Exchange #15

Kat Pukas, Coordinator

• Medium: Traditional Japanese polychrome wood block print (hand rubbed with baren, multi-block, water color pigments, Japanese printmaking paper)
• Theme: Moku-hanga (Japanese wood block technique -- multi-block water-color prints on washi)
• Paper: chu-tanzaku a standard paper dimension measuring from a minimum of 15 x 5 inches (38 x 12.7 cm) to a maximum of 15 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches (39.4 x 13.3 cm). It is half of an oban sheet cut lengthwise and usually designed with the long dimension running vertically...
• Paper type: washi (Japanese paper)
• Registration period: One month starting October 1 (or until 30 participants are enrolled)
• Work period: Three months starting November 1
• Deadline for finished prints: February 1st, 2003
• Exchange completed and mailed: February 22, 2003

I feel honored to have served as the coordinator of this particular exchange because it's hanga, the technique that represents the roots of the [Baren] organization. My greatest joy was connecting with each artist on a personal basis, and I thank you for your stellar attitude and effort! Please join me in celebrating great art, at... The #15 Collating Birthday Party!

On the evening of February 21st, 2003, the last edition of prints arrived. It was Julio Rodriguez's box, which had been maimed by the security canine at the airport! In this photo are all of the packages, arranged and numbered in order of receipt, starting with a box for the Spencer collection (top left), then Lynita Shimizu's below that, then John Center's, then Kate Courchaine's... all the way down to Julio's FedEx box (bottom right), showing several tooth-marks and still glistening with fresh dog drool. Well, maybe I imagined the saliva, but indeed his prints, as everyone in Exchange #15 knows, managed to escape unscathed. You'll also see on display some of the appease-the-coordinator gift prints that several #15 participants enclosed (above the pile, among the dried roses).

The birthday print-collating party began immediately, the moment the last box arrived. The mailing boxes and padded envelopes remained in a stack at the foot of the bed (far left in this picture), and I arranged the editions in alphabetical order on the sheets. They fit perfectly on the bed, don't you think? Yay, chu-tanzaku! If the artist ordered a case, it was placed underneath his/her edition.

Here I am, celebrating my 24th birthday, surrounded by my friends at [Baren] (via their artwork). This is near the end of the whole collating party; one can tell from the slight look of weariness. I have my hand gingerly placed face up in my lap because just the moment before, I had noticed that Mike Lyon's dark mica background was offsetting onto my anxious print-grabbing hand. Well, anyway, I had a long night of repackaging and taping still ahead of me so that all of the packages could be mailed that next day, February 22nd. Love <3 & Lint * ! Kat