[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Tuesday, 6 October 1998 Volume 05 : Number 303 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: mkrieger@mb.sympatico.ca Date: Mon, 05 Oct 1998 09:52:24 -0500 Subject: [Baren 1804] Printing and Profession Dear Forum The Internet offers us the opportunity to communicate directly with people at great distances from us with such ease, we sometimes forget how much our environment and culture differs from place to place. On the forum we have a great deal in common especially our interest in woodcuts; the technical processes, the artistic expression. The recent discussion on professionalism highlights an area of cultural difference between us. In Canada, an artist or printmaker whether using a printshop or printing themselves does not commonly produce hundreds of prints in an edition yet their peers consider them serious printmakers. The Canadian print market does not consider it professional to produce large editions. I have had a gallery owner commend me for keeping editions under 25 as it is the 'right' thing to do. This is a market phenomenon created by the cachet of a 'limited edition' being used to market what many consider no more than posters. As these are often produced in editions of over 250, to produce small editions is seen as desirable to distance oneself from this type of production. The hobbyist is separated from the 'professional' by the amount and quality of the images produced. Someone who has produced many editions over several years, has exhibited those images and has shown development in their skill and artistic vision is generally considered professional by their peers. This criteria is used across the artistic disciplines, an important point for many printmakers who have struggled with printmaking being considered a lesser art, practised by those whose technical skill outreaches their artistic vision (another cultural twist). The artist may limit their edition size due to economic considerations. Paper, particularly fine hand made imported paper is a pricey commodity. Awareness of woodcut is not high among the Canadian audience. It is more efficient to create smaller editions of a larger number of images when one knows that larger editions will take several years to sell out if ever. This leads to the practice of printing only portions of editions at a time, printing additional proofs as stock is depleted. These cultural factors have the disadvantage of reducing the printing portion of the woodcut process in my practice. I know that I lack the experience only acquired by spending days printing the same image. I rely more on the shared experience of my peers in order to produce high quality proofs. Baren forum is an exceptional source of that information as it links me with printers whose experience is entirely different. I hope there is something useful in my experience that I can share in return. Thank you Richard, Graham and Bill for bringing this topic up. Your posts helped me to clarify my ideas and reminded me of the large and rich variety of resources we all bring to Baren. Mary Krieger ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 10:04:25 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Baren 1805] Re: Printing and Profession Dear Mary. Your posting borders on the profound. It is nice to see the Canadian way expressed so well. You really hit the nail on the head and wish to thank you. Graham ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com Date: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 13:58:42 -0500 Subject: [Baren 1806] re: Aiko's Supplies, Part 2 Well, to continue the story.......... I was almost inside the store when I was approached by two burly guys that wanted to sell me tickets to the Cubs game. No, thanks I said to the scalpers and quickly rushed into Aiko's. I was greeted in a friendly manner by two young clerks. The store is setup in a rectangular shape. When you first walk in you are immediately faced with two large tables (waist high) that are used to sample and display the papers & fabrics. Right behind the tables against the far wall is a display of cubby holes each holding rolls of particular brands or type of papers. The rolls contain individual sheets of paper (mostly in the 2' x 2' or 2' x 4' sizes. I counted approx. 64 (8 rows by 8 columns) cubby holes for just the white-yellow hand-made paper types. To the right of that was another group of cubby holes holding about the same number of colored papers. Then another set of cubby holes displaying what looked like fabrics. Each cubby hole has a sample piece attached to the front with the name, size, price and catalog # of the paper. What a selection ! On the near wall when you walk in (an opposite the papers) is a very wide selection of books on printmaking, suminagashi, sumi painting, calligraphy, etc. Some of the books I recognized as reprints of some very old books I had found at my local library. Down from the books there is a very long display that contains all kinds of supplies. The pigments, knives & other carving tools are all neatly displayed inside glass cases. All kind of printmaking brushes are on display and I must say I handled & tried out every single one of them including a very wide hake brush ($70). Beyond the tool displays at the back of the store is a section reserved for prints. They have quite a number of prints for sale, mostly contemporary artists, mostly in the $500-2000 range. I recognized many artists names. I spent a bit of time at this spot. As I started to work my way back toward the front of the store (and those beautiful papers!) there was an area reserved for pottery and porcelain works and another section displaying smaller prints (mostly smaller in size like postcards) for sale. Many samples of famous artists like Hokusai, Hiroshige, Saito and Azechi. These looked like real prints but obviously reprinted from newer blocks (?). At 4$ to 6$ I was tempted to bring home some goodies. By now I am starting to worry about time, and my car parked outside illegally, about having to explain having my car towed.... A quick look out the front window tells me all okay, the car is still there!. And now unto the papers....... Next: Part 3, Which papers to bring home ? ------------------------------ From: Steiner Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1998 11:12:18 +0900 Subject: [Baren 1807] makes sense to me Richard Steiner/Kyoto Good enuf; Graham, let's wait until your shows are finished to continue conversing. Good luck with them. I looked at your "Pedia" entry some while back and liked what you had put up. Your shows should do well. Bill Ritchie's contribution (Baren 1802) has added some very interesting points not touched on yet, that I need to think about. Thanks, Bill. ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V5 #303 ***************************