[Baren} the mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking Baren Digest Saturday, 27 May 2000 Volume 11 : Number1020 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jeanne Norman Chase" Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 10:32:47 -0400 Subject: [Baren 9745] Re: your images Barbara P. Welcome to the Baren. Just returned from a magical visit to your web site. Great images and wonderful movement. will be anxious to see your woodblock prints. Jeanne N. ------------------------------ From: B Mason Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 07:26:54 -0700 Subject: [Baren 9746] Another exhibit Arye, An exhibit in Isreal would be wonderful. The people in this group are just too nice! Let us know if we can do anything to help and if you need money to put this exhibit on. Barbara ------------------------------ From: B Mason Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 07:40:50 -0700 Subject: [Baren 9748] Welcome Jeanne and all, Sorry about that last post, I thought it came from Jeanne off list. I really need glasses, I guess! Barbara P, Your site was wonderful, these should make wonerful woodblocks! I really enjoyed it, I especially liked the bird women. Barbara M (there are too many Barbara's now, guess we need that last enitial) ------------------------------ From: severn Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 00:53:21 +1000 Subject: [Baren 9749] A new Pc and didgeridoos Graham said ************** Josephine, You got it backwards. The bad news is that you are getting a new PC. The good news can be that you have lost so much data and it is the indicator you are now free to buy a Mac...... **************** You just cant help yourself can you Graham ;-) I did my first computing on one of the universities big boxes, with punch cards, remember them? It was about 1979 or so. Thats over twenty years! Phew. Then I learned unix, still on the box, and we bought the first mac for use at home, remember the macintosh? Or the Lisa? We had a C64 for gaming. Then I did a lot of systems admin training on the PC, in Dos, remember dos? And worked in accounting systems design and testing. I've progressed through the PC models from XT to Pentium. Now its all wysiwyg (like me). The last time I used a MAC was when I did computer graphics and animation at the last uni. They were so under equipped they enrolled us two to a mac, great way to get no work done at all. They also made the network administrator redundant, so the system was trashed and all of the other users were (visual) arts students who were very inept.... nuff said about that. This Pc started life as a 486 and has been subjected to several upgrades, its now a 586 with 96mg of ram. His wish list runs like this, Pent III 500+, 128mb RAM, 13gb HD, 64mb video, 32 soundcard, 17" monitor. I added zip drive, cd burner, scanner and colour printer. I'd also like one of those sexy black PCs too. Next is we go shopping for all the above. This Pc will then become the linux machine. And the new one already has a husband ban on any file management, installation or systems admin. Ie. he (and the other bloke) are both banned, permanently. It doesnt matter what they do it always takes me days to undo the problems they create every time they touch anything. I'll let them play games. Nah, Graham, I appreciate you love your mac, but I'm just as happy with PCs, thanks all the same. Unless you are shouting me one, free, on the house? As for graphic related job, I'm too busy being retired. I had saved a lot of info about colour printers and their suitability for printing digital prints on rag paper, or book pages for artist books, or printing on handmade paper. I lost the lot. Anyone got any suggestions re suitable printer for the above uses? Not too expensive. Replies off list please. I'm racking my brain how I'm going to relate this post to printmaking as it is. I mentioned on After5 that I upgraded the indigenous arts page on Print Australia today with some didgeridoo links if anyone is interested. its at http://www.acay.com.au/~severn/indigeno.htm The people at Heartlands Didgeridoos have asked, today, if they could represent my prints through their business. There, I knew I'd think of a print related topic, phew! Like Maria, I'm busy doing web publishing things. Stay tuned for some updates. Josephine Ps, I got a go in the new mexican hammock today. Its unbelievably comfortable. There's a picture of one here http://www.worldofhammocks.com/ I may never be seen or heard from again. ZZZZZZZZZZZ ------------------------------ From: "Jeanne Norman Chase" Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 12:22:02 -0400 Subject: [Baren 9750] Re: Welcome Barbaras There can never be too many Barbara's!!!! I guess we just have to identify ourselves with the last initial like Jean E. and Jeanne N. etc. And I agree, the Bird Women images are top rate. What great woodblock prints they would make. I especially like the series idea. I think I might steal it. Jeanne N. (no, not the bird women, just working in a series) ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 11:05:16 -0700 Subject: [Baren 9755] Re: Ex. #5 > Message posted by: Arye Saar > I am planning an exhibition of ex. # 4+5 in several main > museum's & galleries. First place i'm in touch with is the > 'Beit Gavriel' (House of Gabriel), Arye, how wonderful! And what a historic place to exhibit Baren prints. Do contact Julio and Greg to get a feel for cost and details. There will be articles on both the Skokie and Kampala exhibits next issue of Baren-Suji and I, for one, cannot wait to see them. Maria ------------------------------ From: "Bridget Henry" Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 12:16:54 PDT Subject: [Baren 9756] Re: Baren Digest V11 #1019 Hello, I hope I am doing this right. My name is Bridget and I am a woodcut artist. There, I said it. I feel like I've just admitted a searing truth. I have been making color reductive woodcuts since 1995 and I can't stop. I have been enjoying reading some of the information that gets passed on this forum and am inspired by the quality of the prints that got posted from the exchange. I am wondering does anyone out there make a living off of just selling their prints? If so how do you do it without being on the road all of the time? My website is www.sosaywe.com/bridget it is a little slow and in the middle of being updated, but you can get the jist of what I do. Bridget Henry from beautiful, and expensive, but worth it if you like earthquakes Santa Cruz, CA. bridgetmaryh@hotmail.com ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 12:30:01 -0800 Subject: [Baren 9757] Re: barbara P's web site >barbara patera wrote: > >> If you are interested in seeing some of my work ( prints not >>yet posted) my web site is; > > http://members.tripod.com/~hollandART/BP-index.html > I am confussed....... What is the original medium used for the images on this site. Digital stuff I gather. What are the sizes of these images? Do you make inkjet prints of them? How many do you make? Do you call them for what they are or are you classing them with hand made prints? I see the web site defines them as Digital Paintings..... this might be, and probably is, confusing to the lay person who may consider them as some form of fine art. Would be interested in an off line response as we have thoroughly thrashed digital stuff to death here and I don't believe the members want another dose. Graham/Victoria BC An Island in the Pacific ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 12:56:50 -0800 Subject: [Baren 9758] Re: Baren Digest V11 #1019 Bridget. Glad to have you aboard..... Your work is most interesting and thought provoking. One of my beliefs is....... "Art should stimulate a dialogue". You wrote..... >I am wondering does anyone out there make a living off of just >selling their prints? If anybody has an answer to this please copy me in...... Tough as it has been for 20 years..... Talking to a couple of galleries yesterday and the word is that print sales are almost impossible. People are afraid of the word Print. The have been back sided for years about the reproduction stuff and now digital stuff that they are staying away.... Period. 3 Galleries are down 40% in sales todate this year. All of us must get on the education kick and inform the public, friends, and foe what is a real print. If we allow the digital stuff to be sold as fine art them recovery of our income could be years and years away. Regards Graham ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 13:05:47 -0800 Subject: [Baren 9759] Re: Barbara Patera wrote..... >Started doing digital stuff last year ( it's soooo clean ), but recently discovered how much I like doing woodcut prints. http://members.tripod.com/~hollandART/BP-index.html I neglected to send positive vibes about your images Barbara. Really quite wonderful. You sure can draw and my belief (another) is that "There is no substitute for the ability to draw" You are certainly to good for doing digital fluff stuff. Welcome to the real thing. Graham ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 14:36:40 -0700 Subject: [Baren 9760] Re: peddlin' dem woodcuts > I am wondering does anyone out there make a living off of just > selling their prints? If so how do you do it without being on the road I would be stretching the truth if I said I'm "making a living" off selling prints, although for my first year out I don't have any complaints at all. I took the plunge to the life of a full-time artist last October. My approach so far is to keep many irons in the fire, which takes much energy and a bit of pure madness. After I have been at it for a couple of more years, I will streamline and do more of what works best, dump what does not. Here is what I do, you may approach in any other way you like: - -First and foremost, print like a madwoman, an approach that has been critiziced but then again, what hasn't. IMHO, selling the same images year after year just doesn't satisfy me or the customer base, who expects to see new stuff when they contact you. - -Keep a gallery or two or three or six or a hundred, virtual and real showing your work, whether it pays off right away or not; some sales trickle in once in a while and make you feel good all under. - -Keep a website updated and try to take credit cards, most web buyers use credit. There are free services for this, check out my site. Refer everyone you meet at galleries and at art shows to your website. Sales trickle in quite often through the web despite all reports to the contrary. - -Promote yourself at art festivals, they are easier to get into than galleries, you have full control over your display and how you talk to your customers; if your stuff is the right price range, you will sell enough to keep you addicted. If you don't like traveling all the time, plan a year in advanced and travel a little just to hit the "good" shows. How do you know which are good shows? Read Art Calendar, Art Deadlines, Showest Mag, Sunshine Artist...need I go on? Bummer is, even if you have past attendance numbers from previous shows, you cannot control the degree to which lookers will reach for their wallet. All and all, these are profitable affairs and I have not failed to make the entry fee and then some. Vegas is coming around with some solid shows, so it looks like I can have the best of all worlds. Matt Brown, a Baren member makes his living like this, look for his website in the Baren site. - -Enter competitions and exhibitions, be aware of those that are put on by small galleries just to live off entry fees from artists. Usually the good ones are put on by art centers, city galleries, museums, etc. Be prepared for rejection, just jot down and move on to new ones. Printmaking and works on paper calls for entries are more likely to pay off for printmakers. You may even win a prize or two and get into permanent collections in places here and there which also tickles me to death. This is a hard road. - -Teach if you like to do so and if you can, your students become customers and tend to refer other students. Small workshops are the best if you can find a free space or have a studio, but I am currently lined up for teaching a Continuing Education Class at UNLV in the fall as well. - -Hold an open studio, look for how to do this on the next issue of Baren-Suji, the quarterly online magazine of Baren. These seem to go very well and the investment is minimal in money, much in time and effort. - -Exchange prints with other printmakers, they will get you a fine collection of gorgeous and hard earned prints, your work "gets out there" and perhaps a few exhibitions will come from the combined efforts. Most of all, do not fall into the "poor-pathetic-artist" trap that you will undoubtedly see all around you. Stay the hell away from negative people and you will be happier and get more work done. Trust yourself and your work, adjust your approach to selling often, try new things and most of all: CUT! PRINT! DOITAGAIN! Maria ------------------------------ From: michael schneider Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 00:39:28 +0200 Subject: [Baren 9761] Re: Baren Digest V11 #1019 >I am wondering does anyone out there make a living off of just > selling their prints? If so how do you do it without being on the road >all of the time? Welcome Bridget, nice to have you on board. To answer your question, I do make my living from my prints and I am on the road half of the time, that i the main reason that keeps me away from being in touch with baren the way I would like to be. michael vienna, austria ------------------------------ From: Gayle Wohlken Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 19:28:57 -0400 Subject: [Baren 9762] Re: Baren Digest V11 #1019 Arye I don't think anyone would object to your exhibiting Exchanges 4 and 5. I, for one, would be honored! Gayle Wohlken Ohio ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 08:07:51 +0900 Subject: [Baren 9763] Re: Baren Digest V11 #1019 Bridget wrote: > Hello, I hope I am doing this right. My name is Bridget and I am a woodcut > artist. There, I said it. Another candidate for [Baren Anonymous] ... Welcome to the club! > I am wondering does anyone out there make a living off of just > selling their prints? If so how do you do it without being on > the road all of the time? It is most certainly possible to make a living off printmaking, even a good one! I think Maria pretty much covered the important stuff in her post a few minutes ago. As to the very important point of how to split your time between 'producing' and 'selling', I have found an excellent solution by restricting my distribution to 'subscription only'. I don't want to put a long thesis on this here on the mailing list (most of the older members are rolling their eyes right now "Here goes Dave again ..."), but if you're curious about the 'why' and 'how' of this, there are a couple of related pages on my website that 'explain' my approach ... http://woodblock.com/surimono/atgallery01.html http://woodblock.com/surimono/atgallery02.html These are linked from the page at: http://woodblock.com/surimono/subscribe.html I've been talking about this system for years now here on [Baren], but I have completely failed to convince anybody at all on any of my points (open editions, reasonable prices and subscription sales). It's a good thing I'm better at printmaking than at debating! Dave ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 17:35:39 -0700 Subject: [Baren 9764] wood engraving content! Wood engraving content follows, those who might be offended by this post please make use of your delete button, located conveniently within reach of your right pinky. HELP! I am having ever so slight trouble printing delicate tiny little detailed carved lines in my sacred tree print. I have carved with a #4 diamond burin and a #1 tint tool and the lines are sooo beautiful but I cannot print them, blast them little b--! Anyway, the roller is a polyurethane and probably too soft but I have successfully printed before. My main question is about the ink, do I use stiffer ink for delicate work? Do I mix with 000 oil as Jim Mundie does? Also, using an etching press, do I use a very stiff backing for the paper? ay ay ay Could the engraving experts plllllleeeeeeease, oh please give me some hints on what to do? TIA Maria ------------------------------ From: "john ryrie" Date: Sat, 27 May 2000 13:05:20 +1000 Subject: [Baren 9766] 2x10, new, PC/Mac, Bierce...etc > Welcome Barbara. David said: > More than you wanted to know I guess ... :-) > Not at all David, very interesting. I see something similar in Japanese calligraphy where a Chinese Japanese character will be used for rhythm, tone or aesthetic reasons. Carol said: > Ambrosia Bierce who wrote the Fable John sent also wrote the Treasure of > Sierra Madre. He disappeared in Mexico and was never found. > It's a wonder what one can learn on the Baren forum!! No Bierce's best Known works are An incident on Owls Creek Bridge & The Devils Dictionary. I have read a some biographies on him that say he disappeared in Mexico, but I read one version (I carnt renmember wear) that said he disapeared in Mexio under cercomstances that can not be reveald at untill the relese of documetation under the fredom of infomation act at some date in the future. I havent been abull to fined out any more about this. Graham Said: > The good news can be that you have lost so much data and it is the > indicator you are now free to buy a Mac...... The problem with Mac's is their prodictobility, you don't have the chalenge that you get with a PC. The fact that you could lose all your work at any minit from the crashing of your computer due to the ineptness of a windows program designer, a new viris, or because of an incompitant husbend. It's this sort of uncertanty, this leval of unforeseeabul risk thast makes life werth living. With a Mac you can spend all that money on anti viris softwear and never need to use it, what a wast. John Melbourne Australia > ------------------------------ From: Jack Reisland Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 18:01:19 -1000 Subject: [Baren 9767] Re: Baren Digest V11 #1019 David Bull wrote: > I've been talking about this system for years now here on [Baren], but I > have completely failed to convince anybody at all on any of my points I've been convinced all along. I never quite liked the idea of working in a medium invented for mass production of images, and then artificially limiting the numbers of prints and potential customers through driving up prices by editioning. I've also thought your subscription method is great, a bit of a steep push at the beginning, but once you get the subscribers, it sounds like a whole lot less work than making a new sale each time you sell a single print. Did you find these ideas to be readily accepted, or is there a strong "limited edition" tradition in place there in Japan as there is in the US? Jack Aiea, Hawaii ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V11 #1020 *****************************