Delivery-Agent: @(#)$Id: local.c,v 1.54 1998/10/30 06:30:53 akira1 Exp $ on spirit Received: by j.xx.or.jp (ATSON-1) ; 28 Jan 2000 22:02:56 +0900 Return-Path: Received: from lancer.xx.or.jp (lancer.xx.or.jp [202.224.39.3]) by trantula.xx.or.jp (8.8.8/3.7W) with ESMTP id WAA26932 for ; Fri, 28 Jan 2000 22:02:55 +0900 (JST) Received: from ml.xx.or.jp (ml.xx.or.jp [202.224.39.111]) by lancer.xx.or.jp (Postfix) with ESMTP id 35E3A48D2 for ; Fri, 28 Jan 2000 22:02:55 +0900 (JST) Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) by ml.xx.or.jp (8.8.8/3.7W) with SMTP id WAA54516; Fri, 28 Jan 2000 22:00:18 +0900 Received: by ml.xx.or.jp; Fri, 28 Jan 2000 22:00:18 +0900 Received: (from ml@localhost) by ml.xx.or.jp (8.8.8/3.7W) id WAA29258 for baren-digest-outgoing; Fri, 28 Jan 2000 22:00:17 +0900 Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 22:00:17 +0900 Message-Id: <200001281300.WAA29258@ml.xx.or.jp> From: owner-baren@ml.xx.or.jp To: baren@ml.xx.or.jp Subject: Baren Digest V10 #878 Reply-To: baren@ml.xx.or.jp Errors-To: owner-baren@ml.xx.or.jp Precedence: bulk [Baren]: The mailing list / discussion forum for woodblock printmaking. Sender: owner-baren-digest@ml.xx.or.jp X-Mozilla-Status: 0000 Baren Digest Friday, 28 January 2000 Volume 10 : Number 878 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Graham Scholes Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 22:31:12 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7992] Re: #4 kento lines You have seen my response re tearing paper..... It is good you are coming back to Boot Camp because I think you were on overload and didn't remember, I do not cut paper. Graham >Well, Julio, I guess I will try to answer. Most of us boot campers >wanted to preserve the irregular edges on our paper - so Graham showed >us this little trick of cutting the kento edges into those irregular >edges so that irregular edge wouldn't throw off our kento registration. >I don't think Graham uses it himself because he just cuts the paper. >Like he says, most people mat it when they have it framed anyway, so the >paper edges don't matter. So it's really just a matter of choice. I like >it, so I do it! ------------------------------ From: Graham Scholes Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2000 23:29:50 -0800 Subject: [Baren 7993] Re: discussing #4 Health to all, Maria wrote.... >As I always tell myself, next one will be better, and in twenty years or >so, I may begin to be happy with nearly every piece I do. > Two point to comment on here... One I hope you are NEVER happy with your work.... otherwise you will not grow. Two It is not time that governs progress... it is the number of works. I have often said if it takes 500 pc of work to be there, and you can do them in one week, month, year, or 50 years thats when you will reach the plateau, which by the way is never reachable. Graham ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 19:37:58 +0900 Subject: [Baren 7994] A 'small' announcement ... > litter-free and austere ... Well litter-free it sometimes is and sometimes isn't, but austere it never is! Exchanges ... exhibitions ... newsletters ... get-togethers ... boot camps ... the [Baren] world is growing now at a pace that just leaves me shaking my head. What have we started?!! And there are _so many more_ projects just waiting to get under way. The little 12-month woodblock print desk calendar that we're going to do next winter, the Baren/Ban-Ban International Exchange that is coming up, the ... but no, I'd better save _some_ of the news for later! .... Are you excited about being part of [Baren]? Are you _learning_? Well I sure am, on both counts! But those of you who know something about my _own_ print-making projects are aware that I have a small problem at the moment. I am currently still working on the final print in last year's surimono series, and am now pushing two months behind schedule. I have to get that stuff back on track; that's how I make a living ... I simply cannot spend more time with these new [Baren] projects. Just last night I did the printing for the key block of that print - 220 copies of it. There are nineteen more impressions left. My collectors are waiting ... Is [Baren] to remain 'headless' while I bury myself in my workroom? I wrote about this a month or so ago, and have been discussing the situation with a number of concerned group members. We have talked about this, and we have talked about that, and we have been experimenting with a 'devolution' of [Baren] management functions. So the [Baren] Council came into being, and has been running in the background now since the beginning of the year. Who is the Council? As a start, I wanted those people who had _demonstrated_ both willingness and ability to do actual 'hands on' work for [Baren]. I did this by simply asking all the former exchange coordinators to 'sign on'. They all agreed to join and help me, as did Julio Rodriguez, who needed some decisions to be made for the upcoming Chicago exhibition (see below). What is the function of the Council? At present, it will be: - - organizing the Exchanges (themes, details, timing, etc. etc.) - - working on the details of the exhibition 'tour' that seems to be coming together. (Greg, you and Julio have got to talk! You're both in the middle of doing exactly the same thing, and can perhaps combine a lot of your preparation work. (Or maybe not, as Uganda is one h*l of a long way from Chicago ...). Anyway, get together, please.) - - delegating [Baren] members to manage various other projects, and providing a place for such managers to get advice, support, and direction for such projects. Maria's new [Baren-Suji] newsletter is a perfect example of this. She is the 'boss' of that project, but will look to the Council for support and advice. What about communication 'to' and 'from' the Council? A web page in the Administration section of the [Baren] web site will appear soon, by means of which you can 'write' to the Council, with your input and ideas. As for the other way, project managers will post messages on the forum as and when they see fit, as Maria did the other day when announcing her newsletter, and as Julio will be doing with the Chicago exhibition shortly. Is the current make-up of the Council permanent? I don't think so. They will invite people 'aboard' as they see fit, to handle various projects that arise, and I suppose people may 'retire' from the Council when they feel they can no longer contribute. Please understand that this is not a 'resignation' letter. I too am a member of the Council (I have the 'tie-break' vote if anything gets locked-up!), and as for the forum itself, I will continue to act as moderator, to keep nagging you to 'discuss', not 'chat'! (Groan from everybody?). And yes, I will continue to operate (and pay for) the web site, at least for the near future. [Baren] started two years ago as a little discussion group between six acquaintances. I was able to handle that by myself without much problem, but now that we seem to be in the middle of an ever-expanding plan for 'world domination', we will have to shift to a 'self-management' type of organization. That shift contains two types of seeds - those for destruction, or those for growth and expansion. [Baren] has been able to grow and come this far partly because the members generally seem to have respect for the person who has been running it. I know that I have not always made the decisions that you may have felt were the correct ones, but because of that respect, the decisions have been accepted and we have been able to come this far together. I would like to ask you to please extend this same respect to the concept of a [Baren] Council, and to work together with them (and me) to make this transition - from [Baren] as my personal 'plaything', to [Baren] as an _independent_ organization of woodblock printmakers from countries around the world. In any case, we have no choice. I cannot do this by myself any longer. To try and put this in perspective, may I tell you something about my work? Last year was an absolutely incredible year for me. During the course of the year, I received orders for more than 460 sets of my work ... more than 4,600 prints. Not all of those were for immediate delivery - - many were to be spread out over a few years, as people want to receive my poets' series bit by bit - but I actually shipped more than 2,500 prints during the year, _every_ one carved and printed completely by myself. (And this total doesn't include things like Exchange prints, or New Year cards, etc. etc.) This year, although the exhibition order totals were far lower, the combination of new collectors and ones continuing from previous years means that I am faced with the same kind of task this year too - but I'm already a month behind ... This was news that I wanted to tell you for a long time, but I was afraid of 'blowing my own horn' too much. But dammit, I want everybody to know just how successful you can be at woodblock printmaking! A dead art? Yeah, right! Four thousand six hundred pieces of a 'dead' art! During the talk at Matt Brown's place last October we somehow got onto a related topic, and I tried to tell everybody what I thought were maybe the 'keys' to success at this. (1) Be good at what you do! Without this, all else is pointless. (2) Be _passionate_ about what you do!! Without this, why bother? (3) _Communicate_ that passion to other people!! Without this too, all else is lost. Cheeze I'm crazy about these silly little pieces of paper! Please work together with me and the Council to help spread this craze around to more people, and to get more people _successful_ at this! I guess there's not much more I can add right now ... see you in a couple of days, if my left arm hasn't fallen off by then ... Dave (Too many exclamation points, I'm sorry ...) ------------------------------ From: Matthew.W.Brown@valley.net (Matthew W Brown) Date: 28 Jan 2000 07:11:20 EST Subject: [Baren 7995] Speed of printing Dave, --- You wrote: Just last night I did the printing for the key block of that print - 220 copies of it. - --- end of quote --- Because I need inspiration for the seemingly monstrous mound of 60 copies I am in the middle of now I want to ask . . . about how long did this take you? Are you going REALLY FAST?! Matt ------------------------------ From: David Bull Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2000 21:55:55 +0900 Subject: [Baren 7996] Re: Speed of printing Matt wrote: > Because I need inspiration for the seemingly monstrous mound of 60 > copies I am in the middle of now I want to ask . . . about how long did this > take you? Are you going REALLY FAST?! Hi Matt! Haven't heard from you for a while. I guess that's good news - - you're busy! I'm not sure what to say about 'fast', but I started just after dinner at about 6:30 or so, and finished up just before midnight ... say five hours give or take a bit. That's 300 minutes ... for 220 copies, so it's just over a minute each. This is a pretty small print - about 'octavo' size (B5 here in Japan). I used a good-sized brush, so putting the ink down was just a matter of a few swirls across the block, then a couple of gentle strokes to finish off. I have to say honestly that compared to the real pros here, I'm pretty slow. I'm not trying to put down some false modesty here - I'm pretty happy about where I'm at - but cheeze you should see those guys blitz along ... Seki-san would have done the pile in between three and four hours, I think. Some of the subsequent blocks are going to take longer (the gradation on the water), and some will be much quicker, the body colour on the ducks, etc. (The print is the final one in the set at: http://w.com/surimono/1999/1999album.html) Dave ------------------------------ End of Baren Digest V10 #878 ****************************