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

Baren Digest            Wednesday, 2 September 1998    Volume 04 : Number 262

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From: StudioJNC@aol.com
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 09:08:19 EDT
Subject: [Baren 1496] Re: basswood 

Dear Ray
Now that I have found a fellow conspiritor in Florida, you are moving away
!!!!  Not fair. Maryland is a beautiful place and it does have seasons, which
is a plus !!! Why have'nt I seen your prints on your web page ?  I hope you
are in the print exchange, then I will really see your work.
I am working on a nude for my exchange print. SHE will be in black and shades
of gray.  Of course that might change if it does not come out OK.
My biggest problem in printing {in oil} was 

the registration. I found a great bread board. I then decided on a common
border for most of my prints, 2 inches. I then glued a two inch strip of wood
to the top and another two inch strip on the left side of the board. Then I
glued a ruler {perfect, thin and easy to glue to the outside edge of the board
, just so the ruler sticks up a tad, enough to stop the paper. Then I glued
another ruler on the left side of the board, again, just so it rises above the
strip of wood. When I lay my paper down it rests against the two raised rulers
and allows the two inch border on the paper.  It works for me. Of course you
do not have to waste a ruler, a piece of stripping could be used.  I just had
two handy rulers at my disposal at the time. It may sound confusing , if I
could draw the set up then it would be easier to understand. I know this has
been done before, but in case anybody out there is having a problem, it solved
mine.

Jeanne

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From: Gayle Wohlken <blueman@pantek.com>
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 09:49:36 -0400
Subject: [Baren 1497] Re: Baren Digest V4 #261 

Baren,

Graham, how is basswood different from poplar?  I use poplar.
I also use oil-based inks so warping isn't much of a problem.  I
was wondering if you can get finer detail with basswood compared
to poplar.  Does anyone know? 

Gayle Wohlken

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From: Ray Esposito <brassring@brassring.org>
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 10:03:38 -0400
Subject: [Baren 1498] Re: basswood 

Jeanne wrote:
>Dear Ray
>Now that I have found a fellow conspiritor in Florida, you are moving away
>!!!!  Not fair. Maryland is a beautiful place and it does have seasons, which
>is a plus !!! Why have'nt I seen your prints on your web page ?  

The web page is restricted to the kids and the work of The Brass Ring
Society.  I do not mingle the two even though all proceeds from any artwork
I sell is donated to the Society.  I am planning a webpage for Printhouse,
my gallery and studio and will show all of my work there.  Printhouse will
be dedicated to raising money for the Society.

>I hope you are in the print exchange, then I will really see your work.

I am but do not look on my work as "woodcuts" as it will be on the weird side.

>I am working on a nude for my exchange print. SHE will be in  black and
>shades of gray.  Of course that might change if it does not come out OK.

Looking forward to it.  Just remember, if YOU think it is okay, then it IS
okay.
Never worry about what others think.  In this group everyone will love it.
(Or they will hear from me - gentle soul aren't I  :-)>>>>)  I don't know
many of the new members but the old timers are very encouraging and
supportive. 

>My biggest problem in printing {in oil} was the registration. I found a great 
>bread board. I then decided on a common border..........I know this has been 
>done before, but in case anybody out there is having a problem, it solved 
>mine.

Solving the problem is the important part, not how you got there.
Registration is, I think, the single most difficult problem artists have
when they begin wood blocks.  I solved the problem the Esposito way.  I
ignored it.  Since my prints are completely abstract, registration is not
important.  Fact is, it's something I do not want.  (The reason I do only
abstract is I love it plus I can't draw worth a lick.  If I did a nude it
would look like a stick figure with a broken back.)

My exchange print will be mostly woodcut (I don't want to give Dave a heart
attack).  I will use two wood blocks, one plywood with a lot of knots in it
and one using basswood or shina, making the print 80% wood.  But just for
the sheer fun of it I am going to toss in a collagraph.  What about
registration for these three plates?  Forget it.  In fact, I hope each
print is off center.  I also plan on using ghost prints.  Some of the
ghosts will come from one of the two blocks and some from the collagraph.
Unlike most editions, no two will look alike.  I will number them because
that is what Jim has set up but in truth, each one is a monoprint and
should be numbered 1/1.  As to theme, it will be pure whimsey stressing
children around the world but it might be a wee bit too far out there.  On
paper it looks great.  On wood......????????  But then again, hey, it's a
freebie.

Cheers

Ray Esposito

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From: StudioJNC@aol.com
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 10:40:10 EDT
Subject: [Baren 1499] Re: basswood 

Ray
Looking forward to your abstracts, I also love that genre, although I am a
realist at heart.  When you see my two woodblocks on my web page {soon to
appear in liveing color, you will see that I also ignored the registration. I
wanted a certain freedom in the subject matter of music.  HOWEVER my future
prints are going to be a little more disciplined.
A nude with a broken back, yech !!!!!!!
Jeanne

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From: Jean Eger <jeaneger@LanMinds.Com>
Date: Tue, 01 Sep 1998 07:39:31 -0700
Subject: [Baren 1500] Re: Baren Digest V4 #261 

Hello again,
Yes, Graham, I too would like to buy some basswood.  I live reasonably near
Andrea, so perhaps we could share a shipment.  How do you ship wood to the
U.S.?  I think it might be too bulky for UPS.  Recently I purchased an
eight foot (8')plank of basswood which was nine inches wide (9"W)for $18
U.S.  How does that price compare, Graham?
Jean Eger

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From: Elizabeth Atwood <elizuno@midcoast.com>
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 12:20:12 -0500
Subject: [Baren 1501] Registration..Wood 

Welcome new members.....Mary and Carolyn......glad to see more cutters
working with oil base inks.

Gayle question about basswood???/.....Am I wrong in believing that basswood
IS poplar????
I am planning to use some poplar in the future after never having used
anything but pine. At one time, I was able to get 24" wide pine
boards...but no more. If I can find 18", I consider that fortunate. Perhaps
that is one reason why I have been enjoying miniature woodcuts (about
2x2)....where I can do four colors using all corners of a 5x6 board.

About registration......a problem solved many years ago. (I hoped to post
it to the group, through Dave, when I have the time to make some sketches.)
My print table a large drafting table 3'x4'...with 3/4"x3" planks fastened
on three sides of the top face creating two right angles to "snug in" the
block.
Along the left side, I have mounted two (one above the other) 3-ring
notebook punches. The paper can be pre-punched before the printing or with
the first color. The only way to go off register with this method is when
the block is not placed snugly in the right-angle corner. As I never dampen
paper, I do not know how that would affect the registration. The papers
that I use...Hosho....Tableau for proofing......are punched easily and
surely.
I have two punches on the table because of the large full-sheet prints
which I used to make.
Hope this is at all clear........

Bettie

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From: jimandkatemundie@juno.com (James G Mundie)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 00:02:52 -0400
Subject: [Baren 1502] List of participants for the first exchange folio 

The deadline for commitment having just now passed, these are the members
of [Baren]who will be submitting prints to our very first [Baren]
exchange folio: 

1.   John Amoss
2.   Elizabeth Atwood
3.   Roger Ball
4.   Pat Berberich
5.   Phil Bivins
6.   Dean Brink
7.   Matt Brown
8.   David Bull
9.   Jeanne Norman Chase
10. Sheryl Coppenger
11. Jean Eger
12. Ray Esposito
13. Elisa Flynn
14. Don Furst
15. Karla Hackenmiller
16. Sarah Hauser
17. Ray Hudson
18. Mary Krieger
19. James Mundie
20. Andrea Rich
21. Bill Ritchie
22. Julio Rodriguez
23. Graham Scholes
24. Roxanne Sexauer
25. Richard Steiner
26. April Vollmer
27. Patsy Wilson
28. Gayle Wohlken
29. Hideshi Yoshida


To summarize:

The image area of the woodblock print the above participants will submit
to this exchange folio may be of any size, but must be on an oban sheet
- -- a Japanese standard dimension falling between a range of 10 x 15
inches (25.4 x 38 centimeters) to 10 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches (26.6 x  39.4
centimeters).  The kind of paper (washi, Rives BFK, etc.) is open, so
long as it is torn to the above size.

Open editions are acceptible; however, if one submits a limited edition,
the submitted prints must account for at least the first twenty-seven
prints in the edition. 

Each bundle of  twenty-seven prints -- signed on the front -- must be
shipped in a sturdy re-usable carton with return postage to me by 1
February 1999 (postal address will be provided closer to the deadline). 
At that time I will collate all the prints in an attractive order and
ship them out to each participant.

Happy printing,
James Mundie, Philadelphia USA

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From: jimandkatemundie@juno.com (James G Mundie)
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 00:10:55 -0400
Subject: [Baren 1503] correction to previous text 

In the summary text for the [Baren] exchange, I mistakenly wrote
"twenty-seven prints" several times.  As is clear from the list of names,
that should actually read _twenty-nine_ (that'll teach me to start typing
before all the results are in!)

Mise le meas,
James Mundie, Philadelphia USA

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End of Baren Digest V4 #262
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