Baren Digest              Monday, 29 October 2001      Volume 17 : Number 1601


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From: "Maria Arango" <maria@mariarango.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 08:57:15 -0800
Subject: [Baren 16067] various 

Apology:
I just completed a run of 3 consecutive art festivals with scant time in
between to do anything but scratch and reload. Needless to say, emails
accumulated and, in an effort to avoid spending countless hours sitting on
my hiney when I should be signing and sending my flora print, I have deleted
some 800 e-mails. Incidentally, it felt really good (albeit a bit reckless),
try it some time.
Any-hoe, if you had important business with me and contacted me directly and
I haven't answered you, you know why. Saved from virtual destruction were
the digests from Baren and PA, which I enjoyed immensely in the extra hour
that the powers-that-be gave us on this fine morning.
Complaints and protests regarding the above radical action should be
directed to: whine@mariarango.com

Market Report:
The economy seems to be affecting attendance but not sales in these fine
events. Holy-moly, would be another way of putting it, although some artists
with higher-priced items were not pleased with sales. I expect so little
that a good show always surprises me. And a "good show" is something about
as definable and concrete as "good art," and provides countless hours of
debate for artists. Original blocks seem to have no ceiling as far as price
tag is concerned. I remembered Jeanne (was it Jeanne?) because I sold a
block to a blind person who loved the feel.
I highly encourage anyone who is seriously considering art as a way of life
to explore this venue. The pace at which galleries (I am in 6 now) sell my
prints does not begin to compare with the exposure and sales at a well
chosen art festival ("well chosen" is also a matter of debate). Any gallery
owner that gets 30,000 people through its doors on a given weekend can argue
with me. Anyhow, for those who still think these are solely cute crafty
events, I suggest you get out and visit some of the better quality ones.
In any case, I started answering questions online about my successes and
failures (ohhh, there are plenty of those horrors out there as well) and
decided to start putting all the information together in a sort of "guide."
As I consider myself still a rookie in the business, this guide of sorts
will air sometime next year, after I have gathered more exciting experiences
in this crazy business.
Some drawbacks are an excess of traveling and a dizzying pace, but I'm
assuming things will calm down after 10 years or so  [:-)] Upon returning I had
to make a 68 item list of things to do, both in the art department and in
the home/pet/husband department.

On paper and mold:
I would humbly suggest staying away from the ravages of bleach, in chlorine
form or any derivative. Any mishap with duration or dilution and your paper
will shred like a pair of old socks. Since you are in sunny California,
Georga, I would recommend the lay out in the sun method, then simply brush
the dried critters off with a plastic brush and very gentle touch.
Otherwise, make the drive to single-digit-humidity Vegas and by the time you
get here, your mold will have run away to Florida or some other humid place.
Point is, paper is a delicate beautiful thing. Bleach will weaken the fibers
and compromise the integrity of the fiber network.
When people were recommending "wetting" the paper, I hope it was understood
that "dampening" the paper is what is required. The purpose of this practice
for printing with oil based inks is to soften the paper, as someone pointed
out. The fibers then become more receptive to the ink. With very hard
Western papers, the difference is astounding in crispness of print and
evenness of coverage. With hand-made papers, it is almost essential to
dampen or the paper will simply refuse the ink and/or tear.
As for method of dampening, there are many. I spray every other sheet (every
sheet for bark papers or very chunky hard papers), lay flat under a board
and between plastic, weigh down the stack. In about two hours the moisture
will have "crawled" evenly permeating every sheet. Overnight is even better,
as your paper will be deliciously soft and cool to the touch. No real
moisture should be detectable in properly dampened paper, just a softness of
the sheet.

Barbara:
My hat is off to you. Thanks for getting us under the fine umbrella of the
Print Alliance and everything else that you have taken on.
Dave:
The new Baren Mall is scrumptious. Great find on the new shopping cart that
adds up the weight of the items. Bravo!

Much health to all,
Maria

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Maria Arango
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
http://www.1000woodcuts.com
maria@mariarango.com
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>


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From: Aqua4tis@aol.com
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 14:30:27 EST
Subject: [Baren 16068] Re: mold 


hi everyone
   thanks to all of you who replied to my mold question    ive been working 
on my flora print and its been a real challenge!!!   if something could go 
wrong  it has    i dont think ive ever had this much trouble with a print 
before
   anyway  ive gone from trying to do this as a hanga print on japanese paper 
   to going back to the oily stuff on rives bfk lightweight   my print may be 
a bit late   but im determined to tame this beast!!!
   here is my dilemma    im doing this print with 4 blocks    a block for 
each color    i was going to soak the paper    but i know its going to take 
me a few days to do the run    can i let the paper dry out between colors?   
i dont want mold again
   thanks for any and all input     this group is invaluable!!
georga


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From: barebonesart <barebonesart@home.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 14:02:39 -0800
Subject: [Baren 16069] Re: Baren Digest V17 #1600 

If you still have the mold problem and don't want to use bleach, and the
paper cannot be soaked for one reason or another, try a little lemon juice &
ultraviolet light on the spots.

Sharri



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From: "April Vollmer" <april@aprilvollmer.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 17:29:35 -0500
Subject: [Baren 16070] Across from FIT 

Wonderful Baren get-together yesterday. I went over to see Matt Brown and
Bill Paden at the apartment of a friend of Matt's on Seventh Avenue, across
from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Matt came down to NYC for a week
from his home in New Hampshire to sell his prints, and invited Bill to show
work with him.

Matt is so well-organized, he had all his prints neatly displayed in frames
on the walls, with unframed copies in binders. He had posted descriptions of
the technique, and a printing setup in one room, with refreshments and more
portfolios in the main room. It was a pleasure to talk with him, and always
an inspiration to see him selling work with a smile.

Bill Paden doesn't maintain the same inventory, he makes fewer prints, but
they are exquisite. Technically perfect, on double weight hanga paper,
("kizuki hosho"), abstracted images of Japanese landscapes. He had some
large ones, maybe 24" tall, for $300, which I think is a great bargain. It
was a treat to see them again, to appreciate the way he can make the most of
tsubushi, bokashi, goma zuri, shomen-zuri, all the special techniques, with
such control.

It was nice to see the two showing together. Bill took Matt to a few shows
while he was in New York, and I think he convinced him to try some of that
kizuki hosho, too!

And if that wasn't enough, we had the pleasure of our own Bea Gold and her
husband Jack, who happened to be in New York this week! She is an old friend
of Matt's (at least they met one before-- woodcutter's become close friends
quickly!) Bill's wife Yoshiko was helping out, and we had a few other
friends come by to the closing party.

Matt took some photos, hope he'll make me a copy of the disk, or post them
on the web, so you can all see what a nice show this was. Thank you,
Barenforum, for introducing us!

April Vollmer
www.aprilvollmer.com

Also, there is a good print show coming up:
"New Prints 2001/Autumn"
International Print Center New York
526 West 26th Street, Suite 824, New York, NY
http://www.ipcny.org
October 30 - February 2002
Reception Tuesday, Oct. 30, 5-8 pm


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From: Lucinda Rawdon Brown <design@lucindabrown.com>
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 16:05:30 -0800 (PST)
Subject: [Baren 16071] Belated Introduction 


Hello Everyone,

Although I did join some time ago, I am just now getting around to introducing myself. Please forgive the oversight, but there have been a number of issues in my personal life that have gotten in the way.

I am Barbara Mason's assistant and have been helping her in her studio a great deal since meeting her last June. It is the perfect job for a Fine Arts graduate needing inspiration! My major focus had always been painting until I got side tracked by graphic design in 1996. I owned a small firm and designed menus for restaurants for a few years, so was well acquainted with commercial printing. Meeting Barbara and revisiting the processes of printmaking pulled everything together for me and seemed very, very natural. I am now focused on becoming a printmaker, and I feel that the Baren will be an excellent supplemental to what Barbara is training me to do.

Most of my artwork has been representational with a great interest in the figure, although I also enjoy traditional landscapes and still life. I'm ready to start in on some new work though and am wanting to experiment with new ideas. After being so involved with graphics, I have a strong desire to continue to combine textual elements along with the drawn/carved images. I am intimadated by the idea of carving letters though, so Barbara and I are exploring various other ways of printing the text sections. If anyone has suggestions for us to try, by all means please share them. I have thoroughly enjoyed sorting through several of the Baren exchanges that Barbara has shown me over the weeks and months and am very, very interested in joining in on future echanges. At this time, I am working on a piece for the Gospel prints show as my first involvement with this group. 

I truly respect everyone's wisdom and experience here, and feel it is a privilege and opportunity to be a part of this group. Thanks in advance for your patience with me as I "learn the ropes" of printmaking.

Warm regards,

Lucinda Rawdon Brown

Aloha, Oregon USA




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From: FurryPressII@aol.com
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 19:31:22 EST
Subject: [Baren 16072] Re: Fireman prints 

my mail address;
john center
po box 59288
chicago, ill 60659-0288

a bit tired   will write a letter latter      

John of the furry press

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From: FurryPressII@aol.com
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 19:35:58 EST
Subject: [Baren 16073] Re: various 

mold????   furry nevers has this problem  prints oily and dry lol

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From: Aqua4tis@aol.com
Date: Sun, 28 Oct 2001 20:17:06 EST
Subject: [Baren 16074] Re: Belated Introduction 


welcome lucinda
   and i must add i think you are very lucky to be able to study with barbara
georga

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End of Baren Digest V17 #1601
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