Today's postings

  1. [Baren 37884] Re: rotating board when carving (Dave Bull)
  2. [Baren 37885] Re: Rotating the Block (Lana Lambert)
  3. [Baren 37886] Re: rotating board when carving, etc (eli griggs)
  4. [Baren 37887] We don't use 'force' (Eileen Corder)
  5. [Baren 37888] gold leaf (Linda Beeman)
  6. [Baren 37889] Re: rotating board when carving, etc (ArtSpotiB # aol.com)
  7. [Baren 37890] Re: rotating board when carving, etc (eli griggs)
  8. [Baren 37891] rotating board when carving (Graham Scholes)
  9. [Baren 37892] Re: rotating board when carving, etc (ArtSpotiB # aol.com)
  10. [Baren 37893] Re: gold leaf (Graham Scholes)
  11. [Baren 37894] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification (Blog Manager)
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Message 1
From: Dave Bull
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:49:38 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37884] Re: rotating board when carving
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> Is that a heater we see under the table, that nice orange glow?

It's an infrared bulb, installed in a dugout hole in the floor of the
living room. In 'normal' houses, a low table is placed over this, and
the family sits around - with a blanket draped over the table and their
laps - and stays warm that way. That photo was taken before I built my
workroom downstairs, and I was doing my carving in the living room.

That bulb is the only heat for the entire four story structure. The
previous owner used portable kerosene heaters here and there to try and
keep warm. (No complaints about the winter this year though. We're
having day after day after day of crisp _clear_ weather, and the
moonlight last night was fantastic. It seems that most of the rest of
the world (?) is having an awful time of it this winter ... snow ...
storms ... floods ...)

> When Richard Steiner was here he was hunting hot water bottles to
> take home to Japan to help with warmth in the winter.

Couldn't live without mine! Only one problem with it - Boots the Cat
has learned that it's there. I kick her out when she tries to wiggle
her way under the cover, but she's patient, and just waits until I drop
off.

Only a couple more months now until it starts to warm up a bit!

Dave
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Message 2
From: Lana Lambert
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:54:38 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37885] Re: Rotating the Block
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I also recommend the little jeweler's "magnifying helmet. I invested in a swing arm magnigying lamp but never use it when I am carving because my tool handles would clatter against the sides of the lamp. I am blind as a bat!

-Lana
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Message 3
From: eli griggs
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:13:50 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37886] Re: rotating board when carving, etc
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David, I phrased wrongly when I said pinned. What I
was referring to was what looked like tables, with
many benchdog holes to hold the blocks at a more
vertical angle for carving, held tightly by using
wedges between the dogs and the board. I'll look
around some latter today and see if I can find the
original photos of that shop. They may have come from
the Baren library.

I was unable to open the links you gave, even when I
copied and pasted the url, perhaps you could try these
again?

About warming your home/work area, have you considered
installing a solar chimney? It would help heat your
home in the cold months and cool it in the hot ones.
IIRC, you get good exposure on the riverside of your
home, no?

Eli
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Message 4
From: Eileen Corder
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 17:46:44 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37887] We don't use 'force'
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Dave and All,

I use enough force that carving has changed from a "relaxing" activity to
one that I unconsciously now dread. I've done a considerable amount of
carving for my #39 exchange and both my elbows are smarting. I've done a lot
of manual labor in my life and now work a farm "by hand" so maybe my elbows
are just caput.

Last year I started holding the hangi-to as Andrew's link shows and that
helped hugely. Maybe my tools still aren't sharp enough. I use shina which
is very soft, though problematic with (what I think are) inconsistencies in
grain, cementing and knots, some giant ones in the second ply down.

Any suggestions for my worn-out elbows?

Peace,
Eileen
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Message 5
From: Linda Beeman
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:46:46 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37888] gold leaf
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I was looking at this print by Suzuki Kiitsu - Flowers of Autumn and Winter from the 17th century. The background is all gold leaf. Some questions:
1. Has anyone used gold leaf on a print?
2. Is the gold leaf applied to the block and then transfered to the paper?
3. Or is it applied to every sheet of paper before printing on it? That would be rather expensive I think.
4. Can you use gold leaf with watercolor or just with ink?
Any other help or comments appreciated............
Linda
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Message 6
From: ArtSpotiB # aol.com
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:29:56 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37889] Re: rotating board when carving, etc
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I'd like to hear more about that "solar chimney", please, Eli.

Thanks.

ArtSpot Out
Benny in studio



"It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and
occupation, which give happiness."
--Thomas Jefferson

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Message 7
From: eli griggs
Date: Sun, 11 Jan 2009 23:13:48 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37890] Re: rotating board when carving, etc
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Ok, first of all, a link was created in your post so
click on "solar chimney" for links to articles at
Wilkipedia, etc. They give a basic rundown but are
only a start. There are a lot of ways to skin this
particular cat so I suggest you Google around some and
look for what others have built for ideas that best
suit your existing architecture. Much of this can be
built by anyone whom can work well with hand tools and
I think this is how most solar projects are done on
the home.

I also have a pdf of a simple DIY solar collector that
fits flush up against a wall that I can send to anyone
interested. It's enough to help heat a studio or a
home and could be paired up with a solar convection
system to heat and cool a room or a building. One
benefit I'll mention is that with heating from solar,
you don't have to worry so much about turps or other
volatiles going 'BOOM' because of the heater. Of
course, not every location can get a maximum benefit
from solar but in many cases, a little imagination and
careful planing will result in worthwhile gains in
terms of purchased energy not expended in heating
and/or cooling. This pdf is simply a simple way to
get you thinking about what can be done.

My personal experience with convection cooling and
heating comes largely from the pre-War of Northern
Aggression house that I had from my Grandparents
estate. It was a large brick affair, with high
ceilings, 14 foot downstairs and up, with a room width
central hall on both levels that connected with a
large, wide landed staircase that was fitted with a
tall window up high for maximum light. This window
took in a great deal of the sun and all the main
windows in the house were 10 feet tall and about three
feet wide, so 'solar' was everywhere.

There was also an unfinished basement with six, five
foot doors beneath that connected with the hall,
beneath the staircase and a large attic. When doors
or windows on the first level or the basement were
opened with the connecting hall door and window opened
upstairs or the attic door opened, the natural
convection would draw strong, constant breezes
throughout the house and keep it quite cool, even on
the hottest Carolina Piedmont summer day. The tall
windows through out the house let in enough sunlight
to warm the upper areas nicely in the winter, but an
effective way to circulate the heat captured that way
was never Incorporated, a shame really. If I had not
taken the decision to sell and move, I would have
added several systems to that house, it was too
expensive to heat or cool any other way, IMO.

Anyway, solar chimney designs can be adapted to many
situations and can be just one part of a schema to
better manage work and living spaces.

I hope this helps some.

Eli
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Message 8
From: Graham Scholes
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:11:47 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37891] rotating board when carving
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It all comes down to the important aspect of this sport...
Creation. It is number one and the all important factor.....
How you get there is not of great importance.
.... be it traditional or improvisational.

You should work with your body being comfortable
and not adding any stress. I have wondered for years
how David carves hunched over the little table “thingie“
and at “the end of the day“ stand up straight.... End of the
day not mean, “this day“, but towards the mid life or end life
phase of the body. I can imagine what is happening to
the spinal column or the lung capacity. I should think
old before your time.

When I finish my day I come away stand straight and tall.

As for moving the block when carving... again forget tradition...
I has nothing to do with creative accomplishments .. Do what
is comfortable for your bod...

On the need to move the block my invention offers great
posture and the little pegs enable you to move, position and
hold the block any which way suitable to your whims or needs.

Here is the detailed plans for my Hori-Dai.
www.woodblockart.ca/bootcamp/hori-dai.html

Regards
Graham
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Message 9
From: ArtSpotiB # aol.com
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:05:58 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37892] Re: rotating board when carving, etc
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Wow, Eli.

What a magical place you grew up in! Were there any large wardrobes with fur
coats and a faun in a forest?

Kidding aside, thanks so much for the description!!! And yes, please, on
having that pdf. Thanks.

Best.

ArtSpot Out
Benny Alba in studio



"It is neither wealth nor splendor, but tranquility and
occupation, which give happiness."
--Thomas Jefferson
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Message 10
From: Graham Scholes
Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2009 07:39:21 GMT
Subject: [Baren 37893] Re: gold leaf
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Hi Linda

I suggest you Google to find out some answers to your questions...

I found these....
http://tinyurl.com/95xhjm
http://tinyurl.com/9yjfee
http://www.monalisa-artmat.com/goldleaf.htm

I suspect there are many more...

Have fun.

Graham

Digest Appendix

Postings made on [Baren] members' blogs
over the past 24 hours ...

Subject: Tightly Knit
Posted by: Annie B

FirstImpression

The Puritans who came to America on the Mayflower were members of a Separatist congregation that was formed in 1606 in the hamlet of Scrooby, Nottinghamshire, England. (An interesting side note: one of my online printmaker friends from Baren Forum, Harry French, lives very near this place and has exhibited his work in Gainsborough Hall where the Mayflower Pilgrims sometimes worshiped.) The Separatists were Puritans, who believed that the Church of England needed to be reformed, but they were extreme Puritans who chose to remove themselves completely from the the Church of England and form their own congregations. The Separatists were a very tightly knit group, both because of the intensity of their beliefs and their ideal of Christian fellowship and because of the fact that their worship was illegal and had to be done in secret. When they moved to Holland in 1608 to escape persecution by James I, they became even more tightly bonded in their exile. I wonder, if the Separatists existed in this day and age might we label them "cultish"?

At any rate, they were a tight community, and this next print I'm working on features a tight little clump of Puritans. Pictured above is a closeup of a portion of the first impression, a wash of burnt umber.

This item is taken from the blog Woodblock Dreams.
'Reply' to Baren about this item.


Subject: Maria Arango - Prolific Printmaker Extraordinaire
Posted by: Amie Roman

I think that I found Maria Arango's work originally through a link on Wet Canvas to her 1000 Woodcuts page. I first "met" Maria online when I belonged to the Baren forum discussion group; I don't think she and I have ever exchanged words, but she was (and likely still is!) an incredible coordinator for the Baren printmaking exchanges.

Maria is a talented and incredibly prolific printmaking artist whose main focus is woodblock printing. She set herself a goal almost ten years ago to create 1000 woodcut prints. She's got over 250 posted on her page, and is still working away. You can even subscribe to her updates.

Maria keeps busy with not only printmaking for herself, but also with attending art festivals, teaching workshops, and of course, getting involved in complex, time consuming projects! One of her recent masterpieces of coordination was the Baren Cairn project (I have linked to the beginning of the project diary; scroll all the way down to the first post and read upwards to get the chronological story). Each of I believe 76 participants received a carefully and uniquely cut jigsaw piece from a huge sheet of plywood, and were instructed to be creative and contribute an image with the theme of "Cairn" on their minds. The resulting print was 64.5"x29.5" in dimension (if I got the calculation right!!); check out . . .
[Long item has been trimmed at this point. The full blog entry can be viewed here]

This item is taken from the blog Burnishings.
'Reply' to Baren about this item.