[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking.

Baren Digest              Tuesday, 18 August 1998      Volume 04 : Number 248

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From: Gayle Wohlken <blueman@pantek.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 09:33:31 -0400
Subject: [Baren 1388] Re: Baren Digest V4 #246 

Matt said, regarding his camping/art festing:
>  The key to the whole business is being able to
> frame prints each night so as to have good selection each day, and in this
> camper I have matboard blanks, frames, my mat-cutter, glass. Pretty crazy, no?

I can't imagine doing such a thing.  You must be quite skilled at
framing, Matt.  You mentioned selling as many as 100 prints like this?  I think
framing is the worst part of the art process.  I would never be able to 
trust myself to do it right.

* * * *

regarding Dave's last one point lesson:
> (#18)  Making sharpening stones for curved chisels ...

Is there any way you could include photos of this process.  Reading
it was confusing for me.  It might have been because I was reading it
at 12:00 a.m. and I was tired.  But I kept reading it again and again
and still felt like I wasn't getting it.  

Gayle Wohlken

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From: StudioJNC@aol.com
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 10:22:11 EDT
Subject: [Baren 1389] Black and White Prints 

Hello Jim
Since I do not want to be a Cher or a Prince or a Madonna.  My name is Jeanne
Norman Chase. My error for omiting my full name to be included on THE list.
Now you know.

Regarding some who mentioned they were going to submit a black and white print
for the exchange; May I quote my favorite artist, Odelon Redon who said,
"Black is the most essential of all colors. Above all, if I may say so, it
draws its excetement and vitality from deep and secret sources.....One must
admire black. Nothing can debauch it......It is an agent of the spirit far
more than the fine color of the palette or the prism."

Dave;  How on earth do you find time to do everything?  You are one busy
person. Just received you newsletter and enjoyed it tremendously. I will never
complain about being too busy ever again !!!!!!!

Jeanne Norman Chase

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From: jimandkatemundie@juno.com (James G Mundie)
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 11:15:53 -0400
Subject: [Baren 1390] commitments to exchange 

As of this morning, John Amoss and Roger Ball have also committed
formally to the exchange, bringing the happy number of replies so far
received to twenty.  

Pat, I apologize for the misspelling of your name... a mere slip of the
finger.  You can be sure that the correct spelling will be used to
immortalize your contribution!

Mise le meas,
James Mundie, Philadelphia USA

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From: David Bull <davebull@woodblock.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 16:54:06 +0900
Subject: [Baren 1391] Various points ... 

Gayle wrote:
>regarding Dave's last one point lesson:
>Is there any way you could include photos of this process?

I knew even as I was writing that one that words were not going to be
enough.  A while ago member John Amoss did a couple of illustrations for
one of the earlier one-pointers, and he has now volunteered to make some
to accompany this description too.  

Of course, it will have to wait for a suitable opening in his schedule,
but if you can be patient for a bit, help will be coming your way!  

Thanks very much for this John; I'm sorry to take time away from your
next print!

***

Jim wrote:
> Dave (as our fearless leader and the man responsible
>for providing this forum), would you care to write up something to
>include in the inaugural folio?

Yes, of course I will be happy to try this.  I'm not much into the
'artspeak' stuff though, so it will be something fairly simple and
straightforward.  I think this folio will turn out to be not quite so
formal ... perhaps even a bit 'homey' ...

***

Jeanne wrote:
>Dave;  Just received you newsletter and enjoyed it tremendously.

Thanks Jeanne (and others who wrote ...) for the nice comments on the
newsletter.  I have fun doing it, but am never quite sure how it will be
received.  The collectors certainly seem to enjoy it, and I am sure that
it helps them maintain the feeling that they are 'part of something' and
not just a 'customer'

But just last week, I had an experience that wipes away any
doubts I had about whether or not the mountain of money and time I spend
on it is worthwhile.

I send it out, not just to all the collectors, but to media people who
have been here for interviews, with the idea of keeping them in touch
with what I am doing.  Over the years, even junior reporters climb up
through their organizations, and move into positions of decision 
making ...

I got a call from a woman who had been here to do a short TV news clip
on my work about five or six years ago.  During the intervening time she
has been seeing the newsletter every few months ...  She called to say
that after getting this last issue, she realized that the project was
coming to an end, and that there was an interesting program waiting to
be made.  She put together a plan, approached one of the networks, and
sold it to them.  It's to be a one-hour prime-time documentary on me, my
family, and my work.  

And once they've decided something, they don't fool around.  Last
Saturday and Sunday were dawn to dusk filming - me and the kids going
about our daily routine, then heading down to the river to play, etc. 
Now there will be a rest of a couple of weeks, and then the cameras will
be back, this time into my workshop.  All in all, there will be about
10~14 days of filming, between now and the exhibition.

Is a newsletter worth it?  You bet!

***

>How on earth do you find time to do everything?  You are one busy
>person.  I will never complain about being too busy ever again !!!!!!!

I think this is all very misleading.  I'm _not_ overworked and I'm _not_
stressed for time.  Yes, there are a lot of things waiting to get done,
but they wait in peace, and I don't lose sleep over them.

A few years ago, I did a rough calculation on just how many hours I
spend in any given month on making the print.  It worked out to about 80
hours - from hanshita preparation, through carving, and finally
printing.  Of course prints that have a more complex design will take a
bit longer, but that's counterbalanced by the simple ones.

80 hours in a month!  What a dream schedule!  And _no_ commuting - my
workroom is right here in my home.  A lot of 'salarymen' here spend 80
hours a month on trains!

So '>How on earth do you find time to do everything?' ...  When you
think about it, I should be doing a lot more!

Dave

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End of Baren Digest V4 #248
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