[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Thursday, 12 February 1998 Volume 02 : Number 067 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Graham Scholes Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 17:21:50 -0800 Subject: [Baren 374] Joke I know, I know we are not suppose to ................ This is about a 9 out of 10 so was compelled to sent it. Enjoy Graham - ------------------------------------ In Paris, the young assistant pastors do not live in the main rectory. That is reserved for the Pastor and his housekeeper. One day, the pastor invited his new young assistant pastor to dinner at the rectory. While being served, the young pastor noticed how shapely and lovely the housekeeper was and down deep in his heart, he wondered if there was more between the pastor and the housekeeper. After the meal was over, the middle aged pastor assured the young priest that everything was purely professional....... that she was the housekeeper and cook and that was that. About a week later, the housekeeper came to the pastor and said, "Father, ever since the new assistant came for dinner, I have not been able to find the beautiful silver gravy ladle. You don't suppose he took it , do you?" The Pastor said, "Well, I doubt it, but I will write him a letter". So he sat down and wrote, "Dear Father, I'm not saying you did take the gavy ladle and I'm not saying that you did not take the gravy ladle. But the fact remains that it has been missing since you were here for dinner." The young assistant received the letter and he answered it as follows: "Dear Father Pastor. I'm not saying you do sleep with the housekeeper and I'm not saying that you do not sleep with the housekeeper. But I do know for sure that if you slept in your own bed, you would find the gravy ladle." Graham ------------------------------ From: Ray Esposito Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 20:49:14 -0500 Subject: [Baren 375] Re: Joke Graham wrote: > A change of pace is good once in a while. But Graham, this is a 1/2 out of 10. Maybe it's all that cold weather in Canada that does it. Locked inside, you have too much time to think. You need a brush in your hand. :>) Ray Esposito ------------------------------ From: Gary Luedtke Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 21:34:24 -0500 Subject: [Baren 376] Re: Joke Graham, I'm not saying that was a nine out of ten, and I'm not saying it wasn't a nine out of ten, but could you send over that ladle when you find it, I need a solid baren with a joy stick on it. Gary ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 12:59:48 +0900 Subject: [Baren 377] Premature aging ... How's _that_ for a subject line for a posting about woodblock printmaking! I'd like to toss this out to the group and see what comes back. Maybe a bit of brainstorming will lead to a solution for a little 'problem' I've got ... I've got a small collection of woodblock prints here; some brand new, some made just a few years ago, some made 50 years ago, some about a hundred years ago, and even a few from just over 200 years ago. The washi on the new prints is quite hard and stiff - of course because the paper was sized to make it possible to be used for printmaking. As one inspects the prints going 'back in time', one finds that the paper becomes softer and softer the farther back one goes. Not only do the colours develop a most pleasant 'aged' tone, but the paper itself becomes most wonderfully soft. The prints I've got from around 100 years ago seem to be at their 'peak' of beauty. Prints newer than this are hard, bright and brittle ... prints much older have started to actually 'decay' - colours have faded too much, and the paper is in danger of fragmentation. I love this soft feeling of the 100-year old paper very much, and it pains me sometimes to look at and to touch my own prints. They are _so_ new, _so_ hard, _so_ brittle! I know my grandchildren will be able to enjoy the softness - but I'm selfish - _I_ want to enjoy that feeling! I've tried simmering prints in warm water to get rid of the sizing after the printing is finished, and this works to some degree - the paper does become softer, but of course it also gives the prints a 'washed out' and blurry look that is unacceptable. Does anybody have any thoughts on this? - aside from the obvious one of 'David, just relax and learn to live with this!' But don't you think that in this ultra-tech age there might not be some way of treating a finished print to break down the gelatin in the size without harming the structure of the paper itself? And it's not just for my own pleasure I'd like to do this - I think my collectors too would love to enjoy such prints ... (Their grandchildren might not be so pleased ...) Anyway, any ideas? Dave P.S. I wonder, has Graham been waiting by his inbox all day for one of those private e-mails from Dave - the type that starts: "Graham, I very much appreciate your enthusiasm for the group, and your postings are always eagerly awaited by the members ... but ..." What do you think, am I _that_ predictable? ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 22:05:47 -0800 Subject: [Baren 378] Re: Joke & Aging. Gary wrote. > I'm not saying that was a nine out of ten, and I'm not saying it wasn't >a nine out of ten, but could you send over that ladle when you find it, I >need a solid baren with a joy stick on it. Gary, This is a 10+. Ray, Sorry if it offended. David, If you did manage to age a print and get it to the 100 year state what would it be like in 100 ....200 years and beyond? Pretty risky. Graham How do you know when it's time to tune your bagpipes? ------------------------------ From: Gary Luedtke Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 07:44:37 -0500 Subject: [Baren 379] Re: Joke & Aging. Graham, Question was, "How do you know when to tune your bagpipes?" Answer, " When they start sounding good." ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V2 #67 **************************