Baren Digest Wednesday, 13 March 2002 Volume 18 : Number 1760
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From: Cucamongie@aol.com
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 09:30:04 EST
Subject: [Baren 17473] rice paste
Charles, there is no need to make rice paste from scratch if you can buy it
already made! I forget where you're located, but they do sell rice paste
through McClain's. I also purchase it at a much cheaper price either at
Sunshine market, a Japanese market in New York City, or there's a Japanese
book store in NY called
Kinokuniya Bookstore
10 West 49th Street
New York, NY 10020Tel: (212) 765-7766
Fax: (212) 541-9335
e-mail: kinokuniya@kinokuniya.com-
They probably will do mail order.
my 2 cents
Sarah
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From: Graham
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 06:46:39 -0800
Subject: [Baren 17474] Re: rice paste
Charles you don't have to go south.... as much as it is a grand idea
with all this rotten weather we are having... to get the rice paste.
If you can wait for a while I will be getting my supply for the Boot
Camp.
Graham
Buy Canadian.... well Japanese Canadian at least....
>Charles, there is no need to make rice paste from scratch if you can
>buy it already made! I forget where you're located, but they do
>sell rice paste through McClain's. I also purchase it at a much
>cheaper price either at Sunshine market, a Japanese market in New
>York City, or there's a Japanese book store in NY called
>Kinokuniya Bookstore
>
>10 West 49th Street
>New York, NY 10020Tel: (212) 765-7766
>Fax: (212) 541-9335
>e-mail: kinokuniya@kinokuniya.com-
>
>They probably will do mail order.
>my 2 cents
>Sarah
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From: John and Jan Telfer
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 02 23:01:47 -0000
Subject: [Baren 17475] Re: Oil Printing Techniques
Sirima,
>The series of blocks that I'm working on are all about 25" x 37".
>http://www.hwy1studios.com/Portfolio/ss_art/trees/
>Usually proof on dry mulberry or masa (50-70 gm2) 27" x 40" using Daniel
>Smith's water soluble trad relief ink (oil) and a wooden spoon on a
>cool,foggy days. (I live by the ocean). The proofs come out great but I'm
>not happy with the paper for editioning.
>SO..I edition on dry Rives Light Weight (115-117gm2) 26" x 40" using D Smith
>or Graphic Chemical traditional relief ink (oil)
Here are some suggestions that I have been using now for several years:
1. Paper - Fabriano (French) hotpress 200gsm I find is best, BFK Rives
200gsm or less for the heavy duty papers. Kozo - good quality is also
excellent even for big sizes like you are doing and less pressure is
needed.
2. Ink - Graphic Chemical is OK. Our tubed GC is more supple than the
tins. I haven't used the other one you mentioned. You can always add a
little Extender to give it more flexibility without altering the
opaqueness.
3. Baren -
> Maria's message about her "wonderful little baren"
I think you do need to get one of the bamboo covered barens and a 4" to
6" size one and not a smaller size. Baren Mall have several you can
choose from...Japanese twisted or John Root's corded interior ones.. both
covered with bamboo "leaves" both very good. Be careful when using the
Ball Bearing Baren with a lot of pressure that it tends to curl the heavy
papers and when you return to a section that you have previously put
pressure through that it doesn't register incorrectly.
4. The weather - That is a personal choice. By the ocean shouldn't make
that much difference, but if you get too hot have a fan running in the
studio and drink plenty of water. The ink is more flexible on hotter days
but it dries in a day or two. Cooler weather and the ink is stiffer and
will take longer to dry but it is certainly more pleasureable to work in.
5. If you have tendenitis, (is that in your shoulders or your elbows or
wrists) you may have your printing table too high. Stand up to print. Use
a table that is lower so that you can use your arms straight but without
having to bend our back more than just to put your body weight through
your straight arms to the table. Stand with your feet slightly apart.
>25" x 37".
This is a big print size for someone who has tendonitis, Sirima. You may
have to think about doing smaller size prints if you want to continue
doing them by hand or otherwise use the Japanese Kozo type papers...they
are very strong and will last longer than our machine made papers. They
are very much easier to use with a baren. You can almost see how well
the print is taking on the paper from the back of the paper, too.
If you are doing such big sizes, it is advisable to check sections of
your print by carefully lifting up each corner to check to see if you
need more pressure on an area, but be careful not to move the
paper...keep your other hand just beyond where you are flipping up the
corners. I would also suggest with these heavy papers that you have a
"charged" smaller roller with your printing ink near to your printing
table so that you can reroll sections of your block if you think it is
too light. But, be warned, you have to be very careful doing this that
(a) you don't move your paper and (b) you don't catch the roller's edge
also on the paper....believe me I have done both on some big prints and
have ruined them, but I learnt very quickly to be careful.
You may find that the flat black areas are the areas that are giving you
the most trouble with inking consistency. That is when you definitely
need the little "stand-by" roller and extra working time on that area to
get it consistant. It is also the area that will stand out if it is not
a consistant colour. Be careful when you are cutting your blocks if they
are laminated blocks that the wood joins do not come within the totally
black areas too. One of my blocks had that problem and it didn't matter
how well I printed the image I could still see that join that was
virtually undetectable on the wood.
Don't do the whole edition in one day!!! Break your printing into two or
three days with a day in between and make sure that you exercise and
relax your shoulders, elbows and wrist...take a relaxing bath to ease the
tension and tired muscles or get your partner or friend to massage your
muscles gently....with hands not with their feet...too harsh!
>Does anyone print their blocks on a rotary or litho press?
I would rather print by hand, even my sizes that are the same as
yours....I have more control over the pressure and it doesn't warp my
printing blocks.
You are talking to an Ergonomic Occupational Therapist here!!! This is
my "pet" subject!!!
Take time to rest, and don't expect to do too many in a day. I could
only do 8 to 10 in a good day at that size and I usually take a day
inbetween too.
Happy printing.
Jan
Western Australia.
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From: GraphChem@aol.com
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 10:38:35 EST
Subject: [Baren 17476] Re: Need advice for printing on heavyweight paper
Some possible options - without recommendations. I don't know some of these
sheets, but they'll fit your criteria.
Asairi 25 x 37 30 gsm
Chinzei Black 25 x 38" 40 gsm
Chiri Heavy Speckles 25 x 38" 37 gsm
Chiri Light Speckles 23 x 35.5" 37 gsm
Gasenshi Echizen 17.5 x 25.5" 35 gsm
Goyu 21 x 29" 50 gsm
Hosokawa-Oban 25 x 38" 23 gsm
Kinwashi 24 x 36" 30 gsm
Kitakata 16 x 20" 30 gsm
Kizukishi 25 x 36.5" 18 gsm
Masa 21 x 31" 77 gsm
Misu 25 x 38" 20 gsm
Mulberry 25 x 38" 45 gsm
25 x 33.5" 45 gsm
Natsume 4002 24 x 36" 80 gsm
Natsume 4007 24 x 36" 75 gsm
Okawara Machinemade 38 x 73" 60 gsm
Okawara Handmade 14 x 35" 60 gsm
Okawara Student 18 x 25" 40 gsm
Sanwa Silk Unryu 25 x 37.5" 70 gsm
Sekishu 24 x 39" 30 gsm
Sekishu Kozogami Mare 21 x 29" 26 gsm
Sekishu Kozogami Tsuru 21 x 29" 26 gsm
Sekishu Torinoko Gampi 21 x 29" 20 gsm
Shi Shi Mai 25 x 37" 50 gsm
Tanabata 21 x 31" 80 gsm
Thai Kozo 25 x 37" 35 gsm
Thai Unryu 25 x 37" 25 gsm
Thai Unryu Kozo Tissue 25 x 37" 15 gsm
Tosa Tengujo 21 x 31" 13 gsm
Uda Thin 13 x 19" 20 gsm
Unryu 24 x 39" 37 gsm
There are numerous other sheets, but these are theoretically readily
available from one of my sources. Samples can be arranged, but probably not
full sheet samples unless we stock the paper.
Dean Clark
Graphic Chemical & Ink
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From: G Wohlken
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 11:10:05 -0500
Subject: [Baren 17477] Re: Baren Digest V18 #1759
Bareners who were in the Endangered Species exchange, this is for you.
I am currently working on the upcoming
(July/August) combined Sacred Trees/Endangered Species exhibit. If you
have extra copies of your Endangered Species print that you would like
to sell at this show, please get in touch with me at
blueman@pantek.com. Josephine is sending some of the extras from the
Sacred Trees Exhibit at Print Australia, but since we didn't have extra
sets of the Endangered Species prints, it would be up to those
interested, to send me an extra copy (or two) and also the price you are
asking. The Donald C. Meyer's (nature) Center gallery is where the show
will take place. 20 percent will have to be added to the price of the
prints and will go toward the support of the Park District (which is non
profit).
Here is their website, if you are interested:
http://www.co.geauga.oh.us/departments/park_district.htm
If you click on "Big Creek Park" (after scrolling down), you will be
taken to the webpage of the particula park where the Meyer's Center is
located.
I need to get working on this soon, so please let me know if you intend
to send an extra print or two and price.
Gayle Wohlken
Ohio, USA
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From: "Bill H Ritchie Jr"
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 10:24:52 -0800
Subject: [Baren 17478] Re: Dave Bull's live web cam is on
I think Dave Bull's project with Web cam is what I'd like to do, but I'll
let him perfect the process and be grateful.
Meanwhile, I'm tossing in my two bits for what it's worth.
I'm experimenting with the "artist, live" idea to add to peoples'
understanding of how printmaking works, and how artists' hand made prints
are special, partly because of how they're made and partly because it's a
creative art form, not only a way of reproducing many copies.
So part of the time I'm making my print for #13, I'm turning on a vintage
camera and making one to two minute short videos. It's quite a challenge,
and slows me down to a crawl sometimes as far as carving.
But it is live, and a true document. It also offers a way of reflecting on
the past weeks. For me, printmaking is the one art form that records its own
history (trial proofs, etc.) and thus affords an artist, if he or she is
inclined, to look back and think about the path they're on.
I would rather not know where the path leads, and build my path as I travel.
But the videos will, if they play elsewhere such as on the Web (like Dave's)
or on home-burned PC/DVDs (as I do) show other people what ONE guy did, his
two bits, for what it's worth.
Hey, I wonder if I could get two bits for two minute videos? Hmm. Do I see
dollar signs?
Bill H. Ritchie, Jr
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From: Graham
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 14:38:04 -0800
Subject: [Baren 17479] VHS and DVD's for education.
I have looked in on (once) Dave's web cam out of curiousity to see
if it has any merit as a teaching aid. Doug my son set up a video cam
at a public gallery exhibition 4 years ago and shot imagery as he worked
and had it all attached to the web site of the Gallery. I don't know the
tech end of it but is was much better streaming than what I see from Japan.
I liken the feed to watching the grass grow, however from the acorn grows the tree.
I have just agreed to take on a project of creating a loop video of our sport,
printmaking, for an Public Gallery in Ontario. It is to run continuously for
2 months at my exhibition at the MacLaren Art Centre just north of Toronto.
This exhibition has been in the making for 5 years and Marnie and I are thrilled
to be considered and very honoured by the invite.
It is interesting Bill that you are shooting your own stuff. Hard to do eh....
I tried, and came to the conclusion that I could not carve, print and shoot video
at the same time. I liken it to patting your head as you rub your tummy. I started
9 years ago by having a professional come to the studio or attend important exhibitions
to shoot footage. Now I have all this lovely material that requires editing and made
ready for a vhs tape. Boy when you say it fast it seems easy. I know that I have a
huge learning curve to understand the use of Final Cut Pro. I have no intentions of
doing the fine tuning with this editing program... just a story board approach and
then it goes to a professional lab to have it made ready for TV quality.
I cheer you on with the project of DVD's and material for educational purposes.
We should keep in touch on our projects.
Cheers,
Graham/Sidney BC
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From: Ray Hudson
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 20:51:05 -0500
Subject: [Baren 17480] woodblock help
I have found Baren to be such a fine resource, such a splendid forum for
sharing information and supporting each other that I am truly saddened
when I begin (once again) to see unpleasantness. I am determined to
remain a member but I am also determined to exercise the delete button
with a rapidity that will astound even myself. Whatever we do, be it
beginning hanga or advanced, be it lino work or work with oil inks, be
it webcams of a Speilberg perfection or something I might crank out, is
worth supporting if it's done to further woodblock printing, our love of
it, our practice. I am a perpetual beginner, as I think Roethke--among
others--claimed to be.
I'll be in two shows here in Vermont in April at the Vermont State Craft
Center at Frog Hollow. I'll be the featured artist for April and also
in a show called "Block and Tile"--woodblocks and painted tiles. Am
madly carving a large print (for me--13 inches by 2 feet) of a
waterfall. Moving water is incredible to try to capture. Luckily, I
print with watercolors on very damp Chinese paper so part of the image
occurs quite naturally.
Then on to the Music Exchange block or blocks!
Ray Hudson
Middlebury, Vermont
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From: Myron Turner
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 20:42:45 -0600
Subject: [Baren 17481] Re: woodblock help
I was a student of Roethke's in the once long ago.
Myron T.
At 08:51 PM 12/03/2002 -0500, you wrote:
> I am a perpetual beginner, as I think Roethke--among
>others--claimed to be.
>
>Ray Hudson
>Middlebury, Vermont
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From: ArtfulCarol@aol.com
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 22:17:09 EST
Subject: [Baren 17482] Re: Cathy Caraccio
Cathy Caraccio is in my files as a recommended woodblock print teacher:
208 W. 39 St. Room. 309
212-594-9662
I have no direct experience to report.
Carol
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From: Bette Wappner
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 22:20:39 -0500
Subject: [Baren 17483] Introducing myself!
Hi Everyone
My name is Bette Norcross Wappner from northern Kentucky, (the greater
Cincinnati, Ohio area), USA.
I've been a lurker for quite some time here and have really appreciated
everyones kindness in sharing their knowledge and beautiful art. I'm new to
printmaking and woodblock carving. Newbie all the way 'round.
My background consists of graphic design and art direction with advertising
agencies in Des Moines, IA and Myrtle Beach, SC. I grew up in Iowa. After
our two children came along, I gave up my career to be a stay at home mom.
I'd love to go back to college (like Art Academy of Cinti. - Dan Dew says
"yeah!") to major in printmaking, but that won't be for awhile since the
kids are still young - ages 8 and 12. I find time for my art while they're
at school and since I'm a night owl, I'm in my basement studio til wee hours
of the morning.
I've been a calligrapher since 1980, am a member of the Greater Cincinnati
Calligraphers Guild, the Cincinnati Book Arts Society, and the Letterpress
gang from Art Academy of Cinct. I try to fit in all the workshops that I
can manage.
I'd like to take my art to higher and more satifying levels with woodblock
printmaking. I've done lino carving and loved it, but new immediately that
my heart would be *one* only with wood. I've purchased a pretty nice set of
Japanese carving knives and a plank of basswood to practice on. Am already
looking forward to trying cherry woods, etc. But I will have to
admit....that Moku Hanga is calling me!
I write Haiku and have prayed for the day that I can include it in a unique,
beautiful, traditional art technique. I think Hanga is it. After seeing
tiny letter characters being carved, I think I have a challenge ahead of me
to do my calligraphy and finding the right style of lettering to fit my
Haiku will be fun. I can see simple, elegant illustrations to carve along
with each Haiku. But we'll see what the future will have in store for
Bette.
Well, it took awhile for me to introduce myself and now I hope I haven't
bored you too much. I truly enjoy communicating with fellow artists who
share such a nice kindred spirit. Its important to all of our souls.
I'd like to go to the Hanga Intensive next year. I hope to have some
carvings and prints under my belt by then.
All for the love of carving and printmaking,
Bette Wappner
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From: "marilynn smih"
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 19:42:52 -0800
Subject: [Baren 17484] Re: Baren Digest V18 #1759
Regarding the rice flour, wheat flour for paste, well they put in so many
addiives. I am going to see if i can't bring back a bag of rice flour from
here in mexico. They do not put so much stuff in their food here.
Marilynn
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From: "Jean Eger Womack"
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 19:52:21 -0800
Subject: [Baren 17485] Rice Flour Paste
Here's my recipe for rice flour paste that works pretty well:
For each 1 cup of water, use 1 rounded Tablespoon of rice flour. In top of
double boiler, or just an ordinary pot, mix the rice flour with a Tablespoon
or so of water so that it becomes creamy or milky. Then boil the water and
pour the water in All At Once. That's the main secret--the all at once.
Mix and continue mixing for about 5 minutes. It should be translucent and
all cooked.
You can double the recipe. You can vary the proportions to get the results
you want.
Put some rice flour paste on the block and next to it put some pigment mixed
with water and/or gum arabic. Then mix it on the block with your nice
Japanese brush. It works best if the block is shiny, but not globby in the
crevices. You have to print at least twice to get a flat color.
Jean
e-mail: jeaneger@jeaneger.com
http://www.jeaneger.com
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From: Graham
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 19:56:02 -0800
Subject: [Baren 17486] Re: Baren Digest V18 #1759
>Regarding the rice flour, wheat flour for paste, well they put in so many
>addiives. I am going to see if i can't bring back a bag of rice flour from
>here in mexico. They do not put so much stuff in their food here.
>Marilynn
Good Marilynn, Please smuggle a small (3 or 4 tablespoons) to boot camp.
I would like to try it. By the way the wheat flour I could not recall
in yesterdays post was chinese wheat starch and was brought to last years Boot Camp...
Have no recollection who it was.
I will have some here this year if I can find it.
Graham/Sidney BC
An Island in the Pacific
Home of the Boot Camp
http://woodblock.info/bootcamp
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From: Graham
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 20:00:12 -0800
Subject: [Baren 17487] Re: Introducing myself!
>My name is Bette Norcross Wappner from northern Kentucky, (the greater
>Cincinnati, Ohio area), USA.
Welcome a board... in particular Basswood....
You will indeed have fun and if the craving for wood and printing is there
then it will be a fun time.
Regards
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From: "Lee and Barbara Mason"
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 21:46:59 -0800
Subject: [Baren 17488] Re: Introducing myself!
Welcome to the baren Bette. We will look forward to meeting you in 2003!
This is a great group of people and they collectively have an enormous
amount of knowledge. Read all the one point lessons in the encyclopedia. It
is amazing.
Best to you,
Barbara
Aloha OR
> My name is Bette Norcross Wappner from northern Kentucky, (the greater
> Cincinnati, Ohio area), USA.
>
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End of Baren Digest V18 #1760
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