I start with a word or a poem and allow an image to unfold in my mind. I have always used this technique painting on canvas and working with linoblock prints. Opening my Etsy shop allowed me to expand into the fabulous world of printing on fabric.

I love designing a screenprint image which I then handprint onto a plain piece of fabric. That action transforms the fabric into a piece of art. Working in my studio I might print two yards or twenty in an afternoon. Printing allows me to shut off my mind and flow. The rhythm of pouring the ink - running the squeegee over the fabric again and again is meditative and satisfying.

Because of the joy I felt creating new textiles I started to teach kids and then adults screenprinting technique and I love to watch them feel the same thrill I do as they transform fabric into something new.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and why you started your shop.

I joined Etsy a few years ago, but I don't really feel I focused on my shop properly until the last couple of months. It's only been recently that I have focused on improving my photographs, my range of products and my presence on the site.

For the last few years I had been focusing more on painting. I was working on promoting my career as a fine artist. Between that and working in schools mural making with children and running adult printing workshops I didn't spend as much time as I wanted on my Etsy site and the work there.

There was a big shift in my life this year and I decided to leave the studio space I was renting in order to shift my focus from painting to printmaking. I realized that though I enjoy painting very much - it's really printmaking that brings me the most joy and allows me to express myself in the way that I want. Printmaking is more affordable for people and it's primitive appeal reaches more people I think.

What has been your biggest challenge so far on Etsy?

Becoming visible to my audience and committing to the time needed to create a cohesive shop with good photographs, descriptions and tags.

What about your greatest success?

I haven't had a greatest success really, but I love connecting with the community on Etsy. I have received convos from people telling me how much my work inspired them or touched them in some way. It's so easy to reach out on Etsy and I'm just learning to tap into the communities there.  

What inspires you to create a new item?

First "I" get out of the way then I allow whatever I'm feeling to bubble up. I try to let the joy of what I'm feeling come out without censoring myself. It can be anything from soup to nuts, but if I'm feeling it I try not to think about whether or not it is going to be for the shop or whether it's a gift or whether it's just for me. For instance, the Santas I made this year. The first thing that came from my mind was - WHAT the? - then I stopped the chatter and just had the most fun ever creating them. I love looking at them. They make me happy.  Posting them in my Etsy shop got me invited to display at two local stores.

Do you have any exciting projects coming up?

I do but I can't talk about it yet. I'm planning to launch something new and exciting in January.

And finally, just for fun, what is your favourite flavour of ice cream?

Peanut butter and chocolate of course.

Check out the other items available from Christine in her Etsy Shop! You can find more of her work on her websites, www.christinepensa.com and www.artthatmoves.ca, as well as Twitter and Facebook

Interviewed by Emma of IndeedEmmaDesign in November 2012 in Toronto.

A little press: Etsy Short Stories

T.E.S.T.'s own minouette's linocut portrait of Mme. Wu, and her experiment are the subject of the Etsy blog Short Stories today. Ele of minouette uses her background in physics to explain the background behind this brilliant physicist, her beautiful experiment and its shocking results.

T.E.S.T. Interview: minouette

We hope to introduce you to all the great etsy sellers to be found right here in Toronto. Here at the T.E.S.T. blog, we plan to interview them all. This is the second in our series, an interview with minouette.

Tell us a little about your and your shop.

I've always had varied interests. When I was younger some of my favorite subjects were art on the one hand, and physics on the other. I decided that it was easier to pursue art on my own, than it would be to attempt to be a modern-day amateur scientist. So I work as a marine geophysicist by day and printmaker by night. ;) What that means is that my profession involves building machines and going to sea to image what is below the ocean floor, which keeps the spatial-numerical left-half of my brain occupied. But I couldn't survive unless I kept the pictorial right-brain happy, so I need to create art.

I make a lot of different things. My shop "things from secret minouette places" is filled with block prints on paper and on textiles. Part of magic and beauty of printmaking is the possibility of making multiples. This allows me to create original art at a very reasonable price. I've been focusing mainly on linoleum block prints. I do this by drawing an image in reverse on linoleum and carving away the negative space. I use a tool called a brayer (like a paint-roller) to apply ink to the lino block. Then I take my paper or fabric, lay it on the inked block, and burnish the image onto it with another tool called a baren. The baren was developed for Japanese woodblock prints. Mine consists of a flat, but textured disk, wrapped in a bamboo leaf. To make another image, I simply apply more ink to the block and repeat. I also make things from the printed textiles, like pillows, stuffed animals and ornaments.

In your Etsy profile it says you have been printmaking since you were a child, starting at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Over the years, what do you think were some of the most important learning experiences you had in developing your craft?

Those classes at the AGO were a big influence on me. It's much easier to learn some things when you are a child. I think starting young was a great help to me. I've got more experience than I would otherwise. Also, I find that things like registration (lining up multiple blocks or screens in different colours to produce a multi-colour print) or never carving towards myself are now instinctive.

We have some great resources here in Toronto!

On Vancouver Island, I did a workshop in paper-making by hand. Making paper by hand is meticulous and painstaking. It's not something I have done often, but learning about paper and how it's made was a really valuable experience. Paper can make all the difference to a print. The fibres in hand-made paper point in all directions. The fibres in machine-made paper are aligned in a single direction and hence, it is stronger in one direction than in the other, and if it gets wet it deforms asymmetrically. I love Japanese kozo paper, especially the handmade variety.

I also attended a "Moku-hanga Woodblock Printing Bootcamp". Anyone who has carved wood might understand why it's called bootcamp - this is hard physical labour! I learned a lot which I apply to my lino block prints.

I feel like Childhood and Wonder are major elements in your work. Why do you think that is?


That's a really interesting question. While I decided, as I mentioned, that I couldn't be a modern-day amateur scientist, I'm really interested in Cabinets of Curiosity (or wonder - the wunderkammer) kept by avid amateurs from the Renaissance up until 19th century. People had huge collections of natural wonders: rocks, gems, fossils, butterflies, shells, bones, all sorts of plants and animals, real and imaginary. Science and magic were still intertwined. These collections both fostered myth (such as narwhal horns passed off as unicorn) and the development of descriptive science (including geology, paleontology, botany and zoology). I think of my shop as a Cabinet of Curiosity. It's filled with specimens from natural history (with the odd harpy or unicorn thrown in for good measure).

I also feature characters from the history of science, which is all about wonder.

Of course, I also love myth and fairytales. If the cabinet of curiosity represents a sort of proto-science, the myth is like the proto-story, the basis for the stories we tell again and again in different ways. Also, I think the same part of me which enjoys mathematical symbols and puzzles, enjoys symbols in folklore. I enjoy considering how things like zodiac cycles were attempts to explain astronomical observations.

I guess my work throws all of these things together.

What 3 skills or traits do you think makes you such an exceptional printmaker (well, I think you are exceptional!) ?

Why, thank you!
Um, well, I'm focused and stubborn, I have good dexterity, and I'm an experimentalist, all of which are very useful traits for the scientist too. Being focused and stubborn, means I am willing to put in the time and attention to detail. For me this is the right way to prepare an experiment or a lino block. Carving is a skill. It takes practice, but having flexible fingers is lucky. Being an experimentalist means that I have good problem-solving skills and a willingness to try different things to make the image in my head a reality. I pull a lot of proofs as I carve and am willing to change direction and vary my plans. I experiment as I go.

You’ve been creating and selling for a long time compared to some of us. What advice do you have for new crafters/artists or people who are new to Etsy?

I've been creating a long time, but only selling for a couple of years. In terms of creating my advice would be to try! Create what you want - experiment until you find what you enjoy and what works for you. Don't sell yourself short or make barriers for yourself. I'm a big believer in the handmade movement and buying local. Etsy is a great venue to allow buyers and sellers to find one another and avoid the mass produced. I think the main thing to recognize for a new Etsy seller is that it takes time to build up a clientele. Finding a group or street team of like-minded individuals, a community within Etsy, is really useful. Don't neglect to read FAQs and check out some of the great off-site tools like craftcult, craftopolis, and Google Analytics.

What’s next for Minouette?

Hmm... well I have to keep some secrets! I do have some collections of things I am working on. There will be more "Imaginary Friends of Science". Maxwell wasn't the only one with a Demon. I'm thinking I need more fungi, not just the Fly Agaric. I'm considering a western zodiac to go with the Chinese zodiac. Broadly speaking, there will be more multi-media and perhaps more media in general.

Check out more of minouette's work in her shop. You can follow her blog on either LJ or Blogger. Her flickr photostream is here. You can also follow minouette on twitter. She also writes magpie & whiskeyjack where she gathers favorite things.

Interviewed by anotherangle, November 13 to 16, 2009.