[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking.

Baren Digest                 Sunday, 2 May 1999         Volume 07 : Number 550

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From: Cucamongie@aol.com
Date: Sat, 1 May 1999 09:10:22 EDT
Subject: [Baren 4268] Re: Baren Digest V7 #549 

Beth - you might want to give a call to Dieu Donne papermill - they might 
have an idea about this - they have traveled to various countries, etc and 
are in contact w/people in a lot of different countries - their phone # is 
212-226-0573 - it's worth a shot - 

Sarah

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From: Gayle Wohlken <blueman@nacs.net>
Date: Sat, 01 May 1999 09:13:50 -0400
Subject: [Baren 4269] Re: Baren Digest V7 #549 

Okay folks, I got my new bull nosed chisel.  I looked
at it and have no idea how I will sharpen it to that shape
again?  Any help here?  I got a paper with it that talked
about sharpening chisels, but the directions didn't seem
to be what is needed for the shape of the bull nosed chisel.
Also it talked about a hoop or something around the handle,
and mine didn't seem to come with one.  Is it missing I 
wonder?  Hmmm.

* * *
Also, Graham, you mentioned the varnish for the wood. 
What about polyurethane?  I couldn't find varnish in the 
hardware store (I mean isn't that where you buy it????)
They had tons of polyurethane, though.  Could that be
thinned and used the same way?  

Gayle

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From: Cucamongie@aol.com
Date: Sat, 1 May 1999 09:15:35 EDT
Subject: [Baren 4270] Re: Baren Digest V7 #549 

John wrote:
> How many of you are using the hangi-to like me? 

I think I'm somewhere in between.  The tos that I have are too long for me to 
put my thumb over the top (the blade is quite long & can't be adjusted so 
that the whole knife is any shorter) - sometimes I grip it like a pen but 
sometimes I grip it the "traditional" way except not w/my thumb over the top. 
 
Sarah

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From: "Bea Gold" <bnjgold@ix.netcom.com>
Date: Sat, 1 May 1999 07:17:12 -0700
Subject: [Baren 4271] Re: Baren Digest V7 #549 

According to McClains' "many artists cut the handles on these tools to the
length of the index finger measured from the junction of the thumb to give a
custom fit".

Anyone using pigment suspensions and if yes where do you get it?  I have
been cruising the net in search and have not located a vendor.  Lots of
pigments but no suspensions.
Bea

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From: Graham Scholes <gscholes@home.com>
Date: Sat, 1 May 1999 08:49:07 -0700
Subject: [Baren 4272] Re: need "to" help 

John wrote....
>Questions: (1) How many of you are using the hangi-to like me? and for
>those who use the traditional grip- (2) what am I missing?

Gees, if I tell you my secret on the subject then I will have nothing to
teach you at the workshop....(<;;

I hold it both ways as the cut demands.  Pencil like if there is a lot of
carved motion in the line and it is a small or short cut.   The traditional
way for cutting long and straight lines.

Is it because your hand is short and the thumb is uncomfortable up there.
If so cut a little off the top of the handle length.  Caution leave enough
wood so as not to weaken the handle.

Graham

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From: woodcuts@concentric.net (D. Joseph/R. Sexauer)
Date: Sat, 1 May 1999 08:21:23 -0800
Subject: [Baren 4273] Re: LA area 

To all Baren members in close proximity to the 405, 605 & the 710 -

Please come & visit my shop at any time. Call me first @ 562/985-7866 to
arrange for a parking pass. If I'm not teaching, or serving on dread
committees (they are legion), I'd be glad to give you the five cent tour.

Things are unusually hectic & messy now, as we are nearing the semester's
end - but I've got a great silent print auction up in the hallway display
cases you might wish to bid on. Bids close on Friday, May 7th. Wonderful
student work from the MFA's, MA's & BFA's in our program, with a wide range
of media. Also some prints from alumni, other pieces from faculty
collections, (Eric Avery, Charlie Cohan, Karla Hackenmiller) and prints by
the three of us who comprise the Printmaking Discipline at California State
University @ Long Beach (Cynthia Osborne - lithography, Brian Sanderson -
screen-printing, monotype & photo-process & myself, woodcut & etching.) The
objective? Raise enough greenbacks to send two of my students to study
woodcut printmaking with Mark Sission this summer at Frogman's Press in
South Dakota.

Currently, the woodcut portfolio I put together is also up in our faculty
gallery, which is open from 9 - 5, closed for lunch, Monday through Friday.
More work by Eric Avery, & Karla - also Mark Sission, Karen Kunc, Jacob
Landau, Judy Youngblood, Joel Feldman, Sid Chafetz & so on.

Other campus pluses? Our Art Museum, the print study collection housed on
the 5th floor of our library, the Japanese garden, the rotating thesis
exhibition shows in our galleries "B" and "C", and of course, the
ornamental peach trees that are now in bloom.

Hope to see you -
Roxanne Sexauer, Printmaking Chair & occasional poster on Baren

Jack - Keifer's LARGE woodcuts are knock-outs! Pithy, raw and puissant.
Can't say I feel the same way about the "bookworks" replete with pasted
sunflower seeds. What a conceit!

Jim - thanks

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From: Phil Bivins <pbivins@mindspring.com>
Date: Sat, 01 May 1999 13:49:21 -0400
Subject: [Baren 4274] Re: Baren Digest V7 #549 

Gayle, I too have often wondered how to sharpen the bull nose chisel. I 
have seen a video that I picked up from Bill Ritchie, showing
Akira Kurosaki sharpening a bull nose. It appears that he is using a figure 
"8" motion while at the same time using a "rocking " motion. Difficult to 
describe in words and it  takes practice. Maybe someone else has a better 
way. I have destroyed a bull nose by trying to sharpen by going back and 
forth. I lost the shape of the bull nose. By using the combination of the 
figure "8" along with the rocking, you maintain the bull nose shape and the 
bottom side of the chisel does not become flat. Hope this helps. Maybe Bill 
can shed some light on this?
Phil

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From: Jack Reisland <reislandj001@hawaii.rr.com>
Date: Sat, 01 May 1999 08:13:57 +0000
Subject: [Baren 4275] Re: LA area 

R. Sexauer wrote:
> Jack - Keifer's LARGE woodcuts are knock-outs! Pithy, raw and puissant.

Where can I see some of his woodcuts? All I can find are his "paintings", with
straw and etc. stuck in the paint.

Jack Reisland

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From: Graham Scholes <gscholes@home.com>
Date: Sat, 1 May 1999 12:58:55 -0700
Subject: [Baren 4276] Re: Baren Digest V7 #549 

Gayle wrote:
>They had tons of polyurethane, though.  Could that be
>thinned and used the same way?

Yes is will work and you dilute in the same method....check people at the
store to get the solvent that is compatible......
The big draw back to using Polyurethane is that once you open the tin use a
little and then reseal it ......the next time you open you will find a scum
or crust has formed.  This can be removed to get the stuff under
it.....however the longer you leave it the thicker the scum and the more
material loss.
Also it is a royal pain .....and you know where... to have to somehow skim
off the scum...this is getting poetic.....

Graham

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From: Wanda Robertson <robertson@canby.com>
Date: Sat, 01 May 1999 16:13:45 -0700
Subject: [Baren 4277] Re: video, workshop 

Graham said:
>Upon reading this I thought.....can't imagine it, but I did.....that it
>would be a neat idea for you guys attending the workshop to bring along
>some prints.... I'd love to see the in the real stuff.

Sure, I think it would be wonderful to see everyone's "pre-workshop"
prints. Thank you Barbara, for the compliment on my reduction print/s.
For you who haven't seen it, and may never see it (it's a series of
Artist's proofs) about 7 experiments on the last stage of the reduction.
Oh how I wish I had started print-making many many years ago! 

And April said:

>Wow, Jack, thank you so much for the tape, and lovley little book of
>translation! I didn't cry....quite!

May I also add my kudoes to Jack for the wonderful copy of David's video
interview (I *did* cry at the last print!) and the translation is a
wonderful addition to the video experience.

Wanda

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From: Jean Eger <jeaneger@LanMinds.Com>
Date: Sat, 01 May 1999 22:11:30 -0700
Subject: [Baren 4278] critique 

Hello fellow Barens and Barenesses,
	I have uploaded a bunch of prints to my web site.  You can see them at
http://users.lanminds.com/~jeaneger/myprints.html
	I plan to put some drawings up pretty soon.
	What a great idea Dave and Julio had to have critiques.  And Dave created
such an extraordinary critique page.  It's awesome what you are doing in
the way of distance learning, Dave.  I certainly need a critique once in a
while.  While my print was perhaps not the worst in the exchange, it
certainly needed triage.

Jean

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From: <hudson@panther.middlebury.edu>
Date: Sun, 2 May 1999 07:10:29 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [Baren 4279] reply & thanks 

This is from Ray H. in Vermont.    
Jean--Very much enjoyed your prints.  My favorite is nasturtion var.
3--loved the rich tangled nature of the print and there was a kind of
longing in the flowers--I've always thought nasturtions were flowers that
wanted to be waterlilies.   And, of course, the composition & colors int
he print with children on the playground was terrific.   Also enjoyed the
young pegassus.  Was this printed from one block on thick paper?   Some of
the lines seemed to be open while others seemed to have soaked up some
pigment.  If it is one block, you might want to experiment brushing the
colors across the lines and not sticking to the outlines created by
carving as they will show up automatically.  Thanks for putting those on
line!

And Jack--many many thanks for the splendid presentation of David's video.
I'm sure I'll be watching it time and again!

And to all the Baren Exchange No. 1--I'm off to teach an elderhostel this
week and be assured that your prints will provide endless inspiration for
the class.   The collection is like a rich mine that I return to again and
again.   Can't wait to see what's in Exchange No. 2.

Ray H 

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End of Baren Digest V7 #550
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