Today's postings

  1. [Baren 42782] jigs (Marilynn Smith)
  2. [Baren 42783] EX 48 M Y T H O L O G Y participants ( slinders # comcast.net)
  3. [Baren 42784] Hello out there, Rakesh Bani (Eileen Corder)
  4. [Baren 42785] baren bonnet comments ("Maria Arango Diener")
  5. [Baren 42786] Re: baren bonnet comments (Barbara Mason)
  6. [Baren 42787] Baren Member blogs: Update Notification (Blog Manager)
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Message 1
From: Marilynn Smith
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:38:12 GMT
Subject: [Baren 42782] jigs
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Regarding jigs, foam board works fine. However I have some cut
square, by my handy dandy husband, made from particle board. If you
want a border you just lay down two layers of masking tape on the jig,
it is high enough to lay our paper against and can be removed and
replaced for the next print. I also picked up a small, metal,
carpenters T-Square to see if I could rig up a jig with it. Have not
gotten to working that out yet.

Maria I love your baren inventions. We could use you here in Baja,
where materials are in short supply. Your inventive mind as well as
others, such as Mike Lyon, is wonderfully helpful.

Marilynn
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Message 2
From: slinders # comcast.net
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:13:26 GMT
Subject: [Baren 42783] EX 48 M Y T H O L O G Y participants
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Hello to all members of Baren's EX 48, The Mythology Exchange!

The circle around the storytelling fire is now shoulder to
shoulder! We've filled our membership with participants from
around the world, and have volunteers on the waiting list if we
need them!

I need all participants and 'waiters' to send a brief note to me
via the "Contact your coordinator" address on the sign-up page
as quickly as possible, to confirm your participation.
http://www.barenforum.org/exchange/exchange_48/exchange_48.html

You'll want to read the exchange page carefully, especially if
this will be your first Baren exchange. If you have questions
concerning the exchange please contact me through the exchange
contact address.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

The first hard job for you in this exchange is settling on your
story!

Sharen
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Message 3
From: Eileen Corder
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:43:17 GMT
Subject: [Baren 42784] Hello out there, Rakesh Bani
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Hello out there, Rakesh Bani, whose email address I cannot find.

I've gotten several BIG emails from you that my dial-up connection just
cannot handle.

Please delete my email address from your files or add an "unsubscribe"
option to your mailings.

Namaste,
Eileen
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Message 4
From: "Maria Arango Diener"
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 01:54:46 GMT
Subject: [Baren 42785] baren bonnet comments
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Thanks all for your off-list comments on my baren bonnet!



The search for a softer, thinner and smoother bonnet continues (i.e. more
similar to the bamboo). I found some very thin leathers of various kinds
that I will try next, namely deer and sheep skins too thin for use in the
usual applications. I have a micrometer so I will measure when I get them
and compare to the bamboo.



I think these will be the "thing" with the added advantage that leather will
stretch when damp and will contract around the baren as it dries so there
may (may, I say) no need for sewing at all. I may be able to just fit them
around the baren in the usual manner, cut in the usual shape. Although if
you ask me, the sewn bonnet is cuter than a baby bunny.

As for durability in printing or resistance to abrasion, everyone will just
have to wait on the testing phase. The cheap primed canvas acquires quite a
sheen and softness after some use and works better the older it is. I have
worn through one canvas bonnet so rotating is imperative.



For those of you who are at this moment going "huh?", here is the baren
bonnet page:

http://1000woodcuts.com/Studionotes/barenbonnet.html



And speaking of baby bunnies.yikes! I better get to mine.

Maria



[=o=][=o=][=o=][=o=]

www.1000woodcuts.com

www.artfestivalguide.info

[=o=][=o=][=o=][=o=]
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Message 5
From: Barbara Mason
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2011 02:19:14 GMT
Subject: [Baren 42786] Re: baren bonnet comments
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Maria,
I tried tyvek paper and it worked well but eventually got wet and stuck to the
paper..I think you would have to use a slip sheet with it at all times
It was fun to see what you have created, I think many of us have tried other
things since bamboo is not native to where we are and in your case impossible to
use. I still think there is a paper that will work, I need to experiment again!
My best
Barbara

Digest Appendix

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

Subject: Mystique Series #11 : printing steps 3~4
Posted by: Dave Bull

We start the colour blocks with the traditional tint known as beni. The cartouche area will be untouched from here on in, but the rest will probably all be overprinted:

Next up is a simple one - a base tone for the turtle area:

Most of the prints in this series have a kind of 'technical' point tied to them, and this one is no exception. Here's an excerpt from the story that will accompany the print when it is mailed out to collectors:

... and that brings us to another very important point about traditional Japanese print production, one that is unfortunately not readily visible to the typical viewer.

Three different green tones appear in the finished print, but I used no green pigment at all (I do not own any). Purple is there also, as is orange, but again, neither of those tones appeared anywhere in my mixing bowls. Our colours are all _transparent_, and thus create blends when overprinted. The bright yellow of the tropical fish in this picture is also printed in other areas - in the sea grasses and the orange fish. Blue also printed on the grass thus creates a green tone, while light red printed on the fish turns it orange.

Combining colours like this does save some time by reducing the number of blocks required, but that?s not really why we do it. Colours created in this way - blended in place _on the paper_, rather than being mixed separately . . .
[Long item has been trimmed at this point. The full blog entry can be viewed here]


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


Subject: Senshafuda Project - some numbers
Posted by: Dave Bull

Here's the projected budget for this project (and series, if it becomes that). Some of these numbers work from the bottom up (based on the actual costs of the components, which are totally fixed by the suppliers), and some are from the top down (calculated as percentages of the selling price).

Now the selling price can't be calculated until all the costs are worked out, so it's a bit of a circular process, but that's what spreadsheets are for ...

Anyway, based on a price of 3500 yen (within Japan) and $35 (overseas) - more about that disparity later - we get something like the following chart for the expense side of things. This is assuming an initial production run of 200 sets (each with three senshafuda, printed as a 3-up on one block set, trimmed apart when done):

Expenses for initial batch of 200 sets  
   
Supplies  
- Printing paper 46,000
- Wood blocks 20,000
- Packaging 20,000
   
Workers  
- Designer's royalty (10% of retail) 70,000
- Carver's fee (15% of retail) 105,000
- Printer's fee (25% of retail) . . .
[Long item has been trimmed at this point. The full blog entry can be viewed here]

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


Subject: Today a Plan
Posted by: d. moll, l.ac.

02/10/1011 Metal Rabbit Plan (Amelia as model)

Today's rabbit is, as you can see, a drawing; a stylized Amelia, AKA the Great White Zeppelin, demands her due pet. It is a plan for a print for the Baren Forum Year of the Rabbit Print Exchange. I'll print in my usual Moku Hanga method; carving and printing each color separately by hand; each print will be slightly different because I am human, not machine; but each one individually special, packed with the Qi of the all moments that went into it from the papermakers, to tool makers, to the tree, the pigment and the brushes. Really as the artist, carver and printer I play a small part and feel humbled by that. For some art is self expression, I do not find this to be true for myself. I ask each print from start to finish "what do you want to be? how can I help? what is right for this print".



This item is taken from the blog The Qi Papers.
'Reply' to Baren about this item.