[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Tuesday, 23 February 1999 Volume 06 : Number 458 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Cucamongie@aol.com Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 07:53:18 EST Subject: [Baren 3171] Re: Wood? Somebody wrote: >Seems like Birch plywood is easy to find in San Francisco, CA, but basswood > (shina) is quite hard. > Any suggestions on where to get it either here or a tested mail order? McClain's carries shina (I prefer the all-shina since it cuts more like a solid plank of wood than the regular shina) - they also carry tons of other woodblock supplies - their telephone no is 1-800-832-4264 - by the way, one of my prints will be in their upcoming catalog (I'm not sure exactly when it's coming out) - anyway, nice folks there & they carry a lot of great supplies Best regards, Sarah ------------------------------ From: Cucamongie@aol.com Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 07:58:40 EST Subject: [Baren 3172] Re: buying wood mail order. Bea Gold Wood? >I'd love to know where to find cherry. Anyone? Bea April told me where to get cherry, but I'll have to dig up the info - - I'll post it once I find it! Sarah ------------------------------ From: Cucamongie@aol.com Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 08:03:20 EST Subject: [Baren 3173] Re: a few replies ... Gary wrote: >Craft is one thing, and creating is another. Gary, I thought this was well-put, and it was great to see the rest of your articulate post - I have a hard time putting this stuff into words, and you did - thank you- best regards, Sarah Hauser ------------------------------ From: "Jeanne N. Chase" Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 08:19:34 -0500 Subject: [Baren 3174] Re: New Printer/Member Welcome Joe We are a nosey group and now that we have you as a new member we would love to know you better. Such as; what type of woodcutting do you do, what subject matter, where do you live? Oh, and by the way do you have a cat? Jeanne I know, this should be on After 5, but what the hey! ------------------------------ From: Cucamongie@aol.com Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 08:25:43 EST Subject: [Baren 3175] cherry Bea asked about cherry wood - Bea, I don't remember where you're writing fro - the two places I know about are in the Bronx, and I don't know if they ship, but you can give them a call: Rosenzweig Lumber (718) 585-8050 Constantine's Lumber (718) 792-1600 Best regards, Sarah ------------------------------ From: "Ray Esposito" Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 08:42:40 -0500 Subject: [Baren 3176] Re: New Printer/Member Joe Welcome to Baren. Jeanne is correct that where you live and do you have a cat should been on our other forum, Baren After 5 (BA5). She brings it up here just to irritate me because I haven't danced with her yet. But she is right about one thing. We are a nosey bunch. This forum, Baren, is for the techie side of woodcutting with a few jokes tossed in to get the goat of the "purists" and here is where you tell us all about your experiences and share your talent. If you have any of your art on the web, we would love to see it. Feel free to jump in on any subject. As to Graham's sarcastic comments about me.....they are true. But it is better than being the crazy uncle from the cold, cold north. Cheers Ray ------------------------------ From: "Jean Eger" Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 07:00:09 -0800 Subject: [Baren 3177] Re: Baren Digest V6 #457 Marco, Rereading your post, I see you said basswood (Shina). Shina is a kind of basswood plywood. The real original basswood is at MacBeath. Jean Eger ------------------------------ From: "Jean Eger" Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 06:58:37 -0800 Subject: [Baren 3178] Re: Baren Digest V6 #457 Marco, If you're looking for basswood in the San Francisco Bay ARea, MacBeath Hardwoods has it. They are on Ashby near San Pablo Avenue in Berkeley. It's right off the freeway. That's the first place I looked, so other stores ought to have it also. If you do a survey, let me know the results. Thanks. Jean Eger' ------------------------------ From: "Jean Eger" Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 07:05:58 -0800 Subject: [Baren 3179] Re: Baren Digest V6 #457 Bea, For cherrywood, try these people: http://www.lakeshorehardwoods.com/ Let us know the results. Thanks, Jean ------------------------------ From: Gayle Wohlken Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 10:47:27 -0500 Subject: [Baren 3180] Re: Baren Digest V6 #457 Welcome to Baren, Joe; if you have questions, this is where you'll get answers. Also, read the Encyclopedia for more in-depth discussions of processes. You'll like it here on Baren. * * * * I too am interested in a discussion on the ball bearing baren. Everytime I read how difficult some process of woodblock printmaking is (Japanese style) the more I put off using that box of materials I'm accumulating. Splitting skins of baren wrappers, tying new ones that might not fit right, tying them tight enough, buying new ones all the time. I don' know, do any of the other oil-based ink people feel nervous about these procedures? Usually, I'm willing to try new things, but for some reason I'm really getting scared off. It's so rewarding for me to sit down, carve a block (my way with a little James Mundie thrown in), and within a short time have a print. I know what Graham will say here because he said it before--I mean about impatience. But some of that stuff sounds so difficult, it doesn't seem like a thing we'd even want to try. I know Dave said you can use a wooden rice paddle, etc. But if I want my stuff to look nice, wouldn't I want to have a nice baren to use--a real one? Anyway, just some thoughts and fears. Gayle Wohlken ------------------------------ From: "Roger A. Ball" Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 08:54:43 -0700 Subject: [Baren 3181] huh? Ray said: >I checked with Dan Patrick about making litho presses and he tells me the >price is about $1,000 per size than the etching presses. What does this mean? There must be something missing... - -Roger ------------------------------ From: "Bea Gold" Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 08:18:13 -0800 Subject: [Baren 3182] Thanks Jean, Bea Re: Baren Digest V6 #457 Jean you are a gem! You have responded to every one of my questions. Thank you and now where do you get alum? ------------------------------ From: Sherpsm@aol.com Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 11:04:53 EST Subject: [Baren 3183] Re: New Printer/Member Thanks for the welcome. I live outside of NYC on Long Island. Mokuhanga is an obsessive part time love. I work in what I "think" is the traditional Japanese method. I have worked on Poplar and Shina woods and use Japanese chisels and Baren. Color (tube and dry pigments) brushed on. I currently have a piece of cherry waiting for its time. I also collect Japanese woodblock prints and those in that worked in that method. Cherry wood? Last June when I was in the Bay area, the owner of Hida Tools & Hardware in Berkeley had a piece of cherry (18 x 28 I am not sure of the exact size) that he had prepared and wanted to sell it. Hida Tools (510) 524-3700 sells shina ply in 4mm and 6mm thicknesses. Of course he has a good selection of chisels and tools. Joe ------------------------------ From: "Ramsey Household" Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 08:31:22 -0800 Subject: [Baren 3184] Re: a few replies ... Gary, Was Michaelangelo an artist or a craftsman? His patron was the Pope. Just a thought. Carolyn ------------------------------ From: Bill Ritchie Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 08:12:32 -0800 Subject: [Baren 3185] Re: Wood? Regarding wood - I was in a Seattle lumber store (Dunn Lumber) and noticed they carried what my teacher, Stephen Hazel, called "balkan birch plywood." I loved that wood, the veneers were unusually thin, the thickness of the wood was metric, but about 5/16 inch thick, and good on two sides. I think someone had mentioned this wood before, but I must say I was surprised it's still available these days -- perhaps more widely than I thought. The full size sheet is about 1 meter square, I think. Bill H. Ritchie, Jr. ------------------------------ From: Bill Ritchie Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 09:13:15 -0800 Subject: [Baren 3186] Re: a few replies ... >Was Michaelangelo an artist or a craftsman? His patron was the Pope. >Just a thought. IMO, Michelangelo was unfortunate because he didn't make prints. He was sort of "locked in" to a career track, like being in the military but with no hope of retirement to freedom. Like the famous lines he's supposed to have said about sculpting, "Seeing the art in the stone and releasing it . .. " or words to that effect. If he had been into printmaking processes, he would have found it freeing, indeed, to be working as part of a team instead of being the Pope's vice regent for visual communications. Other visionaries teamed up with scientists, designers, technicians, philosophers, etc. and came up with marvelous works of art that could be exactly replicated and disseminated. So, my answer to the question, "Was Michelangelo an artist or a crafts person" is that if he WERE an artist, he would perhaps have been more effective, and today we would not be pursuing the notion of dichotomies. We would be dwelling in a unified world where art, craft and design were common properties of the creative, inventive, discovering and imaginative individual. Just an opinion, and believe me, you will not read in the news, "Professor found dead, struck by lightening". Bill H. Ritchie, Jr. ------------------------------ From: "Brad A. Schwartz" Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 09:28:17 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Baren 3187] Re: huh? >>I checked with Dan Patrick about making litho presses and he tells me the >>price is about $1,000 per size than the etching presses. >What does this mean? There must be something missing... It means an additional $1000 (CDN) on top of the etching press price. So, you could get a 36x48 litho press for $2895 CDN, plus shipping, etc... Brad A. Schwartz ------------------------------ From: Marco Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 09:38:35 -0700 Subject: [Baren 3188] Re: a few replies ... >So, my answer to the question, "Was Michelangelo an artist or a crafts >person" is that if he WERE an artist, he would perhaps have been more >effective, and today we would not be pursuing the notion of dichotomies. We >would be dwelling in a unified world where art, craft and design were >common properties of the creative, inventive, discovering and imaginative >individual. Please...Bill do not try to belittle something beyond your comprehension. Maybe you have never seen his work in person and even if you have I feel that you were not paying any attention. Do not try to pose "if" and "or". Dichotomies are for those who have the time to ponder about them. Others just do the work: Signor Buonarroti is one of them and if the term artist cannot be applied to him...then nobody is. Marco Flavio Marinucci (you know this was coming, but when it is needed...) ------------------------------ From: Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 11:15:01 -0800 Subject: [Baren 3189] forget fear Dear Gayle, Don't worry about making a perfect traditional baren from scratch. You can buy a bamboo baren at the local art supply store for 3 dollars. If it's not the best so what it will still get the job done. As you become more comfortable with the process you can go back and perfect details. No one starts out as a master but no one becomes a master if they don't start. Start slow and simple. ( Of course I'm a fine one to give advice, I have only done one woodcut in the traditional method. After that experiment I returned happily to reduction blocks with oil base inks.) I have recovered some of my barens myself and although I could have used another set of hand the results were not to bad. Andrea ------------------------------ From: "Ray Esposito" Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1999 14:40:15 -0500 Subject: [Baren 3190] Re: huh? >It means an additional $1000 (CDN) on top of the etching press price. >So, you could get a 36x48 litho press for $2895 CDN, plus shipping, etc... Brad, How dare you answer my mail. :-)) You are absolutely correct. And that is a great price. I would prefer the 24x36 at just $2,295. With the exchange rate tossed in, the large 36x48 would cost just $1,934US and the smaller one just $1,533US. Those are prices to die for. I don't have the room for a second press but at these prices I might just buy one and store it until I get the room. Cheers Ray ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V6 #458 ***************************