Baren Digest Sunday, 22 September 2002 Volume 20 : Number 1968 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Jeanne N. Chase" Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 09:58:19 -0400 Subject: [Baren 19288] Re: Mechanics ... I find the actual creating and drawing on the block the best part. Then comes the taxing part; the carving. My tools never seem sharp enough, the wood always seems harder , the knife slips, I have to fix the area. By the time the block is cut I am worn out. Then comes the other fun or relaxing or magic part. The actual inking and printing of the block. An "oily" block done with a baren. It is magical because then you can see what you have created. I never have been successful at sharpening my tools and boy have I tried, but I get an F for that task. There must be a secret. Anyway, the creating and printing for me is the turn on. Not the carving. I know, if I did hanga it would be easier (maybe) Jeanne N. ------------------------------ From: "Jeanne N. Chase" Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 10:02:23 -0400 Subject: [Baren 19289] Re: carving/printing Gillyin Great description of how you go about the carving of the wood. Golly, I sure wish the wood would speak to me. But instead I think it is saying "Don't touch me, don't touch me" Jeanne N. ------------------------------ From: "Lee and Barbara Mason" Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 07:16:42 -0700 Subject: [Baren 19290] sharpening tools Jeanne, You will learn to sharpen tools and I will learn to tie a baren...Dave has promised this...it will be trial by fire! But worth that long trek to Kansan City next June after we have our new skills! I will no longer have to buy a new baren...I am saving the insides in case I actually learn how to do this!~) I think you need one of those little magnifing loops that Graphic Chemical sells. They are $8 and as soon as you look at the tools with them, you can see where you need to sharpen and where you don't. You might need a new tool to look at to see how they should look, all shiny and smooth, not all scratched and nicked. It is amazing, I would never know what they were supposed to be like without this little glass. I highly recommend this or one like it for all. I think it is 10X more than what you can see without it, which for me is not much as far as telling if tools are sharp. Of course you can just try them, but looking at them will get them really right. Best to all, Barbara ------------------------------ From: Charles Morgan Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 07:29:02 -0700 Subject: [Baren 19291] Re: Mechanics ... As a neophyte, I find the carving to be by far the easiest. It is the printing that I find troublesome ... not enough knowledge, not enough experience. For me the printing is anything but mechanical. Cheers ..... Charles At 07:29 AM 9/21/02 +0900, you wrote: >Email chatting with somebody the other day, talking about this and that >... This is a person who I think I know quite well, and with whom I have >exchanged a zillion emails over the past few years. And yet even after >such a lot of 'communication' I found that I was still capable of being >very surprised - to find that we looked at our woodblock printmaking in >quite different ways. > >I don't like quoting private emails out on the forum, but I think I have >permission to do so in this case (and anyway, unless I am very mistaken, >this person will soon jump in to expand this discussion!). Part of the >letter said: >>the design part and cutting part (is) the most grueling >>for me, both mentally and physically. Printing is just...mechanics! > >Wow, I was surprised to read this! For me, it's pretty much the other way >around; carving is a quiet and restful job that progresses steadily along >- for sometimes as long as a couple of weeks - until the set of blocks is >finished. Then, when they are all ready, I put away the carving bench and >pull out the print bench. And at that moment, the whole tone and mood of >my days changes. The 'peaceful' carving days are done, and the ' ' >printing days begin. What word to put in those ' ' marks I'm not sure. >Yes, the printing too is peaceful, but because of the heavy physical work >involved, the time is certainly nowhere as near 'restful' as the carving days. > >The paper is moistened, and it seems like a 'race' is on - there can be no >days off, or no fooling around with other projects, until the required >number of copies are finished. It is theoretically possible to freeze the >paper if a long interruption becomes necessary, but that's certainly not a >normal part of the process. Each time I sit down to print the first sheet >of each edition, muscles that haven't been used for a couple of weeks >complain at the unexpected activity, and I am surprised again at just how >thick a stack of 200 sheets of paper is! Of course, a couple of days >later, the rhythms are established again, and things move along smoothly, >but without fail, when the last colour of the last sheet is done, it is >done so with a feeling of relief. > >And the claim that printing is 'mechanical' ... I can't see it this way; >although it may certainly _look_ like a mechanical job to somebody >watching, there are just too many small things to keep under control - the >moisture in the paper and on the block, the amount of pigment in the >brush, the light pressure to not apply during the final brush strokes, >etc. etc. "Printing is just...mechanics!"? Yeah, like "Sex is just plumbing!" > >How about most of you? Can you balance the multiple jobs of printmaking a >bit better than I do, and move smoothly from one part to the next, or do >you find - as my correspondent does - that one part is 'grueling', and >another part is 'mechanical'? > >Dave ------------------------------ From: Jim Bryant Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 11:42:16 -0500 Subject: [Baren 19292] Re: Tom Huck Print ! That print's a beauty. I am amazed at how much information he packs into the relatively small space of the block. It's something that I think I would like to do--but maybe I'm too claustrophobic to pull it off with the success that Huck does. jim- On 9/20/02 7:46 PM, "owner-baren#ml.asahi-net.or.jp" wrote: > From: Mike Lyon > Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 08:59:20 -0500 > Subject: [Baren 19264] Re: Tom Huck Print ! > > Yes, I own one of Roy Rogers' sister's demise. > > Mike ------------------------------ From: ArtfulCarol#aol.com Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 18:38:01 EDT Subject: [Baren 19293] Re: fireman prints This is where I sent the checks for the Firemens prints from the Irvington, NY Exhibit. It was given to me by our Fire Dept. Firedonations 3214 50 St. Suite 303 Gig, Harbor, WA 98335 Check made out to NYC firefighters 9/11 relief Fund, $1,400 Glad 2 were sold. Carol ------------------------------ From: "Maria Arango" Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 16:01:40 -0700 Subject: [Baren 19294] RE: fireman prints There are more, Tyrus, one on the way to you on Monday by pony express (USPS first class). Thanks for organizing the show and for your excellent salesmanship! Maria <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Maria Arango Las Vegas, Nevada, USA http://www.1000woodcuts.com maria#mariarango.com <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> > I sold two firemen's prints at the reception we had on friday > 20th. Can someone tell me again to whom I should make the check > out, and where to send it? It was Maria's print and John Center's > that sold. However, even though I have another of Maria's, I was > planning to send it as part of a set to Goddard at UofK (Steve > can you e-mail me info on what to do with this off list?). Maria, > or someone else, are there more? > > TyRuS > ----------------------------- From: "Maria Arango" Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 17:51:02 -0700 Subject: [Baren 19295] LAST puzzle project update Okay folks, with 42 participants I am OFFICIALLY CLOSING sign up for the MCPP (thanks, Sharri, you don't know what you've started), Puzzle Project #1. My husband just served me with divorce papers, not unrelated to this new and timely undertaking. PARTICIPANTS TO DO ASAP: Anyway! Here is the new and revised page, where everyone will please promptly go, go, go! and fill out the confirmation form. This will accomplish the arduous task of getting everyone's address in a manner that I can easily transpose to a mini-spreadsheet for mailing labels and such things. Even if you sent the address in your sign up email (bless you thoughtful ones!), please do it again. Use the comments field to send me corrections on spelling and other such things. Revised participant list and confirmation form: http://www.1000woodcuts.com/puzzle/project.html I will go away now and buy some wood. I think I can keep the number of blocks to two, in fact I plan to do so. This way the excruciatingly zen-like mechanical grueling repetitive zone-out printing task will be somewhat manageable. Perhaps delicious cherry plywood? Detail driven maple plywood? Plain'ol sweetly soft birch? Hmmmmm... Since there are so many brave Bareneers involved, I will continue to use the forum for communications unless the moderator tells me otherwise. Heck, I can take Wanda with a wolf--I mean, a hand tied behind my back :-) Lastly, bookmark that page, all updates will be posted there and as soon as the wood arrives, the picture gallery will begin! Insanely yours, Maria <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Maria Arango, founder MCPP http://www.1000woodcuts.com/puzzle/project.html Las Vegas, Nevada, USA http://www.1000woodcuts.com maria#mariarango.com <><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez#walgreens.com Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2002 02:59:40 -0500 Subject: [Baren 19296] Re: carving/printing...what about papermaking ? Thanks to everyone for sharing their insights into the process. For me, the hardest is the design part and arriving at a mental image of what the print will look like at the end. Sometimes I find that I don't take the time to explore all the posibilities that are posible witht the subject at hand. Composition and color selection are trouble areas I hope to improve on. The carving is fun and the printing is a challenge to make the prints as close to each other as possible. But fun nevertheless. For those interested, the Sept-Oct issue of "ART on Paper" magazine has an 8 page article on master printmaker and studio innovator Kenneth Tyler. The focus of the article are Tyler's innnovations in papermaking and his collaborations with many artists thru the years. Tyler Studios here in the US I think closed their doors last year, but Tyler has relocated to Singapore and is busy with STPI (Singapore Tyler Print Institute) a Singapore goverment sponsored program under the direction of Tyler to promote the print arts in that part of the world. The Dieu Donne Papermill, Inc. in New York is holding a special event October 24th honoring Tyler. Details at 212-226-0573. thanks...Julio Rodriguez ------------------------------ From: John and Jan Telfer Date: Sun, 22 Sep 02 17:27:37 +0800 Subject: [Baren 19297] Re: Puzzle Print Maria, Don't close the Puzzle Print just yet. I was waiting to see whether you were going to be sending bits of wood overseas and how customs would cope with it coming into Australia? Are you prepared to send little bits of wood around the world? Customs were strict at inspecting all my woodblocks on my return to Western Australia after Bootcamp - I wonder if it is worth a try? I would love to be part of the puzzle especially now that I won't be able to be at the Baren Kansas "Bash", the BKB, as our son is being married on 1st June next year on the far north coast of Western Australia and I think we will be fairly heavily committed there... It is more like the Quilters have with their "Friendship Quilts" than a puzzle. You had better number the backs of each piece with which block they fit into eg A1, A2, A3 so you won't be spending weeks working out which piece goes where! I would really like to be part of this Baren puzzle. Thanks, Jan ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V20 #1968 *****************************