Baren Digest Sunday, 3 June 2001 Volume 15 : Number 1442 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "bemason" Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 07:30:35 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14666] baren Hi friends, We are deffinitely friends by now and I do think the diversity of the group makes it strong. If we are not 100% hanga printers we have all learned to appreciate it where we might not have before. I admit it is a lot easier for me to fall back on oil based ink as I have used it so long. But I am committed eventually to being 90% waterbased in my studio. I work a lot with young people and want them safe. Chemicals are dangerous as we all know, even when used with caution. The print exchanges have been such fun and I have been in a lot of them. I have struggled with this new media, block printing, and tried to adapt what I already knew. Some of it worked and some didn't and as usual I learned a lot. The exchanges have kept me doing block prints and I am grateful for the showing of them all over the world as well as the new skills. Mostlly I am grateful for all the people on this list, quite a few that I have met personally over the last several years. Printmaking is solitary and having this huge extended family is just wonderful. Jan Teflar from Australia is going to be my guest soon, so I will have one more pleasurable and personal baren experience. Nice to have 400 friends that love what you love! Wanda's opening was great and I hope she will put up pictures of her work. Dave, you would be proud of all those hanga prints and each one better than the last. Practice does make perfect! Best to all, Barbara ------------------------------ From: "April Vollmer" Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 11:16:38 -0400 Subject: [Baren 14667] Mixing Oil and Water charset="iso-8859-1" Yay, Maria, Las Vegas is not the territory for moku hanga, which lets face it, only works where the humidity is high. I certainly didnŐt mean to belittle oilbase woodcut, I love Munch and Heckel and Durer as much as the next person! LetŐs be inspired by them, too! April Vollmer www.aprilvollmer.com ------------------------------ From: amoss@mindspring.com (John Amoss) Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 11:49:00 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [Baren 14668] New Baren Search & Archivist EXTRA-EXTRA! The entire Baren site- the encyclopedia, archives, over 2300 pages are now able to be searched by keywords! The first place to try out the search form is on the archive page. Please see: and scroll to the bottom. Type in what you'd like to see, press the search button, and away you go! This is a free search from Google. Someday, they say there may be ads that appear on their result pages, but we'll worry about that later. Anyway, I'd like for some volunteers to please try it out and report. If everyone likes it, we'll feature it throughout Baren. Enjoy! ***** Other good news! Gayle Wohlken, a Baren veteran has volunteered to become our new archivist. She will gradually work into the position over the next week. So wish her luck! And a big thanks, Gayle! - -John A. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AMOSS ILLUSTRATION, INC. (706)549-4662 FAX(706)549-3962 amoss@mindspring.com www.mindspring.com/~amoss 365 Ponderosa Dr.,Athens, GA 30605 USA ------------------------------ From: Wanda Date: Sat, 02 Jun 2001 09:02:27 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14669] Re: hanga question Jerelee wrote: > > I am making bookmarks using the japanese woodblock method and need an > approriate paper that will be stiff enough to use as a bookmark. Does anyone > have any suggestions? Jerelee Hi Jerelee, Stonehenge will work with Japanese Woodblock method and has quite a bit of body. I've experimented with several types of western papers. Also, making small things like this, Yamaguchi paper has lots of body & is just heaven to work with. Beautiful paper. Wanda ------------------------------ From: "Jeanne Norman Chase" Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 12:11:16 -0400 Subject: [Baren 14670] Oil and water charset="iso-8859-1" Interesting e mails re; oil and water. Although oil and water do not mix, the people that eschew these two techniques certainly do. Once upon a time when I was a painter, before I came upon the Baren on my computer. I had lots of artist friends who did oil painting. Although we got together and had critiques from time to time , it seems that I was not challenged anymore. There was not the mystique . not until I started printmaking. Now the challenges are enormous. So many things to learn , so many wonderful people to learn from. . Since I was an oil painter, I stuck to the oils for woodblock printing. I did try out waterbased to write an article for the Encylopedia.on White Line woodblock printing What do you know, it turned out pretty good. Mostly thanks to Dave Bulls many postings on his techniques. I have learned much and have gone far (not far enough yet}, and there is much more waiting for me. The biggest bonus of all is all of the great friendships that have sprung up due to the Baren. And I, like, Greg, had the great pleasure in meeting Carol Lyons and her husband last month. Met Sarah on a trip to NY, met Barbara, Sharri and others at a Conference and hopefully will meet many more of my virtual buddies as time progresses. I have seen the improvement in the many exchanges. People who had finished their first woodcut, and then the progress they have made later. If it were not for the Baren, I would probably still be in my rut. Not being challenged anymore. Thank you Dave, and all of the rest of you neat people, whether you are an "oily" person or a "liquid" person!!!!! Jeanne N. Sorry for the long rambling post. My 7 cents ------------------------------ From: Wanda Date: Sat, 02 Jun 2001 09:25:02 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14671] Re: baren You know, it's funny - but I enjoy the discussion of what Baren is and should be & was and isn't any more - every bit as much as I enjoy the technical discussions! I think of Baren as a vital, growing organism, too. I love to see the amorphous beginnings of something, one person mentions - another person takes the conversation - it just is fascinating to me. We *could* take control, tighten the reins, but look at what we would lose. I love Hanga - I learned it here, and I love the idea that my prints are in exhibitions all over the world, communicating with people I will never meet. So my philosophy about Baren is: "Let's see what will happen" Yes, we have had some upsets, and some disgruntled members, but for the most part Baren has been a lifeline to many people working away in their (sometimes) isolated studios. A communal meeting house where we can discuss and try out things to our heart's content. On another note: The preview for our show was great. Lori & I worked from 12:30 to 5:45 getting our work hung (plus cleaning the room, moving tons of furniture out & getting the maintainance people to replace light bulbs!) The preview party was wonderful, the food was enough for the people that came and we both sold some work! I had several pieces in both oil & hanga that sold. And people just loved hearing about the processes I went through with both the reduction prints in oil & the multi-block prints of hanga. It was a fun evening & my son-in-law took lots of pix with my digital camera (which I haven't even had time to look at yet). I will get some up this weekend & share the party with all of you! Thanks for all the good wishes and moral support - you are the greatest! Dan! May your show be a huge success! Your work is fantastic & deserves to be seen. Wanda ------------------------------ From: kelsey Date: Sat, 02 Jun 2001 10:17:30 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14672] Re: Baren Digest V13 #1440 I don't usually post, but what the hey. I have enjoyed reading Baren for over two years now, and feel the need to give my opinion concerning the content of the list. I may sound like I am straddling the fence, but I really enjoy most all of the conversations that are commonly found here. Topics including but not limited to: the social and business aspects of printmaking, water based and moku hanga and shui yin and oil based woodblock printing techniques and troubleshooting, hanging shows, archival issues, sharpening issues, workstation suggestions, imagery and compositional and color issues, suggestions and opinions on tools and paper and inks and cleanup, the history of printmaking......... I intentionally made this a long and rambling list to point out the wide variety and breadth of opinions that are found on this forum. While I miss Dave's specific lessons on technique, I can still look to the encyclopedia and find a good deal of the information there, or I can jump on Baren and post the question and receive ten different replies on the best way to handle the issue, with each reply differing slightly from the others. I like Baren the way it is, I like seeing it grow and change, and I hope that everyone continues to post on all manner of topics because that is what keeps this list so vital and progressive. As for the biblical print project that Greg is putting together, I don't believe that Bea ever mentioned censoring or imposing limitations on the project, she simply stated that she didn't wish to be a part of it. That is her right. As for me, I'm still thinking about it. Carry on- Kelsey ------------------------------ From: Akemi Ohira Date: Sat, 02 Jun 2001 17:57:26 -0500 Subject: [Baren 14673] Re: hanga question on 6/1/01 9:14 PM, Alan Basist at abasist@buncombe.main.nc.us wrote: > Hi Kemi, Thanks for the suggestion of laminating my paper. What do you mean > by matte medium(diluted by water)?? Jerelee Hi Jerelee, matte medium is acrylic based material which is widely available in the paint section in art supply stores. I thin the medium with water because if I use it "straight" it tends to cause cloudiness (but this is just my personal preference. You can use any medium (i.e. gloss medium). I find gloss medium is too shiny, however. I laminate prints on table which is covered with plastic sheeting - once the prints are dried it peels right off! Best, kemi ------------------------------ From: "Bea Gold" Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 15:57:34 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14674] Re: Baren Digest V13 #1440 charset="iso-8859-1" Hey there - did anyone think or say they thought I was censoring or imposing limitations on this group. Never!! Just not my cup of tea. Bea ------------------------------ From: "Arye Saar" Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2001 06:32:31 +0200 Subject: [Baren 14675] Re: New Baren Search & Archivist charset="iso-8859-1" John, Excellent work. Thanks. Arye ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Arye Saar Kibbutz Degania Bet Jordan Valley 15130 Israel E-mail: saar1@degania-b.org.il - ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Amoss" To: Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2001 5:49 PM Subject: [Baren 14668] New Baren Search & Archivist > EXTRA-EXTRA! > > The entire Baren site- the encyclopedia, archives, over 2300 pages are now > able to be searched by keywords! > > The first place to try out the search form is on the archive page. Please > see: and scroll to the > bottom. Type in what you'd like to see, press the search button, and away > you go! From: "bemason" Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 20:28:38 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14676] Re: New Baren Search & Archivist John, I typed in Yamaguchi paper and got lots of results, then rice paste and got pages and pages, but it looked pretty easy to find what you were looking for. This could be good. Let's try it for awhile and see how we like it. Barbara The first place to try out the search form is on the archive page. Please > see: and scroll to the > bottom. Type in what you'd like to see, press the search button, and away > you go! > Anyway, I'd like for some volunteers to please try it out and report. If > everyone likes it, we'll feature it throughout Baren. > -John A. ------------------------------ From: "Jean Eger" Date: Sat, 2 Jun 2001 19:14:58 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14677] bible theme portfolio charset="iso-8859-1" I am very interested in the biblical theme. The gospel is a specific part of the bible--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, according to my husband, whose mother read it to him. I have been vaguely thinking about creating prints with biblical themes for a long time, because there is so much there--the bible really offers wide interpretation and subject matter. The subject matter tends to be about people. Anyway, the only objection I have is to the jurying of the portfolio. So far, Baren has not been juryed, except when individuals have unilaterally chosen the prints for the shows they put up. It seems a shame to go to all the trouble of making a print on the theme and then not have it chosen to be part of the portfolio. Things have gone along so well with un-juried exchanges. In fact, it has been a principle of Baren to allow newcomers, as a way of encouraging them to become involved in Hanga or woodcut in general. Anyway, I am sure my print won't be chosen, so I really am against the jurying, judging or whatever. Jean Eger womack http://www.jeaneger.com ------------------------------ From: "Gregory Robison" Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2001 07:20:53 -0700 Subject: [Baren 14678] Gospels as 'rose garden' charset="iso-8859-1" Just quick point of clarification on Patricia's note: >If religion became the theme would the expectation be that the work based on >such a theme would relate to Christianiy? >If the idea was all encompassing then those who identify with other belief >systems could include imagery that reflected their beliefs. The theme of the proposed show is neither religion nor Christianity. It is the Gospels as they appear in the text, and what a group of artists sees in any part of this text, including apparently unimportant fragments with little obvious relation to its "purpose." There is, in these texts, material for many different perspectives. The Dalai Lama wrote an insightful book on the Gospels; Gandhi cited the Gospels as a primary inspiration in his life; big chunks of the narrative (tho' sometimes in altered form) are parts of the canon of Islam; there's a steady stream of articles by Jewish writers that claim that Jesus was a remarkable and unique but perfectly understandable rabbi of the first century... I would compare it to a project to render say, a rose garden. A naive artist might think, "Ah, a rose garden! I'll mainly need my rose madder genuine, of course..." or perhaps another might say, "A rose garden? Sorry, I don't do flowers." But the sensitive, thoughtful artist would see that a rose garden is about more than flowers -- indeed roses themselves may be a small part of what is truly visually interesting: there turns out to be far more green than red, far more leaf and stalk than blossom and petal in a flower garden...there is also the curved back of old Noriko the gardener bending over her beds...the drama of the aphids...the thorns and brambles and weeds...the jagged shadow of the stone wall...the steaming compost pile...the rusting watering can and crumpled gloves and wood-handled trowel...and the bees! The guest book would include comments like "I thought I knew what a rose garden was until I saw this show," and "I love roses in full flower, but I now understand why some people love the bittersweet beauty of a rose garden in autumn..." The guest book of the Gospel exhibition should have analogous comments, if we're successful. I would love some Bareners (like Bea!) to shock their friends and join a project that is outside of what they would be expected to consider doing, precisely because they see such possibilities. Of course, I know that there are reasons -- and very good ones in many cases -- why some people would decline to participate. I may have to wait for a 'rose garden' theme to show again with Bea (hey, we could have Bea's bees! ...um, sorry!)... Gregory Robison Edinburgh ------------------------------ From: Tariq and Princess Rashid Date: Sun, 03 Jun 2001 04:18:33 -0400 Subject: [Baren 14679] Re: oil and water after all Man!! You guys are awesome!!. Baren Rocks!!!!!!! I've been out of school and working in a vacuum for a little while now and just being apart of a group like this is invigorating. I've only worked with oil so far. And I totally agree with Maria's points about the beauty of the European approach to woodcutting and the cool way oils "stack". I think its great both oil and water folks can come together and feed off each other. Question: Has any one used the water based "acrylic" inks from Daniel Smith? If so, what's your opinion of them? Princess Rashid Jacksonville, FL Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com wrote: > > Baren is for ALL woodblock printmakers, has always been....the vitality > that members like Maria, April, Sarah, David, Horacio, Dan and many others > bring to the group can not be measured or divided into water vs > oil.......it is the common love > for woodblock printmaking that brings and keeps us together. I hope that > never stops. > > Julio ------------------------------ From: Tariq and Princess Rashid Date: Sun, 03 Jun 2001 04:25:39 -0400 Subject: [Baren 14680] Re: hanga question Question: Can you laminate dry oil inked prints with the acrylic medium? If so, I assume you just brush the medium/water mixture over the image only, not the margins??? Princess Rashid Jacksonville, FL Akemi Ohira wrote: > on 6/1/01 4:26 PM, Alan Basist at abasist@buncombe.main.nc.us wrote: > > > I am making bookmarks using the japanese woodblock method and need an > > approriate paper that will be stiff enough to use as a bookmark. Does anyone > > have any suggestions? Jerelee > > hi Jerelee, > > My suggestion to you is to print on whatever the paper you chose and > laminate it with matte medium (diluted with water). > Then you don't have to worry about getting the image damaged... > > (laminating prints is very big here, at the University of Virginia.) > > Hopefully, this would be a help. > Let me know if you need any technical help. > kemi ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V15 #1442 *****************************