[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Saturday, 24 October 1998 Volume 05 : Number 322 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Graham Scholes Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 08:40:36 -0700 (PDT) Subject: [Baren 1934] Staying focused David and James and all, I have had a number of opportunities presented to me that is putting a great deal of demands on my time. It is all good stuff and will result in a lot of prestige. As a matter of fact it is a milestone in my career. The first thing that I can tell you about is I have been accepted by the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria to have an exhibition of my woodblocks June 4th to July 4th in 1999. The most important part of this is that they are going to hang some of Walter J. Phillips prints in the show. 3 walls of me and 1 of Phillips who is considered the Guru of woodblock prints in Canada. It compares to having an exhibition with Hiroshi Yoshida work. It is a honour that has me very excited. As this is an exhibit of coloured woodblocks I need to get a few other images that are not lighthouses. I need to show them (the Public) I am more than a light at lands end. These will be large pieces to compliment the size of others in the show. I will be having shows in several galleries across Canada in the year 2000 and so must finish the light series by Dec next year in order to be ready for those events. With the pressure of doing several images other than lights for the Victoria Gallery time will be at a premium. As if that wasn't enough to cause celebration, yesterday I learned that another Public Gallery in BC want an exhibition of my life drawings in Aug 99. This is being co-ordinated with the assistance of the Victoria Art Gallery, which will travel to several Galleries in the Province. It has taken the fat side of 20 years to get the recognition of the Public Gallery system and I want to be up to the tasks and demands of MY standards. (if possible). These events have caused me to regroup and find ways of staying focused. It is for that reason that I will not be able to participate in the exchange. Sorry about that.... Graham ps It becomes important for me to read this quote often Artists must never be prisoners Prisoner of his own self Prisoner of a way of painting Prisoner of his reputation Prisoner of success by Henri Matisse ------------------------------ From: jimandkatemundie@juno.com (James G Mundie) Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 11:34:49 -0400 Subject: [Baren 1935] more about international money orders Julio's story just goes to prove further that the US post office seems to hire only exceedingly lazy individuals of sub-par intelligence. Any post office regardless of size should be able to provide you with an international money order for a $3 fee. As they are inclined to be less than helpful, you are required to already know the conversion rate (as the money order will be issued in the equivalent US funds). The clerk will ask you the destination country for bookkeeping purposes, but there will be no indication on the money order itself. Another note of caution: international money orders can only be paid for in cash or with an ATM card. For some unknown reason, the post office will not accept credit cards for money orders. Relating to Dave's story of Japanese banks charging outrageous fees to cash foreign cheques, I was recently inquiring after a certain product a printmaker in France was offering. As to the method of payment, he recommended a cheque drawn on a UK bank in pounds sterling, or just good ol' American currency in an opague envelope. Apparently, France is also in the habit of charging outrageous fees even to cash an international money order! Be forewarned, James Mundie, Philadelphia USA ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 11:48:49 -0500 Subject: [Baren 1936] re: Graham's news I am sure I speak for all of Baren on wishing you Congratulations on your upcoming shows. The history of art is full of great artists that were never truly recognized during their lifetimes. It must indeed be very exciting and a great honor for you and yours to receive such recognition among your peers. Wishing you all the best success......... JULIO ps. You will surely be missed in the Baren exchange. ------------------------------ From: Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 13:49:00 -0700 Subject: [Baren 1937] MO's My Post Office also declined to provide a money order for yen. I may have misunderstood. Was David saying we could send a money order for the dollar equivalent? I thought he ment he wanted the money order in yen and the only place I could find one was the bank where they did indeed charge an excessive fee ($10.) and had to order it. Our time is worth money too and I will enjoy the folio for years so I won't bemoan the fee. Andrea Rich PS Congradulations Grahm! ------------------------------ From: "Ray Esposito" Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 17:12:47 -0400 Subject: [Baren 1938] Re: MO's The money order is in US dollars. You can figure the yen by using a currency exchanger. My favorite is at http://165.121.20.65/webguide/pserve/travel/currency.html. Just put the amount you want to calculate i.e., in this case 2,500. Click on Japanese Yen in the left column and US Dollar in the right colum and it will give you the equivilent. Fast and simple. Round up to the next penny, (I suggest next dollar because of all the work Dave is doing), and that is the amount you ask for at the P.O. Cheers ------------------------------ From: Gary Luedtke Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 17:35:48 -0400 Subject: [Baren 1939] Staying focused Graham, Congratulations on your imminent success. Your labor finally seems to have caught the attention it deserves of the galleries, and soon to the broader new audience of Canadians and world citizens it can and will reach. Give it your best, as we know you will. We'll be watching from the far horizon's of the world, cheering you on. Go for it! Cheers! Gary ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Sat, 24 Oct 1998 07:44:51 +0900 Subject: [Baren 1940] Re: Graham's exhibitions Graham wrote: > ... an exhibition of my woodblocks ... Congratulations Graham, this sounds very exciting for you. Of course I'm saddened that you can't make the [Baren] print, but I'm sure there will be other chances for that. Unless you get so famous and busy after this show that you won't have any time for us anymore! > images other than lights It's going to be interesting seeing what you come up with. Will there be a catalogue for the show? If so, put me down for a copy please ... > Prisoner of his reputation Not being an artist myself, I don't know if this really applies to me, but I think I know what you mean. After ten years of making prints on the same theme, everybody now knows me as 'the guy doing that poets series'. Boy oh boy am I looking forward to next year's work ... I'm sure you are in the same mood. Congratulations again, and no matter how busy you get, don't forget your friends here at [Baren]! Dave B. ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Sat, 24 Oct 1998 13:35:06 +0900 Subject: [Baren 1941] One-point lesson ... Here is this week's 'One-point' lesson (contributed by Dave Bull) ********** ********** ********** (#28) Cleaning fresh 'blots' from prints ... Some of these 'One-point' lessons have touched on how deep to carve the blocks, and I have emphasized my feeling that they should be as shallow as possible (in Lesson #3 for example). One side effect of using shallow blocks though, is that the possibility of getting 'blots' on the paper increases as the carved depth decreases. In my earlier days of printmaking, whenever one of the sheets picked up a blot from inadvertent contact with a pigment-smeared portion of the carved area, I always tossed it into the discard pile. It seemed to me that there was no way to remove the pigment from the washi; erasing or rubbing just destroyed the surface of the paper. But one day I learned a method of saving these 'blotched' sheets ... I was watching Keizaburo Matsuzaki print one of the colours on a typical ukiyo-e print. As he flipped the sheet off the block and laid it face up on the pile to his side, both he and I noticed that there was a blot on the paper. I assumed that this particular print would be a write-off, but was surprised at what he then did to it. He whipped a piece of tissue paper out of a box within reach, and quickly folded it - once, twice, three times - into a small 'pad' about the size of a narrow playing card. He laid this pad onto the three middle fingers of one hand, and held it in place there with the thumb and little finger of the same hand. He then dabbed the tissue onto his tongue a couple of times to lightly moisten it. Turning the moistened section face down, he reached over and very very lightly dabbed at the blot with the tissue. It's difficult to describe the actual motion he made. He _didn't_ push down into the paper, but just made a light dab ... and pulling-up motion. He repeated it three ... four ... five times, slightly moving the position of his hand and the tissue each time. We then inspected the sheet. There wasn't a trace of colour left where the blot had been. He had literally pulled the pigment off the surface. I was astonished ... he just smiled. If the blot is the type resulting from the baren striking the paper into the wood, this technique will not work, but if the blot is one of those caused by the paper just coming lightly into contact with the pigment, it can usually be 'pulled off' successfully. ********** ********** ********** Next week - Getting softened up ... These 'One-point' lessons are being collected into a section in the [Baren] Encyclopedia of Woodblock Printmaking. http://www.woodblock.com/encyclopedia/updates.html Contributions from experienced printmakers for future 'One-pointers' are eagerly solicited. ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V5 #322 ***************************