[Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Baren Digest Saturday, 18 December 1999 Volume 09 : Number 825 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: "Philip Smith" Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 11:43:28 -0800 Subject: [none] Did anyone else notice that the group show Dave presented here a few days ago was representational and light with a positive look to the pieces while mainly the pieces in the Panam Wall show were somewhat dark and abstract? Of no relevance.....? I found it rather curious! ...... another subject: If someone else has a passion and dearly wants to collate exchange #5,...I just offered my services,...no big deal,.....but two days of silence???? wow!!! spooky!!!! Philip ------------------------------ From: Studio Dalwood Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 20:25:49 +1100 Subject: [Baren 7195] Exchanges Thankyou Dave for getting us started on number five. I have difficulty knowing what day of the week it is, I know when its Saturday because Grant doesnt go to work, as for knowing the date... International times and dates are impossible. Anyway, I'm sure I'll get it together somehow. Maybe you could announce it on the days? It occured to me, the other day when reading about everyone's views on paper, that the exchanges provide an excellent opportunity for us all to view the papers that we discuss. If everyone in the dragon exchange, for example, were to identify the paper they had used, you would end up, not only with thirty little prints, but thirty identified little paper samples. Just a thought. As paper is open in number five, this would be an opportunity to act on this idea from the very beginning. Liked the subject. Have several ideas already. One image is dominating. Its better to wait a week or so before starting carving, I find, as the ideas come thick and fast that the image carved is never the first one visualised. I have been quiet here due to health, or lack of it. Its getting so quiet on the net as everyone prepares for the big events and holidays. To those of you that are left around. My best wishes and thoughts to you. I know that is reciprocated, I dont want to start a 150 post 'seasons greetings'. So maybe I can say it for everyone. And thanks to David for making it all happen. Josephine ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 16:17:56 -0600 Subject: [Baren 7198] PanAM vs Ban-Ban Philip writes: >Did anyone else notice that the group show Dave presented here a few days ago >was representational and light with a positive look to the pieces while mainly >the pieces in the Panam Wall show were somewhat dark and abstract? Of no >relevance.....? I found it rather curious! . Yes I noticed that too. But I think you will probably find your answer in dave's posting about Ban-Ban : >This is a group of housewives, retired people, and printmaking hobbyists, who >meet once a week. The artists that participated in the PanAM show probably have a different agenda in mind when making prints. Wether that is sales, recognition, schock.....whatever.....it is clearly a different view of life/art from that being created at Bam-Bam. But perhaps is not so much an indication of the artists but rather of the jurors involved in selecting the prints for display. We all know how dark/abstract those Canadians can be....right Graham ? I enjoyed looking at prints from both shows....but I have problems with abstracts....If I don't get the message right away....then I kind move on to the next print.....I did enjoy the work of the Cuban artist....Julio Cesar Pena Peralta....all those skeletons would fit right in at a Baren exchange! Julio (Still here, trying to work out the details of selecting & hanging 60+ prints ....more on this later) ------------------------------ From: "Philip Smith" Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 14:54:55 -0800 Subject: We've had two months of storms, rain etc. so I find myself here glued to the computer, to much so I guess,........and Julio, good point about the jurors,...but I feel the same way,..if I don't get it right away I move on,...if the woodcut group there in Japan are just old retired people and hobbiest,...I am really impressed,....I really enjoy simple designs however,...going back a few years William Nicholson half of the "Beggerstaff Brothers" did some of my favorite designs, i.e. "Lyceum Don Quixote"...wonderful stuff!!!!! Philip ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 08:07:28 +0900 Subject: [Baren 7200] A few points ... Re: Exchange #5: It has been gratifying to see that so many of you _are_ interested in this Exchange ... I have received more than ten registrations already. Please note though, that there is quite a strict timetable on the registration process, and that I will _not_ be keeping these early registrations on file. There is no 'waiting list'. Please check the registration schedule on that page carefully, and if you do wish to be part of this exchange, send in your registration again during the proper time period for your particular case. [Baren] members who did _not_ participate in #4 may register first - starting at midnight early in the morning of the 20th. I chose this time carefully, as the 'dark zone' on the planet lies across the empty Pacific (sorry Hawaiians!), and the rest of the planet has a chance to be awake and at their computers. A week later on the 27th, at the same time of day, #4 participants may register. Please be careful with these dates: I am on the 'other side' of the International Date Line from most of you, and you can easily get confused. As an few examples, at midnight here early on the 20th, it will be 3 in the afternoon of the 19th in England ... 7 in the morning of the 19th in California ... If you're worried about missing this, then get your globe out and spend a bit of time figuring this out! To emphasize again - there is no waiting list. All registrations received so far can not be accepted ... Sorry if I sound a bit harsh on this - I simply want to make sure that everybody understands the procedure. :-) *** Re: 'subject' lines in messages. Yes, the server here does have a problem with this. I have asked them time and again if they could fix this bug, but they are apparently unable to. If you send in a message to [Baren] with a blank subject line, that message is sent out _without_ the usual [Baren XXXX] identification marking. This of course has the effect that such messages are missed entirely by members who use mail filtering to direct the [Baren] messages into a separate folder (me, for example). The message without a subject gets dumped into my 'spam' folder, from where it is usually erased without being read. The choice is yours - use a subject line, or don't get read ... *** Julio posted aboutthe difference between the Ban-ban show and the Pan-Am show ... Well, this reply will probably get me in trouble with a bunch of people here, but ... anyway ... If I state honestly my own reaction to these two selections of prints, I would have to mention that for the Ban-ban show, made up of prints by 'housewives, etc.', I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I spent nearly two hours in the room, studying the prints and talking to the group members who were on 'duty' at that time. When I visited the web page for the Pan-am show, I didn't get past the first 'wall' ... (sorry Mary!) These of course, are my own tastes, and I neither expect nor ask that any of you share them. But thinking about why one exhibition is so 'happy' and the other so 'gloomy' I think there is a simple explanation. The Ban-ban members are of course having fun while they work on woodblock prints. They have no desire at all to send any 'messages'. The only meaning in their art is the pleasure they receive from it. As a consequence, the finished prints radiate that pleasure to all who look at them. The 'serious' people in the Pan-Am show, on the other hand, seem to me to be more interested in the 'message'. Their printmaking is an attempt to make social comment. These people aren't having fun - they see problems and trouble in society, and try to express this in their work. So of course, the prints give no 'pleasure' (in that happy sense). I suspect that if you discuss this with any contemporary artist, he would say something like "My art reflects contemporary society. We live in a time of upheaveal, of change, of war ... Of course, my prints are dark!" For me though, this attitude is completely and totally misguided. In my way of thinking, art must try to express _ideals_, not failures. Do you think that contemporary society has problems? If so, then don't rub my face in them - I'm not blind, I know all about them already - show me instead, the kind of world in which you _want_ to live. Don't 'reflect' contemporary society - create a better one in its place! Although I'm almost certain that the Ban-ban members are not trying to consciously express any such idea, in effect that is the result of their work ... peace ... sunshine ... happiness ... and pleasure. Maybe I'm just a simple guy, yesno? Dave ------------------------------ From: Mary Krieger Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 18:37:59 -0600 Subject: [Baren 7202] Re: try these images Dave Don't miss this book of wood engravings by Shinsake Minegishi (He has two other wood engravings in the show as well.) http://www.umanitoba.ca/schools/art/gallery/hpgs/mpa/Panam/p52.html Another colour wood engraving by Emily Barronian http://www.umanitoba.ca/schools/art/gallery/hpgs/mpa/Panam/p84.html or this wood cut by Jim Lee http://www.umanitoba.ca/schools/art/gallery/hpgs/mpa/Panam/p95.html It is a huge show especially to work through on line - and there is nothing to help you find images likely to be your taste - Perhaps I could add a page at my own site that guides a visitor to mini shows within the 96 images. Does any one have any suggestions? Mary Krieger By the way no offense is given, none taken - I would rather people be forthright about how the work strikes them. ------------------------------ From: "Bea Gold" Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 17:32:43 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7203] RE: A few points ... Just call me a Ban-ban - I am one of the "just old retired people" but look at the screen #7 and there is a happy little print by Bea Gold USA which is a result of my "work ... peace ... sunshine ... happiness ... and pleasure." Bea ------------------------------ From: Aqua4tis@aol.com Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 20:35:38 EST Subject: [Baren 7204] Re: the beggarstaff brothers phillip who was the other half of the beggarstaff brothers? do you know where i can see examples of their work? thanks georga ------------------------------ From: Julio.Rodriguez@walgreens.com Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 19:53:46 -0600 Subject: [Baren 7205] Enough is Enough! Okay, I just had about all I can take!!!! Enough is enough. Is bad enough trying to handle two young rambunctious boys.... but to also have to take care of a bunch of mis-behaving, nasty, fire-spitting & no-good-for-nothing dragons ? No sir.......... I have cast a spell and vanished all the dragons out of my castle forever and unto my backyard. If you want to take a look at what mayhem they maybe up to you better hurry up before they tear up the whole damm place.......just go to my homepage and click on the fighthing dracos......see if you can tell who the owners are ! http://www.skokienet.org/bandits/micasa.html Gracias... Julio (ps. I can see more flying in just above the horizon, so stay tuned for more beasties.....) ------------------------------ From: "Philip Smith" Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 19:11:07 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7206] Re: the beggarstaff brothers You know Georga these two guys have lots of their work reproduced,...it's all in the Art Nouveau part of our art history,...my books are rather old,...but I'll bet you can seek them out at Amazon.com,...Wm. Nicholson was born in 1872 and died in 1949,...he and James Pryde did alot of work under the pseudonym "The Brothers Beggarstaff",..alot of fine art as well as alot of commercial stuff.... I have a book that's about ten years old called "Woodcuts" by Per Amann by Artline Editions,....some of the work is in that,.......I hope that's of some help! Philip ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 12:12:40 +0900 Subject: [Baren 7207] Re: Enough is Enough! Julio wrote: > ....just go to my homepage > and click on the fighthing dracos......see if you can tell who the owners are ! > > http://www.skokienet.org/bandits/micasa.html Cheez! _Somebody_ has too much time on his hands these days! Pretty nifty! *** Mary sent some links to prints in the Pan-Am show that I would find interesting ... Thanks for this Mary; I wasn't trying to say that the whole show was stuff I wasn't interested in - it just didn't seem practical trying to dig through it all. I wonder how people approach our [Baren] web site? Do they see a couple of prints, get bored, and then 'run away' like I did? *** About the coordinator for Exchange #5: thanks for the offer Philip ... but I'd like to wait until the 30 participants are lined up before deciding this. Dave ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 23:11:31 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7209] Statements in our Work. Dave wrote....... >Maybe I'm just a simple guy, yesno? Maybe you got your priorities right..... I am with you on this Dave. I like to make a statement with my work which is pleasant thought provoking and sometimes whimsical. It sometimes comes off and others well.....Maybe next time...... I try to have some subtle statement that may not even be understood by the viewer unless they look closely......and think. Think about what you look at???? what a concept.. For example look at http://members.home.net/gscholes/estevan.html the statement here is "On a clear day you can see the rain falling on the coastal mountains" You ask if it is clear how can it be raining and why did I not show the mountains. You really gotta thing this one out..... Graham ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 23:27:53 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7210] Re: PanAM vs Ban-Ban Julio wrote..... > But perhaps is not so much an indication of the >artists but rather of the jurors involved in selecting the prints for display. Adjudicators will pick work that makes strong statements. The seldom pick work that is light and with nothing to say. One of the judges I know calls it "fluff stuff" His initals are GS >We all know how dark/abstract those Canadians can be....right Graham ? Don't confuse dark/abstract with deep and intense....... Graham ------------------------------ From: "John Ryrie" Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 22:40:33 +1100 Subject: [Baren 7211] Dragons Julio your web page just gets better a better. this dragon display is impressive, even without my contribution. Dave I'm sorry I acted a bit rashly and signed up for exchange #5 before my time. I just wanted to say that I would like to see all the Baren members Who have not had the opportunity to be in an exchange before. To do so now go to http://woodblock.com and sign up or you'll regret it for the rest of your life. John ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V9 #825 ***************************