[Baren} the mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking Baren Digest Thursday, 13 July 2000 Volume 12 : Number 1074 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: David Bull Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 22:07:33 +0900 Subject: [Baren 10406] Exchange #7 nailed down ... Seems like time to nail things down on Exchange #7 - there has been lots of feedback, and we've heard plenty of interesting ideas about possible new ways to structure the exchanges ... That fact of the matter though, is there doesn't really seem to be any need to mess with our system at the moment. We've had a good response to the sign-up, with our set number of thirty being reached with no problem, but have not had the kind of large over-run that would justify the kind of 'double' exchange that has been proposed. As [Baren] grows larger, that sort of system may indeed become necessary, but it seems that we are not yet at that point. As far as enlarging the number beyond the 30 figure, enough feedback has been received from members for whom this would be a real hardship to convince us that this is a route we do not want to take. So we're going to stick with the 'standard' format as announced: the exchange participants are to produce 31 prints (30 for exchange and one for the Portland archive). The list of members is as shown on the sign-up page: http://woodblock.com/forum/exchange/exchange_sign-up.html ... with a half-dozen names as 'standby' in case of dropouts in the early stages. Coordinators for this exchange are Dan Dew and Jeanne Chase (both in Florida), who spoke up on the forum many weeks ago to volunteer for the job. Their first message will go out to participants once they get a little bit organized ... Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines! Dave P.S. > Any any rate the council..... who ever they are ... > (who are they anyway?) For the benefit of newer members who don't quite know about this 'council' thing, the 'General Information' page linked from the main website woodblock.com has all the info you need ... Here's a quote: *** [Baren] 'Staff' Here is the current line-up of [Baren] 'staff' - the people who act as guides and managers of the group: Council members: James Mundie John Amoss Barbara Mason Wanda Robertson Maria Arango Julio Rodriguez Greg Robison Dave Bull Newsletter editor: Maria Arango Archivist: Wanda Robertson Forum moderator: Dave Bull SwapShop manager: James Mundie There is no specific mechanism in place for communicating with the Council - these people are of course all members of the forum itself, so are completely in-touch with current discussions. ------------------------------ From: Cucamongie@aol.com Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 09:41:40 EDT Subject: [Baren 10407] Exhibition reminder for those living in or near NYC Hi all, just wanted to remind you folks that live in or near NYC that I have two very large new woodblock prints up in a show which is opening this evening as part of a group show called "Y2Kaotic", which is a group show, all media, mostly members of the group OIA, or Organization of Independent Artists. April Vollmer also has work up in this show. The gallery is called "The Art Club" and it is at 100 Reade Street, near Church Street. Any of the subways stopping at Chambers St or thereabouts will get you near there. The reception is this evening from 5-7 pm, and the show will be up until July 28. I will be gallery sitting there next week on Thursday from 9am-1pm. best wishes, Sarah ------------------------------ From: "Jeanne Norman Chase" Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 11:10:48 -0400 Subject: [Baren 10408] Mystery is solved Just figured out how Maria does all the zillions of things. There has to be twins. Noone can do all the printing that she does, go to art shows, write for the Baren Suji, keep up with the posts, keep up with her web site. Impossible. Fess up , Maria, how do you do it all?? About the exchanges; Josephine said it all, there are exchanges all over the place, David put the exchanges in place and I for one would not want to rattle the boat. It has been working out fine. Just have to exercize your trigger finger a little faster. And James is still waiting for all those Swap Shop exchange prints. I will be putting forth some info. on the coming Exchange 7 soon. Dan and I are ready, willing and able!! Jeanne N. ------------------------------ From: Marco Flavio Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 09:04:05 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10409] From Marco Flavio Hello Gayle and whomever takes what I say seriously about Juma-art. I am playing Devil's advocate here. I do woodblock prints and would not trade it for anything. (I am taking an etching and drypoint class, but that's just as good). It is interesting to see how the mnarket moves, though. We use services of Juma-art like companies at work for exhibits, to create signs and design panels. My art is separate and NOT equal to that. You who know me know best. Passionately, as ever, Marco Flavio PS If anybodyy is going to be in Washington, DC in August I got in the Washington Printmaker National Prize juried by Mr. Phillips of the Phillips collection. Go see it! ------------------------------ From: Jack Reisland Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 10:05:03 -1000 Subject: [Baren 10411] Re: black paper Maria, Your pages on printing on black paper are well written and illustrated. It is a very good demonstration of both reduction printing, and printing on black. I vote for it's inclusion in the Baren Encyclopedia! Jack Aiea, Hawaii ------------------------------ From: Legreenart@cs.com Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 16:56:33 EDT Subject: [Baren 10413] Re: Baren Digest V12 #1073: Reproductions I was down in Rockport, Texas the Fweekend of the dourth and went to the art festival there. So many reproductions! OIL PAINTING $5,000 Giclee Print $2,000. Then the real printmakers work at only $450 looks overpriced. This is what really bothers me, is that the public is often spending more for the reproductions. Reproductions sell a the craft supply store chains and the home decorating outlets, ready framed, at a price that is comparable to what the fine artists get here for original work, painters and sculptors included. Maria and Julio, I saw one artist who labeled her reproductions "reproductions" and I stopped to thank her for being honest and knowledgable. I seems to me that a campaign to educate other artists would be good. Alot would be embarrassed to reaIize they misrepresented their own work. they have just never been seriously exposed to printmakers and realized their mistake. I propose the possibitity of starting an educational campaign directed at individual non-printmakers and at art fair administrators. That artists not misrepresent their work at an art fair seems like a fair request best made by the coordinators of the fairs. They might be persuaded that they should stipulate that reproductions not be labeled as prints. On another note, any hanga printmakers in my area? Anyone interested in giving workshops at Stonemetal Press? We can offer facilities for a workshop for printmakers who would like to come down. We are very cooperative and can find you a free place to stay. We can't guarantee a profit, just 80% of the workshop tuitions. I hope to be planning next years schedule soon.. Send me questions offline. You know, I thinf I'll share this letter with onelist, so you may see it their also. Housebound after hernia repair and unusully chatty, Le Green ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 16:43:27 -0500 Subject: [Baren 10416] about themes and other silly things...... No, this is not another post about themes for exchanges or so forth, but rather about a somewhat similar topic. I am referring to something that was discussed briefly here in the forum a little while back....that is....the recurring themes that we as artists choose to base our work on and for which we will maybe be judged in the not too distant future. For the purpose of this post, let's define the word "successful" as the ability to make prints, many prints, many prints that we like and prints that easily find an audience and are accepted by exhibitors and galleries. Actual sales and price range are not part of the definition. So here we go. When looking around the Baren group, the kind of work we do and their "presence" in the art world, it seems to me that the more "successful" artists are those that have carved out a niche within a certain theme and stick with it. While occasionally they experiment and wander away....their bread and butter seems to be that "theme" for which they are uniquely and easily recognized. Here at Baren we have a wide sample of successful prints that are easily identified with their creator because of their ongoing theme...we have dogs (& dogpeople!), poets, wildlife, lighthouses, rats, portraits, woodpeople, religious proverbs, insects, flying horses, etc...etc.... While some artists are known for their style and technique...and others for their unusual formats (Shotei)...it seems that the most identifying clue is subject matter. For someone like me who does not work that way, for who each print is a new subject and who so far lacks the fortitude to tackle such an adventure, this is very much a source of inspiration. But how do you embark on such a journey ? Do you make one good "successful" print about fruits and then decide that you are going to print fruits while the pickings are good ? Or is it something a little deeper, a calling of sorts that guides you and keeps bringing you back to the same subject matter ? Or are you just having fun.......exploring the many ideas that pop in and out while creating that one first creation ??? I see the work of Ann Geddes, Eric Gill, Ansel Adams, Kawase Hasui, Fritz Eichenberg and others and I see clearly identifiable themes that run through these artists work..........is this necessary to be a "successful" artist ? Are fifty prints about "volcanoes" or "Twelve and a Half Famous Views of Akron, Ohio" as a hold a better body of work than let's say....fifty individual prints w/o a prevalent subject ? Please understand I am not putting down others like me who work on one subject at a time or saying that they too are not successful, but barely inquiring about what goes on inside the creative minds of those that have seen the light........ Thanks...Julio ------------------------------ From: baren_member@woodblock.com (Mike Lyon) Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 18:01:53 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [Baren 10417] Juma art issue ... Can't resist putting in my two cents on the "Juma-Art" issue - -- it seems to me that there are at least two seperate activities which we ought not confuse - -- 1) making stuff and 2) selling stuff (making money) Making money by selling something for more than it cost is usually called 'business' -- as ways for people to spend time go, business is extremely common these days -- a very powerful invention which might be conceived as a game of marbles -- it's fun to get together with your friends and play the game, but the object of the game is to get all the marbles. Juma-Art is just playing the game (and appears even to be playing within the rules!). Making stuff is probably closer to what WE all love to do, and we have certain methods and techniques in common. It is pretty cool that there are so few of us engaged in making quality (we hope) -- but let's not get too superior - -- almost everyone seems to be caught up trying to make money -- and it isn't against the rules to try to make money (as much as possible) selling images (mostly snap- shots it looked like) enhanced by computer and output by machine with hi-tech ink on fancy media. I'm trying hard to avoid making money with the stuff I make, but I do LOVE the way my wide format ink-jet printer turns nice Japanese paper into nice prints! Very seductive process, and a reasonably quick way to print, too! Mike Lyon Kansas City ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 18:23:24 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10418] Re: vote and themes > Your pages on printing on black paper are well written and illustrated. > It is a very good demonstration of both reduction printing, and printing > on black. I vote for it's inclusion in the Baren Encyclopedia! Thanks Jack! I appreciate the vote of confidence. And Julio wrote: >But how do you embark on such a journey ? Do I think part of it is engrained in our artist's brains in school, where, in advanced classes students are asked to explore themes. At least that's how I started! Then it does become fun to explore every little variation of that particular theme and suddenly, without conscious effort, everything comes out rats! Truly, Julio, I think "how it starts" is different for everyone and even for every series. Then the question becomes, when are there enough woodpeople prints? I don't really listen to the "market," mostly I feel "finished" with a series. I tried to do a couple of rats after I quit the corporate life and all that came out were desert landscapes! Now, with my latest print (for Exchange #6) I wanted to mix the figurative and desert landscape themes. I have started two so far and, suddenly, I have 20 more ideas and variations in my head...Why did I want to go that route? Umm, I've been doing landscapes, I've been doing figures--'bout time they got together! How's that for "deep"? I'm sure I didn't answer any of your questions. Health to all anyway, Maria <><><><><><><><><><><><> Maria Arango, Printmaker Las Vegas Nevada USA http://www.1000woodcuts.com Follow along! quest1000woodcuts@hotmail.com maria@mariarango.com <><><><><><><><><><><><> ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 21:55:48 -0700 Subject: [Baren 10420] movin' on, breaking rules Some new prints to check out. Don't go see this one if you want to be surprised in Exchange#6. I broke some major rules with this woodcut. I printed it "softly" in succeeding states to purposely get that grainy effect we always try to avoid, mostly with my hand and that awful Speedball so-called-baren. The other rule I broke was to seek that shiny blotchy look in the last state. Again purposely I overinked waaaay too much to get the edges of the ink to show in relief (you can do that here, the ink dries anyway!). The result is almost sculptural, just like the desert: grainy, rough, and bright. http://www.printmakingstudio.com/fullsize/summer.html I think most of you have seen this one in the black paper report. http://www.printmakingstudio.com/fullsize/ripeforpicking.html I snuck in an engraving last weekend. Not that I have anything against the Northwest, but one summer heading back home I got so sick of the rainy weather that seeing the end of the storm and my beloved desert mountains was a huge relief. Still, those long Northern roads... http://www.printmakingstudio.com/fullsize/headinghome.html The 1,000 Woodcuts page is updated with those 3 and the Sacred Tree print. I really suck at getting wood engravings online, if anyone has any tips on scanning or taking pics with the digital camera I really would appreciate it. Moving right along, Maria ------------------------------ From: barbara patera Date: Thu, 13 Jul 100 00:01:58 Pacific Daylight Time Subject: [Baren 10422] Re: themes and breaking rules Julio asks about themes.... something I hadn't given much thought to... in fact just now realized that I am a theme'd person. I draw people.. not portraits but people. And this may be the one example that goes against Julio's theory that" themes" sell well. My other works sell better.... but I keep coming back to drawing,painting,and printing the figurative.Can't say why but have always found us homo sapiens fascinating .. maybe obssesively so. At any rate have been drawing them since I was a kid and my favorite drawing spots were the far back corner of a CTA bus or the back of a Lake St. El platform. Anyway, this is the reason I keep on with my "theme". However, I'd be very surprised if there were just one universal answer. Now on to breaking rules.... you aren't supposed to get a grainy effect??? OOPS! Have been printing by hand (back of wooden spoon) because my press gave me a too uniform black. Is there any reason for printing solid not grainy colors ? Tradition?? Appreciate all info as I'm a novice and obviously need all the help I can get. Barbara P. ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V12 #1074 *****************************